Apple Airpods Pro
Can Apple conquer the noise-cancelling arena with its high-tech new Airpods Pros?
Divisive though the original Airpods are, they have certainly been a hit. In fact, Apple claims they’re now the most popular headphones in the world. But, despite this, the Airpods have flaws. The second-generation model brought a boost in sound quality, but they’re still a long way from delivering the sonic satisfaction of the best wireless earbuds.
One-size-fits-all might be Apple’s approach, but for some the Airpods simply don’t fit at all. And the lack of noise-isolation makes them ill-suited to certain scenarios. Apple aims to address these issues with the Airpods Pro.
Chunkier body
There are many similarities between the 2nd-gen Airpods and the Airpods Pro – glossy white finish, bulbous body and protruding stem – but clear differences, too. Most obvious is the appearance of a silicone tip on the new Airpods, which is shorter than on many earbuds. The main body is chunkier, but the shorter stem makes the Airpods Pros less conspicuous.
Where the Airpods respond to taps to the body, the Pros’ stems now house the sensors. A quick squeeze on either stem pauses or resumes a track, a doublesqueeze skips forward, a triple-squeeze skips back and a long squeeze switches between noise-cancelling modes. We’re not convinced – the squeezes are fiddly to perform, particularly when exercising.
The Airpods Pros stay in our ears when running during testing. They are so light (5.4g each) and comfortable that they can give the impression of being loose, however they are much more secure in place than the original Airpods.
Apple supplies three pairs of tips, but any issues with fit can be resolved by an ‘Ear Tip Fit Test’ in your iphone’s Bluetooth menu. It plays five seconds of music that is then analysed to identify any sound leakage. A green ‘Good Seal’ means you’re ready to go, but if the Pros identify an issue, you’ll be prompted to try a bigger or smaller tip.
The Pros don’t burrow into the ear canal as much and they exert a lot less pressure than most in-ear headphones. Contributing to the ‘barely there’ feel is a series of vents that allows air to flow between your ear and the outside world and reduces that pressurised feeling you often get from noise-cancelling buds.
The biggest change here is, of course, the noise-cancelling. Each Pro has two microphones: one on the outside to detect incoming noise, and one on the inside that detects any noise that makes it through the seal. The noise-cancelling is continuously adjusted 200 times per second. Apple claims these are the only headphones to take this approach.
The good news is that it is effective. Constant noises such as a train are more or less eradicated, while less predictable sounds such as office chatter are reduced to a whisper. Apple has ignored the trend for a range of noise-cancelling modes, the exception being the ‘Transparency’ mode, which actively allows sound in.
Powering the whole experience is the H1 chip which enables the Pros to support Apple’s voice assistant, although Siri can also be activated by a pinch – the only method for adjusting volume without reaching for your phone.
Battery life is a claimed five hours with another 19 hours from the charging case. If they run out, five minutes in the case will give you another hour of play.
Sonically, Apple has taken the same approach with the Pros as with its other products, favouring clarity and a neutral tonal balance rather than lots of weighty bass. The Airpods Pros can’t match the sound quality of the Sony WF1000XM3S, which are more dynamic and attacking, but their easy-going nature ensures nothing sticks out unpleasantly.
There isn’t a huge amount of bass here, but the midrange is where the Airpods Pros really shine, with vocals reproduced with plenty of texture and detail. There’s good sparkle to treble, too, but with no hint of brightness sneaking in.
The performance alters with noisecancelling switched on. Playing R.E.M’S Belong via Tidal, we notice that ‘Off’ produces a slightly tonally richer and rhythmically crisper performance. There’s extra warmth to Michael Stipe’s vocal, a little more texture to the bassline and greater overall cohesion. With noise-cancellation enabled, timing also takes a bit of a hit, possibly down to all that on-the-fly processing.
The Airpods Pros can’t quite match the best-in-class noise-cancelling true wireless headphones for sound quality, but the user experience and extreme levels of comfort make them a strong option. By combining excellent noise-cancelling with a transparency mode that feels almost as natural as non-isolating earphones, the Apple Airpods Pros are as well suited to a long-haul flight as a run around the block. For many, these could be the only pair of headphones you ever need.