Page 82 - iPhone Life Magazine - Spring 2020

iVIEW

I Bought the New $250 AirPods Pro. Was It Worth it?

Illustration by Mikaila Maidment, mikailamaidment.com

F or years, I’ve been listening to audiobooks, podcasts, an AirPod is removed from the ear, the audio should pause.
Instead, sometimes it continues to play either through the
and music on my first-generation AirPods. I’d
iPhone speaker or the AirPods.
misplace them occasionally and try other wireless
earbuds, but I always returned to them for the seamless I was surprised by how much I appreciate the noise can-
iPhone connection, snug fit, and the tap controls that paused cellation feature and better sound quality. It was a pleasure
and restarted the audio. Besides the fluke connectivity prob- watching a movie with the AirPods Pro in noise cancellation
lems, they just worked. mode on the plane compared to straining trying to listen on
When the new AirPods Pro came out, it didn’t take me long board with the original AirPods. I also appreciated the quieter
to buy them on Amazon. I am not an audiophile—I just want- ride wearing my AirPod Pros without audio.
ed more of the hassle-free listening that drew me to the Air- I’ve also noticed an extra benefit. A friend used to complain
Pods in the first place. I’m not alone in upgrading. The AirPods that she could hear sound when I listened with my original
Pro are selling well. Reports indicate that Apple increased its pair. Using the AirPods Pro, no matter the mode, she no lon-
monthly order from one million to two million units to meet ger hears noise.
holiday demand. For those of you considering the purchase, A few other benefits I noticed include up to 3.5 hours of
I’ll share my experiences with Apple’s newest earbuds with talk time, which is much better than the 1 to 2 hours I expe-
you here. rienced with the original AirPods. I also enjoy a better and
The day after the AirPods Pro arrived, I took them with me faster AirPods Pro connection to my iPhone than I did with
on a flight. Several times, I found myself crawling on the floor the AirPods. Additionally, the new AirPods Pro hardware allow
near my airline seat searching for an AirPod that fell out of them to function at a greater distance range than the AirPods.
my ear. I later discovered the built-in iPhone Ear Tip Fit Test. Now it’s time to answer my original question. Was it worth
(In Settings, go to Bluetooth, and tap the info icon next to spending $250 for the AirPods Pro? The answer is yes. Even
AirPods Pro.) I tried each of the supplied small, medium, and with initial stumbles, I’m glad I made the purchase. Ѷ
large tips, learning what constituted a good fit. With a correct
fit, they are at least as snug as the original AirPods. They still
Hal, along with his wife Rita, founded iPhone Life’s original publishing company,
fall out when I don’t put them in correctly, and I’ve found that Thaddeus Computing, in 1985. You can reach him at hal@thaddeus.com. Check out
the tips occasionally detach from an AirPod and stick in the Hal’s new book at meditatingentrepreneur.com.
ear. I’ve noticed a couple other small nuisances: to change
the tips, you must pull and push hard to get them on and off.
Also, I have not yet mastered the skill of removing the AirPods
Pro from their case.
Unlike the tapping controls of the original AirPods, you
control the Pro by pinching the stem. At first, I found the new
way unintuitive, awkward, and hit and miss. Several times,
while trying to find the correct pinching spot, I sent an AirPod
flying. Now that I’m more used to it, I use pinching the stem
to pause, enable noise cancellation, and skip forward and
back.
As of this writing, the AirPods Pro firmware is flakey. When

80 iPhone Life Spring 2020