In testing the latest AirPods Pro 3 for this review, I found Apple’s high-end earbuds deliver remarkable audio quality and practically unbelievable active noise cancellation. Add to that a heart rate monitor that’s on par with the Apple Watch’s sensor, and Apple has made the best earbuds around even better.
The biggest upgrade is the AirPods Pro 3’s new foam-infused ear tips. They help increase the earbuds’ noise cancellation to uncanny levels. Plus, somehow, the audio quality sounds punchier than ever. I get better sound out of Apple’s tiny earbuds than from some over-ear headphones.
Here’s how the AirPods Pro 3 stack up to their predecessors.
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AirPods Pro 3 review
Ever since the first-gen AirPods Pro arrived in 2019, Apple’s high-end earbuds have pushed the boundaries of what’s possible from such a tiny piece of technology. With awesome audio quality and surprisingly good active noise cancellation, they raised the bar significantly over the original AirPods, which rewrote the recipe for wireless headphones when Apple released them in 2016.
As with all AirPods, the third-gen Pro model goes above and beyond typical Bluetooth earbuds, offering instant pairing, loads of smart features and seamless integration with the Apple ecosystem. The defining feature of all AirPods Pro models is the active noise cancellation and the silicone ear tips, which provide a better seal and thus better sound quality. And Apple just made those ear tips better than ever.
Still, Apple didn’t put a new chip inside the AirPods Pro 3. They come with the same H2 chip as AirPods Pro 2. As a result, one of the new earbuds’ headline features — Live Translation — works with some older models, too.
Apple's best wireless earbuds get even better, adding a heart rate monitor and tweaks that boost active noise cancellation and deliver even better audio quality.
- Supports Live Translation feature
- Foam-infused ear tips for better fit and ANC
- Built-in heart rate monitor
- Can function as hearing aids
- Only available in white
Table of contents: AirPods Pro 3 review
- Design
- Live translation
- Heart rate monitoring
- New ear tips
- Audio quality
- Battery life
- All its smart audio modes
- Conclusion
Design
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
The AirPods Pro 3 might look identical to the AirPods Pro 2 at first glance, but there are a few subtle changes. The earbuds themselves are a bit more rounded, akin to the regular AirPods 4 (which come in a $129 basic model and a $179 model with active noise cancellation that’s not as powerful as the Pros).
The interior of the buds has a “custom multiport acoustic architecture,” according to Kate Bergeron, Apple’s VP of hardware engineering, whatever that means.
Apple is usually stellar at hiding plastic seams, so I’m surprised how visible the seam is in the AirPods Pro 3. I imagine the tiny size and super-curvy shape both make it incredibly challenging to get perfect — and don’t get me wrong, it’s hardly obvious. But compared to the virtually invisible seam in the AirPods Pro 3 charging case, it’s surprising.
Another shocker: The size of that charging case is ever-so-slightly larger than the previous case. I was really hoping for it to get a little smaller, but it bulges more than my wallet when in my pocket. As a result, I stick it in my pants’ little coin pocket. (Sorry, iPod nano.)
AirPods Pro 3 review: Live Translation
Live Translation in your ears is the stuff of science fiction, now made reality. It depends on Apple’s Translate app, which supports far fewer languages than Google Translate. (It’s also seemingly less accurate.)
To test the new Live Translation feature with AirPods Pro 3, I phoned up Niléane of MacStories and Comfort Zone, who spoke to me exclusively in French over a video call. She simulated being a non-English speaker by muting my audio, so she was dependent on reading my translated words.
We seemed to have a very coherent conversation. The translations were not totally accurate, but we could absolutely parse what we were each trying to say. It felt like talking to an almost-fluent speaker of the language. Many times, the grammar sounded slightly wrong or unnatural. But to be fair, I was intentionally trying to push the limits. If I were actually in France, I would probably try speaking in simpler sentences to make it easier to translate.
Remember to speak slowly and clearly
One mistake came right at the beginning. I apologized for kicking off the conversation with a “word salad,” but tried to pivot by asking, “What is your favorite type of salad, while we’re at it?” The earbuds translated that as, “What’s your favorite type of salad when he’s a rabbit?” That obviously confused Niléane.
