Apple AirPods Pro 1st Generation with MagSafe Charging Case

Wow, these really exceeded my expectations. I’m usually slow to buy new Apple products because mostly I feel my needs are more than met by the iPhone and MacBook Air I own. But I also find myself frequently fumbling with ugly tangled headphone cables, attaching and detaching (and sometimes losing) the obnoxious “dongle” needed to switch from my iPhone’s lightning jack to my MacBook’s headphone jack, and I find the sound quality on the standard Apple earbuds pretty bad for anything but the most utilitarian listening, e.g. a news podcast or a call to the bank. So I’m pleased to report that my AirPods have already become *incredibly* useful in the first week of use for their ability to connect almost instantly, and with fabulous intuition about when and where to connect, to either my two primary devices, transforming my day’s patchwork of Zoom sessions (I’m a therapist and a yoga teacher), phone calls, audiobooks, podcasts, and music into something much smoother and more flowing. The features, and their usefulness, were what surprised me. When I bought these I had assumed, wrongly, that they would basically be the same as the standard Apple earbuds, but made wireless. On the contrary, the sound here is massively better, a gigantic leap from one end of the quality spectrum to the other, and the sound can be shaped in several useful ways: 1) Noise-Cancelling Mode, which instantly sucks the background noise out so well for a moment you’ll think you’ve gone deaf 2) Transparency Mode, my favorite, which beautifully mixes the original sound source (music, podcast, etc) with the sound of your own breath and the outside world. The levels are perfectly adjusted to give you an amazingly crisp listening experiencing while remaining aware of your surroundings. It’s ideal. If in a dystopian Total Recall scenario a microchip were implanted in my head to play music, this would represent the best possible audio mix. 3) Normal Mode/“Off”, which gives the unmixed, untreated effect of standard headphones, allowing the normal amount of bleed between the sound in the ears and the slightly muffled sound of the outside world. This is the only mode I have no use for, because the other two are such big improvements to me. Turning these features on and off, pausing, or switching between music tracks works very well with the old “pinch the stem” technique that most wireless earbuds use. It’s the Morse Code style, squeeze once for this, squeeze twice for that system, and while it occasionally fails to understand what I want to do, it is much more intuitive and accurate than the few other brands I’ve tried. I’d say it following 3/4 of my commands perfectly, which for me is good enough, and again a vast improvement on other wireless earbuds I’ve tried, which usually suffer horribly in this category. I was a bit worried about this feature due to past negative experiences, but there was nothing to fear. Once again, Apple made the best. My strongest area of constructive critique is the voice quality of a AirPod user as experienced by the listener. The sound is crystal clear, and the volume is well-controlled, but it does sound slightly sterile and thin to my ears. I am a therapist and a yoga teacher and I frequently see clients through Zoom or other streaming video, so I was hopeful that these might also double as a solution for a wireless microphone. But I find the sound of a voice over AirPods in Zoom to be too thin and papery to match the sound of a good or even mid-level wireless mic. They sound best-suited to business purposes to me. Your experience may differ! That said, these are about half the price of an average studio or wireless mic, so this is not a crime, merely a point worth noting for other users. They are also a bit distracting visually for me, as their shape is a little chunky and protruding from the ears, and their milk-white color really pops against the skin. They are by no means huge or ridiculous, you’ll feel fine wearing them, but they are large enough that I am persistently aware of them when I see someone over video talking to me or giving some kind of instruction. It also throws me off slightly because I associate headphones with someone being unable to hear me, rather than as a way to connect with me. This is another reason that a wireless mic or a proper studio mic still has its place. That said, connecting a wireless or studio mic to literally any Apple device requires a bit of technical knowhow, plus a receiver and a collection of cables and connectors to get it to work, and with AirPods you just take them out of the case and that’s it, and you’re connected! Great product. These are the droids you’re looking for. Read more

After owning my air pod pros for nearly two years now I feel that I am qualified to give an accurate and in-depth review over this popular product. I originally bought them due to my right original air pod dying, so naturally since I liked the first once I decided to go onto the next ones. I have used them for all the most common activities that the average headphone user does such as: working out, traveling, studying, and general use to listen to music or podcasts. Considering my time of ownership and widespread use of them I feel that I am qualified to tell you the pros and cons as well as why I think you should pick up your own pair of air pod pros. If you have owned the previous generation of air pods or any other apple product, then you will find that the pros come in the typical apple packaging which keeps the headphones and accessories secure and in good condition upon opening. Out of the box you will have the air pods themselves inside the portable charging case, as well as a usb-c charging cable (an upgrade from the usb-a in the original air pods), instructions, an apple sticker, and a few interchangeable sized silicon ear tips to fit best into your ear. To set them up simply open the case (the air pods will already be partially charged when you get them) and open you iPhone and a button will pop up to connect them. Next apple will take you through a sizing test to get a crisp and comfortable fit in your ear. As mentioned, the pros fit differently than the original air pods which is great for those who found the plastic design didn’t cater to their ears. Now with 3 different sized silicon tips buyers can find a snug personalized fit. The silicon tips also help introduce the new and biggest feature of the pros being Noise cancellation and transparency mode. The noise cancellation works very well when you need to tune out outside noise to focus, study, or are trying to sleep on an airplane. Sometimes I find myself putting them in without playing anything simply to make the surrounding are quieter. The transparency mode conversely also works well to help you hear the surrounding area which is great if your study buddy needs to talk to you, or you want to hear things around you on a run or bike ride. Now that we covered some of the highlights let’s review some of the negative. The sound quality is good, however, if you are a self-proclaimed “audiophile” then they made not be the earbuds for you as there is better quality out there. I found that it lacks some of the base that I personally prefer, but the mids and highs both sound good. Additionally, I found them to be just good and not great for working out. When trying to wear them to run I found that sweat often caused them to fall out and I even lost one in a stream once while running and had to replace it. There are aftermarket tips you can put on them to fight this, but I think something like the Beats powerbeat pros suit an active user needs more with the hook around ear design. Finally, the price for these is a bit steep at $250 although right now they are on sale for $180. Overall, I think that these are the best earbuds on the market right now and worth your money. Read more