My AirPods Pro 3 Turned Out to Be a Hearing Aid

A few months ago, I bought a pair of AirPods Pro 3. They're the first Pro earbuds Apple has released in three years, and my first AirPods Pro.

My previous earbuds were the OPPO Enco Free4. I switched to Apple partly for the ecosystem, and partly to get better sound, noise cancellation, and fit.

After a few months of use, the AirPods Pro haven't wowed me on sound quality. Maybe that's because I have a tin ear and I'm not sensitive to it.

But in other ways, the AirPods Pro have given me wonderful and surprising experiences.

First, noise cancellation. The AirPods Pro's noise cancellation is excellent. If you choose the right ear tips, the fit gets a lot more comfortable and the noise cancellation gets stronger.

I really need noise cancellation. For work I often ride the subway and high-speed trains, and I usually turn it on then, to have a setting where I can focus.

The AirPods Pro's noise cancellation is about as good as the Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds I used before. But they're several floors above in comfort. The Sony XM4's ear tips are hard and the design isn't very well thought out. You can hardly lie on your side wearing them, your ears hurt after a long time, and they don't look great.

The AirPods Pro have a simple design and are light, and with Transparency mode, I often forget I'm wearing them.

If noise cancellation met my expectations, Transparency mode was a pleasant surprise.

By rights, someone like me who needs noise cancellation shouldn't have much use for Transparency. Noise cancellation shuts out outside noise, and Transparency is like its opposite. It lets you hear everything outside.

At first I rarely used Transparency mode. Then one morning, just after I stepped out and put the earbuds in, I suddenly heard a few clear bird calls through them. It was a wonderful moment. The AirPods Pro is like a hearing aid. As it carries outside sounds into your ears, it also lets you notice sounds you'd never have noticed before.

For me, walking down the road to the sound of birdsong like that is a pleasure. Without the AirPods Pro, I probably couldn't have heard it.

So now I use noise cancellation and Transparency depending on the situation. If I'm not on a train or bus, I'll most likely turn on Transparency. And when I'm out, I basically wear the earbuds all day, which means the battery life of the AirPods Pro has to be very good.

Before buying, I'd already heard about the AirPods Pro 3's battery life. A single charge is said to give eight hours of listening.

That was one of the main reasons I bought them. After using them, it's true. The battery life really is impressive and nearly covers a full day out for me.

A small, light pair of earbuds with strong noise cancellation, wonderful Transparency mode, and great battery life: I really love them.

But they're not without flaws.

At least in the months I've used them, my AirPods Pro keep having a crackling blast in the left ear. For some reason, the sound in the earbud drops out and is replaced by a harsh, stuttering alarm.

I searched online and found that lots of people have run into this problem.

Luckily it doesn't happen often. Each time, I just put them back in the case and put them in again, and it's fixed.

You know, we Apple users have the strongest adaptability.

All in all, the AirPods Pro are the Apple product I like most after my MacBook. If you're thinking of buying them, see whether you have a core need for the points I mentioned above.

Either way, if you're in the Apple ecosystem, you can't go wrong with this one.