Call quality (outdoors / AirPods Pro): What's your Experience?

[bwoodruff]

How ist your experience using transperency (to hear your own voice better) vs. in normal or NC-mode?

So, ... full disclosure: this is my first pair of noise cancelling anythings. I wasn't really sure what to expect.

So far I like noise cancelling mode, though it isn't quite as effective as I'd hoped. While it hides fan noise completely (awesome), I can still hear voices in the background, particularly if I'm not listening to loud music. I was hoping I could just put the AirPods in and turn NC on and block out the world without necessarily having loud music on.

I don't care much for transparency mode so far. My own voice, breathing, any "swishing" my clothes make, etc are amplified to an undesirable level. While I'm sure there are applications for it, e.g. runners who need to be able to hear road noise for safety reasons, I don't see myself using it much. I'll probably stick primarily to NC mode, and switch to 'normal' non-transparency non-NC mode on the occasion that I want to let some more of the outside world in.

That said, I've only been using them for a few hours. As I use them more my thoughts may evolve.

Also, fwiw, after about 45 minutes of wear I start to experience some ear soreness / fatigue, as I have with every other pair of "in-ear" buds I have ever tried. This seems to happen regardless of which size tips I select.

 

[dokie]

update. Ive used them for about another week for work as used my original airpods. Ive chatted with apple about the reports of poor quality on the other end. I reset the airpods and tested them individually.. same reports of it being loud in the background. Nothing that would be a deal breaker for average work calls. Ultimatley the pros of ANC, transparency and improved quality of sound doesnt out weigh the drop in call quality.

I may take them back and just buy another pair in case i have a defective pair of some sort.
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How ist your experience using transparency (to hear your own voice better) vs. in normal or NC-mode?

Just my experience.
Normal- is just like any other in-ear bud. It plugs up the sound a tad bit more than the normal air pod.
NC- is better than expected for an in-ear bud. doesn't block out all the sound and wouldn't expected it to, but is great to have if you want a great all around headphone to carry. I had previously considered a NC over the ear headphone to block out distractions and for traveling, but it would have to be another thing to carry around as i go about my day. This does a good enough job with NC that I no longer want a separate pair.
Transparancy- sounds pretty much as if you didn't have any headphones in. super convenient for those small times like ordering a coffee not to have to take them out or have a hard time hearing them.

 

[maj88]

Ok. After a few days of testing, I have to say that the APP are much inferior in terms of microphone/phone calls.

Numerous of people I have spoke with (via GSM or WhatsApp) were complaining that they hear me very poorly. Both indoors and outdoors.

Honestly I’m very disappointed.
Now the questions is if any software update will be able to solve the issue or if it’s just the design flaw.

Today I’ve switched to AP2 and all is working well.

 

[oli]

Ok. After a few days of testing, I have to say that the APP are much inferior in terms of microphone/phone calls.

Numerous of people I have spoke with (via GSM or WhatsApp) were complaining that they hear me very poorly. Both indoors and outdoors.

Honestly I’m very disappointed.
Now the questions is if any software update will be able to solve the issue or if it’s just the design flaw.

Today I’ve switched to AP2 and all is working well.

Here vice versa – only problem was hearing my own voice loud enough (even in transpMode) – was kinda destracting first. APpro phone calls are even better cause of lowering ambient noise on the other side of the line…

 

[orschinger]

Ok. First world decisions: I'm keeping both, my 2nd Airpods and my Airpods Pro. I find that I do have different use case scenarios for each of them. Could I get any more first worldy terrible? ...

 

[Jutah]

I just tried to make an audio memo with APP. The voice is awful. I’ll try the same test with AP2 later but if they’ll perform better I’ll return the APP for sure.

 

[oli]

Here Voicerecording and phonecalls: better than AP2

I just tried to make an audio memo with APP. The voice is awful. I’ll try the same test with AP2 later but if they’ll perform better I’ll return the APP for sure.

 

[Jutah]

Here Voicerecording and phonecalls: better than AP2

that's phonecalls things is blowing my mind. I can't understand if the person on the otherside hear me well or not. The feedback are quite different. Actually i never asked asked for feedback with AP2.

I've tried the voicerec test with AP2 and they behave exactly ther same. Exactly. A HUGE different story if i try to record my voice directly without buds. But i suppose that's the way it should be.

 

[Jutah]

Saw some video that tested the call quality. It’s pretty poor. Not worse than AP2 but definitely not a benchmark for the call audio quality.

I think I do not have a defective unit, so I’ll take some other day to decide it keep it or return.

a defective unit should show different and more evident problem I suppose.

 

[oli]

Which?

 

[Jutah]

Which?

Objective mic problemS. The person on the other side of the line can barely understand the words and the noise overwhelm the speaker’s voice.

 

[Ralfi]

Could it be the mobile network provider you or the receiver are using impacting call quality?

The Pros seemed to pick up unbearable amounts of surrounding noises for the caller.

Shouldn’t the ANC block those sounds out?

Also, does ANC automatically turn on for phone calls - I would’ve thought it would be the best setting for calls??

 

[oli]

Objective mic problemS. The person on the other side of the line can barely understand the words and the noise overwhelm the speaker’s voice.

