If you’re anything like me, your wireless earbuds are the mostused tech in your life. I’m always listening to music or podcasts on my commute, in the office or while walking around the shops. And when I’m travelling, noisecancellation is invaluable.
While I’m always testing out different buds, it’s the AirPods Pro I keep coming back to. The experience is absolutely seamless with other Apple gadgets, and they’re great for noise control and convenience.
But Apple’s back with some serious upgrades for its best earbuds – including levelledup noisecancelling, a more secure fit, live translation, heart rate sensing, and extra battery life. I’ve been testing them out to see if the AirPods Pro 3 are worth the upgrade.
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Apple AirPods Pro 3: At a glance
Apple AirPods Pro 3
Cons
Only available in white- No sound quality adjustment
- No charging cable included
Features at a Glance
| Noisecancelling | Yes |
|---|---|
| Battery life | 24 hours (8 hours on a single charge with noisecancelling) |
| Charging | USBC and wireless charging (on MagSafe/Qi chargers and Apple Watch charging pads) |
| Weight | 5.55g per earbud (43.99g with the case) |
What I like about Apple AirPods Pro 3
First impressions, noise control and comfort
I was immediately impressed by the upgrades in the AirPods Pro 3. The slight redesign, plus a combination of a far more secure fit and absolutely sensational active noisecancelling (ANC) performance, are obvious right away. Together, they make a massive difference.
Apple has switched over to “foaminfused” ear tips – and it provides XXS, XS, S, M, and L sizes – so you shouldn’t have trouble finding ones to suit. I stuck with the default M size, and while they’re a little more noticeable to wear, with a deeper inear fit, they’re among the more comfortable buds I’ve tried. And, I don’t feel like they’re ever going to fall out.
The unshakeable fit also helps to block out loads of noise, and the ANC eliminates everything else. Apple makes a big claim of having the “best inear noisecancellation” and I don’t disagree. The ANC fully dials down a huge range of sounds and, if you’ve got them in correctly, you’ll barely hear the outside world. This is brilliant for frequent flyers, or if you need silence to focus.
Apple’s awareness (or transparency) mode is reliably excellent, too. I can happily switch it on and talk to the barista in the morning when I’m ordering my coffee. The most impressive mode is “Adaptive”, which you’ll need to enable in the settings. With this on, the AirPods will intelligently mix noisecancellation and transparency for spatial awareness when you need it, and silence when you don’t. I’ve been leaving them in this mode most of the time.
For ease of use and design, they’re just as great as any previous AirPods. The case is compact and pocketable, setup is instant on an iPhone, switching between Apple devices is seamless, and they support Find My if you lose them. They also have helpful features carried over from the AirPods Pro 2, like a helpful ear tip fit test and the ability to be used as hearing aids.
Adaptive sound quality and clear calls
When it comes to sound quality, I really like how Apple’s sophisticated “Adaptive EQ” recognises the audio you’re playing and automatically adjusts to keep it sounding its best. In practice, these often “enhance” bass and treble and aren’t customisable, but the audio profile is going to sound pleasing for most listeners. The new acoustic design also means music has a wider soundstage and feels a bit more spacious, too.
I’ve been loving pop music, electronic, soundtracks, vocals, films, and podcasts on these buds. They also handle lowvolume listening well, adapting to keep things clear without you needing to increase the volume. This is one of the best things about these highquality noisecancelling earbuds.
If you make a lot of calls onthego, you’ll be glad to know that the AirPods Pro 3 are excellent for this, too. I made a call where I walked through a busy train station, out of the station through crowds and into very blustery wind, but those on the other end of the line confirmed my voice stayed crystal clear throughout and there was no point where they heard the background din or any unnatural processing.
A great workout companion
One of the headline additions to the AirPods Pro 3 is builtin heart rate tracking, where you can use the Fitness app on your iPhone to start a workout while wearing them.
This is great for those who use AirPods as their gym headphones, as they’ll be able to get detailed heart rate data during their workouts, even if they don’t own an Apple Watch.
They’ve also got upgraded sweat resistance, which is now IP57rated, up from IP54. That means they have much better water resistance and would even survive being dunked in water a metre deep for halfanhour.
Live translation and special features
They also have a new live translation feature, which is coming to the AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2, too. The processing for this does happen on your phone, so it needs to be one that works with Apple Intelligence. I tried to test this, but ran into some persistent bugs that meant it wouldn’t work for me on an iPhone 16e, with the Translate app on the iPhone unresponsive after downloading languages. The feature is currently in “beta”, so it’s unsurprising there are issues – these should be resolved over time.
If it works, you should be able to download the languages for live translation in the AirPods settings on your iPhone. English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish are available now. Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (simplified) are due to arrive later this year.
