Hands down the finest true wireless earphone for your iPhone.
around, you are hardly aware of the buzz of the streets. I even played a jet engine noise test track and the AirPods Pro performed almost as good as my full-size Sony noise cancellers.
Even more impressive is Transparency mode. In this mode, the microphones and vents in the AirPods Pro work together to let you hear your surroundings. It can be activated simply by giving the stem of the earpiece a long squeeze. To be clear, rival noise-cancelling headphones have similar modes but they always sounded unnatural. The AirPods Pro sound uncannily life-like. I suspect the vents have a lot to do with it and it means you don’t have to take them off if you want to hear your surroundings or have a conversation.
The tech doesn’t end there. The AirPods Pro also have something called Adaptive
EQ. As the internal microphone listens for unwanted noises, it also measures the sound being played within your ears and measures them against what it “expects” to hear. It then tunes the low and mid frequencies to accommodate for the differences in sound due to your ear shape.
The AirPods Pro uses new “Apple-designed, high excursion, lowdistortion” drivers. But I found the sound to be fairly similar and consistent with the regular AirPods and Beats headphone. They are clearly cut from the same cloth. Detail retrieval and clarity are decent and the overall sound signature is one with a strong, punchy bassline and fairly smooth mids. The highs, unfortunately, are noticeably recessed.
The upside to such a signature is that most genres sound agreeable and pleasant and that the AirPods Pro are easy to listen to for long periods. The downside is that discerning listeners might find the AirPods Pro to sound unexciting and safe.
All things considered, the AirPods Pro is a stunning set of earphones from Apple. Its only real rival in this space is the Sony WF1000XM3. I think the Sonys sound better, but noise-cancellation performance is similar. The AirPods Pro though, are more comfortable to wear and significantly more portable ― try stuffing the Sony charging case into your pocket. They are also water and sweat-resistant — the Sonys aren’t.