It’s never been a secret that I love my AirPods. Everyone seems to agree that they are one of the best devices that Apple has released in some time. It likes that just have that old-school Apple magic. At the beginning of the week, Apple announced the AirPods Pro, the new better version of the wireless earphones. They came out today, and I was able to check them out at my local Apple Store. Here’s what I thought.

How Do They Fit

When I got my first pair of BlueTooth headphones, I was blown away by the technology but I needed up hating them. The pair I got were in-ear headphones like the new AirPods Pro. I’m just not a fan of in-ear headphones. My ear would start to hurt because there is something in them. I would usually use the smallest silicone tips and I would still feel uncomfortable.

The Pro version of the Air has the same style of tips. These tips go into your actual ear canal. Unlike that previous version though, the AirPods have a softer tip. Apple has created a new way for the tips to connect so that you don’t have a piece of plastic surrounded by silicone going into your ear.

It felt much more comfortable in-ear than those previous pairs I had. However, I still didn’t like it. I could definitely feel them in my ear. I couldn’t imagine running with them either. It just brought back too many painful memories.

But one thing that I really loved about the normal AirPods is how easy it is to put them in a pocket, in your ears, and just go. I don’t think these are much tougher, but it does require a little more effort to get them in.

If you’ve used in-ear headphones and don’t mind them, you’ll probably love these! For me though, it was a feeling I’m not sure that I could get rid of.

Noise Canceling

There’s a reason that Apple went with in-ear for this version though. When you have them in your ears and you turn on noise-canceling, it makes a world of difference. When I had them in but didn’t play any music, I could hear some things outside of headphones. Once I played some music everything but the music faded away. It was pretty incredible that these tiny headphones were able to block out the entire world when the music played.

Now, I obviously haven’t used them on an airplane, but what I did hear was nothing. lol. I’m sure that if you have a short flight, these would be much easier to use and pack versus something like over-ear headphones. But the battery on the AirPods Pro will only last 4.5 hours before you’d need to recharge them. For now, I’m going to stick with my Beats Studio 3.

Fit Test

I did run the test the iPhone has to make sure that you have a good seal on your AirPods. This is such a good thing to have on headphones because I always wondered if I was using the correct one before.

The test just plays some music in your ear and the microphone inside makes sure that you are getting the right sound and seal. It was easy and gave me comfort that I was using the correct ones.

Transparency

The other new mode is Transparency. It takes the audio that the microphones are recording and pipes it into what you hear. This way, you don’t have to take an AirPod out to hear what is going on.

This mode was pretty cool, just like the Noise Canceling, but it sounds like recorded audio in my ear on top of the music that was playing. I didn’t get a chance to talk to anyone while I was using that, and I regret that to a point. I honestly hate when people don’t take out their headphones when they are talking, it just seems like a polite thing to do.

I wasn’t blown away with the feature like some have been. It was very handy and I can see using it on a plane or when you do go running or something. For me, I think I’d prefer the old style AirPods if I were to go run.

Sound

With the limited time that I tested them, I can’t say enough good things about the sound from these AirPods. The bass was thumping in my ear and the music sounded good. These do sound much better than the standard AirPods, especially when the Noise Canceling is on.

If you have an ear for music and sound, I would say definitely pick these over the normal AirPods. I only hope that Apple brings some of the sound tech back to the normal AirPods down the road. It is very impressive what Apple is able to get out of such a small driver.

Control

The controls on the Pros have advanced from the tap on the AirPods. Now, you squeeze the stem of the AirPods to pause, change track, or toggle between Active Noise Canceling and Transparency modes.

I’ve never loved tapping on my headphones, I didn’t love squeezing the stem either. It felt awkward trying to reach up and find them and then squeeze. Maybe I got used to the simplicity of tapping the AirPod.

If you are curious, taking one of these out of your ear will still pause the music as well.

My Final Verdict

All week I was fighting the urge to pay $250 for some AirPods Pro that I really didn’t need. I love my AirPods 2 and I recently got some Beats Studio 3s that I enjoy very much. If I hadn’t just got the Studios, I might be very tempted to change over.

But I didn’t leave the Apple store with a new set of AirPods Pro.

It isn’t because I don’t think they are a good product, they really are. But for me, it boiled down to feeling something in my ear, not seeing myself running with them, and the price.

So for now, I’ll keep my second-generation AirPods. When I need to update them, I’ll have a look at the Pros, but I’m satisfied with what I have for now.