AirPods Pro Review and Poll

[booksbooks]

Hi.

AirPods Pro Review and Compared to the Jabra Active 65T wireless earbuds.

Another review here. On the AirPods Pro. Got them last week. Tried them out for 2 days. Returned them.

Overall rating: 1.8/10.
Sound: 1/10.
Design: 1/10.
Ease of connectivity: 5/10.
Use in sport: 1/10.

Things I like about the AirPod Pros

• Wireless charging case.
• Nothing else.

Things I found to suck about the AirPod Pros

• Sound. Garbage. Barely any better than cheap earbuds from the 1990s. I did everything. Tried different genres of music. Played with the volume. CHANGED THE EQ FROM FLAT TO OTHER SETTINGS. Everything. Whole lot of suck. Tinny, with no sharpness in sound or depth at any level. In a quiet still room with the right song, they aren't horrible, but they still suck.
• Fit. I tried all the ear gels it came with. Didn't matter. The AirPods don't feel good in my ear and don't completely stay in my ears/seal my ears. And I hate the prongs that protrude down too.
• Connectivity. While I give some marks for its ability to find Apple devices and have good popup displays, connecting wasn't consistent.
• Charging the earbud case also took over 24 hours to get it to 100%.
• Running with them sucked. They don't want to stay in my ears completely, and even with noise cancellation on, I could barely hear anything at the same level I use with the Jabra Active 65Ts.

I didn't really test the battery life, but I've seen they average ok battery life around 4.5 hours, a little less than the Jabras.

After trying the AirPod Pros for 2 days, and putting them through the paces, I then put my Jabra Active 65Ts on and realized how good they sound and how crappy the AirPod Pros sound in comparison. The difference is remarkable. And the Jabras fit so much better in my ear that the active noise cancellation in the AirPod Pros just doesn't block out as much sound as the Jabras do with the nice tight seal they have.

I was disappointed but feel lucky to have the Jabras. For me, sound is the number one priority. I can live without the wireless charging case, although Jabra is now offering that too.

Will be interesting to see how AirPods evolve.

 

[ouimetnick]

May I ask where you got your AirPods Pro from. If you are using them with an iPhone and you are giving them such low marks for the ease of pairing and such low marks for sound quality I’m questioning if you bought actual AirPods Pro or some fake imitation. I can see them not sounding as good as some higher end studio ear monitors but saying that they barely sound any better than cheap buds from the 1990s has me suspicious. It doesn’t take anywhere close to 24 hours to charge the AirPods either. If you are placing them in your ears correctly, the small stem doesn’t touch your face.

I can understand the complaints about them fitting your ears though. Actual AirPods don’t fit my ear, but AirPods Pro do. Some folks have no problem with the regular AirPods but can’t get a good fit with the Pro. Perhaps poor figment is the reason for your perception of poor sound quality.

 

[booksbooks]

May I ask where you got your AirPods Pro from. If you are using them with an iPhone and you are giving them such low marks for the ease of pairing and such low marks for sound quality I’m questioning if you bought actual AirPods Pro or some fake imitation. I can see them not sounding as good as some higher end studio ear monitors but saying that they barely sound any better than cheap buds from the 1990s has me suspicious. It doesn’t take anywhere close to 24 hours to charge the AirPods either. If you are placing them in your ears correctly, the small stem doesn’t touch your face.

I can understand the complaints about them fitting your ears though. Actual AirPods don’t fit my ear, but AirPods Pro do. Some folks have no problem with the regular AirPods but can’t get a good fit with the Pro. Perhaps poor figment is the reason for your perception of poor sound quality.

Lol. No, not fake. I’ve been using Apple products for 30 years and been a Developer for many years. Got them at BestBuy. Lots of YouTube videos with similar conclusions as mine, although I’m a bit harder on the sound. Look for comparisons to Jabras and it’s consistent about better sound quality.

Just not a good product in my experience. Jabras it is.

 

[MacRazySwe]

Too bad you’re not happy. Good thing you had the option to return them.

On the other hand, I hear people praise the AirPods Pro and even preferring them to the $400 Bose 700s, so it’s definitely very much a personal opinion.

