Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How’s the fit with APP3

iArneezy

iArneezy

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 12, 2016
55
34
Arkansas
The last AirPods Pro that I owned was gen 1. They would not stay in my ears. Tried buying after market foam tips. It would stay in my ear but would fall out after a few hours. Returned them and never got another pair.

I’ve been seeing reviews on these and all these reviewers saying it goes in the ear a little deeper + the added silicone/foam tips makes them fit better. But I just want to hear from normal peoples experiences.
 
So much better than the AirPods Pro 2.

Pro 2 would always gradually wiggle its way out my ear. The Pro 3 isn't going anywhere. Not only does it feel more secure but so much more comfortable. It's like I'm not even wearing them at all.

I was questioning myself if I really needed to upgrade from 2 to 3 but with how these fit it's totally worth it. With how loose the Pro 2 is it was one thing I disliked about them.

I'm using whatever size they come with. They are a perfect fit so no need to try different sizes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: iArneezy
So far (and I’ve had them in my ears for about 3hours) they are INCREDIBLE!
AirPod pro1 kept falling out.
These feel really secure. Comfortable.
However, I did have my ear hair waxed last week, and that always helps😂.
 
  • Wow
  • Haha
Reactions: krspkbl and turbineseaplane
I am over the moon... I have never been able to wear AirPods or AirPods Pro as they would fall out even sitting still, even when I tried foam tips. I always gave them to my wife who loved them all and uses AirPods Pro 2 currently. I tried for 9 years. After the really positive reviews of the new fit of AirPods Pro 3 I took a chance and ordered two pairs to try, like a sucker again... they fit me PERFECTLY straight out of the box, medium tip!!! Secure, shaking my, etc. they stay in... its like an entirely different product for me. I havent yet run in them and gotten sweaty but I strongly suspect they will be fine.

HOWEVER to my shock, they don't work for my wife. She wore the XS tip in the APP2 and APP3 medium... falls out, S falls out, XS fits "ok" in the left ear and falls out in the right, XXS (the new smallest size) fits "ok" in the left ear and stays in the right only if she twists the AirPod downward into her ear canal and she has lasting pain even after a few minutes. The acoustic fit test shows a fail at all the sizes for her.

What a bummer... Apple fixed these for me and broke them for her... it just goes to show how you can try and fit everyone but there will always be a few it just doesn't work with. She isn't upset as she loves the APP2 but I know they already stopped production on them so in the long term it's going to be an issue. I don't know how dumb it would be to buy a fresh pair at the $100-ish discount they have and just store them away or something if they wouldn't ruin the battery.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: AnthroMatt and hch720
AirPods Pro 1 always had a problem with falling out over time, similar with AirPods Pro 2 until I stuffed the tips with foam and wedged them in really good.

I just tried my AirPods Pro 3, and they feel incredibly comfortable and secure. Unfortunately they also came with a 27% charge in the earbuds and 48% in the case so I’m currently letting them charge up before a workout to see how they do. It’s a little annoying that the batteries weren’t more fully charged in the AirPods and case.

In the brief time I had them in after pairing they were super comfortable and had noticeably better ANC compared to my APP2. It’s a very different fit. What’s absolutely shocking and baffling to me is that the case is very noticeably larger than APP2. Yet there’s less case battery somehow. I don’t know how Apple managed that. Bigger form factor, less battery?

I’m gonna let these charge for a bit, then get to a nice workout outdoors by the local airport and see how they do compared to the APP2 I’m used to.

EDIT:
Ok, walked and jogged for a couple of hours with the APP3 in using the medium tips. They are a clear improvement over the APP2 in fit and comfort. They do fit deeper in the ear than APP2, but it's not uncomfortable and took all of a second to accustom myself to it. They remained comfortable for two full hours while exercising and felt completely secure, compared to APP2 which I have to push back in sometimes.

