What I realized when I spent nearly 7 million to buy AirPods Pro 3

If you are sticking with the Apple ecosystem, AirPods Pro 3 are still headphones worth considering in the price range under 10 million.

When Apple introduced its product line in September, I noticed a strange contrast. While the iPhone 17 Pro Max increased in price significantly compared to the previous generation but was "sold out" for quite a while, products like the new AirPods kept the same price, added many improvements but received less attention.

Unlike the iPhone, the time between AirPods updates can be up to years. So when a new generation is released, users often expect outstanding upgrades. With the price remaining the same as the previous generation and promising many significant improvements, I can't help but wonder if it's worth upgrading to AirPods Pro 3.

Different from the moment you put it on your ear

As soon as I put it on, I felt the difference in the feeling of wearing AirPods Pro 3 compared to the previous generation. With Pro 2, the earpiece hugs the face. When worn, the new headphones will be parallel to the cheekbones, creating a more "protruding" feeling. However, this position does not affect the experience when wearing headphones while cycling or riding a motorbike. The wind noise is almost the same, not increasing as I initially feared.

AirPods Pro 3 also sit a little deeper in the ear than the previous generation. When a few friends tried them on, many also commented that the new headphones felt tighter and less likely to fall out than the old ones.

AirPods Pro 3 (right) have a slightly longer earpiece than the previous generation, and the box is also larger.

Apple provides five sets of ear tips, along with instructions to help users find the best fit. Inside the new ear tips is a thin layer of foam, which improves the fit in the user's ear, while the hardness is the same as the old silicone ear tips.

The addition of foam, according to Apple, helps increase the fit in the ear, improving noise cancellation, which Apple claims means the AirPods Pro 3 have “twice as much” active noise cancellation as the AirPods Pro 2.

To test the noise cancellation, in the 2 weeks of ownership, I used AirPods Pro 3 in many familiar environments, with annoying noises such as sitting on a plane, sitting indoors near a fan, and sitting at work with the speaker next to me turned up loud.

The AirPods Pro 3 (front) feel a little tighter than the Pro 2 generation.

For me, the noise cancellation of AirPods Pro 2 is already very good, just turn on music or podcast at medium volume to "forget" the noise on the plane. The latest generation is even better at filtering noise than the old generation.

Without any sound turned on, I felt that the level of noise cancellation of the AirPods Pro 3 was only slightly behind the Sony WH-1000XM6, which has the advantage right from the ear-hugging design. When switching from transparency to noise cancellation mode, the noise decreased very naturally.

The AirPods Pro 3's transparency mode is also better than the previous generation. The sound is magnified but more natural, instead of the Pro 2's amplified voices and ambient noise.

Fun sounds, rich features

The sound quality of AirPods Pro 3 has been adjusted by Apple to be more "fun" than the previous generation, emphasizing both bass and treble ranges.

This V-shaped sound range helps the headphones respond well to the popular music genres that I often listen to such as pop, rock, which take up most of the time. In return, with music that requires better detail and separation, I am not very impressed.

Despite the slight difference in size, users can still take advantage of the AirPods Pro 2 generation cases for the new headphones.

Aside from the decent sound quality, what I still love about the AirPods is the good quality microphone. Many times when I answer the phone while riding a motorbike or jogging outdoors, the person on the other side can still clearly hear what I say.

One of the points that Apple emphasizes in the new headphone model is the heart rate sensor, measured inside the ear. With this function, the headphone can calculate heart rate, calorie consumption similar to a watch, and the data recorded in the app will also clearly indicate which device recorded the information.

I already use the Watch, so I don’t really need a heart rate monitor when I’m exercising . However, the new feature can come in handy in those “accidental” moments when I forget my watch at home.

The live translation app, powered by Apple Intelligence, is also quite interesting. Once installed, the audio is translated almost like a “cabin translation”, meaning the machine will interrupt each part of what the person is saying to translate into the headphones. This type of translation can provide more complete information, but there will always be a delay.

This delay makes the translation function still quite good, not really “live” as Apple calls it. In addition, the number of languages currently supported is quite small, including English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, and no Vietnamese yet.

The "live translation" feature currently supports a few languages, including Vietnamese. Users of AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 (noise-canceling version) can also use this translation feature.

For a device as small as the AirPods, Apple’s claim of an increase in battery life from 6 hours to 8 hours on the Pro 3, a 33% increase over the previous generation, really surprised me. In my long time with the Pro 2, I only reached the limit of more than 4 hours of listening time and heard the warning from the headphones a few times. The increase in battery life could help me never have to worry about running out of battery in the middle of a session.

Worth buying new, should consider carefully if upgrading

For users of the Apple ecosystem, AirPods are still the most "convenient" type of headphones, because only one headphone can connect to an iPhone, iPad or Mac. When you can spend 6.8 million on a headphone, AirPods Pro 3 is still the most comprehensive device for Apple users, with many upgrades compared to the previous generation from noise cancellation, sound quality and features.

The difference of about 1.2 million compared to the current price of Pro 2, in my opinion, is quite small considering that Pro 2 was launched 3 years ago, and the most recent upgrade only changed the USB-C port.

However, as a Pro 2 owner, I will have to consider carefully if I want to upgrade to the new generation. In addition to the sound quality that is not much inferior, AirPods Pro 2 is still updated by Apple with many new features such as hearing aid or translation.

Besides Apple, other companies also have many true wireless headphone models in the same price range worth considering. Sony WF-1000XM5, Bose QC Ultra Earbuds or JBL Tour Pro 3 can all deliver good sound quality, and especially a better experience when used with Android or Windows devices. But if you are already a little "stuck" in the Apple ecosystem, AirPods Pro 3 still has advantages that only Apple can bring.

Source: https://znews.vn/dieu-toi-nhan-ra-khi-bo-gan-7-trieu-mua-airpods-pro-3-post1591627.html