When AirPod zombies don’t acknowledge what you are saying, one of two things is happening:
A. They can’t hear you.
B. They can hear you but choose not to. (Like you haven’t done that!)
With Apple’s newest AirPods Pro, which went on sale last Wednesday, you should now always assume the answer is A.
Unlike the $149, one-size-fits-most AirPods, which are still available, the $249 AirPods Pro have active noise canceling. That is, they aim to shut you off from all the annoying sounds of the world so you can be alone with your fave Celine Dion playlist. The new pods also are sweat- and water-resistant, equipped with improved microphones and come with three different size silicone tips for a better fit.
What’s not improved? How easy they are to lose. (Also, battery life.)
Just like that you’re left with a rush of questions about which AirPods to buy, or which of their rapidly multiplying competitors. (Every tech company with a voice assistant has announced wireless earbuds this fall.) Should you get—or hold on to—the more affordable, totally decent AirPods? Or go for the more expensive, totally better ones?
After nearly a week of testing, I’ve got answers to those questions and more about these cute little earwax collectors. Whatever you decide, just promise to remember my Apple “Pro” tip: You must weigh how much you’ll use that “pro” feature—be it an iPhone camera, a MacBook’s Touch Bar or the improved sound of a tiny plastic ear bud—before forking over the increasingly painful surcharge.
(Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, has a commercial agreement to supply news through Apple services.)
Do they really sound better?
They really do. You notice it in almost any song you listen to. Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” (my go-to test) sounded noticeably fuller, compared with how it sounds in regular AirPods. The horns are sharper and the vocals are clearer. The Pro’s fuller bass on Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” left the AirPods sounding like an old clock radio. Even phone calls sound better.
And then there’s my toddler, barking dog and always-running washing machine. In my house, I could hear the songs and nothing else. The noise cancellation isn’t as fully immersive as in my $350 over-the-ear Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones (which also have richer sound and deeper bass), but I was still able to escape crowded subways, street noise and the morning ruckus at home.
I put regular AirPods, the AirPod Pros—er, AirPods Pro—Amazon Echo Buds and Samsung Galaxy Buds through my hair dryer test. With a hair dryer at full blast, the AirPod Pros and the Echo Buds did the best job of blocking out the noise. The regular AirPods, predictably, fared the worst.
Do you think that’s safe?
Well, great noise canceling also means blocking the sound of an oncoming car, a train announcer or a “HEY MISS!! YOU LEFT BEHIND YOUR CREDIT CARD!!” That’s why there’s a Don’t-Get-Hit-By-a-Bus mode, which Apple boringly calls Transparency.
Switch on Transparency via the settings—accessible through the Control Center or Settings menu—or by pressing and holding one of the AirPod stems. You’ll definitely hear more noises around you.
Unlike others that have this feature, the pass-through audio sounds natural and not amplified. With Amazon’s Echo Buds, I can actually hear more chatter around me than if I weren’t wearing them. (Yes, lovely couple to the left of me on the subway, you really should go to his parents for Thanksgiving.)
Do they really fit better?
Apple wants these to fit so well that it includes a special sizing tool to help you figure out which silicone tips to use. Attach the likeliest winners, put the buds in your ear, press the Ear Tip Fit Test on your iPhone and you’ll get a fit rating. That said, the tool often said “good seal” when I was wearing both the small and medium tips. The multiple tips and trying-on process don’t seem very Apple or Jony Ive-ish.
Still, they fit well and comfortably—even over long periods of wear and during strenuous physical activity. In my mechanical-bull test, I couldn’t get them to fall out. (See video.) Same when I gave them to some back-flipping, crazy-spinning street performers. (Also in the video.) Two days later, as I was eating, one fell right into my bagel. Turns out aggressive chewing is what it takes to break the seal and knock ’em out.
Another reason they stay put? The shorter stems. My jacket or hair often gets stuck on the regular AirPods.
The biggest downside to the very-white rubber tips is ear gunk. I’ll spare you a detailed description. Sure, you can clean them, or replace them for $4 at an Apple Store. But, Apple, what law states that AirPods must be white and only white?
Do you think Siri has gotten better?
The capacitive force sensors in the stems have tricks that take some getting used to:
•One squeeze to play, pause or answer a call
•Two squeezes to skip forward
•Three squeezes to skip backward
•Press and hold to jump between noise cancellation and Don’t-Get-Hit-By-a-Bus mode
Volume controls and anything else is a job for Siri. As with the new cheaper AirPods, saying “Hey Siri” triggers Apple’s not-exactly-beloved virtual assistant. Yet for most of the tasks you want on-the-go, Siri does just as good a job as Alexa, which is integrated into the Amazon Echo Buds.
Initiating a call, sending a text or email, searching for music—Siri did it admirably, if not better than Alexa, because of its deep integration with Apple services. This, and the way the AirPods Pro talk to iOS, makes them the best choice for iPhone owners.
As a texting-and-walking addict (I’m working on it!), I particularly like the new feature where Siri reads back new messages. Siri’s reading capabilities and its speech-to-text capabilities for my responses have been impressive.
Do AirPods ruin the world?
So yes, the new AirPods Pro are great. If sound quality or comfort is important to you, you’ll probably buy them. Heck, Apple’s already betting that the biggest customers will be AirPod upgraders.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
Do the noise cancellation and improved sound quality of the AirPods Pro tempt you to upgrade—or even buy AirPods for the first time? Join the conversation below.
But buying AirPods feels like a bigger decision than a couple hundred dollars.
First, there’s the environmental factor. Like older AirPods, these are yet more disposable tech and not all that repairable. When the battery goes or something gets damaged, they are often just tossed out. Apple does have a $49-per-bud battery replacement program, and it says it does recycle them. Speaking of, battery life on these isn’t improved—in fact, noise canceling will run down the battery a bit faster. The new charging case, though not as fun to flick open one-handed, still provides more than 24 hours of overall listening before having to head back to a wall outlet or wireless charging pad.
Then, there’s that zombie problem. You will never want to take off the AirPods Pro. You’ll want to wear them in more places, for longer periods, drowning out more of the world around you. Maybe, just maybe, that isn’t the best thing for the world. Maybe we’ve finally taken the old don’t-talk-to-strangers rule too far.
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Write to Joanna Stern at joanna.stern@wsj.com
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