Airpods Pro Review after 2 Flights & compared to Bose

[w4rmk]

I had the opportunity to use my new Airpods Pro on 2 Southwest Airlines flights this week. Each flight was about 2 hours each. I can provide my feedback and comparison based on having used Bose Quietcomfort 35 and Bose QuietControl 30. On flights I enjoy watching movies on my iPad Pro and need earphones that cut out the surrounding noise to make an enjoyable experience such that I can focus my attention on the movie and not strain to hear the sound.

• Noise Cancellation
  • Bose Quietcomfort 35 - The best I've ever used for cutting out jet engine and wind noise on a flight. So I am using these as a reference for being a 10 out of 10.
  • Bose QuietControl 30 - I would rate these as 8 out of 10 for noise cancellation. They are very good and take up much less space in my carry-on laptop bag then the Quietcomfort. The only downside of these is the neck-band and inability to use them for phone calls (more details on that at the end of this review).
  • Airpods Pro - 7 out of 10. These are almost as good as the QuietControl. I can hear a little bit more of the engine and wind noise but not enough to be significant. They provide an enjoyable experience watching movies on my iPad with the volume level at about 75%. The outside noise does not impact the experience. This is the most critical use case for the Airpods Pro and airline travel. YES - these can replace the Bose for an enjoyable flight watching movies or listening to music.
  • Airpods (original) - 1 out of 10. They have no noise cancellation but I am throwing these into this category as a reference point. The original Airpods are simply un-useable for flights. Even with volume on max on my iPad I cannot enjoy a movie.
• Battery Life
  • Bose Quietcomfort 35 - easily the best battery life by far. You can go weeks before needing to charge them
  • Bose QuietControl 30 - The battery life is much better than Airpods Pro. These are rated at 10 hours and can easily get you through most round-trip flights.
  • Airpods Pro - if your flight is over 4 hours better find a book to read after that :-( I rarely have long flights so I don't anticipate this will be issue 90% of the time I am traveling. Also you can put them into the charging case for 15min and get a quick charge. If was going on an overseas flight I would bring one of the Bose headphones with me. Great tip by farewelwilliams is when battery is getting low just use one APP while charging the other one. This is, of course, is not ideal because it defeats the noise cancellation completely (unless you can plug your other ear!).
• Comfort
  • Bose Quietcomfort 35 - Excellent comfort in the short term but the pressure pushing on the outside of the ear does get a little annoying after about 2 hours.
  • Bose QuietControl 30 - The comfort tips are excellent and have almost no fatigue. These are number one for comfort in my book
  • Airpods Pro - not bad, but don't *push* them into your ear too much as it seems like that is what makes them get tiring in the ear. Taking them out after a 2 hour flight is an instant feeling of relief. Funny sensation is that they still feel like you are wearing them for about 10 minutes before that goes away. Overall I would say both of the Bose headphones are better for long term comfort. But they are ok for up to a few hours at a time.
• Convenience / Portability
  • Bose Quietcomfort 35 - they take up *way* too much space in my laptop bag. They are terrible if you want to take them off for a quick conversation, like when the stewardess asks what drink you want. You have no where to put them and they don't rest well around the neck.
  • Bose QuietControl 30 - The carry case it thin and easy to slide into a laptop bag so size is ok and much better than the Quietcomfort in that regard. With the neck band they are easy to just pull out of your ears for conversations and listening.
  • Airpods Pro - easily the winner of this category for portability. And transparency mode makes it great for talking/placing your drink order! With transparency mode there is no reason to take them out of your ears to talk/listen to flight announcements.

Overall I would say the Airpods Pro are a great choice for flights. For me the biggest issue with the Bose solutions is portability (or lack thereof). The Quietcomfort are simply awesome cans - but they don't carry easily. The Quietcontrol are a great solution, but they are awful and simply unuseable for phone calls. The microphone on the Quietcontrol has a well known serious bug with amplifying background noise that is transmitted to the person you are talking with during phone calls.

If you want to carry only one set of headphones and use them for flights, phone calls, etc, and they fit in your pocket to boot, the Airpods Pro are the best jack-of-all-trades (and master of none). I am planning to use them as my only-carry headphones from this point forward.

