Hello all, looking to buy some AirPods and wanted y'all's opinion, are the Pros worth the upgrade over Gen 3? How effective is the noise canceling?

TIA

I stopped carrying my noise cancelling headphones on airplanes because the noise cancelling on the Pros was as good as my Bose headphones. I had the older versions of the regular AirPods and they were definitely harder to keep in my ears when moving around. And the transparency mode on the Pros is awesome.

I say get the Pros.

Similar boat as OldArmyBrent. I have Sony MX4 over the ears and AirPod Pros. AirPods seem to cancel 85-90% what the Sony's do and are way more convenient. I'd go Pro if you care about cancelling. I've seen them down in the $169.99 range a couple of times too.

The Pros are ridiculously good. Had mine since they released and still going strong. Much better than the original airpods for me.

Pros are great. I daily drive them for gym, business calls, podcasts and music. Seldom use the noise cancellation or transparency modes but nice that they are there. The silicon tips are what seals (pun intended) the deal for me. No issue at gym with sweat or any other movement with the silicon tips and secure tight fit. Just the tips(TWSS ) offers a lot of noise cancellation without even turning on the feature.

atmhockey said:

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Pros are great. I daily drive them for gym, business calls, podcasts and music. Seldom use the noise cancellation or transparency modes but nice that they are there. The silicon tips are what seals (pun intended) the deal for me. No issue at gym with sweat or any other movement with the silicon tips and secure tight fit. Just the tips(TWSS ) offers a lot of noise cancellation without even turning on the feature.

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I'm curious why you don't use the noise cancelling or transparency modes. To save battery? I can't think of a time i haven't used one or the other, they both work so well.

I had no interest in airpods until they made a version with soft tips. The regular airpods with the hard molded plastic just don't fit my ears. They hurt and they fall out.

I also ordered foam replacement tips which i much prefer over the silicone.

Yeah I can't imagine not using either transparency or ANC. The normal mode doesn't sound any better than transparency and I'd rather be able to hear stuff around me if I'm not in ANC.

Thanks so much for the recommendations and info, Pros it is!

boy09 said:

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atmhockey said:

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Pros are great. I daily drive them for gym, business calls, podcasts and music. Seldom use the noise cancellation or transparency modes but nice that they are there. The silicon tips are what seals (pun intended) the deal for me. No issue at gym with sweat or any other movement with the silicon tips and secure tight fit. Just the tips(TWSS ) offers a lot of noise cancellation without even turning on the feature.

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I'm curious why you don't use the noise cancelling or transparency modes. To save battery? I can't think of a time i haven't used one or the other, they both work so well.

I had no interest in airpods until they made a version with soft tips. The regular airpods with the hard molded plastic just don't fit my ears. They hurt and they fall out.

I also ordered foam replacement tips which i much prefer over the silicone.

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I am one of those that ANC makes uncomfortable. It puts pressure on my eardrum and after about 30 minutes becomes annoying.

Like I said above the two modes work really well but the silicon tips give a ton of noise isolation already and that is enough for me 90% of the time.

AirPods Pro if you're gonna use mostly for leisure and travel.

Gen 3 > Pro for working out because the pros tend to wear out from running.

Anyone else have this experience? It's my #1 concern.

Pros' noice cancellation is very good.

Personally I wish I had gotten the 3rd gen AirPods though, largely because none of the silicon tips fit my ears that well (have to adjust them with my hands often).

Biggest disappointment I've had so far with my Pros is ****ty Bluetooth connection. There's times where the sound will cut out for a few seconds every minute or so and it's infuriating. 1st gen AirPods I had for over 3 years had issues as well, but never this. It's brought me close to getting rid of them or trying out the comparable Bose model.

You should contact Apple about that. Mine never cut out on me.

Yeah I probably should and likely will eventually. I've dug around online and found other people with similar issues have done the standard unpair-repair type actions but that hasn't worked for me.

I really only wear them at the gym, so the thought of signal interference from all the other phones and headphones crossed my mind as a potential issue, but like I said this was never a problem for my 1st gens.

If I was getting some for running or hard activity, I'd probably go with the Beats Fit Pros.

https://www.beatsbydre.com/earbuds/beats-fit-pro

tfunk02 said:

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If I was getting some for running or hard activity, I'd probably go with the Beats Fit Pros.

https://www.beatsbydre.com/earbuds/beats-fit-pro

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I never knew about these! Cool.

I see they share a lot of the same hardware as the pro.

They do have two major differences besides the shape.

1. They are missing wireless charging. I charge my Pros via MagSafe 98% of the time. I would miss that.

2. They charge by USB-C, so it may be an extra cord for iPhone users.

My pro have the wireless case but I have it plugged into my my monitor via usb-lightning.

