It goes without saying that AirPods Pro 2 are daily workhorses, so when Apple made the third generation of its flagship earbuds official, folks couldn’t wait to know how the Cupertino giant could top that experience.
I’ve got you. I spent the past five days with AirPods Pro 3, using them in a range of spaces, including a transcontinental flight from San Francisco, California, to Newark, New Jersey, using multiple listening modes, and even during a workout or two.
At a quick glance, they don’t look drastically different from the second generation. However, upon closer inspection – and in the hand or ear – you’ll notice the case is slightly taller and longer, and the AirPods Pro 3 earpieces themselves look more in line with AirPods 4. The driver housing and ear tips are now more curved to sit better in the ear and provide comfort for longer use.
They felt different at first, but after a few hours into the flight I felt at home with these. The bigger change is that the ear tips now combine foam and silicone, allowing them to sit more comfortably while also providing a stronger seal.
More sizes are included in the box: extra-extra small, extra small, large, and extra-large, with medium installed by default. I’ve always used medium and stuck with that size on AirPods Pro 3, though Apple notes some may need to adjust. The Ear Tip Fit test is still in Settings when AirPods are connected.
I never had major issues with AirPods Pro falling out, but on a walk and during stretching, I didn’t feel these slipping, even when sweating. Apple also upped the resistance rating to IP57, meaning the buds and case can handle sweat, dust, and now full submersion in fresh water up to a meter deep, for up to 30 minutes. This is a step above Powerbeats Pro 2, which top out at IPX4. Even without ear hooks or wingtips, the adjustable direction and improved tips lock into the ear more securely.
This better passive seal also works with rearranged internals to boost the audio. AirPods Pro 3 sound great across genres – tracks from Bruce Springsteen, Maggie Rogers, Sabrina Carpenter, John Fogerty, and Olivia Rodrigo offer excellent separation, highlight all parts of a song, and deliver noticeably stronger bass.
Apple’s H2 Chip still powers the experience, and the AirPods team – including audio engineers – seem to be making better use of it. On a tour of Apple’s Audio Lab at Apple Park in Cupertino, I saw where they measure ears, test Spatial Audio, and noise cancellation. I also saw an exploded view of AirPods Pro 3 – behind glass, no photos – which showed how much hardware is packed inside.
Despite the many sensors, drivers, batteries, vents, and silicon that needs to be inside, Apple updated the internal design for better airflow – essential for audio playback. Much of it comes from a redesigned top vent, which clearly helps deliver better sound.
For instance, with the studio cut of Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen, the track races to life with a wall of sound that hits with substantial oomph but still lets you hear the rolling drum before keys, guitar, and horn come in. It handles the full range of frequencies well, and the clear separation between vocals, instruments, and saxophone avoids muddying or artifacts.
Patti Smith’s People Have the Power delivers a similar rush, starting with strong drum hits and then higher frequency vocals. Pop tracks like Manchild by Sabrina Carpenter test heavy bass alongside higher-frequency vocals on a packed mix. Apple says Adaptive EQ has been updated to take better advantage of the new audio capabilities, adjusting the mix in real time.
AirPods Pro 3 sound vibrant, with a much bigger bass boost than I expected. Spatial Audio tracks are also a treat, though as my colleague Becky Scarrott noted, true lossless high-resolution audio is still not supported.
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Apple promised stronger active noise cancellation and even after my short time with them, I can tell you that AirPods Pro 3 largely deliver (more on this shortly). They also offer the best transparency mode I’ve heard on earbuds, letting environmental sounds in without buzz or artifacts. My own voice also sounds a bit more natural, a welcome upgrade with this generation.
On the noise cancellation side, Apple says these are 2x better than AirPods Pro 2 and 4x better than AirPods Pro or AirPods 4. In my testing thus far, they’re certainly faster at blocking sound, and better at levelling from the get-go.
Whether at Apple Park or on an airplane, they cut noise down to a hush quickly. That slight vacuum sensation comes in faster now and blocks a wider range of frequencies at once. Still, don’t expect miracles: if a sound comes out of nowhere, it’s possible that it still makes it through the algorithm before it’s blocked.