Update after an additional week of traveling

2 more flights later I continue to use the APP in place of my Bose options. No changes in my original post/opinions. The noise cancellation specifically as it relates to airplane noise is good enough for an enjoyable flight and allows me to keep the volume level reasonable on my iPad. For me a big advantage of the APP is they are a "one-carry" solution. Not only are they great for the airplane, they are great for walking around the airport and listening to music without big cans on your head. If you want to hear things around you (announcements/etc) just enable transparency mode, there is no need to take them off. If you get a phone call, they work great too. When I am talking on the phone with the APP I usually use transparency mode because I like to be able to hear myself talking and they work great for that. No other Bose solution offers that option.

 

[Otflyer]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[1rottenapple]

Good Review. My only concern is falling asleep and dropping them accidentally when I rest my head on the pillow in the plane. I’m keeping my Bose qc25 even if I use them only for flying. Airpod pros are great for the gym though. It blocks out most noise and lets you listen at 50% volume.

 

[Steve686]

I will use my APP while waiting to board the plane since they have Transparency which the my QC35 lack.

I'm still going to use my QC35 on the plane mainly because of battery life, but I also fell they are a bit better killing engine noise.

One great thing about the APP is that I can wear a hat and sunglasses very comfortably while using them.
The QC35 have to fit over both the hat and stems of the glasses I wear and the glasses hinder the sound sealing of the cans.

 

[Dguitarnut]

Excellent review of 3 leading contenders for me. Very much appreciated.

 

[RoadCyclistID]

Hello

I am now 6 flights in (as I fly weekly for work)

I "was" a regular 100% Bose user and was very curious as to how the APP would do on flights.
I to say I was 100% impressed with the performance and the ability to literally block out the unwanted noise on the flights. It was fantastic to be able to toggle off the suppression when the flight attendants come by for the snacks and coffee. Then with a click get right back to listening again. I have tinnitus in my ears and I would also say that it helped me to be able to better hear the flight attendant as well.

Sorry Bose you have been replaced and Ill have to find something to do with them as I have a much lighter, easier to use solution. Great job Apple (have not been able to say that for a while)

 

[oneMadRssn]

I agree with the ANC comparison. But it's a bit incorrect to really compare the QC35 to the APP as it's always incorrect to compare over-the-ear headphones to in-ear-earbuds. Over-the-ear will always be more comfortable as it doesn't put any pressure on your ears.

As for ANC, over-the-ear has a bigger battery and a bigger driver, so it's expected the ANC will be much better. I actually think it's a huge feat that APP come as close as they do.

 

[Otflyer]

Bose is comIng out with their ANC earbuds 700 sometime next year. even. I’m sure they will cost more than APP’s.

 

[w4rmk]

I agree with the ANC comparison. But it's a bit incorrect to really compare the QC35 to the APP as it's always incorrect to compare over-the-ear headphones to in-ear-earbuds. Over-the-ear will always be more comfortable as it doesn't put any pressure on your ears.

As for ANC, over-the-ear has a bigger battery and a bigger driver, so it's expected the ANC will be much better. I actually think it's a huge feat that APP come as close as they do.

I understand your comments about not being fair to compare different types of headphones. The purpose of the review is to give my thoughts on how different ANC styles compared for me specifically related to airline travel.

 

[oneMadRssn]

I understand your comments about not being fair to compare different types of headphones. The purpose of the review is to give my thoughts on how different ANC styles compared for me specifically related to airline travel.

I understand, and it certainly helpful to compare the ANC performance.

I just mean the two products are not really replacements for each other. The APP are best for day to day, subway commuting, quick flights or short trips. But when I’m headed to the airport on a 3+hr flight, I’m going to bring the QC35s.

 

[Closingracer]

I had the opportunity to use my new Airpods Pro on 2 Southwest Airlines flights this week. Each flight was about 2 hours each. I can provide my feedback and comparison based on having used Bose Quietcomfort 35 and Bose QuietControl 30. On flights I enjoy watching movies on my iPad Pro and need earphones that cut out the surrounding noise to make an enjoyable experience such that I can focus my attention on the movie and not strain to hear the sound.

