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For me it was, as I had to clean the vents constantly, and still couldn’t get a proper seal test, which impacted ANC. APP2s work the way they should with no hassle, and the ANC is better. But if you don’t have these problems with the 1st gen, the difference won’t be very big.
 
In my opinion AirPods Pro 2nd Generation are significantly better than 3rd Gen AirPods. The larger bud of the 3rd Gens did not fit in my ear, so would be uncomfortable and fall out. Even that aside, the Pros had better noise cancelling and transparency mode.
 
Are Airpod pros 2nd or 3rd gen better?
There are only 1st and 2nd generation AirPods Pro. If you're comparing the pro to the regular 3rd generation AirPods, that changes things. For me, regular AirPods don't stay in my ear at all and when they were in they required me to crank the volume to ear-damaging levels in order to hear them over background/ambient noise.
I had the 1st generation Pros which developed the crackling noise that many of those do, and replaced them with the 2nd generation Pros right when they were first released and am extremely happy with them, as long as I use 3rd party foam tips for them.
 
There are only 1st and 2nd generation AirPods Pro. If you're comparing the pro to the regular 3rd generation AirPods, that changes things. For me, regular AirPods don't stay in my ear at all and when they were in they required me to crank the volume to ear-damaging levels in order to hear them over background/ambient noise.
I had the 1st generation Pros which developed the crackling noise that many of those do, and replaced them with the 2nd generation Pros right when they were first released and am extremely happy with them, as long as I use 3rd party foam tips for them.
I have both 2nd generation (non Pro) and AirPods Pro 2nd and the Pro is by g=far much better for music, podcasts etc than the regular non pros especially with the slide controls on stems of Pros EXCEPT for during phone calls - I can hear fine but others cannot hear me clearly wising the Pros but they can using the non Pros - please fix this as it is ruining an other wise great set of AirPods Pro 2
 
I'm assuming you mean AirPods Pro 1st and 2nd gen? (3rd gen doesn't exist--yet).

Having owned both generations, 2nd Gen AirPods Pro are noticeably better for noise cancelling. I can't tell how the audio quality differs but ANC is what draws me to the Pro so definitely go for 2nd gen if you can.

As for regular AirPods if you're considering them, I definitely wouldn't bother unless you're on a really tight budget or don't like in-ear buds. They're good! But the lack of ANC is a dealbreaker. You might be better off buying the new Beats Studio Buds+ which are apparently equivalent to AirPods Pro (1st gen) in ANC quality.

So TL;DR: the newest AirPods Pro (2nd gen) are better. Don't bother with non-Pro unless you're on a budget or you don't find in-ear buds comfortable.
 
If you’re considering the APP2, maybe hold off for a couple of months as they may release a USB-C version of them.

That’s what I’m doing.
 
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