Hi,
so had my AirPods Pro 2 for about 24 hours and thought I'd give a quick rundown, from a blind perspective, of the things I've noticed. More in-depth reviews are out there for general aspects so I'm just going to focus on the parts I think are interesting for us.
Audio Playback
Firstly, audio wise, I think there is quite an improvement over the original iPods pro. The sound is crisper, deeper, fuller. Previously, if I were to go for a longer music listening session I'd probably switch to my AirPods Max and, whilst these can't touch the max on quality and clarity, they also don't weigh you down and are far more pleasurable to wear when moving about the house. Now the AirPods Pro 2 are viable music buds I'm less likely to cram in my AirPods Max when travelling, unless it is for a longer duration.
Transparency
I still need to test this more but think there is a slight difference in tuning, making spoken voices more prominent. They also feel a little airier than the previous generation though, again, not anywhere as airy as the transparency mode on AirPods Max which, aside from the great weight clamped to your head, it's almost as if you're not wearing anything over your ears at all.
I'm still to test the adaptive transparency in a loud setting. Particularly interested in conversation boost and seeing if they can help reduce background noise in a bar etc. I struggle a lot in loud environments to focus on voices (doubt I'm alone there) so quite excited to see how these pan out.
ANC
Better than the last generation though there is a subtle hiss when no music is playing and a slight spill due to bone conduction. You're not just listening with your ears, sound permeates your skull too, which, of course can't be blocked, unless you wear some sort of diving bell style helmet. Even then, footsepts and general skeletal impacts will come through. To be honest, I don't use ANC a great deal, find it isolating, but this does seem very good. Twice as good? No idea. Worth the upgrade? In my view, probably not.
Case
The case is cool. Such a simple addition of a speaker has made it much easier for us without sight to use it. It chimes when charging and, even better, gives a triple beep when resetting the AirPods Pro in their case. The find my integration is great and very useful for me, at least. How many times have you put something down in a visually obvious place and spent an eternity trying to find it? The ability to have this call out is, in my view, worth the upgrade.
Lanyard
I don't use a lanyard but, for similar reasons as the last, it might be something we enjoy clipping to our day bags etc.
Conclusion
Though the sound has improved and the transparency aspects seem promising, part of me wishes I could have just upgraded the case which seems the most useful aspect here.
When I received my AirPods Pro 2 there were the issues with syncing between headphones and, even now, after updating the firmware, I'm noticing the sound stage sometimes drifts which is, again, a syncing issu. These issues will be resolved, but just to make you aware that there are a couple of issues that are still being ironed out, to avoid disappointment.
Comments
Thank you!
Thanks for this review! I've been strongly considering getting these but wanted to wait for some feedback, so this is much appreciated. Hoping they iron out the issues I've been seeing mention of soon.
Firmware
I know the AirPod pro 2 has a new version of OS but it is not for the others. I tried to update my AirPod pro to it but nothing happens. Probably get them one day.
Are you going through the problems that many users have
Are you going through the equalizing and delay with voiceover issues that may people have reported? What version of iOS are you running?
Mostly agree
I too got mine on Monday and my early impressions are broadly positive.
I think the noise cancellation is excellent, definitely better than the first generation. The jury is still out on the new adaptive transparency mode for me. I love transparency mode in many circumstances but do find it difficult to use when out walking, as traffic noise is so loud. It’s early days, but I’m not sure I can spot much difference in this feature.
I think the audio quality is a little better, more base perhaps, but I’m no audiofile.
I agree the case is great, that speaker is so useful. Plus I love that I can now use MagSafe to charge it. The first gen ones had wireless charging, but you had to place it perfectly on a chi charger. The new one just snaps into place, beautiful.
Sadly I have noticed the issues with the two sides falling marginally out of sync. I’m on 16.1 beta. Usually it’s fixed by either toggling VoiceOver or the playing audio, or by removing one of the AirPods for a few seconds.
That bug aside, I’d say they are a good upgrade, not absolutely necessary, but good. I’ve no regrets anyway.
Dave
Nice. Waiting for mine to…
Nice. Waiting for mine to ship. They seem to be getting good reviews but the one question that can't be answered for a while is did Apple fix the rattling/crackling thing? I'm on my second replacement pair of first gen Pros and they started doing that six months in and can't be replaced again. So I waited for the upgrade and got AC+.