• Noise Cancellation
  • Bose Quietcomfort 35 - The best I've ever used for cutting out jet engine and wind noise on a flight. So I am using these as a reference for being a 10 out of 10.
  • Bose QuietControl 30 - I would rate these as 8 out of 10 for noise cancellation. They are very good and take up much less space in my carry-on laptop bag then the Quietcomfort. The only downside of these is the neck-band and inability to use them for phone calls (more details on that at the end of this review).
  • Airpods Pro - 7 out of 10. These are almost as good as the QuietControl. I can hear a little bit more of the engine and wind noise but not enough to be significant. They provide an enjoyable experience watching movies on my iPad with the volume level at about 75%. The outside noise does not impact the experience. This is the most critical use case for the Airpods Pro and airline travel. YES - these can replace the Bose for an enjoyable flight watching movies or listening to music.
  • Airpods (original) - 1 out of 10. They have no noise cancellation but I am throwing these into this category as a reference point. The original Airpods are simply un-useable for flights. Even with volume on max on my iPad I cannot enjoy a movie.
• Battery Life
  • Bose Quietcomfort 35 - easily the best battery life by far. You can go weeks before needing to charge them
  • Bose QuietControl 30 - The battery life is much better than Airpods Pro. These are rated at 10 hours and can easily get you through most round-trip flights.
  • Airpods Pro - if your flight is over 4 hours better find a book to read after that :-( I rarely have long flights so I don't anticipate this will be issue 90% of the time I am traveling. Also you can put them into the charging case for 15min and get a quick charge. If was going on an overseas flight I would bring one of the Bose headphones with me.
• Comfort
  • Bose Quietcomfort 35 - Excellent comfort in the short term but the pressure pushing on the outside of the ear does get a little annoying after about 2 hours.
  • Bose QuietControl 30 - The comfort tips are excellent and have almost no fatigue. These are number one for comfort in my book
  • Airpods Pro - not bad, but don't *push* them into your ear too much as it seems like that is what makes them get tiring in the ear. Taking them out after a 2 hour flight is an instant feeling of relief. Funny sensation is that they still feel like you are wearing them for about 10 minutes before that goes away. Overall I would say both of the Bose headphones are better for long term comfort. But they are ok for up to a few hours at a time.
• Convenience / Portability
  • Bose Quietcomfort 35 - they take up *way* too much space in my laptop bag. They are terrible if you want to take them off for a quick conversation, like when the stewardess asks what drink you want. You have no where to put them and they don't rest well around the neck.
  • Bose QuietControl 30 - The carry case it thin and easy to slide into a laptop bag so size is ok and much better than the Quietcomfort in that regard. With the neck band they are easy to just pull out of your ears for conversations and listening.
  • Airpods Pro - easily the winner of this category for portability. And transparency mode makes it great for talking/placing your drink order! With transparency mode there is no reason to take them out of your ears to talk/listen to flight announcements.

Overall I would say the Airpods Pro are a great choice for flights. For me the biggest issue with the Bose solutions is portability (or lack thereof). The Quietcomfort are simply awesome cans - but they don't carry easily. The Quietcontrol are a great solution, but they are awful and simply unuseable for phone calls. The microphone on the Quietcontrol has a well known serious bug with amplifying background noise that is transmitted to the person you are talking with during phone calls.

If you want to carry only one set of headphones and use them for flights, phone calls, etc, and they fit in your pocket to boot, the Airpods Pro are the best jack-of-all-trades (and master of none). I am planning to use them as my only-carry headphones from this point forward.

Great review. I would point out battery life is better then the 4.5 hours they advertised. I was getting around 5.5 hours with ANC on.

 

[farewelwilliams]

obvious tip but for those that haven't realized: you could just let one charge while the other is in the ear. then swap after 15 min. then after another 15 min, both should be good

 

[bobsamm]

I understand your comments about not being fair to compare different types of headphones. The purpose of the review is to give my thoughts on how different ANC styles compared for me specifically related to airline travel.

Your forgetting one thing, airpods fit is not suited to everyone.

 

[chillip]

The review doesn’t mention sound quality! WTF!

