Let’s start with a necessary initial premise: I am uncontactable when it comes to audio quality. It applies to headphones, to earbuds, to speakers; both in daily life and when I work out.
So you can imagine how complicated it has always been to find earbuds that will satisfy me even when I am playing sports.
Before we begin, another clarification is in order: this review is specifically about workout headsets. So there are some aspects that are more important than others.
When training, in fact, there are four very important aspects to evaluate earphones:
- sweat resistance;
- adherence to the ear;
- safety and contact with the outside world;
- battery life.
Why did I put the third point in bold? The reason is simple: when we are on the street, it is essential to always know what is going on around us. As good as it may be to isolate ourselves, it is always very wrong to do so when we are on the street.
Introduction concluded, let’s get to the review (which is why you are reading). ;)
Apple AirPods Pro
I won’t hide from you that I was a little hesitant to tackle the use of AirPods Pro, for a few reasons. First, the previous AirPods I had did not fit my ear perfectly (so much so that I was forced to buy silicone grommets to hold them in place), and second, I was already using Bose QuietComfort Earbuds for training: a remarkable product in terms of audio quality.
Instead.
Open the package of the
Apple AirPods Pro
, choose the grommets that are right for you from three different sizes, launch the
Adherence Test
and customize the use of the buttons.
You have four types of commands to interact with the earphones:
- Single pressure (play/pause, answer/hang up)
- Double pressure (next track)
- Triple pressure (previous track)
- Long press (customizable: activate Siri or choose noise cancellation level)
These are the traditional commands: no need to learn anything. You wear them and know how to use them. And this is already a major benefit for a “lazy” person like me.
The audio quality is really good: the listening experience is really remarkable and the sound is very full and colorful. We are talking about high-end earbuds, and “you can feel it,” in every sense. Even when you can’t hear anything because you have enabled external noise cancellation. And here we come to the main point of this review.
Why are AirPods Pro the best?
No, it is not for noise cancellation but rather for its exact opposite. But let’s go in order.
The noise cancellation function works well: two external microphones “listen” for ambient noises and generate counterphase waves so that we do not hear them. With all the limitations of the medium, of course.
If you have to take a long transoceanic flight and you don’t want to even remotely hear the noise of the plane’s engines, the AirPods Pro are probably not the right product and you should go for “over-ear” headphones that also physically isolate you from the outside world.
On the other hand, the AirPods Pro have the TRANSPARENCY function.
I wrote it all in caps because that is the main reason I would recommend this product to anyone who does outdoor sports.
In fact, the Transparency function allows you to hear the outside world as if you had your ears free. Without even the inevitable noise reduction that a device you insert inside your ear can give you.
With this feature, you can listen to music while you work out and hear-in the background-the wind, birds singing, and, most importantly, cars coming.
It’s an idea as simple as it is brilliant: transparency really means that it’s as if you’re not even wearing AirPods Pro.
Be careful, however: it is not that the noise reduction is just turned off; external noises are actually amplified and brought into the earbuds!
The AirPods Pro are the first product I use that gives this option, and for me, it alone is worth the purchase of the product. Without giving it a moment’s thought.
Then, if you’re at the gym or working out indoors, turn on noise reduction and you’ll be alone, quietly, sweating. Perfect, period.
Daily use
In “everyday” use, the AirPods Pro are great. The battery life is very good, and-with the truly pocket-friendly case-they recharge in no time.
Always securely fastened to the ear, with a simple “click” they isolate you from the outside world.
They have one flaw: when you have other Apple products (MacBook, iPad, iPhone) they automatically connect to all devices. This is useful because you can watch a movie on iPad and answer a call on iPhone without doing anything. But sometimes the logic of connection is not crystal clear. The problem is easily solved by manually switching from one device to another, so you decide when and whether to connect the AirPods Pro to another device other than iPhone.
And, if you’re wondering, they also work on Android; noise cancellation and transparency mode included!
In conclusion
The
Apple AirPods Pro
are high-end earbuds and, as you imagine, they are also high-end in terms of price positioning. But the cost of 279 euros is amply repaid by the quality of the product, so much so that we go so far as to consider the value for money certainly worthwhile for all that they offer. Also-and especially-in terms of quality and safety.
One more thing
Sorry, but I couldn’t stop myself from doing the “one more thing” (Steve, we miss you so much). There is one more very interesting aspect: the AirPods Pro “talk” to the Health app and alert us when we listen to music too loud for too long. This also matters, and a lot. Also with a view to keeping our ear health monitored.
Is it a secondary aspect? No, I don’t think so.