Also volume control
Oh and I also appreciate the new ability to change the volume on the AirPods.
Especially when using them around the house, when I wouldn’t necessarily have my phone in my pocket, or am using them with the iPad or Mac, this is quite useful.
Couple of answers
Haven't experienced any crackling, also that weird high pitched sound when you adjust an AirPods is gone, which is a relief.
I'm on the public release of IOS but am experiencing the issues. As David said, taking out AirPods Pro 2 from your ears and putting them back in seems to fix the problem. It tends to arise either as you put them on or if you use Siri. The good thing about this issue, unlike most of our accessibility issues, is that it is wide spread so you can be sure a fix will be out soon.
Yes, the volume on the stems is nice. It does allow more independence from my phone, allowing me to wander my mansion without phone.
I'm hoping that, as apple has done in the past, there will be feature upgrades with AirPods Pro 2 down the line. With bluetooth 5.3 there is room for some interesting improvements, such as microphone quality when on a call and improved fidelity. Naturally, this requires the source device to also have bluetooth 5.3 like the latest iPhone 14s. I have a hunch that lossless is coming but not for a while. Can just imagine the uproar if only AirPodss pro 2 owners with an iPhone 14 can access it. That would be stink, even for apple. They'll probably wait until more people have moved over to more recent devices before dropping such features or, may use it as a mid cycle means to improve sales... Who knows, and it's just my hunch/hope.
Regarding transparency, the more I've used it the more I think there is a difference however, if we remember that it is simply the AirPods Pro 2 passing through audio via microphone,s, it is simply using the improved drivers and wider soundstage. It seems a little less compressed, though in an a/b test I'd probably be hard pressed to tell the difference so it might also be down to confirmation bias.
Regarding ANC... I know a lot of the reviewers out there are saying it is a huge improvement, but I can't agree. maybe it's a bit better and maybe if I'm out in the wild it will be better but just a home test, I can still hear running water, a fan etc, so not overly impressed. Though, one improvement is that there isn't the same feeling of pressure on the ears when it is engaged as there is with the first generation, so that is an improvement.
Will I keep them? I'm not sure yet. They are expensive. I think that the apple integration is good in some ways but I only tend to use them with my phone so not much need for the 'magic switching'... Which doesn't work with VoiceOver anyway. Battery is good and as one reviewer pointed out, you're not going to be wearing these for six hours anyway. The find my integration is probably the most interesting thing here, but is it worth £250? I don't know. As I said before, I'd quite happily keep my old AirPods Pro gen 1 and swap out the case as is possible with the MagSafe case that they released. No doubtt it would be north of £100, and then I'd probably have to replace my AirPods Pro gen 1 soon anyway as I've had them for three years and the batteries are probably on the out.
I think I might look around for other headphones with similar feature sets anyway.
I realise that this doesn't help so much if you're on the fence. If people can keep giving their perspective on them as they receive their AirPods Pro 2, then it will help potential buyers with a wide ranging balanced view.
Man, I've written AirPods Pro 2 a lot over the last couple of days...
Better than the AirPods Pro 1
Like other posts in here, I have found that the audio from VoiceOver gets out of sync but usually moving around on the screen or going to another page while surfing fixes this. The sound is much better than the first generation AirPod Pros. Richer, deeper, and very pleasant to listen to. I watched an episode of Seal Team and it was theater-like IMHO.
I am not sorry I bought these and plan to hang on to them. I know Apple will fix this as this is a wide spread issue.
I used the AirPods Pro 2 on the bus this morning going to work and the ANC is awesome, but then again, I took an electric bus in so that may make that a bit flawed. We are starting to get electric buses here in Charlotte which is neat in itself!
If you're on the fence, try it out. You do have 14 days to return them.
how does the
How does the slide up and down on the airpod stem to raise and lower the volume work? I mean is it a per say, physical slider, or is it touch baced, as if you where to swipe up and down on a iphone's screen? Also, do you have to do it more than once if you want the volume to kaep raising or lowering, or if you swipe up and hold, will it continue to raise and lower the volume, respectively until you let go? Curious as to how this works.
strange issue
Is anybody else having issues with these and voice dream reader?