This is in addition to familiar AirPods extras such as spatial audio that upgrades compatible music and film content, (to make it sound like it’s coming from all around you), conversation awareness (that lowers the volume when you start speaking) and the ability to “announce” notifications that arrive on your phone. To go through all the features would take a while, but there’s a lot here to make it a terrific everyday companion.
Price and value
The other big plus to highlight is the price. These are a great value pick because they deliver so many more features than several rivals, all for £219 – when you consider that certain competitor pairs can cost almost £300. These are more affordable than the pair they replace, but a lot more capable.
Something else that makes these good value is a battery life boost. You now get up to eight hours of listening with ANC on, an increase from six hours on the 2ndgen model. When you factor in the charging case, you get a full 24 hours of listening.
You also get lots more battery life from a single charge in transparency mode – going up to 10 hours when the hearing aid feature is in use. Better battery life also means more use in the long run, too, so it’s a good benefit even if you’re not often listening for eight hours in one go.
What I don’t like about Apple AirPods Pro 3
The list of things to dislike about the AirPods Pro 3 is much shorter than my list of likes, which is a good sign that Apple’s made a topquality pair of earphones here. I do still wish they weren’t only available in white, though. The glossy plastic quickly becomes a bit of a dust magnet.
I’ve also now seen more reports than I’d expect that the fit isn’t comfortable for all users, so it sounds like some people might not suit the foaminfused tips. The sound, while great to my ears, is something users should be able to customise, and Apple doesn’t offer much to help you change the bass or treble, should you need to. You’ll either like the way these sound, or you won’t!
My verdict on the Apple AirPods Pro 3
If you want the best wireless earbuds for noisecancelling, transparency and smart features without the fuss, these are the top pick for iPhone owners. They’re easily the best AirPods to date, and I’ve found a lot of the new features make them even better for everyday use, including superb noisecancellation, great awareness in the “Adaptive” mode, a more secure fit and excellent call clarity. For me, they’re also super comfortable to wear for hours at a time, especially with the battery improvements.
As with all AirPods, they have a huge number of features that make them some of the most convenient companions for your iPhone and other Apple products. But, they’re not for Android users at all, and they can’t be controlled by Android phones. They also have a couple of limitations compared to the best on the market, such as only coming in one colour and lacking sound customisation.
The price is great, though, undercutting much of the flagship competition and making them the easiest buds to recommend to iPhone users. If you’re tiring of your current pair and need better noise control, a more secure fit, richer sound quality, heart rate sensing and better sweat resistance, go for the upgrade!
Other products to consider
- Apple AirPods 4, from £119 – If you can’t stand the feel of silicone ear tips, you’re not going to get along with the new Pros and the AirPods 4 will be a better pick. They deliver several of the same benefits, and even come in a version with reliable noisecancelling. It may also be worth hunting around for deals on the outgoing AirPods Pro 2, while they’re available, as they’re still some of the best buds on the market, even now.
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra 2 Earbuds, £299.95 – They’ll cost you a fair bit more, but the latest Bose buds go toetotoe with the new AirPods for noisecancellation and have a fit that’s likely to be comfortable for more users. We love the sound, design, controls and great companion app. Read our Bose QuietComfort Ultra 2 Earbuds review for more detail.
- Cambridge Audio Melomania A100, £119 – These days, budget buds don’t sound or feel cheap, and Cambridge Audio’s latest pair proves that. They’re comfortable and deliver excellent ANC and sound quality with a great app and loads of battery life. You really needn’t have to spend more for the best value wireless earbuds you can buy right now.
Simon Cocks is Good Housekeeping UK’s Technology Editor, overseeing tech shopping content and strategy for the title. He previously also worked across other titles including Esquire UK, Digital Spy, Men’s Health UK and Women’s Health UK.
Simon specialises in testing the latest smart gadgets, home entertainment gear, headphones, speakers, portable chargers, radios, ebook readers and smartphones. He’s reviewed top tech products from brands including Google, Apple, Amazon, JBL and Bose.
A magazine journalism graduate from Kingston University in 2014, Simon also worked on the Discovery and Silkroad inflight magazines. He then gained experience writing about entertainment at SFX and Total Film. He also contributed reviews and interviews to TwitchFilm (later ScreenAnarchy), CultBox and Frame Rated.
He joined Good Housekeeping UK as the Editorial Assistant for Special Projects and was part of Good Housekeeping’s Consumer Affairs Team between 2014 and 2019. In this role, he conducted price comparison research, wrote detailed household and moneysaving advice guides and edited thousands of indepth reviews for the Good Housekeeping Institute.
He has focused on technology and gadgets since 2020, where he started by testing out power banks and instant cameras. He writes reviews, roundups, news articles and deals updates, and also covers top tech deals during sales like Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
When not testing out the latest gizmos, you’ll find Simon either catching up with the newest releases at his local cinema or out shooting with his beloved compact camera.
You can follow Simon on Instagram, on Bluesky, on LinkedIn and on Threads.
