AirPods Pro 1 Year Review: Mute the World
By: Scott Allison Si
Tags: Airpods, Gadgets, Apple, Review, iPhone

The bubble-like texture of the AirPods Pro case makes it a joy to hold.

In my twelve months using the AirPods Pro, I can count with one hand the number of times I left home without them. Next to my smartphone, it holds the highest place among my essential carry items, even above my wallet or watch.

The AirPods Pro is a sound bubble that I can summon anytime from my pocket.

Enveloped in that sound bubble, it no longer matters where I am physically— whether it is a rowdy cafe, a loud subway station, a kitchen, or a jogging trail— I can choose to immerse myself in high-quality music, listen to podcasts and audiobooks, or watch shows.

The AirPods Pro convert otherwise idle time into pockets of learning and entertainment.

With the AirPods on, I can now ‘read’ even when my hands and feet are busy. I complete more podcasts and audiobooks - with the AirPods uploading the knowledge to my brain while I do house chores, wait in line, or work out. The absence of wires allows me to move freely.

The AirPods help boost productivity because they untether me not just from my surroundings but also from my phone screen.

A Sound Bubble You Control

Once I plug them to my ears, I am in control. I can choose how much or how little of the outside world I want to let into that bubble.

With noise-cancelling, I can mute the world and fully immerse in my own. With transparency mode, I can take in my surroundings with amplified hearing. It is especially useful when making phone calls since it lets me hear the sound of my voice at full volume.

Most of the time though, it is enough to keep Noise Control off since the in-ear design already does a good job blocking ambient sound.

The stems of the AirPods Pro are noticeably shorter than the non-pro AirPods.

You cycle through these modes with gestures — a long pinch to change noise control modes, a short pinch to pause and play, and two quick pinches to skip to the next track. Gestures on the AirPods Pro work far more reliably compared to the previous generation AirPods. It is also smart enough to pause when you have one earbud off.

Another improvement over the older AirPods is battery life. Even after one year of use, the earbuds still give me close to four hours of consecutive listening, while the case still allows for five to six full charge cycles.

The biggest compliment for batteries is that you do not have to think about them at all, and that has been my experience with the AirPods Pro this past year.

Instant Differentiation

I did not realize that plugging in wired earphones and untangling wires was such a chore before I used AirPods, but now it is hard to go back. Nobody really complained about wired earphones before, but it turned out to be one of those invisible friction points that Apple was able to uncover before anyone else did. Skeptics scoffed at them when they first came up with the dental-floss case and funny long-stem earbuds. Four years later, wired earphones now feel archaic, while true wireless earbuds have become the norm.

The moment you open the case, the AirPods connect instantly with your device.

What about other wireless Bluetooth headphones? The differentiating feature of AirPods has always been the instant connection it makes with your devices. You just open the case, plug the buds into your ears, hear a soft deep hum half a second later telling you it’s connected, and you are good to go.

The Sony WH-1000MX3 noise-canceling headphones, which I also own, rightly deserves critical acclaim with its superior noise-cancelling and sound quality, but the lack of instant device connection is a dealbreaker for me in most situations. I would rather pick up the AirPods than fiddle with Bluetooth settings.

The Sony headphones are also conspicuous and heavy, while the AirPods Pro are discreet. You can put it away out of sight when you do not need it, but it is at your service when you do.

The triple-threat combination of wireless, noise-cancelling, and instant connection makes the AirPods Pro stand out from the rest of the pack.

Over-the-Air Refresh

With the recent firmware update, the AirPods cement their lead over the competition even further. They now recognize which devices you are using at the moment, and instantly switch to it without additional intervention. It makes it all so seamless. The more Apple devices you have have, the more useful this becomes.

The software update also brings another new feature called Spatial Audio. It intelligently adjusts frequencies on each ear so that you can hear sounds above, below, and even beside you, placed virtually in a 3D space. Although only Apple TV videos are compatible with it so far, it is the audio equivalent of switching from 2D to 3D, a cinematic soundstage you can take out of your pocket. You have to hear it to believe it.

The big story here is an over-the-air update making drastic improvements to the hardware qualities of a product. We’ve been hearing a lot about computational photography — using algorithms to bend light and produce better pictures. Well, this is computational audio — using algorithms to bend sound and produce better audio. With the update, my year-old earphones feel new again.