Apple released their Airpods in late 2016, and three years later introduced the new Airpods Pro. Unlike the first generation Airpods, the Pros implement five main advancements, such as a noise cancellation feature, transparency mode, an Adaptive Equalizer, force sensors and water/sweat resistance.
Junior Sarah Cho said she waited for Apple to release the Airpods Pro after losing her first-generation pair. Cho wanted the Pros due to their ability.
“I’ve always wanted Apple to come out with noise cancellation [earphones] and thought to wait until they released newer Airpods with that feature instead of buying the first-gen ones again,” Cho said.
The noise cancellation feature can be turned off and switched to transparency mode, letting sounds in from the listener’s surroundings.
“I think even when the airpods are in [transparency] mode, it blocks out more sound than the first-gen ones,” Cho said.
Another feature of the Airpods Pros is its water and sweat resistance. Though the generation one Airpods are waterproof to a certain extent, the Pros officially have IPX4 water and sweat resistance, meaning if water were splashed against the enclosure of the earphones from any side, there would be no harmful effects.
There is also an Adaptive Equalizer (EQ) that automatically tunes music to the shape of the listener’s ear. The in-ear design comes with three sets of different- sized tips to help achieve this feature. Though the variety of sizes are available for better fitting to your ear, Cho said she still encounters problems.
“The tip of the pros are grippy, which allows for a better stay in your ear, [but ]I notice myself having to readjust them once in a while because they do get uncomfortable sometimes,” Cho said.
Lastly, the force sensors on the Airpod Pros allow for the use of single, double and triple taps as well as a press and hold to switch between transparency mode and active noise cancellation. The single tap is used to play, pause or answer a phone call. A double-tap skips forward while a triple-tap skips backward.
Even with all the new features, junior Regina Chaillo prefers the look and aesthetic of the original Airpods over the Airpods Pro. The new AirPods Pro have a bulkier case compared to the first-generation ones as well as a new silicone tip.
“I haven’t considered switching to the Pros because I think the Pros aren’t as good looking,” Chaillo said.
The AirPods Pro costs almost 100 dollars more than the original AirPods. Junior Sabilah Alibhai has not given thought to buying the new Airpods Pro as they are not worth the price.
“I wasn’t even going to buy my own airpods so no,” Alibhai said. “I don’t really think the Pros are worth it for me.”
Though Cho agrees the price difference between the models is drastic, she said she would have still bought the Pros because of its noise cancellation feature.
“I probably wouldn’t have bought [the Airpods Pro] as soon as I bought these because it’s 100 dollars more, but I definitely think I would’ve bought them eventually,” Cho said.