I can’t wait to try them.

 

[Ralfi]

Tried them out for 2 days.

2 days isn’t long enough to try every silicon tip. You need to get the fit right before being able to judge these properly. & also allow your ears to adjust to the shape of the buds.

Fit. I tried all the ear gels it came with. Didn't matter. The AirPods don't feel good in my ear and don't completely stay in my ears/seal my ears. And I hate the prongs that protrude down too.

Of course, your ears may be rare ones which these aren’t made for, but I don’t think you gave them enough of a chance. You have 14 days to test them properly...use them.

 

[ouimetnick]

Lol. No, not fake. I’ve been using Apple products for 30 years and been a Developer for many years. Got them at BestBuy. Lots of YouTube videos with similar conclusions as mine, although I’m a bit harder on the sound. Look for comparisons to Jabras and it’s consistent about better sound quality.

Just not a good product in my experience. Jabras it is.

Okay. I wasn't sure if you bought them from a sketchy website. APP isn't for everybody. I wish that the technology in the W1 & H1 chip would make it's way to other BT devices. I find the term True Wireless Stereo to be misleading when most of these other earbuds have a master bud that connects to the phone and then a slave bud that gets it's audio from the primary bud. I know qualcomm has a technology where the buds will switch duties when swapped out but that doesn't seem like True wireless stereo compared the the AirPods where each bud is paired to the phone. Why is it only Apple that innovates in that space? qualcomm is playing catchup.

 

[CoronaOnTap]

Hi.

AirPods Pro Review and Compared to the Jabra Active 65T wireless earbuds.

Another review here. On the AirPods Pro. Got them last week. Tried them out for 2 days. Returned them.

Overall rating: 1.8/10.
Sound: 1/10.
Design: 1/10.
Ease of connectivity: 5/10.
Use in sport: 1/10.

Things I like about the AirPod Pros

• Wireless charging case.
• Nothing else.

Things I found to suck about the AirPod Pros

• Sound. Garbage. Barely any better than cheap earbuds from the 1990s. I did everything. Tried different genres of music. Played with the volume. CHANGED THE EQ FROM FLAT TO OTHER SETTINGS. Everything. Whole lot of suck. Tinny, with no sharpness in sound or depth at any level. In a quiet still room with the right song, they aren't horrible, but they still suck.
• Fit. I tried all the ear gels it came with. Didn't matter. The AirPods don't feel good in my ear and don't completely stay in my ears/seal my ears. And I hate the prongs that protrude down too.
• Connectivity. While I give some marks for its ability to find Apple devices and have good popup displays, connecting wasn't consistent.
• Charging the earbud case also took over 24 hours to get it to 100%.
• Running with them sucked. They don't want to stay in my ears completely, and even with noise cancellation on, I could barely hear anything at the same level I use with the Jabra Active 65Ts.

I didn't really test the battery life, but I've seen they average ok battery life around 4.5 hours, a little less than the Jabras.

After trying the AirPod Pros for 2 days, and putting them through the paces, I then put my Jabra Active 65Ts on and realized how good they sound and how crappy the AirPod Pros sound in comparison. The difference is remarkable. And the Jabras fit so much better in my ear that the active noise cancellation in the AirPod Pros just doesn't block out as much sound as the Jabras do with the nice tight seal they have.

I was disappointed but feel lucky to have the Jabras. For me, sound is the number one priority. I can live without the wireless charging case, although Jabra is now offering that too.

Will be interesting to see how AirPods evolve.

Unless you’re a SUPER PRO-level audiophile who does album recordings in a professional studio for a living, I take an issue with “garbage” sound remark. AirPods Pro sound may not be the best in its class but they’re definitely good.
The ease of connection with the AirPods regardless of the generation is the one thing most critics agree Apple did best.
I’ve tried charging the case both with the adapter and wireless charging and it’s never more than a couple hours.

I’m beginning to think you’re blowing everything out of proportion just for the sake of it. Most users of APP here on forums have some kind of issues but this is the only post claiming everything wrong with the AirPods.