The AirPods Pro 3 lowered cabin noise and the roar of a Boeing 757-200 engine to a near whisper during my flight. My body still picked up vibrations, but with playback at about 50% volume, outside noise was fully blocked. The TechRadar audio team will still need to test these against Bose and Sony, but early in-flight results are impressive.
The other major hardware addition is a heart-rate sensor: a tiny Apple-made infrared sensor that uses invisible red light to capture readings 256 times per second inside your ear. This can work with the Apple Watch, in which case the software chooses the most accurate feed, or you can track workouts with just an iPhone and see the readings from AirPods. It all lives in the updated Fitness app, and the advantage of AirPods Pro 3 is that it supports tracking over 50 types of activity.
Heart-rate tracking on AirPods Pro 3 was as quick as the watch, with results usually within a digit or two. I tested this with two separate phones, both recording the same workout, once connected to the AirPods Pro 3 and another to an Apple Watch. In the Health app, you can check whether the source is the watch or AirPods Pro 3, though it’s not front and center.
While heart rate is exclusive to AirPods Pro 3, Live Translation – the other standout feature – is also coming to AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2, which share the H2 chip. You’ll also need an iPhone 15 or newer to use this, and whether European markets will get the feature is still uncertain and honestly, unlikely at the time of writing.
AirPods Pro 3 engage noise cancellation, use beamforming microphones to listen, and translate supported languages in near real time. You hear the translation in your ears and see a script on the iPhone via the Translate app.
It’s not instant – translations take a few seconds after a pause – provided you’ve remembered to download the language model. That’s a win for privacy and especially useful for travel, as well as a differentiator from other earbuds that offer a similar mode.
Live Translation supports English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish at launch (which is September 19, 2025 for AirPods Pro 3, but coming from today for the Pro 2 and AirPods 4 with ANC, because September 15 is when iOS 26 rolls out – and your earbuds should get the update), with Italian, Japanese, Korean, and simplified Chinese coming by the end of 2025. I tested Portuguese at Apple Park and Spanish and German with a friend – all worked reasonably well.
You can activate translation by asking Siri or by holding both stems. It quickly translated phrases like “I would buy something sweet, but there is no money in my pocket?” from German to English a few seconds after it was said, though it sometimes took a couple of tries.
Another phrase, “What do you need from me?” translated in about three seconds.
The functionality could be as useful – and as emotionally powerful – as the Hearing Health features introduced last year on AirPods Pro 2. I’m eager to try this more on future trips. And yes, it even works for translating YouTube videos or TV shows, though with some patience.
Finally, battery life: if you’ve ever had to take AirPods Pro 2 out and pop them in the case for a charge at the start of a journey (and I think that’s all of us), you’ll appreciate this. AirPods Pro 3 deliver 8 hours with ANC on and 10 hours with Transparency – more if you lower the volume. On my six-hour flight home, I didn’t recharge once, and I could get through a full workday without topping up.
The case, though, is a bit taller and longer and now rated for 24 hours, compared to 30 hours on AirPods Pro 2. Apple redesigned it for the second-generation Ultrawide Band chip but didn’t add a bigger battery, which feels like a missed opportunity. Even so, in-ear time lasts much longer, which has been a highlight so far.
Maybe best of all, Apple hasn’t raised the price in the United States or the United Kingdom. AirPods Pro 3 cost the same as AirPods Pro 2 at $249 in the US and £219 in the UK, though they’re slightly pricier in Australia at AU$429 versus AU$399.
These are Apple’s best AirPods yet. While the upgrades aren’t night and day over the second generation, the improvements add up. Longer in-ear time, a more secure and comfortable fit, stronger sound and noise cancellation, plus the bonus of heart-rate tracking and translation (depending on where you live), all make AirPods Pro 3 a worthy upgrade. And if you’ve been holding onto the first-generation, it’s an excellent time to upgrade.
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jacob.krol@futurenet.com (Jacob Krol)