 

[Apple_Robert]

The review doesn’t mention sound quality! WTF!

That makes sense, given the focus of the review was comfort and noise canceling, due to the subject of airline usage.

 

[bobsamm]

Airpods Pro - not bad, but don't *push* them into your ear too much as it seems like that is what makes them get tiring in the ear. Taking them out after a 2 hour flight is an instant feeling of relief. Funny sensation is that they still feel like you are wearing them for about 10 minutes before that goes away. Overall I would say both of the Bose headphones are better for long term comfort. But they are ok for up to a few hours at a time.

THIS. Not a good comfortable fit for me. For $399AUD here not worth it. Returned and bought Bose 700 for another $100. Looking forward to my 4 hour flight in January.

 

[ukms]

I’m midway through a 4.5 hour flight now and I’ve just swapped from my Bose 700’s to APP to continue watching a film. I am long time Bose user for travel.

The ANC is not quite as good but for me they are completely acceptable considering the size difference. Sound quality - again not quite as good but for me more than good enough.

I’m happy to compromise on the above for the size difference.

Biggest drawback for me for long haul travel will be battery life but I guess the answer would be have 2 pairs ... might seem extravagant but solves the problem.

I would also add that I fall in the bucket of users who find the APP completely comfortable even for long use.

all in all a great product !

 

[tivoboy]

I had tried the sony in ear and compared them to the QC30, and the Bose are much better than the Sony’s for ANC.
I’m hoping that the APP will be a close seconds to the Bose in ear QC30 for ANC on a plane, which is my real primary use case for them. I really don’t like the cable on the Bose dangling around all the time, but they do last a long couple of flights without much re-charging and they are pretty portable if not pocketable.

 

[turbineseaplane]

It’s going to be interesting to see what the Bose total wireless NC buds might be like, whenever they release some.

 

[blairh]

I had the opportunity to use my new Airpods Pro on 2 Southwest Airlines flights this week. Each flight was about 2 hours each. I can provide my feedback and comparison based on having used Bose Quietcomfort 35 and Bose QuietControl 30. On flights I enjoy watching movies on my iPad Pro and need earphones that cut out the surrounding noise to make an enjoyable experience such that I can focus my attention on the movie and not strain to hear the sound.

• Noise Cancellation
  • Bose Quietcomfort 35 - The best I've ever used for cutting out jet engine and wind noise on a flight. So I am using these as a reference for being a 10 out of 10.
  • Bose QuietControl 30 - I would rate these as 8 out of 10 for noise cancellation. They are very good and take up much less space in my carry-on laptop bag then the Quietcomfort. The only downside of these is the neck-band and inability to use them for phone calls (more details on that at the end of this review).
  • Airpods Pro - 7 out of 10. These are almost as good as the QuietControl. I can hear a little bit more of the engine and wind noise but not enough to be significant. They provide an enjoyable experience watching movies on my iPad with the volume level at about 75%. The outside noise does not impact the experience. This is the most critical use case for the Airpods Pro and airline travel. YES - these can replace the Bose for an enjoyable flight watching movies or listening to music.
  • Airpods (original) - 1 out of 10. They have no noise cancellation but I am throwing these into this category as a reference point. The original Airpods are simply un-useable for flights. Even with volume on max on my iPad I cannot enjoy a movie.
• Battery Life
  • Bose Quietcomfort 35 - easily the best battery life by far. You can go weeks before needing to charge them
  • Bose QuietControl 30 - The battery life is much better than Airpods Pro. These are rated at 10 hours and can easily get you through most round-trip flights.
  • Airpods Pro - if your flight is over 4 hours better find a book to read after that :-( I rarely have long flights so I don't anticipate this will be issue 90% of the time I am traveling. Also you can put them into the charging case for 15min and get a quick charge. If was going on an overseas flight I would bring one of the Bose headphones with me. Great tip by farewelwilliams is when battery is getting low just use one APP while charging the other one. This is, of course, is not ideal because it defeats the noise cancellation completely (unless you can plug your other ear!).
• Comfort
  • Bose Quietcomfort 35 - Excellent comfort in the short term but the pressure pushing on the outside of the ear does get a little annoying after about 2 hours.
  • Bose QuietControl 30 - The comfort tips are excellent and have almost no fatigue. These are number one for comfort in my book
  • Airpods Pro - not bad, but don't *push* them into your ear too much as it seems like that is what makes them get tiring in the ear. Taking them out after a 2 hour flight is an instant feeling of relief. Funny sensation is that they still feel like you are wearing them for about 10 minutes before that goes away. Overall I would say both of the Bose headphones are better for long term comfort. But they are ok for up to a few hours at a time.
• Convenience / Portability
  • Bose Quietcomfort 35 - they take up *way* too much space in my laptop bag. They are terrible if you want to take them off for a quick conversation, like when the stewardess asks what drink you want. You have no where to put them and they don't rest well around the neck.
  • Bose QuietControl 30 - The carry case it thin and easy to slide into a laptop bag so size is ok and much better than the Quietcomfort in that regard. With the neck band they are easy to just pull out of your ears for conversations and listening.
  • Airpods Pro - easily the winner of this category for portability. And transparency mode makes it great for talking/placing your drink order! With transparency mode there is no reason to take them out of your ears to talk/listen to flight announcements.

