AirPods Pro 2 vs. AirPods Pro 3 – Why You Should Upgrade

By Josh Teder

I’ve spent well over the past six months with the AirPods Pro 2. And now that I’ve had several weeks with the AirPods Pro 3, I’m going to take you through how much better they are and why you should probably consider upgrading to them.

Noise Cancellation: A Game-Changing Improvement

First is noise cancellation, which as soon as I put the AirPods Pro 3 in my ears, I could immediately tell a difference. Now, Apple claims they’re two times better than the AirPods Pro 2, and that feels about right. They’re much better at blocking out background noise.

With the AirPods Pro 2, I never found their noise cancellation to be as good as my Sony WF1000 XM5s or Bose earbuds, which I would often reach for over the AirPods in certain situations like cooking or cleaning. But the AirPods Pro 3 are just as good as my Sony’s in my testing. I actually think the noise cancellation on these is actually a hair better than the Sony’s, which is impressive given the Sony’s have all foam tips.

Though Apple is now using some foam in theirs as well. Apple infused the very tip of the new AirPods Pro with foam on the inside, but kept a silicone outer covering to make them easier to clean and more comfortable for those who don’t like the feeling of all foam tips expanding in their ear canal.

Comfort and Fit: Completely Re-Engineered

And speaking of comfort, that’s actually the next improvement I’ve really noticed with the AirPods Pro 3: a better fit. Apple says they completely re-engineered the internal architecture so they could make the buds smaller. While they still maintain that classic AirPods look, you’ll also notice that they changed the location of where the ear tip sticks out of the bud. So less of the bud overall has to go in your ear, which helps improve comfort.

If the AirPods Pro 2 hurt your ears when you tried them—that did happen to me not with the twos, but with the original AirPods—you should probably try these. So far, I found that not only can I wear them for hours without feeling my ears getting sore, but when working out with them, they’re also more secure than the previous generation, and I don’t find myself needing to constantly readjust them during my workout. And with these buds, Apple added a new, even smaller ear tip size to try.

Enhanced Water Resistance

And speaking of working out, by the way, Apple also increased the water resistance rating from IP54 to IP57 with the new AirPods Pro, meaning that these buds can be submerged in fresh water up to 1 meter deep for 30 minutes without damage, which is pretty cool.

Sound Quality: Noticeably Better Than Before

Now, another thing that the new and improved fit and foam-infused tips help with is sound quality.

“The AirPods Pro 2 sound pretty good” is what you would have said if you had never heard the AirPods Pro 3.

I’m actually quite surprised at how much better the AirPods Pro 3 sound. Apple gave them their next generation adaptive EQ which will adjust the sound based on your ear’s geometry using internal mics. There’s also a brand new multiport acoustic architecture that precisely controls the airflow that carries sound into the ear.

Okay, but what does that even mean? Well, when listening to music on these, they have a noticeably wider sound stage. They allow you to hear more detail in your music, especially with vocals. And additionally, their bass frequency is more pronounced at the very low end.

Now, when I say that, it’s not that they pumped in more bass overall. Thank goodness, ’cause I actually really like the way the AirPods Pro 2 were tuned. Overall, the adjustment here is subtle. You’ll just notice a deeper bass, but it’s not overwhelming. Compared to the new buds, the AirPods Pro 2 sound a bit less clear in the highs and mids and have less noticeable bass at the really low frequencies.

Battery Life: Significant Improvements

With these, you’ll get 8 hours with ANC-enabled music playback, which is a 33% increase over the 6 hours you could get with the previous generation. Though note with spatial audio and head tracking enabled, battery life decreases to 7.5 hours.

You also get up to 10 hours of listening time with transparency using the hearing aid feature, which is a 67% increase from the 6 hours you got with the AirPods Pro 2. And with AirPods Pro 3, conversation boost is now automatic, which can help those with hearing loss converse with others in a crowded environment by boosting the audio from the person that you’re talking to.

Pricing and Additional Upgrades

Now, given Apple has basically improved practically everything people loved about the AirPods Pro 2, surprisingly, the AirPods Pro 3 costs the exact same $249, and you’ll likely be able to find them on sale for a few bucks off. Be sure to check out our products link to see their current prices across various retailers.

Also, Apple upgraded the ultra wideband chip found in the charging case to slightly improve the precision finding performance.

New Hardware Features

Now, Apple has also brought two new things to the hardware of the AirPods Pro 3.

Heart Rate Monitoring

First is heart rate monitoring. These buds feature a new custom PPG heart rate sensor that shines infrared light pulses to measure blood flow. You can now track up to 50 different workout types using just your AirPods Pro and an iPhone without needing an Apple Watch.

Live Translation

The second new feature Apple launched is the new live translation feature. When wearing your AirPods, it’ll translate languages being spoken around you by using the processing on your iPhone, but it’s still in beta and is limited in the languages it can translate. And importantly, this feature isn’t exclusive to the AirPods Pro 3. It’ll work on the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4.

Oh, and the last change that Apple made is they removed the Bluetooth pairing button at the back of the case. Now, some may be like, “Oh, great. Apple just got rid of the Bluetooth pairing mode altogether or something,” but actually it’s still there. All you do now is open up the case and just double tap it to put it in pairing mode.

Final Verdict: Worth the Upgrade?

If there’s ever been an Apple product worth upgrading to from the previous version over the past several years, it’s the AirPods Pro 3.

So for $249, are the AirPods Pro 3 worth upgrading to given my impressions so far? Yes. It’s been quite a while since I’ve used a new generation of Apple product where it feels like this big of an improvement compared to the previous version with 256 gigs of storage, it would have been an easier upsell. So, if you don’t need a bit bigger battery or a larger display and you don’t want the nicer materials or Pro camera features and the high megapixel cameras themselves, then I’d go with the 10 this year.

For 6 Months Later, I’m Josh Teder. Thanks for reading