I got mine which seem to work great for everything except for that application. If I listen to an audiobook, they sound like they've recorded the sound in a room with a slight echo.
I've tested the same book on the books app as well, and with different headphones. It only seems to be in voice dream that this happens.
Regarding audio books, voice…
Regarding audio books, voice dream reader and echo, this is probably a symptom of the syncing issue being experienced across the board. Is it kind of phased between AirPods? If so, this is a general bug, though it might just have happened to occur when you were using voice dream reader?
regarding changing volume…
regarding changing volume... It is a touch control. Placing your thumb behind the stem you stroke upwards or downwards on the touch area to change volume. Each sweep changes it by a pock, so need to sweep several times to achieve bigger changes in volume. It works well, would find it hard to return to the previous generation without the volume control.
Re: strange issue
It sounds like you might need to disable spatial audio for Voice Dream.
To do this, open Voice Dream and start listening to something. You can now pause it if you wish. This first step is to make sure that Voice Dream is the active audio player.
Next, activate Control Centre.
Perform either a long press or 1 finger triple tap on the volume slider.
On the resulting dialog, you want to make sure that spatial audio is disabled.
This is the process for disabling spatial audio for a single app rather than disabling it globally.
Hope this fixes things for you.
fixed
That fixed the issue, thanks very much! My fault for not researching common issues first, sorry about that.
Re: Fixed
No problem at all Matthew.
The reason I thought that this might be the issue is that I experienced the exact same thing last year. Somebody pointed me towards the solution then, so I am happy to do likewise here ☺️
Glad that this fixed it for you too.
VoiceDream
You're not at all alone, I just had to figure this one out 6 months ago, it's a very strange thing
how to set up Personalised Spatial Audio
well,
as a totally blind people.
how to set up Personalised Spatial Audio ?
Patients. It can be done…
Patients. It can be done though it took me four or five attempts. to be honest, I don't think it is worth it, neither do reviewers. It's a gimmick.
Personalized spatial audio
Patience is the key. It literally took me most of an afternoon to get this set up. I struggled with the setup for my left ear and had to restart the setup at least 10 times. I eventually got it and now don't see the point; it wasn't worth it.
how
I've been fighting with this for the entire afternoon and can't get it working. I even got the help of a fully sighted person, who also failed.
out of sync
Yeah. I have found the slight out of sync issue, hoping that that is just software and they'll fix it soon enough.
I'm definitely keeping them, I sold my 1s to a friend of a friend and I'm so happy with these new ones.
How can you be happy with them when they’re out of sink?
I really don’t understand how people can like something when it’s not working properly. It has a lot of potential and there are a lot of good things. But the out of sync issue is driving me crazy and making me not want to use them.
I love my air pods pro 2…
I love my air pods pro 2 even with the out of sync issues. mana live they sound grate! and now that I can cycle between the 3 modes with a squeeze of the stem? I'll take it.
cycling between the three…
cycling between the three modes was also on the previous AirPods Pro, just incase anyone was wondering.
Regarding them not working right, it just requires me to take them out and put them back in. It's annoying, but it doesn't suddenly start happening when I'm listening to media. I think, because it is wide spread, I'm pretty amviblent about this flaw which will be fixed and soon. If not, apple are in deep trouble.
Out of interest, is anyone having this issue with their iPad as a sound source?
One more thing, for those not having a great fit with the supplied ear tips, I've found good results with comply memory foam tips. They squish and then swell to fit your ear canal. I've got some old ones and have noticed there is a little drop in treble, but it might just be because they've been hanging about in my dirty lugs for three years.
Finally, the more I listen to them, the more I realise the improvement in audio. Was switching back and forth with my AirPods Pro first gen and these. Listening to sharp dressed man by ZZ top, the difference was obvious. The driving base came through so much better on the gen two, and the sound stage was wider.
In all, I think I'm enjoying them more each day as I become accustomed to them. It's a shame, if I'd not bought them I'd probably have been okay with the old versions.
My advice, in that case is, if you want good sound, rather than very good sound, if battery isn't an issue, if you don't lose them too often or have employed a case with a lanyard, I'd say it's probably not worth the upgrade.
