AirPods Pro Are My Favorite Ear Buds Two Years Later
AirPods are undoubtedly the most popular pair of earbuds to ever grace the headphone market. They are stylish, recognizable and have good sound for listening to pretty much anything you want. They have become the symbol of wireless audio ear buds for the everyday user.
In 2020, Apple dominated the True Wireless Stereo market with 30% share over the likes of Bose, Beats, Sony, Samsung and many others. That number in 2021 has since declined a bit but it is sure to rise again with the most recent release of AirPods 3.
The recent Apple event showed off the new AirPods which take plenty of design and feature sets from AirPods Pro. New design, smaller earbud stems, new MagSafe case, sweat/water resistance and longer battery life at a price of $179.99. The AirPods 3 had some points of interest for me, but in reality I was still using my pair of AirPod’s Pro that I got back on launch day in 2019. The newest 3rd generation of AirPod’s from Apple weren’t enough to justify an upgrade. Needless to say, I hold a high standard to wireless ear buds now thanks to the AirPod’s Pro.
AirPods Were Already Great, They Just Got Better
The 1st generation of AirPods to this day are the most convenient listening experience when compared to other earbuds. They were fully wireless, came in small white pebble of a charging case that gave all day battery life, the pairing process was super simple and they just worked.
When the AirPods received an upgrade in the form of AirPods Pro, it was Apple doing what they do best, competing with themselves. It featured a new in ear design with rubber tips to help block out external sound, Active Noise Cancellation, sweat/water resistance, smaller stems with button controls and a better battery life. These AirPods even had wireless charging, which meant no more having to plug it in with a lightning chord.
I never thought a pair of headphones like these could be this good until I made the jump to be a first adopter. Sound wise, these were better than the AirPods when it came to sound stage and bass. This had to do with the rubber tips doing a great job blocking out any opening for sound to leak out. What was a great surprise was the active noise cancelling. These were some of the best ANC earbuds I ever used, mostly because ANC was touted as an over the ear headphone feature. After two years of train rides and flights, mowing the lawn, hitting the gym, sitting in a Starbucks or walking around a mall, having AirPods on while using ANC was a game changer that enhanced my listening experience.
One of the Apple Ecosystem Essentials
I may be exaggerating a bit when it comes to stating AirPods Pro as “essential” devices to pair with your Apple devices. You don’t need AirPods Pro, let alone AirPods but it’s the ease of use and marketing by Apple that make them stand out and create this need.
With the release of AirPod’s Pro, Active Noise Cancelling was one of the highlighted features. It’s not new technology by any means, we have seen noise cancelling headphones for years. Where the fascination comes in is how Apple integrated it into a tiny pocket sized set of earbuds that have all day battery life.
The AirPods Pro have the ability to increase productivity not just within your office space, but any where basically thanks to ANC. The world can be distracting, AirPods Pro have allowed someone like me to benefit from ANC without having big clunky headphones on. I’ve used AirPods Pro every time when writing these articles on Medium, edited videos for my gaming YouTube channel and just watching content.
Sound Quality That’s Just Right
AirPods Pro brings out really good sound quality for a wide variety of music. It should sound better than Air Pods 1st gen and 2nd gen since theres a bigger speaker inside the headphones. Everything sounds leveled and nothing is really over bearing, even the bass is just the right amount. Hip Hop, EDM, Jazz, Rock, Heavy Metal, and Lofi tend to be my rotation of music. There really isn’t one genre that sounds worse or better to me. In the past previous headphones I owned would cater to specific genres (example Beats tend to be more oriented for hip hop and EDM listeners), AirPods Pro are just right for everything.
Longevity with AirPods Pro
I purchased AirPods Pro back two years ago to this day. I was a hesitant at first to buy because after taxes and apple care I was buying a $300+ pair of earbuds. That was a first for me and one that I thought I was going to regret, but I was mistaken. Especially when the pandemic came around and everyone was stuck in doors for months, AirPods Pro became an important tool. Zoom meeting after Zoom Meeting, discord chats with friends. Many nights of watching and listening to content in bed when I was very sick with covid.
Sure, any pair of wireless headphones can do what the main purpose of AirPods can do, but it’s that Apple magic, that instant pairing process, better controls via the stems, seamless transition from one device to the next without having to manually connect via bluetooth. The fast charging of each bud when put back in its case and as mentioned before, the active noise cancelling. AirPods Pro were just too good.
Hitting the two year mark, and seeing the addition of Spatial Audio and slight battery degradation, I have no real reason to upgrade until I run these earbuds to the ground. Even when that day comes, I plan to either purchase another pair or the next version of AirPods Pro.
Not Entirely Perfect for My Ears
While I’ve been going on and on about how great AirPods are, I have one complaint. One of the great features of AirPods Pro is the water and sweat resistance, I started working out more with AirPods Pro on. My workout regime is usually an hour and a half and I do tend to sweat a lot when I go hard. Sadly, each AirPod after I start to sweat begin to move around and eventually fall out. It’s an annoyance for me and possibly a good amount of people who may have purchased these with the intention of becoming daily workout earbuds.
These are just my ears however, I have seen and heard of others who use AirPods Pro while working out and they can get through the entire workout. It is a minor tidbit for me, not the end of the world. I did end up getting separate headphones for the gym just so I could get through my workouts and not be distracted.
To Sum it all up, despite the difficulty of how the ear buds stay in my ears when working out, AirPods Pro have been the best pair of wireless earbuds I ever owned. It is going to be tough for another kind of earbuds to make me want to switch away, they are just that good.