Overall I would say the Airpods Pro are a great choice for flights. For me the biggest issue with the Bose solutions is portability (or lack thereof). The Quietcomfort are simply awesome cans - but they don't carry easily. The Quietcontrol are a great solution, but they are awful and simply unuseable for phone calls. The microphone on the Quietcontrol has a well known serious bug with amplifying background noise that is transmitted to the person you are talking with during phone calls.

If you want to carry only one set of headphones and use them for flights, phone calls, etc, and they fit in your pocket to boot, the Airpods Pro are the best jack-of-all-trades (and master of none). I am planning to use them as my only-carry headphones from this point forward.

Can't you just move one ear cup to the side of your head and talk to the flight attendant?

Sounds like you need a bigger laptop bag.

QC 35 also offer superior sound quality than the APP.

I personally would never give up proper ANC over-ear headphones for flights. No way would the APP be a proper solution IMO for such a scenario.
[automerge]1573416184[/automerge]

The review doesn’t mention sound quality! WTF!

QC 35's sound much better than APP.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I have to think the length of the flight and the amount of flying you do would matter here.

For people constantly traveling on medium-long flights it’s going to be difficult to argue against something like the Bose cans, simply on the merits of battery life and sound quality

 

[piblondin]

I’m midway through a 4.5 hour flight now and I’ve just swapped from my Bose 700’s to APP to continue watching a film. I am long time Bose user for travel.

The ANC is not quite as good but for me they are completely acceptable considering the size difference. Sound quality - again not quite as good but for me more than good enough.

I’m happy to compromise on the above for the size difference.

Biggest drawback for me for long haul travel will be battery life but I guess the answer would be have 2 pairs ... might seem extravagant but solves the problem.

I would also add that I fall in the bucket of users who find the APP completely comfortable even for long use.

all in all a great product !

You guys really can’t spare 30 minutes to recharge them during the flight?!

For me, the extra room is quite valuable. I’m done with Bose.

 

[Otflyer]

Actually you just need to give them a 5 minute quick charge to get an hour of play.

 

[Rigby]

I have to think the length of the flight and the amount of flying you do would matter here.

For people constantly traveling on medium-long flights it’s going to be difficult to argue against something like the Bose cans, simply on the merits of battery life and sound quality

Personally I can't stand the "hot ear" feeling that over-ear cans produce after an hour or two. They also take up way too much precious luggage space. Currently I'm using the Powerbeats Pro which gave reasonable results even without ANC and have good battery life for being fully wireless. Looking forward to trying the Airpods Pro next.

Thanks for the review, OP!

 

[zhenya]

You guys really can’t spare 30 minutes to recharge them during the flight?!

For me, the extra room is quite valuable. I’m done with Bose.

Agreed. I switched to Sony over-ear noise cancelling a last year as I got tired of wires and deep insertion of IEM's, but I really regret the extra space they take in my bag. If the Airpod Pro's can do most of what my Sony's do, I will have no problem stopping to charge them every now and again given the space and convenience improvements.