It’s fairly obvious that I am an “Apple guy.” In my pocket you’ll always find an iPhone. On my desk are a pair of MacBook Pros and my office closet is stuffed full of old Apple laptops ranging from MacBook Airs to the remnants of a PowerBook G3. There’s a Mac mini in the living room and I just took four old iMacs of varying vintages in for electronic disposal. There are four Apple TVs in active use in the house and just as many retired on shelves. Our home audio network is built around two HomePods and four HomePod minis. There’s an Apple Watch Ultra 2 strapped to my wrist.
However, up until two months ago, you would never find me using Apple AirPods. That has finally changed after one of my kids gave me a set of AirPods Pro 2 as a Christmas gift.
I bought AirPods a few years after they were released, but never used them other than in comparison testing against other wireless earbuds. I have been testing audio gear for going on two decades now and against the vast flood of wireless earbuds I’ve received to evaluate from leading audio brands, the AirPods always felt like an also-ran. I liked the look well enough, but the sound was very thin in comparison to other earbuds, the smooth plastic AirPods didn’t stay in my ears very well and they lacked ANC.
However, the AirPods Pro 2 have been game-changers for me, especially for my twice-weekly visit to the gym.
Up until the start of January, I had been using a pair of bone conduction headphones for the gym. But something started happening–I suspect it was tied to an iOS or watchOS update–but suddenly my Apple Watch would start streaming music to the iPhone in my locker, not my headphones. Even though the headphones were connected to the Apple Watch by Bluetooth. The music would instead play on the iPhone’s speaker, which could be heard through the locker door. The usual updating of devices didn’t remedy the situation and eventually I found a quasi-solution that involved rebooting the Apple Watch and the headphones on the other side of the gym, well away from the locker room and out of Bluetooth range for the iPhone. Then they would pair, but what a hassle…
I got sick of this convoluted process and brought the new AirPods Pro 2s along with me one day and what a difference.
Instant and reliable connectivity to my Apple Watch. The ANC worked perfectly, while the Transparency mode made it easy to maintain conversations without having to fuss with controls. The sound was excellent, with plenty of detail, crisp highs and impressive bass–they leave the regular AirPods in the dust. The AirPods Pro 2s come with silicone tips and one of the sets actually fits me quite well (always a concern with earbuds), so I not only get a decent seal, they have never fallen out during a workout. I pull the charge case out of my gym bag every two weeks or so and plunk it on my Nomad MagSafe charger for a few hours, so keeping them ready to go couldn’t be any easier.
The kicker is Apple’s “Find My” function. I am terrible at misplacing things, but being able to use “Find My” to track down the AirPods Pro 2s is incredibly useful–and practical.
I have other wireless earbuds in my collection that can outperform the AirPods Pro 2s in terms of audio quality and others with better battery life, but I have to admit that Apple has hit a real sweet spot with these. It’s taken eight years, but I’m finally onboard with Apple in my ears.