It seems to have misheard me — a reminder that the first step of Live Translation with AirPods is turning your speech into text. If it mishears you in the first place, it’ll translate that garbage into something worse. If you use your iPhone dictation to type often, you’ll know that rushing through words like you’re having a natural conversation isn’t how you achieve the best results. Live Translation with AirPods can fool you into forgetting that you’re actually talking to your computer.
There’s a somewhat awkward pause between when someone is done speaking and you’re still receiving (or waiting for) the translation. However, that’s inherent to the process. Some phrases change their meaning when you get to the end, so the machine must wait till you finish talking. You can download languages to your iPhone, so you don’t need to worry about internet latency, although accuracy will take a slight hit.
AirPods Pro 3 review: Heart rate monitoring
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Although heart rate monitoring is old news to anybody with an Apple Watch, it’s a rare addition to earbuds. Apple added the feature to the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 … but it didn’t deliver the goods. Those earbuds apparently could not register an accurate heart rate reading.
AirPods Pro 3 seemingly perform far better than Powerbeats Pro 2 in this regard. I took a brisk walk through a local park with the AirPods Pro 3 paired to my iPhone 16 Pro and my Apple Watch paired to my iPhone Air. The Apple Watch is renowned for its incredible accuracy, so I figured it should serve as a good measuring stick.
Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
To my surprise, the numbers came in virtually identical. My AirPods Pro 3 say I averaged 140 bpm; my Apple Watch says 139 bpm. Active and total calories burned are within 7% of each other. While the heart rate chart from the Apple Watch offers more detail with regard to heart rate zones, both show the same overall readings.
Apple didn’t mention any specific difference between the designs of the two heart rate monitors — possibly because the Powerbeats Pro 2 are still on sale. I’m not really sure why the AirPods Pro 3 hardware works better. Both earbuds are powered by Apple’s H2 chip, both feature in-ear tips for a precise and secure fit, and both heart rate sensors appear to be roughly the same size. However, the PowerBeats Pro 2 tips aren’t infused with foam, and fit somewhat looser, which may be a factor.
New ear tips
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
The AirPods Pro 3 silicone ear tips are lined inside with a thin layer of foam, which helps create a tight seal and allows for twice the noise cancellation, according to Apple. This means that even when active noise cancellation is turned off, there’s still quite a lot of cancellation happening. So, you might find yourself reaching for Transparency mode a little more often than before if you want to hear what’s going on around you.
Figuring out the right ear tips took a few tries. The foam in the ear tips makes them quite firm, so you might need a smaller size than you expect. My right ear being a little larger than my left doesn’t help. At first, I stuck with the medium tip in the left and the large in the right. They felt super-secure, but quickly became uncomfortable.
I played around with different sizes over the next few days. I briefly tried the extra small ear tip and immediately confirmed that it was too loose. At the time of writing, I’m using the small tip in each ear, and it’s the most comfortable setup yet, but I’ll see if either of them fall out.
I’d really like it if the cardboard ear tip tray that ships with AirPods Pro 3 came with an empty spot for the medium tips to go in. Keeping track of which ear tips are in which spot can get confusing once you start moving them around. At least the ear tips come with their size molded on the inside, under the “umbrella” (in nearly-impossible-to-read tiny letters).
AirPods Pro 3 review: Audio quality
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
The audio quality of AirPods Pro 3 is beyond excellent for tiny ear buds — it’s excellent, period. The amount of bass they pump out is stunning. I’ve used loads of on-ear and over-ear headphones that sound worse.
Plus, it’s eerie how quiet the world gets when you turn on AirPods Pro 3’s active noise cancellation. All of the noisiest activities I do — mowing the lawn, running the vacuum, blow-drying my hair — are reduced to a gentle whisper with ANC on.
The AirPods Pro 3’s audio latency (or lack thereof) is stellar, too. If you use other Bluetooth headphones, you’re probably used to hitting pause and waiting a full second for the music to stop. The latency with AirPods Pro 3 is so low that I feel confident editing video in Final Cut Pro on my Mac while wearing them. I can’t say the same about any other Bluetooth headphones.
