By Fraser Fleming
I recently took the big decision to purchase the new AirPods pro from apple. I have been using the AirPods for many years now starting with the 2nd Gen AirPods before getting the AirPods Pro for my travels. I was one of the few who even purchased the AirPods Max. I love them but definitely not worth the money. As I do a lot of travel by train the AirPods pro have been ideal as sometimes the train can be a very noisy environment. They can be a lot of talking. Sometimes people shouting, kids having a laugh and babies crying. So, the Noise cancelling function of both the AirPods Pro and Max are a must for me and to be honest that was pretty decent in both models.
Now I’m watching the 2022 September Apple Event and they announce the next generation of AirPods. These will be the best listening experience you have ever heard. The sound will sound like it is happening all around you. This and all the usual sales pitch. I listened and I thought they sound good lets find out. I went out and purchased myself a pair, and I’m glad I did.
Apple have increased the sound quality from the older one with more definition in the range of frequencies it can produce. You can clearly hear the difference between the low and high ranges. The vocals are clear and crisp. You also have the option to use Spatial Sound when listening to your favourite songs. You can also use your iPhone to 3D scan you ears to have a personalised Spatial Audio setup, just for you. I do find the Spatial Audio adds to my listening experience. I first experienced Spatial Audio with the Amazon Alexa Studio Smart Speaker, bit these take it to a new level. The noise cancelling function of these are one of the biggest selling points for this over the standard AirPods. There is some improvement over the NC function of the AirPods Pro 1 but they were already one of the best on the market. The stand out function of the NC is the Adaptive Transparency. This lets you hear you surrounding environment while the NC will dampen loud noises around you as they happen. For instance, you could be walking down the street and workmen might be drilling the pavement or other loud work and the AirPods should automatically dampen this sound. Another example is when I am on the train it will dampen the sound of the train in motion, but I can still hear any announcements or the conductor. I would say this function works reasonably well. The AirPods Pro have a excellent microphone array built into them. This allows you to use Siri on the go. You can say when your out walking “Hey Siri, Call Graham” and they will respond to your voice command. You can also do this to turn the volume up and down. This can also be done by swiping your finger up and down the steam of each AirPod. When on a call the microphones pick up your voice very clearly and also dampen some of the ambient noise around you. Now onto the comfort of having these bits of white plastic stuck in your ears. And surprisingly they are very comfortable. This is probably subjective to everyone own needs. I found that once I has selected the proper ear tip for me, they fitted very good and after a while I tend to forger I am wearing them. Sometimes with the First Gen AirPods Pro they would slip out of my ear, mostly at the most inconvenient times. But the new ones seam to fit my ears a lot better. The AirPods Pro 2 come with there own charging case that you just pop them into when not in use and it will charge the Pods for you very quickly. The AirPods will give you around 6 hours of continuous playback, but this will vary depending on volume and other factors. The Charging case carries enough charge to let you AirPods play for around 30 hours. The case can be charged multiple ways from the standard Lightning cable to using the new MagSafe Charger from Apple to Wireless charging over a qi matt. The case also allows you to charge it using the apple watch charger. It a pity that it does not support the USB-C cable as that would have been the icing on the cake for charging.
I would recommend these AirPods to anyone who might want to upgrade from the standard AirPods or have not had any before. The addition of Noise Cancelling and improved audio from the 2nd and somewhat from the 3rd gen Standard AirPods is also a reason to get these. I would not recommend getting these if you already own the 1st Gen AirPods Pro as there not much addition function from them to justify the price.
The AirPods Pro 2 can be purchased from Apple and other retailers for £249
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