I'm indifferent on that feature.

Im waiting on the Air Pods Pro 2 expected to be released later this year

I loved the Pros. They were great for everyday activities, but they suck for anything sweaty. I went through two pairs (original and replacement) in less than 2 years from wearing them on my Peloton.

tfunk02 said:

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If I was getting some for running or hard activity, I'd probably go with the Beats Fit Pros.

https://www.beatsbydre.com/earbuds/beats-fit-pro

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How good is the mic on these?

I just got some pros at the beginning of the year and I love them. I never got any before because the original airpod and iPhone headphones would always fall out of my ears.

I've been using them to workout and have never had an issue with them. Are they not water/sweat proof? I just assumed they were. Haven't had any issues yet, but I always make sure I dry them off really good before putting them back in the case.

They supposedly are. They didn't stop working completely on me but the mics for NC and ambiance I think kept kinda shorting out and getting gunked up and the sound quality went to crap and they'd crackle every time I moved. I tried keeping them clean and did several deep cleans to no avail. But that's just me. It sucks bc I really liked them otherwise.

txaggie05 said:

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They supposedly are. They didn't stop working completely on me but the mics for NC and ambiance I think kept kinda shorting out and getting gunked up and the sound quality went to crap and they'd crackle every time I moved. I tried keeping them clean and did several deep cleans to no avail. But that's just me. It sucks bc I really liked them otherwise.

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I had this issue after my daughter put them in her mouth. Sigh...

A hard reset seemed to jolt them back into proper order.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209463

There are audio samples under the microphone section here. I have no actual experience with them.
https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/beats/fit-pro-true-wireless

Here's the AirPods Pro review. Based on the scores only, it looks like it has a slightly better recording quality and slightly worse microphone noise handling for those on the other end.
https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/apple/airpods-pro-truly-wireless

OldArmyBrent said:

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I stopped carrying my noise cancelling headphones on airplanes because the noise cancelling on the Pros was as good as my Bose headphones. I had the older versions of the regular AirPods and they were definitely harder to keep in my ears when moving around. And the transparency mode on the Pros is awesome.

I say get the Pros.

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As a person who consulting traveled, youre bose comparison is insane assuming you have the q45's and not a lesser one. Of course for over $100 less you'd expect them to not be the same.

My wife got me the airpod pros for christmas and they're great for call at home since i wfh and tuning out the distractions, but for plane travel 100% always wearing the overhead bose.

The Lost said:

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OldArmyBrent said:

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I stopped carrying my noise cancelling headphones on airplanes because the noise cancelling on the Pros was as good as my Bose headphones. I had the older versions of the regular AirPods and they were definitely harder to keep in my ears when moving around. And the transparency mode on the Pros is awesome.

I say get the Pros.

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As a person who consulting traveled, youre bose comparison is insane assuming you have the q45's and not a lesser one. Of course for over $100 less you'd expect them to not be the same.

My wife got me the airpod pros for christmas and they're great for call at home since i wfh and tuning out the distractions, but for plane travel 100% always wearing the overhead bose.

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They're not the latest Bose headset, so maybe not as good as the QC45s. I have ANR aviation headsets that are much better than anything in the Bose QC price range, but for me having one less thing to carry every week was a great trade off even if the noise cancelling is slightly better with an over the ear style ANR. If the option is the normal AirPods vs the pros, though, that's a no brainer. Get the pros.

I will say that once you've used noise canceling on an airplane, you'll never go back to just dealing with the noise. My wife got my old Bose set and told me at first she didn't want to use them. One flight is all it took - now she doesn't travel without them.

The Lost said:

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OldArmyBrent said:

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I stopped carrying my noise cancelling headphones on airplanes because the noise cancelling on the Pros was as good as my Bose headphones. I had the older versions of the regular AirPods and they were definitely harder to keep in my ears when moving around. And the transparency mode on the Pros is awesome.

I say get the Pros.

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As a person who consulting traveled, youre bose comparison is insane assuming you have the q45's and not a lesser one. Of course for over $100 less you'd expect them to not be the same.

My wife got me the airpod pros for christmas and they're great for call at home since i wfh and tuning out the distractions, but for plane travel 100% always wearing the overhead bose.

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To the point: the Pros size advantage make these feel especially burdensome as mentioned.

No matter the brand, this is what it feels like.

I am pretty cheap, and used wired in the ears forever then finally bought a cheap set of Bluetooth off amazon and fought against AirPods for a long time. I thought they were over priced and our daughters had the AirPods and they would never stay in my ear. Wife surprised me with a set of pros and I will never go back. They are great, and I use them more than I ever thought I would. The foam tips made them even better and I honestly have nothing bad to say about them. They have survived a full cycle with the case in the washing machine and have not missed a beat.