Sound: 
Value:
(Read about our ratings)
Are there any earbuds more iconic than the Apple AirPods? I don’t necessarily mean good, just easily recognizable by even the least techy among us. In a way, it’s not surprising how little they’ve changed visually over the years. Some people just want to be seen wearing AirPods, likely the same crowd who think owning an Android is for the poors.
As an Android user, I’ve never been particularly enthused about the AirPods. They’ve always been some level of acceptable, but as tech advanced, most companies ditched the dangly tail designs. The vestigiality of the AirPods’ tails aside, they certainly still look classy after all these years.
The AirPods Pro 3s aren’t just another iconic design, however. They have some fun tuning and truly excellent noise canceling—as in some of the best you can get. They compete with the other heavy hitters in the NC earbud space, while costing less: US$249.99, CA$329, £219, or €249, as of this writing in early April. So even if you’re on Android, or are otherwise not an Apple enthusiast, the Pro 3s are worth considering.
In the box
In the box, you get five sizes of silicone eartips and . . . that’s it. You don’t even get a USB‑C charging cable. Then again, who cares? Do you really need another USB cable?
Use
If you have an iPhone, the AirPods connect just by opening the case near your phone. Say what you will about Apple, but they know how to make things easy. With Android, it takes an extra step—one that you will never guess if you don’t read the manual. To get them into pairing mode, you open the case and tap the front. There’s no visible button on the front, mind you. You just tap the case. This gets them into pairing mode, and then you can manually pair them in your phone’s Bluetooth menu. The lack of a visible button is slick, to be fair, but also unlike how any other company does it. Think different(ly), I guess.
The Pro 3s are exceptionally comfortable. They’re light and well-shaped, and the silicone tips feel great. Slide your finger on either tail, and you can increase or decrease the volume. Squeeze the right tail, and you control playback. Squeeze the left to turn off noise canceling and enable Aware mode.
The Android app . . . just kidding, there’s no Android app. Pointless and blatantly anti-consumer tech tribalism makes me irrationally angry. It’s worth pointing out that Apple’s own Beats play nice with Android, but what do I know?
The lack of an app means several features are inaccessible for Android users, including Hearing Test, Hearing Aid, Conversation Boost, Automatic Switching, Adaptive EQ, Spatial Audio, and Head Tracking, as well as the heart-rate monitoring feature and others. Some settings can be programmed into the earbud touch controls, but only if you pair them with an Apple device first, because you need iOS to customize them. Cool. You also need an iPhone to update the AirPods’ firmware.
Basically, if you have an Android device, these don’t do anything other than sound great and provide excellent noise canceling. Any other features require an iOS device or, at the very least, setting up the feature first on an iOS device.
Technically, there’s no iOS app either. Instead, these features and settings are baked into iOS itself.
Some find this a bigger deal than I do, but because these are an Apple product, there are no codecs other than SBC and AAC. The quality of AAC on your phone will vary, with Apple phones working great and Android phones being hit-or-miss depending on the brand and model.
Sound
The Pro 3s have a pleasing, easy-to-listen-to sound profile, with deep bass, punchy midrange, and clean treble. They’re not the most “accurate” for those looking for that, but they are extremely fun.
I started with “Phantom Limb” by the Shins (Wincing the Night Away, 24‑bit/44.1kHz ALAC, Sub Pop / Apple Music). The bass drum had a solid kick without being overpowering. The tambourine was clear without being piercing. The broad soundstage seemed to extend out over my shoulders.
For something a bit heavier, up next was Chvrches’ collaboration with Wednesday Campanella, “Out of My Head” (single, 24/44.1 ALAC, Glassnote / Apple Music). The bass had exactly the right amount of power for my tastes. I like bass, but I specifically like this amount of bass. It was a bit more than strictly “neutral,” but well controlled, not boomy, and not overpowering. Lauren Mayberry’s clean soprano was never overwhelmed by the layered production.
Swinging in the other direction, I cued up the third movement of “L’estate” (Summer) from Joshua Bell’s performance of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (16/44.1 ALAC, Sony / Apple Music). One could argue that the Pro 3s give this recording more weight and intensity than it would have through more strictly “accurate” earbuds. If you’re anti‑bass in general, these are not the earbuds for you. The violins, however, had a pristine tone with lots of air. For such a bass-friendly sound, the treble was nicely open, extended quite high, and was never grating.
Comparison
If you’ve already read my big NC earbud comparison feature, it will be of no surprise to you that I’m comparing these with Sony’s WF‑1000XM6 and Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra (Gen 2) earbuds. These are the big three when it comes to mainstream earbuds, packing in some of the best noise canceling you can get, along with very good, occasionally great, sound quality. Are there earbuds that sound better than these? Sure. Are there cheaper options? Of course! But these are typically each company’s flagship earbuds, and their overall performance is hard to beat. For some real-world (above the world, technically) testing of the noise canceling, check out that article.
Sound-wise, I was most interested in how the Pro 3s would stack up against the Sonys. Each generation sort of jockeys for position for the best sound quality in the class. Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” (Songs in the Key of Life, 24/96 ALAC, Motown / Apple Music) starts out with that iconic walking bass line. The Sonys delivered more mid and upper bass, but less deep bass. They didn’t feel lacking in bass, but they didn’t have the low rumble of the Pro 3s. But the Sonys had more midrange, noticeable in Stevie’s vocal range. They also had a bit more lower treble in the cymbals range, but the Pro 3s had more high-treble “air.” Both sounded good, with the Pro 3s winning on bass. The Sonys were a bit closer to accurate, but the Pro 3s were more “fun.”
Bose, long the leader in noise canceling, has always lagged behind Sony and often Apple in sound quality. I’ve often described their sound quality as “fine” and “acceptable.” That has changed for the better in recent years, with the Ultra Open earbuds a particular standout. The QuietComfort Ultras (Gen 2) also have much-improved sound compared to their predecessors. With David Bowie’s “Starman” (The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, 24/96 ALAC, Parlophone / Apple Music), the Boses had more upper-midrange energy, which threw off the balance a little. It gave them an exciting sound, accentuating the strums of guitars and some percussion, but it made them seem like they had less bass and treble than they actually do. This is most noticeable when going back and forth between these three earbuds. On their own, the Boses sounded quite good.
Conclusion
If you’ve noticed the frustration running through this review, it’s because I want to love the Pro 3s. They are, in so many ways, absolutely fantastic. The noise canceling is some of the best you can get. They sound excellent. They’re super comfortable. But for all that, it feels like Apple is very blatantly telling us Android users, “not for you!” They’ve fostered this “walled garden” philosophy basically from the beginning, and hell, they’re one of the most profitable corporations in history, so what do I know?
I’ll tell you what I know. I can’t outright recommend these earbuds to Android users because there’s so much functionality you lose just because you didn’t want to overspend on a phone that has fewer features than most Android phones. Apple is obviously aware of this, of course, and is not interested in branching out to dirty Android users. So it goes.
However, if you do have an iPhone, these are definitely for you. I recommend them strongly. As long as you don’t mind earbuds with tails, these are some of the best all-around true wireless earbuds you can buy. They sound great, they have amazing NC and lots of interesting features, and somehow, amazingly, they do that while costing less than the competition.
. . . Geoffrey Morrison
Associated Equipment
- Smartphones: Google Pixel 9 Pro, Apple iPhone 16
- PC: Microsoft Surface Pro 8
Apple AirPods Pro 3 earphones
Price: US$249.99, CA$329, £219, €249
Warranty: One year
Apple
One Apple Park Way
Cupertino, CA 95014, United States
Phone: (408) 996-1010
Email:
Website: apple.com
