In a surprise announcement, Apple released the Pro version of its extremely popular AirPods this week. The new AirPods Pro features Active Noise Cancellation and a new design. Naturally, we were curious to see if they were any good. Today, we got a pair for review and here’s our AirPods Pro unboxing and first impressions.
The Pro version comes with a handful of new features that differentiate it from the previous AirPods. The new model gets a redesign and everything is different now. This includes its price, as the AirPods Pro will cost you $249.
The case is slightly wider and shorter than the previous AirPods case. And it still supports wireless charging but this time Apple is not offering a non-wireless charging option. It makes sense given its ‘Pro’ branding.
Surprisingly it still equipped a lightning port and, in the box, Apple includes a lighting to USB-C cable. So, if you are currently using iOS, make sure you have a USB-C charger, otherwise, you’ll be forced to rely only on wireless charging.
What’s new on the earbuds? As you can see here, the AirPods Pro are little bit smaller and they have a shorter stem. Honestly, I don’t think they look as bad as the images on Apple’s website. After you put them on, they just look like a shorter and smaller version of AirPods.
The reason why they look weird is probably the rubber tips. Just as Apple mentioned at the launch, there are 3 different kinds of tip sizes. For those who have a slightly bigger auricle, this is definitely good news and ensures your AirPods Pro have a tight fit, without having to worry about dropping them. And you can’t really afford to drop them after paying so much!
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And thanks to the rubber tip design, put them on, and you will notice that in addition to the tight fit, AirPods Pro is actually using microphones to offer Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). The cancellation is quite impressive, and it is hard to believe the kind of noise isolation created by the new earbuds. You can immediately feel the difference as compared to its predecessor and you will definitely love it.
Activating the noise cancellation slightly reduces the playback time. You get five hours of battery life on a single charge, but it goes down to 4.5 hours with noise canceling. Fast charging is available this time around, so you will get one hour of talk time or music playback from just five minutes of charging.
In the meantime, Apple AirPods Pro also has a transparency mode which allows you to hear surrounding sounds even with the earbuds placed in your ears. This is made possible because of the large vent on the sides, where the air can pass through.
Another difference is that now you don’t have to tap the stem, now you just squeeze them. There is a pressure-sensitive flat area where you can squeeze it to change songs or pause a song. But sadly, we still can’t adjust the volume using these squeeze controls. So you still have to control it via your iPhone.
With the H1 chip inside, the AirPods Pro will pair with your iPhone if it comes near the phone. In the control center of the device, you can further adjust the volume and switch between the noise canceling and transparency modes.
Our first impressions reveal that although everyone has his own interpretation of how things sound, AirPods Pro may not satisfy all your demands. But at least they sound better than the older AirPods.
So, if you are considering to replace your old device, AirPods Pro is going to be a good choice. New features like noise cancellation and IPX4 are impressive. For those who aren’t fans of in-ear earbuds, this is probably not worth getting but for everyone else, AirPods Pro seems to a decent Bluetooth earphone with noise cancellation, that is, if you are ready to pay its expensive $249 price tag.
We will post a complete review of the AirPods pro very soon. So stay tuned.
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