Battery life
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
The AirPods Pro 3 battery life is improved, boosted from six hours with active noise cancellation up to eight. You can now go a full standard workday while kicking it to a number one jam instead of listening to your co-workers.
Unfortunately, the battery life of the AirPods Pro 3 case is worse than before — decreased from 30 hours to 24. I have no clue why.
If I had to choose improving one and taking away another, this is the balance I would have chosen. More battery life in the earbuds, because that’s more continuous listening time, and less in the case, because placing it on a Qi charger while I’m at my desk isn’t hard. But why did Apple make that trade-off? It’s not as if the earbuds became larger and took away volume from the case. And it’s not as if the case offers any new features that would decrease its battery life.
I asked Apple for comment and have not received a reply.
All the AirPods Pro 3’s smart audio modes
Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
As with previous Pro models, AirPods Pro 3 offer three basic noise cancellation modes: Off, Transparency and Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). Transparency boosts the volume of nearby real-world sounds. Active Noise Cancellation silences everything around you. Off does nothing, simply playing audio like ordinary earbuds.
As someone who only owned the original AirPods, not a Pro model, I never quite understood the difference between all the smart audio features Apple added over the years. However, it’s not as confusing as I thought.
- Adaptive Audio blends between ANC and Transparency, depending on the situation.
- Conversation Awareness isn’t a separate mode, but a feature you can enable in any mode, even with ANC off. It automatically cuts the volume of anything you’re listening to through your AirPods and boosts voices anytime the earbuds detect that you (or someone nearby) is talking. Unfortunately, I find it takes just a second too long to turn on, so I often need to ask someone to repeat themselves if I’m listening to something loud.
- Personal Volume raises and lowers the volume based on the ambient noise of the room and your personal preferences.
I think you should find your favorite two modes and assign those as the “Press and hold AirPods” shortcut, so you can quickly toggle between them.
Conclusion: AirPods Pro 3 review
In my testing for this review, I found AirPods Pro 3 deliver remarkable performance and extraordinary features that seem nearly unbelievable from such a small piece of gear.
The heart rate tracking is an excellent addition for people who don’t want an Apple Watch. And while Live Translation may not be perfect, it works pretty well — and is much easier than learning a second language.
If there’s a contentious change in the AirPods Pro 3, it’s the fit of the new foam-infused ear tips. Not everybody’s ears are shaped the same, obviously. And it might take a while for you to find the right fit, even if you’re coming from a previous set of AirPods Pro. Still, those new ear tips help the AirPods Pro 3 achieve miraculous levels of noise cancellation.
So, should you buy AirPods Pro 3?
Ultimately, if you already own AirPods Pro 2 and they’ve still got good batteries in them, you could wait it out if you don’t crave the best noise cancellation possible. Upgrade whenever it’s time; none of the AirPods Pro 3 features are a must-have (and some also work with AirPods Pro 2).
However, if you’re an Apple fan and you don’t own any AirPods, AirPods Pro 3 are a no-brainer. At $249 (the same price as AirPods Pro 2), they’re a little pricey. But they never fail to amaze. If you have a bunch of Apple devices in your life, the seamless switching between them all is unparalleled. The sound quality is impeccable. And the feature list continues to grow.
With AirPods Pro 3, the best earbuds in the world just keep getting better.
Apple's best wireless earbuds get even better, adding a heart rate monitor and tweaks that boost active noise cancellation and deliver even better audio quality.
- Supports Live Translation feature
- Foam-infused ear tips for better fit and ANC
- Built-in heart rate monitor
- Can function as hearing aids
- Only available in white
★★★★★
D. Griffin Jones is a writer, podcaster and video producer for Cult of Mac. Griffin has been a passionate computer enthusiast since 2002, when he got his first PC — but since getting a Mac in 2008, he hasn’t turned back. His skills in graphic and web design, along with video and podcast editing, are self-taught over 20+ years. Griffin has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and has written several (unpublished) apps for Mac and iOS. His collection of old computers is made up of 40+ desktops, laptops, PDAs and devices, dating back to the early ’80s. He brings all of these creative and technical skills, along with a deep knowledge of Apple history, into his work for Cult of Mac.