 

[TimothyL]

That’s odd. Mine connect so easily from device to device and sound great

 

[Duncan68]

At home I use a Sennheiser HD6XX and HD600 with a DAC and amp. I wouldn't say that the APP have garbage sound quality. I also own Jabra Elite 65T and I would say the sound signature is different from APP (the Jabra are bassier and punchier), but I wouldn't say better.

One thing I agree with is that the passive noise isolation of the Jabra is as good as ANC on the APP. The Jabra create a much tighter seal, but are also much more uncomfortable because of that.

I had fewer connection problems on the Jabra. They had quite a few firmware updates before they got to that place, though.

 

[G.McGilli]

Judging by the fact that it took an impossible 24+ hours to charge that tiny little charging case battery would tell me there's something wrong with the case you got. Interesting the case is the only thing you liked ?

Anyways, hilarious review! For a moment I thought you were being serious but when all your descriptors on the details are: Garbage / cheap / suck / suck (again) / hate / sucked / crappy ---- I know you're just joking... (plus 24+ hours to charge case - not even possible - again unless it's defective)

While I have better-sounding earbuds than the APP - I did return my Jabra 65Ts because they didn't live up to the hype. The sound was good, not great, but the overall integration with Apple hardware was extremely poor in my experience. That's the main difference I think is for on-the-go sound I value how well it works with all my hardware over marginally better sound.

I suspect that by your own admission you couldn't even get the APP to fit well in your ears no matter what you tried had an effect on the sound quality. And that's fair.

? But your review honestly sounds like you work for Jabra ?

 

[vinegarshots]

AirPods Pro sound great if they maintain a 100% seal in your ear. This is absolutely crucial. If there is any leak AT ALL, the sound quality suffers in a major way.

The bigger issue with these is that the electronics inside are incredibly fragile, and have way way too many potential failure points. I'm on my third set, and need to set up a replacement again.

 

[zhenya]

yeah. no.

 

[Ralfi]

Wonder if the OP got the reactions they were after? ?

 

[booksbooks]

2 days isn’t long enough to try every silicon tip. You need to get the fit right before being able to judge these properly. & also allow your ears to adjust to the shape of the buds.



Of course, your ears may be rare ones which these aren’t made for, but I don’t think you gave them enough of a chance. You have 14 days to test them properly...use them.

Yes, 2 days is more than enough time to try them. I used them on and off each day, doing everything you can think of, including jogging outside, exercising inside, lounging around, using them with phone calls and streaming music on my iPhone and Apple Watch, etc. And my ears are not rare. They don't fit well. A quick search of Google and YouTube shows many results of people having issues with the fit.
[automerge]1590635774[/automerge]

Unless you’re a SUPER PRO-level audiophile who does album recordings in a professional studio for a living, I take an issue with “garbage” sound remark. AirPods Pro sound may not be the best in its class but they’re definitely good.
The ease of connection with the AirPods regardless of the generation is the one thing most critics agree Apple did best.
I’ve tried charging the case both with the adapter and wireless charging and it’s never more than a couple hours.

I’m beginning to think you’re blowing everything out of proportion just for the sake of it. Most users of APP here on forums have some kind of issues but this is the only post claiming everything wrong with the AirPods.

Imagine an Apple product that wasn't good. Or one that a User didn't have a good experience with. Stop blaming the person and accept that an Apple product can be flawed. You may like the APP, but I stand by my review.

Why are the APP sound "definitely good"? Explain.

Stop using the case charging as an issue. That's not my real issue here. That's a distraction. It's the sound and the fit that matter the most.
[automerge]1590635980[/automerge]

Judging by the fact that it took an impossible 24+ hours to charge that tiny little charging case battery would tell me there's something wrong with the case you got. Interesting the case is the only thing you liked ?

Anyways, hilarious review! For a moment I thought you were being serious but when all your descriptors on the details are: Garbage / cheap / suck / suck (again) / hate / sucked / crappy ---- I know you're just joking... (plus 24+ hours to charge case - not even possible - again unless it's defective)

While I have better-sounding earbuds than the APP - I did return my Jabra 65Ts because they didn't live up to the hype. The sound was good, not great, but the overall integration with Apple hardware was extremely poor in my experience. That's the main difference I think is for on-the-go sound I value how well it works with all my hardware over marginally better sound.

