A subtle but significant upgrade for iOS users.
I am an ear bud junky and have been on a quest for the perfect set for a long time. I have owned and own a lot of the big names from Apple, B&0, B&W, Sony, Bose, Klipsch, Devialet, Technics, many off brands, and more. I use both iOS and Android devices and don’t have a particular favorite so I can speak to how ear buds interact with both.This is an interesting update. I almost passed on it and I probably should have as my AirPod Pro 2’s are just fine. However, they don’t fit me perfectly and there has been a lot made of the new fit these have. My oldest son will be getting the 2’s. These look and feel a lot like the 2’s. The physical design is nearly identical. However, the upgrades, while subtle, are mostly notable. I will break these down below and try to help those that are deciding on whether the upgrade is worth your money.Sound: Those that have read any of my other reviews on buds, know I always start with sound. It is the primary function of an ear bud. Apple has a new retuned driver here and it is a good one. The sound is natural and has good definition. You will feel the bass and highs are crispy. It is hard to define how much better these are from the 2’s but they seem louder and have more clarity. A lot of this probably has to do with the new seal these give you in your ears as well (more on that later) but these are well tuned and are noticeably improved. This was an area that needed to improve as most other high end buds were better. Sony, Technics, and Bose were all better sounding at similar prices. Some of them offer higher end codecs for more lossless streams which Apple appears to still be avoiding. I still think there are better sounding buds out there but Apple has closed the gap in meaningful ways. Well done.Calls: This is a space that Apple has always dominated and still does. Calls are crisp and loud. These also do a great job of isolating your voice and washing out other noises around you so you can be heard even in noisy environments. It just is so good. Every manufacturer should be benchmarking Apple with call tech.Active Noise Cancellation (ANC): This is an area that Apple has always done well with but Bose and Sony both did better. I think they caught up to Sony but the latest Bose Ultra 2’s are still better. That said, Apple deserves a lot of credit. In spite of using the same chip set as last year, between the retooled fit of these, a new mic set, and some software upgrades, they were able to significantly improve ANC here. If you are looking for a reason to upgrade from the 2’s, this is probably the biggest improvement to me. It is immediately noticeable.Form Factor: As mentioned, Apple did a subtle tweak of their design here and it pays off big. These do not move in my ears. The foam tips are softer and more grippy. The angle of the buds assists in staying put as well. Subtle but significant! I would often have my 2’s pop out if I was exercising or cleaning the house. Anything that got a little sweat going with movement. These have fixed that issue. Still, if I am looking for a place to hit Apple on, it would be nice to see a refreshed design or maybe just some color choices. These look basically the same as the first gen even if they have been completely refined.The Case: This is always a big one for me as you interact with the case more than the buds themselves. This case, once again, is outstanding. It’s actually a bit larger and maybe thinner than the last gen case. As always, Apple does a great hinge and STRONG magnets to keeps things where they should be. You also get an improved “Find My” chip with greater range. The little speaker onboard seems to emit a slightly louder chime as well. Wireless charging is also onboard and good. The battery status LED is also a lot brighter which was a needed improvement.The other stuff: Apple added heart rate monitoring this year and it works great. It mirrored the heart rates I saw from my Fitbit and Apple Watch. Given that I use both of those, I will never use this feature. It is fairly buried into the Apple health app for the time being but I think Apple is going to further develop this feature. Connecting is a breeze with Apple as always. They have the best integration in the business. Battery life on bud is improved to 8 hours which is a big upgrade that was overdue. I would find my old AirPods running out of juice often on long trips. However, Apple ruined some of the joy here because they peeled 6 hours out of the case. They giveth and taketh I guess. These will connect and operate multipoint devices as long as they are all Apple. So, for anyone using Apple and other devices, these will be lacking for you.The wrap up: So, should you buy these? It depends on a number of things. I think Apple has made the best ear buds for iOS users even better. The sound, ANC, and fit improvements make the upgrade worth it for me alone. The extra on bud battery is nice as well. If you have recent Pro 2’s that still have strong battery life, it would be hard for me to say that you should spend another $250 here unless you find those aforementioned upgrades to be necessary. The fit was HUGE for me. Compared to other competitors, specifically the latest from Sony, Bose, and Technics, things get more nuanced. All have multipoint connectivity that allows you to bounce between iOS and other manufacturers. The Technics buds, the AZ100’s, are really good there. In fact, those buds play so nice with iOS, Android, and Windows devices that they deserve your consideration as well if you run multiple devices. Prior to these newest AirPods, all of these competitors had better sound and the same if not better ANC. Now that has changed. I used to say that the AirPods weren’t the best at much, just good at everything. Now they are the best at more and still really good at everything which make these the best all around buds in the business for iOS users. This was a subtle but very well done upgrade. I will update with more as we go here. Recommend.

Best ear buds ever?
I’ve never been too much of an ear buds guy, however I really enjoyed my AirPods Pro 1st generation. The first generation fit me much better than the original AirPods, but they still slipped quite a bit, and it was frustrating on a plane because any slippage resulted in a broken seal, and reduced noise canceling.When I heard the AirPods Pro 3 had a new fit, I felt like it was the time to upgrade, and I am so happy that I did.The AirPods Pro 3 are in ear, and fit me amazingly. I can’t imagine another in-ear bud would fit better than these. I can workout in them, sleep in them, work in them, and not only do they not fall out, but I feel *confident* that they won’t fall out. It is a game changer when I don’t have to babysit my ear buds.The sound quality is also far superior to my AirPods Pro 1st generation. The highs are far clearer, as the AirPods Pro 1st gen sound muddy in comparison. Additionally, the bass is so much better. It’s not that the bass is louder, but rather it’s far richer and deeper. There is much more detail in the sub bass range, a more pronounced rumble if you will.The swipe controls are also fantastic. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but now I can’t imagine using earbuds without the swipe controls.The battery is also much better than my 1st generation AirPods Pro. It lasts twice as long on a single charge, and the case is USB-C which is a game changer for convenience, and it supports MagSafe charging. While my generation 1s supported wireless charging, it didn’t have the magnetic snap these do.Lastly, the ANC is incredible. The 1st generation had good ANC, and when comparing them, the first generation are still not bad. However, these 3rd generation AirPods Pro are in a class of their own. With a large industrial fan going on next to me, the noise is reduced so much that with my music on maybe 25%, the fan is virtually non existent. Small fans do not even require any music or noise to cancel it. It’s truly mind blowing.Overall, these are the first ear buds I find myself wearing all the time. They are so enjoyable because they don’t fall out, they sound amazing, they last so long, they cancel noise like virtually no other in ear buds, and they have all the seamless Apple ecosystem integrations you would expect.If you’re coming from the 1st generation pros, these are an absolutely worthwhile upgrade.