I’ve been using AirPods Pro since early December. There are several aspects of them that I haven’t seen much coverage of, so I decided to write up my notes:<\/p>\n
AirPods Pro had the worst out-of-box experience of any Apple product I’ve used. There was an immediate<\/a> strong, vaguely<\/a> fruity<\/a> smell<\/a> coming from the soft rubber, and it left a chalky residue (similar to that seen on newer power Apple cables) on my fingers and ears that made my skin break out. Apple’s support said this was normal but that both would get better with time. They recommended washing the surfaces with rubbing alcohol and letting them air out for a while. After washing, they no longer left a residue. I aired them out for several weeks, yet the smell remained strong. Four months later, they still smell, though not as much. At least I no longer feel the urge to wash my hands after touching them.<\/p><\/li>\n\n The AirPods Pro case looks and feels larger than the regular one. I don’t consider it to be too big, but it is definitely missing the original case’s je ne sais quoi<\/em>. The wider, squatter shape is not as pleasing to flip open, and I still find it more difficult to insert and remove the AirPods Pro than the regular AirPods.<\/p><\/li>\n\n Noise cancellation mode works very well, both on airplanes and at home with kitchen fans, washing machines, vacuums, faucets, and the like. It’s also effective with traffic noise and crowds of people talking, though not with one or two people engaged in intermittent conversation. This was the main feature I wished for in the original AirPods, and it’s even better than I hoped. The isolation also lets me use a lower volume.<\/p><\/li>\n\n The tighter fit makes phone calls weird, because it feels like my ears are plugged and I can’t hear the level of my own voice. Transparency Mode helps but still doesn’t feel natural. The best solution, if there isn’t too much ambient noise, is to wear only one AirPod Pro for calls. You can then swap them if the battery runs down.<\/p><\/li>\n\n Regular AirPods are more comfortable<\/a> in my ears, especially for longer than an hour. The AirPods Pro feel like they are digging in after a while, and they get a little itchy. Angling them forward helps a bit, although it looks strange. Sometimes they leave my ears wet inside.<\/p><\/li>\n\n I expected that the new control scheme would be a plus because the additional gestures would let me control more features. As it turns out, I mostly just pause and resume, and for those actions I much prefer the original tapping. The new pressing doesn’t work well with gloves or a hat, and I don’t like do it when my fingers are dirty. With the original AirPods, I could always tap with my clean wrist or the back of my hand. Also, and this may just be psychological, but the more precise pressing movement feels<\/em> slower.<\/p><\/li>\n\n These are my first AirPods that support “Hey Siri.” To the extent that Siri works, it’s great. I have seen some cases, though, where it simply doesn’t recognize that I’m trying to issue a command. There’s no error message; it’s as if they aren’t listening at all. This was never a problem when tapping the original AirPods. Without AirPods in, my phone sitting on the table would recognize my voice in these situations, but when the AirPods Pro get stuck like this, they seem to also prevent the phone from listening.<\/p><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n Overall, I find it difficult to evaluate AirPods Pro because I have such mixed feelings about them. If I had to pick one model, I would buy the Pros because the seal and noise cancellation make them usable in situations where I couldn’t use the regular AirPods. That said, in situations where I don’t need noise cancellation or a long battery life, I always reach for my original AirPods. They feel better in my ears, and the case makes me happy.<\/p>\n\n Currently the regular AirPods are on sale for $130<\/a> or $150<\/a> with<\/em> wireless charging case, with the Pros going for $235<\/a> (via MacRumors<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n Previously:<\/p>\n\n