At a look
Knowledgeable’s Ranking
Professionals
- Extra snug and safe match
- Coronary heart price sensor works nicely
- Improved battery life
- Higher noise cancelling and transparency
- The worth didn’t go up
Cons
- No important new audio options
- Charging case holds much less cost
Our Verdict
The one actually new characteristic—coronary heart price monitoring—is unrelated to audio in any approach. However a couple of sensible design and construct tweaks add as much as actual enhancements to an already stellar product.
Worth When Reviewed
This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined
Finest Pricing At this time
Worth When Reviewed
$249
Finest Costs At this time: Apple AirPods Professional 3
$249
$249
$249
$249
$249.99
The AirPods Professional 2 are one in all Apple’s greatest merchandise of the final decade. They have been nice when launched three years in the past and have solely gotten higher with one software program replace after one other including helpful new capabilities.
AirPods Professional 3 looks as if solely a minor replace, at first. They modified the eartips? The form of the “bud” half is just a bit bit totally different? It measures coronary heart price now (which my Apple Watch already does)?
Extra like AirPods Professional 2.5, am I proper?
However regardless of utilizing the identical H2 chip as AirPods Professional 2 and AirPods 4, the considerate modifications to Apple’s greatest earbuds make them considerably higher with out elevating the worth tag. I hesitate to suggest them as an improve to AirPods Professional 2 customers, but it surely’s simple to see Apple has one other large winner on their arms.
Can’t get it out of my head
I’ve a love-hate relationship with AirPods. The comfort and ease of use are so fascinating, however ever because the very first pair, they only haven’t match my ears very nicely. AirPods Professional 2 are the closest to staying put and feeling snug, however I nonetheless have to regulate them infrequently throughout a exercise or danger dropping one.
My go-to answer has been aftermarket foam suggestions, which make a night-and-day distinction. They’re extra comfortable and cozy, and enhance sound high quality by blocking extra outdoors sound.
So think about my curiosity when Apple introduced that AirPods Professional 3 use “foam-infused eartips.” They usually even include 5 sizes—that new XXS dimension is likely to be simply the factor for my reasonably small ears! Are these pretty much as good as my beloved AirPods Professional 2 foam suggestions?
Foundry
Sure. Whereas they nonetheless look and act more-or-less just like the acquainted silicone flanges, there’s sufficient foam buried inside to create the identical comfortable and cozy match I’m used to with the aftermarket suggestions. They keep put, really feel nice, and block extra outdoors sound. And people XXS suggestions are simply my dimension.
Oh, and don’t attempt to use AirPods Professional 3 recommendations on AirPods Professional 2—Apple modified the connection to be safer, so the information don’t pop off whenever you pull the earbud out. This makes them incompatible.
A change would do you good
Except you get actually shut, you’re not going to identify the distinction between AirPods Professional 2 and three.
Holding one subsequent to the opposite, you possibly can see the form of the “bud” half is barely modified: flatter right here, rounder there. The eartips are angled inward rather more—pointing extra towards the middle of your head than in entrance of you—and it actually makes for a significantly better match.
Foundry
The results of this fine-tuning, together with the brand new foam-infused eartips, is the primary pair of AirPods that really keep in my ears, even by means of intense exercise. I may obtain this with aftermarket foam eartips earlier than, however now it really works that approach out of the field.
Apple has modified the venting system as nicely, which is claimed to lead to clearer bass and a wider soundstage. You may see it’s simply barely larger if you happen to search for shut, and I undoubtedly seen higher bass response, although that might be right down to the brand new eartips and their steeper angle, too.
We obtained the beat
The opposite large change with AirPods Professional 3 is coronary heart price monitoring. Along with iOS 26, now you can open the Health app in your iPhone and begin one in all 50 totally different workouts (mainly the Apple Watch exercise listing, minus a couple of like swimming that require an Apple Watch).
Your coronary heart price is learn from each earbuds, and your Apple Watch when you have one, with iOS selecting what it believes to be probably the most correct each 5 seconds.
Foundry
I often work out with my Apple Watch on, and I can’t say I seen a big distinction in outcomes between the Watch, AirPods, and AirPods + Watch combo. I suppose that’s a very good factor.
The center price monitoring being restricted to exercises is a crucial limitation for battery life; the Apple Watch is extra helpful with its periodic all-day coronary heart price checks. And it’s laborious to think about there are tens of millions of potential AirPods Professional 3 prospects which might be on this characteristic however don’t have an Apple Watch but. In case you’re that individual, it is a good characteristic to have and works as marketed.
Good vibrations
The sound high quality of AirPods Professional 3 is certainly higher than AirPods Professional 2, and more-or-less on par with AirPods Professional 2 when augmented by good aftermarket foam suggestions.
In case you actually focus, you possibly can persuade your self that you simply hear a small enchancment in noise discount, transparency (already a energy for AirPods Professional), and bass response in comparison with AirPods Professional 2 and foam eartips. Compared with inventory AirPods Professional 2 eartips, the distinction is extra apparent.
That stated, I can’t assist however be disillusioned that there are not any apparent main audio know-how enhancements right here. No H3 chip, no LE Audio with it’s superior LC3 codec, no lossless audio, simply AirPods Professional 2 with some sensible modifications.
Foundry
Past that, the battery life is barely higher. Apple’s eight-hour estimate (with noise cancelling) appears correct after a number of days of on-and-off testing. In two separate hour-long exercises with noise-cancelling and coronary heart price monitoring enabled, the battery drained about 17 %, so it appears you’ll get practically six hours in that situation. AirPods Professional 2 final a few hours much less (six hours with noise cancelling), however its charging case holds an extra 24 hours’ value, whereas the AirPods Professional 3 case has solely 16 hours of cost.
As AirPods Professional 2 are one in all our favourite Apple merchandise of the final decade, and whereas AirPods Professional 3 are by no means a revolutionary change, they nonetheless handle to enhance the match, consolation, sound, battery life, and add coronary heart price monitoring all with out elevating the worth. Apple has one other dwelling run right here.
In case you’re an AirPods Professional 2 buyer, particularly one with an Apple Watch, spend $20 on foam eartips, and also you’ll take pleasure in many of the AirPods Professional 3 advantages. For everybody else, AirPods Professional 3 are simple to suggest, and we are able to solely hope to quickly discover them on sale quickly for a similar steep reductions for which we have now usually discovered AirPods Professional 2.
