AirPods Pro review: white silence


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Even here it’s “pro”! Apple consistently introduces a division of its products into “regular” and “professional”. If to

the latter can easily be attributed to the extremely powerfulMac Pro desktop computers, then there are questions about such a decidedly philistine thing as a Bluetooth headset. But stop quibbling over words, let’s quickly look at the new “programs”, because in some ways they will certainly be cooler than everything else.

What is it?

Apple AirPods Pro is a bluetooth headsetconsisting of two separate headphones with built-in microphones and a charging box with battery. Positioned as an older model compared to AirPods.

What are interesting?

The fact that these are the first headphones (or is it a headset?) Apple with active noise reduction. And for the first time - with the prefix "pro".

What is the difference from non-pro?

Firstly, the already mentioned active noise reduction system. This is an important technical feature that immediately moves the device to a higher league.

Secondly - with a design with replaceable intra-ear inserts instead of all-plastic inserts.

Thirdly, the design as a whole, where you can include the modified dimensions of the headphones and box-charging themselves, controls, as well as basic protection against water and sweat level IPX4.

Autonomy is about the same level, there are nuances in management, we will consider them in more detail. The price is much higher, on the official website it is $ 250 compared to $ 160 for regular AirPods.

What is in the box?

Two headphones in the charging box, a USB-C cable to Lightning, three sets of in-ear earbuds and an envelope with instructions.


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There is no separate charger,It is assumed that you either have it included with your smartphone, or you will charge the headset from a computer. Which, of course, has a USB-C port (not always, actually). In general, we haven’t switched completely to a universal connector yet; Lightning is still in business.

How do they look and manage?

In general, AirPods Pro are similar to regular AirPods. The same box charging, white, glossy, classic Apple style. Exceptionally white. Unfortunately, rumors of colorful versions did not materialize. But separately you can buy compatible protective covers in different colors. And this is useful because glossy white plastic is pretty easy to scratch.


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There are changes in the details. Boxing has become more compact, like the headphones themselves. The mechanism for opening and closing the lid is pleasant, spring-loaded, but in the closed state, if you apply some force, you can detect minimal backlash.

Front &#8211; led indicator. Lights up green normally (when the box is opened), orange when charging (including when the headphones are charging inside) and white in detection mode.


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At the back is a round pairing button. She does not protrude from the body.


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Bottom - Lightning connector for charging.


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Headphones themselves have undergone more significant changes compared to their predecessors. From the inserts, they became intra-channel with interchangeable soft nozzles.


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The legs are shorter, now it seems that theydiffer from the good old wired headphones only in the absence of wire. At the same time, the declared battery life has not actually changed, that is, the batteries fit in a reduced volume without problems.


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In two places on the body of each earphone are visiblemicrophones covered with black nets. At the bottom of the “legs” are silver charging contacts, as before. The right and left headphones are marked with the letters R and L, respectively. Each headphone has one control button. Two fingers are used to press it: you need to grab the “leg” and squeeze it on top of the button. With a single press, you can pause or resume playback, double or triple - go forward or backward, respectively. A long press turns on or off the active noise reduction mode. In addition, pressing is used to answer an incoming call and to end a conversation. But there is no volume control, this is a minus.

How do they work?

We start by connecting. The easiest way to carry out this procedure is with the iPhone, updated to the current, 13th version of iOS. It is enough to bring the headset to the iPhone in an open case, and it will be recognized. Further, you only need to confirm the right to use the device by pressing a button.


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With other devices, includingAndroid smartphones, “pairing” the old fashioned way. We press the round button on the case, we observe the white blinking LED on the case and the name AirPods Pro in the list of available devices on the non-iPhone screen. In general, the same thing, but there is no wow effect with recognition.

Pleasant amenities like automatic pause whenremoving one earphone from the ear outside the Apple ecosystem doesn’t work, but active noise reduction (let's briefly say the ACP) is the main thing - how it is!

When the mode is on, the ACP does not remove extraneoussounds completely. It muffles them, mainly low frequencies. The noise of a subway train becomes a barely noticeable rustle, but you can still hear the name of the next station announced by the announcer. A noisy street also ceases to be noisy, but at the same time a siren or a sharp scream can be heard quite well.


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A similar effect is achieved without any ACPclassic vacuum “plugs”, but their wearer has no other option to hear the world around them than to pull the earphone out of their ear. And in the case of AirPods Pro there is: holding the button on one of the headphones for a long time turns off the ANC and turns on the “transparency mode”. Despite its close-to-plug design, it provides excellent audibility of everything happening around. No worse than in the case of in-ear headphones. Moreover, you can use the noise reduction mode without listening to any music. We put on headphones and listen to the silence. This is technomagic. The Apple H1 processor built into the headset is responsible for real-time audio processing. Perhaps soon headphones will seriously compete in computing power with other equipment.

