A Week With My New Little Buddies – AirPods Pro 3

Like always, I was tempted by the great green fruit’s autumnal offerings: the understated yet feature-packed iPhone 17, the muscular might of the iPhone 17 Pro, and its bigger slab of a brother, the supermodel-skinny iPhone Air… And yet, I was good, virtuous, some might say. Though, I couldn’t not buy anything—that’s just nuts.

So, on launch day I received a little box, and in that little box was another little box, and in that little box were two little earbuds… Surprise! It was the AirPods Pro 3!

The Blind Perspective

There are plenty of reviews out there on the AirPods Pro 3—or as I’ll call them from here on out, the APP3. What I’d like to do is look at them from the blind perspective: how they fit into our lives and what issues they may present, if any.

I’ve had the APP and the APP2 and I think they are among the best products Apple has made in the last decade. Headphones and speakers are the equivalent of our screens. They’re the way we interact with our devices, and the way we parse information. What Apple has created is a pocketable device that allows us to use our phones, our laptops, and our iPads anywhere—from working in the same room as a sleeping partner, to getting directions on our phone in the centre of a busy city. AirPods plug us into the digital world.

Of course, there are alternatives—open-ear models like Aftershokz and other types of earbuds—but none have the special sauce of the AirPods, especially the AirPods Pro.

Transparency

Above all, the most compelling feature of any AirPods Pro is Transparency. This is the ability to squeeze an AirPod stem and let environmental sound in. It’s the perfect combination: our interaction with our device remains private, while we remain aware of the world around us. No other earbud comes close.

The AirPods Pro 3 are no exception. They build on the clarity of the previous generation. I’d love to say it’s like not wearing earbuds at all, as some tech journalists so glibly declare, but it’s not. Maybe, as people who rely on hearing, we are more discerning. It is good—very good—but even on the latest version there’s a dip in higher frequencies and a narrowing of the stereo field. It is an improvement on the AirPods Pro 2, though I’d be loath to call it a significant one; the transparency of the APP2 was already excellent. This is a refinement. Voices are clearer, there’s a little more precision in how the external world is piped in but—and this is important to us—it does impair our hearing. Not dramatically, but enough that taking them out is a relief. Even with this latest version, I’m a little uncomfortable using Transparency Mode when I’m out by myself.

Fit

I’ve never had a huge problem with fit for the APP, at least not to the extent they suddenly tumble out. The APP3 has most certainly improved the fit, though. They ship with five sets of ear tips (to lose). They now use a memory-foam core covered in a delicious silicone coating. (Please don’t eat your AirPods Pro 3.) Where the ear tips on the APP2 were domed, these are more bulbous, popping into the ear canal. The connection point has also been moved so that the stem of the AirPod sits further from your cheek.

The big test: can I eat while wearing them? The answer is yes—at least, they stay in while eating. The issue is that I can hear myself snuffling and grunting away, the clack of teeth, and all the other abysmal sounds of mastication. Crisps are a right racket. Maybe eating something soft would work, but limiting my diet based on my need to listen to an audiobook while eating seems a little too much, even for me.

Audio Quality

I’ll be brief on this one, as there are plenty of reviews out there from people who have a lot more to say on the matter. They sound better than the APP2, which already sounded good. It’s not night and day, though. There’s more bass, better imaging—but we don’t buy earbuds for the best sound. Considering their size and portability, they do an excellent job. They simply can’t rival over-ear headphones, and that won’t change until physics does.

The Case

One concern I had about the case was the removal of the pairing button from the back. It’s been replaced by a capacitive touch button on the front, centred beneath the indentation to flip up the lid. In my testing, it was easy to double-tap the front to put them in pairing mode, with an audio confirmation.

Final Thoughts

The question I’m sure you’re asking yourself—the question I was asking myself—is: Are they worth it? And, of course, the answer is nuanced. It depends on what you already own, if anything.

They are a big upgrade from everything aside from the APP2. The only significant difference between the APP2 and APP3 is the heart-rate monitor which, as someone who has an Apple Watch, I won’t use. If you don’t have an Apple Watch, the APP3 has more value. If you do, well, Apple’s latest audio offering isn’t cheap.

Upgrades, when it comes to Apple devices, are usually quite painless after the first purchase. Most devices retain a lot of value, and the actual out-of-pocket cost is the difference between your sale value of your existing kit and the new shiny toy. With AirPods, however, it’s not so simple. Maybe it’s because we don’t like the idea of buying things that have been inserted into human orifices, but the resale value of AirPods of any type is far lower than the rest of Apple’s cornucopia of treats. This means you’re pretty much buying them outright, even if you have the APP2.

If your APP2 are dying, the batteries not holding charge, then it’s a no-brainer. If they still work, I’d be more thoughtful about purchasing the newer version. It’s likely there will be many sales on the APP2 as stock is cleared and, honestly, if you can get them for less than £150/$150, then maybe you should consider them. You get transparency, you get a very good pair of earbuds which sound almost as good, fit almost as well, and have almost the same level of transparency. The question is: how much is that almost worth to you?

If you want the best of the best, the decision is simple. Even at their high price, I think these, for us, are fantastic value. I return to the point: these are our version of screens. Sighted folk spend a lot more money on high-res monitors with silly refresh rates. These are our window to the digital world.

Whichever version you go for—the APP2, APP3, or even the AP4 (AirPods 4; how dare I throw in a new acronym so late in the article)—you’ll be delighted.

Anyway, that’s my week-long review of the AirPods Pro 3. Anyone else got them? Anyone have differing views? If so, I’ll meet you outside…