I suspect that by your own admission you couldn't even get the APP to fit well in your ears no matter what you tried had an effect on the sound quality. And that's fair.

? But your review honestly sounds like you work for Jabra ?

My Jabra 65T connected to my iPhone and Apple Watch more reliably than the APP, but that's not saying much. They were both good. Now, explain why the Jabras didn't live up to the hype. Why wasn't the sound great? In case you didn't know, you have an EQ setting in music settings in iOS and Jabra also has an App that you can set the EQ to.

The first thing I did when I put the APP in my ears and started playing music is navigate to the settings and sure enough, the EQ was set to flat, which is what I expected. I then set it to Bass Boost and some different settings over the 2 days I used them. This still didn't get them sounding near as good as the Jabras.

Jabra has a pretty cool EQ in their App as well.

 

[Ralfi]

I used them on and off each day, doing everything you can think of, including jogging outside, exercising inside, lounging around, using them with phone calls and streaming music on my iPhone and Apple Watch, etc.

Until your ears have adjusted to their shape, all these activities are compromised & will result in inaccurate findings. That's why i'm suggesting you need to let your ear canals 'mould' to the silicon tip which suits them best.

Not saying things would be completely different after 2 weeks, but you need to try them properly once they've adapted to your ears. & if they don't adapt after a long enough trial, then you know they're not for you.

 

[booksbooks]

Until your ears have adjusted to their shape, all these activities are compromised & will result in inaccurate findings. That's why i'm suggesting you need to let your ear canals 'mould' to the silicon tip which suits them best.

Not saying things would be completely different after 2 weeks, but you need to try them properly once they've adapted to your ears. & if they don't adapt after a long enough trial, then you know they're not for you.

How ridiculous. The self-proclaimed expert on ears.

No, there is no evidence that my ears would “adjust” to APP. And you have no evidence either. THEY DO NOT FIT MY EARS WELL. The Jaybirds I had fit ok out of the box and stayed that way for a year. The earbuds before that, same thing.

The Jabras fit the best out of the box and no change since day 1.

There are many reviews both short and long-term that corroborate my findings.

2 days was more than enough time to put them through their paces. They don’t work for me.

 

[Ralfi]

How ridiculous. The self-proclaimed expert on ears.

What an absolute pleasure it’s been conversing with you...

 

[CoronaOnTap]

How ridiculous. The self-proclaimed expert on ears.

No, there is no evidence that my ears would “adjust” to APP. And you have no evidence either. THEY DO NOT FIT MY EARS WELL. The Jaybirds I had fit ok out of the box and stayed that way for a year. The earbuds before that, same thing.

The Jabras fit the best out of the box and no change since day 1.

There are many reviews both short and long-term that corroborate my findings.

2 days was more than enough time to put them through their paces. They don’t work for me.

You do realize that your ears are made of cartilage that flexes and not exactly bone right? If you need more evidence than that??‍♂️
If the APP has such a terrible fit and they don’t stay in your ears at all like the way the 1st and 2nd gen did for me, then you’re not exactly qualified to comment on the sound quality of the APP. They use an additional mic facing inward to dynamically adjust the EQ.
[automerge]1590682414[/automerge]

Imagine an Apple product that wasn't good. Or one that a User didn't have a good experience with. Stop blaming the person and accept that an Apple product can be flawed. You may like the APP, but I stand by my review.

Why are the APP sound "definitely good"? Explain.

Stop using the case charging as an issue. That's not my real issue here. That's a distraction. It's the sound and the fit that matter the most.

Maybe you didn’t read my post well before responding. I’m not blaming you, just your “garbage” remark. And repeating myself, a lot of the users commenting here on MR have “some kind of issues” with their APP. They’re definitely not an engineering miracle but a well-designed pair of earphones that’s not for everybody.
There are software and then there are hardware issues but bundling them both together and comparing them to a set from the 90s shows your frustration and not your objective reasoning.

I do appreciate you taking time for venting out your frustration though. Maybe Apple would look at your post and give us more ear tip customizations.