Mine are arriving today, I…
Mine are arriving today, I so can’t wait to use these :)
Taking them out and putting…
Taking them out and putting them back in does not solve the issue for me 100 percent of the time, you have to toggle between siri or toggle dictation on and off to get the sync to happen again.
Hmm. I think it should reset…
Hmm. I think it should reset the connection. Find I have to take them both out, wait a couple of seconds and then when put them back in hear the 'bong' connection chime.
yep hat oes not always work…
yep hat oes not always work for me,; I am happy when it does however.
voice over sounds and the music will split to left and right
I think it is a bug and it's hapening randomly
several question
1.
I have an airpods pro original one and the airpods pro 2nd.
can I use it at the same time?
2. can I connect my airpods pro to my PC computer using bluetooth with my computer?
3. I think the case of the airpods pro and the airpods pro 2nd is almost the same.
can I use the original airpods pro case to charge the airpods pro 2nd?
1. Apple allows two pairs of…
1. Apple allows two pairs of AirPods and beats to be connected simultaneously to Apple TV, IOS and iPad OS. If you mean, can you have a single generation 1 in one ear and one generation 2 in the other, the answer is yes, though I'd not recommend it and am not sure on the use case.
2. Yes you can connect AirPods Pro 2 to your PC using bluetooth.
3. New generation AirPods Pro 2 give a warning when put into an old case saying they are incompatible however, as far as I can tell, the old AirPods Pro work in the generation 2 charging case though the case does let you know that the AirPods/case combination isn't correct. It's a new feature to help people identify their own AirPods if they've been mixed up.
the sounds or audio quality
the sounds and the audio quality i have improved a lot.
and I like the swiping up and down to turn the vollium up and down .
My Impressions and a Major bug
Hi Oliver and all,
Thanks for this excellent perspective. I was so excited to get these, as compared to the Bose headphones I have (the SoundLink that goes on the ear) these are nice and small and cute. I haven't travelled on a plane with them yet, so we'll see how good the noise cancellation is there. My poor Bose are also physically falling apart, so I'm very happy to get these.
I, too, can't find an ear tip that exactly fits, so maybe the memory foam is a good suggestion and I'll have to explore that. For awhile I thought the shape wouldn't work in my ears, but I think it might be fine. My regular AirPods 2 fit in my ears perfectly, but now I'm used to transparency mode so it might be very hard to go back. When wearing for long periods of time, my ears do feel a bit weird, not painful but in-ear headphones aren't my top choice so it's probably me still getting used to them. I never got the first generation.
I agree that the case speaker is very awesome! The case will also make a little beep when the case battery is low, which is amazing but I'm still learning to recognize it. my case is not showing up on find My though; does that require iOS 16?
Now, the not so good. I am not sure if this is the syncing issue previously reported, but often VoiceOver and Siri audio will become very distorted, almost like you're listening to them under water. The clarity just up and disappears. Is this fixed in iOs 16? (I probably won't upgrade until the direct touch bug is fixed.) I suspect this might be related to the different audio protocol used for phone calls and Siri requests, because a workaround is to sometimes send another Siri request or make a phone call and then VoiceOver clarity returns. It doesn't annoy me enough (yet) to return them, also since it is most likely software it can get fixed.
One handy trick I've found when out and about is to switch modes. When I am stationary and safe, if I need to check my phone for a transit schedule, for instance, and there is a lot of traffic at the bus stop, I switch into noise cancelation mode for a couple seconds to hear what VoiceOver is saying and block out most everything else. Then I go back to transparency when I'm done with VoiceOver. This trick works quite well, but obviously it's not a good idea to try it while moving around!
Those are my impressions. Thanks for the great review!
Chelsea
Yes. You need iOS 16. It…
Yes. You need iOS 16. It suppose to work well with the second gen. Do not know if this is right.
Thanks for sharing
Many thanks to everyone who has shared their thoughts and experiences of these new AirPods. I'm tempted, so it's really helpful to hear what you all have to say ☺️
All I have to say so far is…
All I have to say so far is the sound quality is much better than the first generation by far. Haven’t noticed the massive syncing problem that Other people have had on here. The base is pretty good and. You really won’t regret buying them and I’ve also noticed when recording messages, the mic picks up a decent amount and that side of it has really improved. however I do use the compliant memory tips as I don’t like the original Apple silicone tips. These I still find a lot better. Also, I’ve noticed that the noise cancellation hasn’t massively improved for me, but it’s still pretty acceptable for what it is at.