I meant: which videos did u see

 

[TwoBytes]

Keeping this on topic for call quality, has anyone noticed an improvement with the new firmware - specifically with the person on the other end hearing you talking on APP?

 

[sxc]

I haven't been able to test calls, but voice dictation seems to be more reliable. Not sure if this is a placebo effect of the new firmware though haha

 

[Jutah]

After a week i found that:

1) APP are better than Ap2 in voice recording
2) APP are slighlty better than AP2 in noise cancelling

The call quality is almost the same.

@oli: https://youtu.be/xX8l1Xhhrb8?t=619

 

[dada0]

Call quality seems to be horrible outdoors and in noisy settings. This is what I am hearing all the time from those I am calling. I have to take off the AirPods and use the phone directly half of the time.

Here is a review in min 10:00 onwards there is a call quality test! Not really good!

 

[Petrophas]

Been using new APPs for a week now. On voice memos in a quiet room, the APPs seem to be of better, clearer quality. However, I usually call my wife every day after work on the way home inside my car. This is on the freeway and my car lets in a lot of noise into the cabin, no thanks to my aftermarket exhaust. My AirPods 2 worked great and she never complained. She said it was noticeably worse with the Pros and could hear a lot of background noise.

I still have my AP2's in case I wanted to return my Pros for this specific issue. I'm leaning toward keeping the Pros and selling the 2's because I really do like the features and look of the Pros better. But I'm going to make a couple more test calls this week to make my final decision. I don't know if using the voice memo app is reliable since I don't know if it's the same quality as voice calls. I will leave VM's for my wife on the freeway with both pods and see how that goes.

 

[Jutah]

Been using new APPs for a week now. On voice memos in a quiet room, the APPs seem to be of better, clearer quality. However, I usually call my wife every day after work on the way home inside my car. This is on the freeway and my car lets in a lot of noise into the cabin, no thanks to my aftermarket exhaust. My AirPods 2 worked great and she never complained. She said it was noticeably worse with the Pros and could hear a lot of background noise.

I still have my AP2's in case I wanted to return my Pros for this specific issue. I'm leaning toward keeping the Pros and selling the 2's because I really do like the features and look of the Pros better. But I'm going to make a couple more test calls this week to make my final decision. I don't know if using the voice memo app is reliable since I don't know if it's the same quality as voice calls. I will leave VM's for my wife on the freeway with both pods and see how that goes.

I tried voice memos to test APP vs AP2, nothing changes in terms of noise suppression.

But I suspect the real test is something like your, and in this case I figure out the APP are worse than AP2.

Did you use ANC mode while talking? It’s possible that with the transparency it het’s better simply because with ANC you are prone to talk softer that usual, so the external noise are stronger than your voice.

Try to make the same call while on the road with both pro and the 2nd gen and ask for other feedback.

Curious.

I’m in your situation: in time to return but love the overall design and the ANC.

Concerns are about the calling quality and many sync glitches I am experimenting.

 

[garethjs]

I can tell after trying 3 pairs. 2 of my own and 1 of my partners the mic is absolutely useless anywhere other than a library.

I’m always being told it’s too noisy and that they can’t hear me unless I’m in the car or at home. Everyone says the background noise is too loud

Forget phone calls,

try “hey Siri” whilst walking the street it won’t pick that up at all.


At times I find the people in front of me even turning around cause that’s how loud I have to speak for Siri to activate

But it works perfectly fine in the gym whilst I workout so it’s clearly not my airpods that are messed up and definitely not all 3 pairs I’ve tested

 

[Jutah]

That’s so frustrating. It’s an engineering issue, pretty sure about this.

I’ll return in some days, wait for the next gen to come. Next year.

really disappointed they didin’t consider a basic function ofbuds: the call quality.Did they ever test the every day usage like audio calls?????

 

[Ntombi]

I can tell after trying 3 pairs. 2 of my own and 1 of my partners the mic is absolutely useless anywhere other than a library.

I’m always being told it’s too noisy and that they can’t hear me unless I’m in the car or at home. Everyone says the background noise is too loud

Forget phone calls,

try “hey Siri” whilst walking the street it won’t pick that up at all.


At times I find the people in front of me even turning around cause that’s how loud I have to speak for Siri to activate

But it works perfectly fine in the gym whilst I workout so it’s clearly not my airpods that are messed up and definitely not all 3 pairs I’ve tested

That is bananas to me!

I use them all the time for calls and for Siri, and speak at a low-normal volume (I hate loud talkers, so I’m super conscious of my own volume). Siri activates every time, and no one has ever had a problem hearing me.

I spoke to my 92-year-old aunt using my APPs, while walking on the beach today (breezy, waves audibly crashing). She heard me just fine.

 

[cap7ainclu7ch]

Absolutely terrible. Going to try to return them, it's that bad. Completely unusable for me. Incredibly disappointing coming from the fantastic quality of the original ones.

 

[Jutah]

Guys, do not use ANC when calling, use the transparency mode.

I’ve just tested the original vs pro ina very noisy environment (80db) they are almost the same.

 

[sxc]

Guys, do not use ANC when calling, use the transparency mode.

I’ve just tested the original vs pro ina very noisy environment (80db) they are almost the same.

Does this make a difference to what the other person hears?