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.