Let's get back to iOS-specific features.The headphones automatically become connected when you open the box, and when you close it, they automatically turn off. You can view the charge level of both the headphones themselves and the box, and also configure the button functions separately for the left and right headphones. Here you can, in particular, reassign the transparency mode, ANC or disable both. There is a function for checking the fit to the ears and auto-detection of the ear.


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Let me remind you again that all these buns are only in iOS 13.

What about autonomy?

Fully charged headphones pulled out of the boxcan work for approximately four hours. The manufacturer claims 4.5-hour autonomy, but I was not able to take a perfectly accurate measurement. “Tired” headphones need to be returned “to the house” for recharging. In total, one battery of the box is capable of recharging the headset to provide 24 hours of operation. On the one hand, four hours is not enough, on the other hand, charging the headphones in the box is very convenient. In addition, they charge quickly. A 5-10 minute stay in the box gives about a quarter of the charge, that is, this is enough for more than an hour. The box is compatible with Qi wireless charging, which is also very convenient.


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How do they sound?

Sound good. Despite the price tag and the word “pro” in the title, it would be wrong to compare the “household” headset with purely professional instruments like monitors, which musicians use during the performance. But let’s do this: AirPods Pro sounds really good. Although in the low-frequency region, a little more could be expected from them. Separately, it is worth mentioning the additional benefits of ACP. It allows you not to twist the volume to the maximum in order to hammer in extraneous sounds and allows you to listen to music, rather than shouting the outside world with it.

To the quality of communication in a telephone conversationno complaints. Headphones stuffed with microphones (three in each!) Capture good sound and filter out harmful noise. Despite the rather distant distance from the mouth, speech is transmitted confidently. As a headset, the AirPods Pro is quite good.

How comfortable are they?

That is, do they sit well in the ears? Rather yes than no. If in more detail - better than liners, but worse than lightweight wired solutions of a similar form factor. Although this, of course, is a subjective point of view, everyone's ears are different. AirPods Pro is not inclined to fall out, it is quite possible to run and play sports in them, although from time to time I got the feeling that they were about to fall out. But they didn’t fall out. It is possible that the fact of the absence of insurance wires and the cost of one lost earphone also contribute to creating this feeling. Third-party accessory manufacturers have long been fussing and selling special safety laces for AirPods, so you can solve the problem if you wish.

With prolonged wearing, there is no particular discomfort,nonsingular - there is, like any headphone. A matter of habit and individual anatomical features. In general, headphones of this type (with in-ear inserts) are more in need of preliminary fitting than simple earbuds like the same AirPods.

Applefans get used to everything that the Great One commandsApple, others will not like the lack of volume control. No, really, this is not serious; they could have brought such an opportunity, which was familiar in wired times, to the professional version. You can, of course, ask Siri to turn it down, but this is not such a complex operation that you cannot do it yourself.

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In the dry residue

Apple AirPods Pro - perfect for now"Native" wireless headset for iPhone. The most closely integrated into the ecosystem. With good sound and an effective active noise reduction system. With interchangeable in-ear inserts, a convenient charging case and moisture protection. But without volume control, with an ambiguous design (this does not bother anyone) and a high price (but this is an argument, although it is not always clear in whose favor). At the start of sales in Ukrainian retail, the price of AirPods Pro exceeds 10 thousand UAH, while AirPods 2 can be bought for 7 thousand, and, say, Samsung Galaxy Buds (without ACP) at all for 4 thousand.

Fully Wireless Headphones on the Market Alreadya lot, the competition in this form factor is already high, but the presence of ACP, multiplied by the magic of the brand, immediately throws competitors down and carries the attractiveness of “bugs” into the stratosphere, overtaking the price tag. If you do not consider the brand’s magic, then you have at your disposal bluetooth alternatives in the form of Sony WF-1000XM3 for UAH 7500, Jabra Elite 65t for 5000, or models of other designs (that is, with wires) that Sony, Audio have -Technica and Bose.

4 reasons to buy Apple AirPods Pro:

  • high-quality active noise reduction and “transparency mode”;
  • good sound;
  • convenient box charging;
  • compact, water protected design.

3 reasons not to buy Apple AirPods Pro:

  • lack of volume control;
  • some of the chips do not work outside the Apple ecosystem;
  • Regular AirPods and a number of competitors are cheaper.

 

Apple AirPods Pro

Now with noise reduction and water protection

Great full wireless headset forApple devices. With active noise reduction, good sound, wireless charging and protection against water and sweat. But users of Android smartphones may prefer solutions from other manufacturers at a more reasonable price.

Down with the noise!

Thank you

The editors thank the iLounge for the kindly provided for review headset Apple AirPods Pro.