Got mine today. After a…
Got mine today. After a brief play with them when I went out to grab a bite to eat, the upgrade seems to be well worth it, minus of course that weird syncing thing. VO and music sounding like they're under water is spot on. Hopefully Apple can fix that. Sound quality seems to be marginally better than the first gen Pros, I did notice a bit more bass. The large ear tips give me the best seal. I tried the comply foam tips before and didn't like them.
The sounds the case makes are almost worth the upgrade by themselves! Finally I can tell they're charging when I put them on my QI charger, and can use my watch charger if I want. Apple needs to at least make a case that does this for the 3rd gen regular AirPods since they still sell them.
the base is a bit improve
yeah the base finally improve a bit. not a lot.
lol
but, I think it can be adjust in the setting....
adjust the sound in the second airpods pro
ok.
another question:
if I adjust the sounds on my Airpods pro 2nd.
does it also take effect to the original Airpods.
or 2 of them are independents sounds profiles?
My concern about the comply…
My concern about the comply tips is the sound being impeded. I've got a pair on my old AirPods Pro, pretty old now, but do notice they tend to kill the higher frequencies. Again, this might be because of their age, will have to get some newer ones. I too am using the largest tip now.
Yeah, I'm really not that impressed with ANC. I've tested using both the old and new with an audiobook playing on my computer and there really isn't much difference aside from the AirPods Pro 2 not having the same strange pressure on the ears. Everyone seems pretty excited about the ANC, but maybe it is more down to constant sounds though, I thought a large part of the h2 chip was that it can attenuate incredibly rapidly so spoken voice should fit into that, shouldn't it?
This may be something that is improved in time and another bug along with the syncing issue.
Some thoughts
I tried out a family member's pair, and I immediately noticed 2 things; noise cancellation is dramatically better and the occlusion effect is significantly reduced.
I have first-gen pros, and the noise cancellation, simply put, is straight up useless. It leaves all the mids and highs while only giving me uncomfortable head pressure for the trouble. The second gen actually work.
Next is the occlusion effect. It's prominent on my pods that transparency mode isn't useful to me. I've tried cleaning them and switching out tips to no avail. The movement of my jaw and thumping of my footsteps occludes high- frequency noises to the point that I feel unsafe walking around with them in my ears. The second-gen have reduced that significantly.
Maybe my Airpods Pro are a pair of lemons? Maybe the new ones are just that much better? Nobody else seems to have these issues, so I can't really tell, but if Apple can figure out the latency problem, I'll probably upgrade.
Latest Situation
We used to hear people's experiences here regarding VoiceOver stuttering and cutouts while using the Pro 2 but it seems the initial excitement has died down. I know Apple has pushed out a few firmware updates since so I would like to know if any of them has addressed the issues discussed here yet.
Also, I have been increasingly noticing blind users of Pro 2 mentioning the problem of latency but I am not sure if it is because of that bug which goes away for a while but comes back eventually or if it is a much more serious issue experienced in general and that the latency of Pro 2 is worse than those of AirPods Pro or third gen. Could those using the pro 2 as their daily driver clarify this? I am seriously giving a thought to getting a pair but If Pro 2 regressed in latency, I will stay away for now and choose the third generation AirPods despite the two being in different ligues.
I can't speak to latency…
I can't speak to latency problems since I don't seem to be having any. the sync issue, however, is present and correct, and very annoying, even if it doesn't happen often; it's more than enough to be annoying! This is the latest available release firmware. I find that I can't try current beta firmware for some reason on this pair, even though my Max and Pro originals have the beta updates now. I don't know why. In short, if you need a perfect score, hold off a bit longer. Hopefully the issue will clear up when iOS 16.1 is released and we all get the latest firmware and software.
The latency issue isn't a…
The latency issue isn't a show stopper. it's just a little more sluggish than first generation AirPods Pro. The decoupling of sync between AirPods is still happening though I find that removing one, waiting a moment and putting it back in seems to reset the stream.
There is a firmware update in the works, and iOS 16.1, not sure if these issues are specific to IOS as don't seem to be having problems when connected to my MacBook.