I never once had a feeling of my ears being plugged, which sometimes happened with the APP2. ANC is excellent and noticeably better than APP2. A highway around 500 feet away from me was completely silent with the APP3. With the APP2, I can still hear traffic on the highway. Closer traffic along my route, around 35 feet away was audible with APP3, but not bothersome. I didn't have to raise the volume at all to hear above passing vehicles, which I sometimes had to do with APP2, even with it adapting to environmental noise. There were no large or particularly noisy aircraft flying near the airport while I was there today, but a few smaller 2-6 passenger prop planes landed and took off in near total silence from my perspective wearing the APP3. With APP2 in, I can pinpoint a plane's location long before I actually spot it. Today I always saw them before I could hear them, and I had to focus to hear engine noise. There was a mid-sized jet taxiing near my route with loud engine whine that was very audible with the APP3, mostly in the high range. It was around 400 feet away. The noise it made was annoying, but the APP3 adjusted volume enough for me to continue listening without needing to make a manual volume adjustment. All in all I'm really happy with the fit, the comfort, and the ANC. I don't know if it'll last. Apple has seemed to make adjustments to ANC in firmware updates for previous APP that negatively impacts ANC. I've not done the hearing test on these, so this is "out of the box" sound, not adjusted.
 
Last edited:
I also like them better than the AP2 (which didn’t fall out for me). I might even try the smaller size S tips tomorrow because I have the feeling M on the AP3 are Bagger than on AP2.
 
The right AirPods 3 small tip is more uncomfortable than pro 2 which don’t need to go right in your deep ear to get the best sound quality
 
cookiemonster89 said:
I also like them better than the AP2 (which didn’t fall out for me). I might even try the smaller size S tips tomorrow because I have the feeling M on the AP3 are Bagger than on AP2.
Click to expand...
I'm used to the fit of my APP2 with the medium tip. The APP3 comes with the medium tip on. They felt a bit tight. I could tell they were in the ear more so than with the APP2. I put the Small tip on the 3, and it felt great. Don't feel like they are in my ear and no degradation of sound quality. I think you're correct about M being different size between the 2 and 3.
 
Fit and ANC are all better (coming from the 1s). I didn’t have a problem with the APP1s coming out 99% of the time. Vigorous movement would occasionally do it. I these definitely have a better seal and fit. FWIW, I thought the tips it came with fit just fine and would have left it at that but I did the acoustic fit test to confirm and ended up sizing up. Definitely a better fit and ANC with the right tips (which says more about the tips than anything else I suppose).
 
Another vote for APP3 fits better. I did have to switch the ear tip to one size smaller, whereas with the APP2, the tip that it came with worked fine.
 
So far, painful. My APP1 and APP2 could stay in my ears all day and feel like there was nothing in there, but these hurt after about 40 minutes. I might have to return them, sadly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AnthroMatt
I really want to love them - but for me the fit is nowhere near as good with the 3s compared to the 2s. It's a shame as I'd love the features of the new ones, but think I'm likely going to return them as they're just too uncomfortable :(
 
Advanced IEM listeners know that you sometimes need different sized tips for each ear. It's why so many enthusiasts get custom molded IEMs. Among my IEM collection, I have a couple of models that require smaller tips for my left ear than for my right (usually those with larger nozzles).

With the AirPods Pro 2 I could use small in both ears and be very comfortable, but the right ear would lose the seal if I moved my jaw too much; so I tended to use small for my left ear and medium for my right. With the AirPods Pro 3, I can use small for both (after briefly using medium for both - which gave a consistent, perfect, seal, but were less comfortable after an hour or so).
 
I have the AirPods Pro 1, 2, 3 and Max. For me, the AirPods Pro 3 are the most comfortable and provide the best noise cancellation, while the Max still has the best sound quality.

2 vs 3 sound quality doesn’t jump out at me as noticeably better or worse, but I’m not trying to test them side by side. However, the ANC does strike me as significantly better as does the battery life.
 
I find the APP3 to be incredibly uncomfortable. I will be returning them today. The APP2 are so much better for my ears as far as comfort is concerned.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Onimusha370
The Stem is larger in diameter, and maybe a hair longer. The case is larger. The housing for the drivers is a much different shape and smaller. They seem to fit deeper in the ear, but not by some huge margin. This will all be good for some, but not for others.

I in general think the 3 fit my ears a little better, but I am still experimenting with the ear pieces. No issues with them staying in my ear for either of them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back