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<\/a><\/p>\nApple\u2019s take on noise cancelling earphones made for movies and music and more gets better this year, with potentially the world\u2019s best tech in the AirPods Pro 3.<\/p>\n
When it comes to listening to music on your phone, everyone had choices. You can opt for a wired pair of earphones \u2014 a pair you might have sitting around that you\u2019ve relied on for ages \u2014 or you can make your way to where all the technology is: truly wireless earphones with plenty of capability.<\/p>\n
Earphones aplenty<\/a> seems to be the name of the game lately, because they are positively everywhere. Everyone makes them, and finding the ideal pair often comes down to how much you want to spend and what device you\u2019re connecting it to. These days, most of the feature sets are much for muchness, and so you might just find yourself buying a pair because, well, it looks good enough.<\/p>\n Some earphone models are definitely better than others, though, and one that has been consistently strong is Apple\u2019s AirPods Pro range. <\/p>\n A pair of active noise cancelling earphones from the maker of the iPhone made to work with the iPhone and Apple\u2019s other tablets and computers, the AirPods Pro are the next step up from the excellent AirPods earbuds, with the \u201cpro\u201d model providing greater isolation and sound.<\/p>\n Six years on from their original launch<\/a>, the AirPods Pro 3 look set to go beyond mere noise cancelling earphones, bringing a fitness feature and some of the best noise cancelling tech to a familiar shape and design. Are these the year\u2019s best earphones around?<\/p>\n All reviews at Pickr are subject to experienced testing methodologies. Find out why you can trust us<\/a> and change the way you choose. Now up to its third generation, the AirPods Pro 3 are clearly an evolution on what worked prior, as Apple tweaks the design.<\/p>\n The same basic shape is here \u2014 an earphone on a stem \u2014 but the look is that little bit different. AirPods Pro 3 have been redesigned to add more stability, fitting into the shape of the ear a little differently, which some people will feel.<\/p>\n Apple doesn\u2019t cite the driver size specifically for the AirPods Pro 3, except to say there\u2019s a custom-build Apple driver and a custom-engineered amplifier, as well as a vent system to handle pressure equalisation, inward-facing microphones, beam-forming microphones, and a chip system controlling the audio and noise cancellation with computational audio.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also find a little more in the AirPods Pro 3, with a heart rate sensor, accelerometers for motion and speech, and support for ultra wideband radio to find your earphones in the MagSafe charging case.<\/p>\n That case also sees improved water and dust resistance, supporting IP57, a change from IPX4 on the previous model (and a change that extends to the AirPods Pro earphones themselves).<\/p>\n In-use<\/p>\n Outside of the case, wearing the AirPods Pro 3 is easy enough, taking them out and sticking them into your ears. The fit is a little different from the previous generation, but it does grow on you, and Apple includes five different tip sizes this time, so you have the best chance to get a solid AirPods fit.<\/p>\n Once they fit \u2014 and you can test that fit using a test in the AirPods settings on an iPhone \u2014 you can either talk to the AirPods using Siri, or control the stems by squeezing them.<\/p>\n Squeeze it once to pause and play, twice to skip forwards, and three times to go back. Squeeze a stem for longer to switch cancellation modes, and also swipe up and down on the stems to change the volume, raising it or lowering it.<\/p>\n It\u2019s pretty easy to use, and you can even trigger aspects, such as squeezing the stem to fire the camera.<\/p>\n Support for live translation is built in for iPhone owners, as well, handy if you need to translate what\u2019s going on around you, though it\u2019s one of those extra features you mightn\u2019t touch, compared to say listening to music.<\/p>\n Performance<\/p>\n And music performance is where things get a little interesting, not necessarily because the AirPods Pro 3 are good or even bad. They\u2019re just\u2026 different.<\/p>\n Some tracks sound staggeringly good, with a punchy yet balanced delivery. Others feel restrained and harsh at times, with the volume increasing almost randomly for little to no reason.<\/p>\n As usual, our test is performed with the Pickr Sound Test<\/a>, a playlist you can use on Spotify and Apple Music to test your own headphones with, and it starts with the electronic of Tycho and Daft Punk, each of which offer a relatively balanced sound with surprisingly meaty bass. <\/p>\n By comparison, the mids and highs come across scaled back, but are punchy, and as punchy as what Carly Rae Jepsen\u2019s \u201cCut To The Feeling\u201d comes across as.<\/p>\n Mark Ronson\u2019s \u201cUptown Funk\u201d borrows the same vibe \u2014 clear and punchy and easy to listen to \u2014 as does the rock of Muse, David Bowie, The Beatles, and the Deftones.<\/p>\n Many tracks sound excellent through the AirPods Pro 3, with a dynamic and detailed delivery. The problem is this doesn\u2019t stay this way for all tracks.<\/p>\n In Ariana Grande\u2019s \u201cInto You\u201d, the bass is so hefty, it seems to scream for restraint, and the volume is pushed up in the chorus more than it should. This isn\u2019t what normally happens, which begs the question: why?<\/p>\n The mix on Maroon 5\u2019s \u201cAnimal\u201d is overly spacious, as if the soundstage was expanded unnecessarily into a large hall, and comes off shallow while the bass rooms. And confusingly, it also raises the volume in the chorus once again, just like the Ariana Grande track.<\/p>\n Even our one Rage Against the Machine track offered up the same problems: fluctuating volumes with an overly harsh delivery at times.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an interesting problem that suggests Apple\u2019s Adaptive EQ could be getting in the way of some tracks. The system, which is designed to take into account your ear geometry, fit, and the track itself, might just be a little too aggressive at times.<\/p>\n There\u2019s actually no controllable equaliser on the AirPods Pro, and also no way to turn off the Adaptive EQ, either. You can control the \u201cAdaptive Audio\u201d setting, but that seems to be more about how much noise gets in and out, and less the equaliser.<\/p>\n We can\u2019t help but think an equaliser could fix all of this. With most other earphones, you can change the sound signature to make it more for genres or just left as a \u201csignature sound\u201d.<\/p>\n Apple could theoretically do the same, and let you turn its automatic and adaptive EQ feature on and off to find out whether that\u2019s the cause. But because you can\u2019t \u2014 because we can\u2019t \u2014 we simply have to assume that the automatic equaliser is the reason some songs work brilliantly and others do not.<\/p>\n One thing is clear: as good as the AirPods Pro 3 are, they\u2019re not quite as well-rounded as the AirPods Pro 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n Noise cancellation<\/p>\n When it comes to noise cancellation, that\u2019s another story altogether.<\/p>\n Apple has made huge strides with active noise cancellation, delivering what it calls the \u201cworld\u2019s best in-ear active noise cancellation\u201d, and it may well be right.<\/p>\n The system boasts up to twice the cancellation compared to its predecessor, and up to four times the original pair, using a combination of computation audio and improvements to the ear tips to make bring this system to life.<\/p>\n At the ear tip level, Apple is using a tip made of silicone and foam to block out more sound, resulting in a material that isn\u2019t a huge leap from what Sony tried in its WF-1000XM4<\/a>, another pair of earphones that came with a combination of materials, again using silicone and foam.<\/p>\n Apple\u2019s approach means the ear tips are doing some of the improved isolation work, with the rest from a combination of microphones and computational audio delivering the improvements.<\/p>\n And my, what an improvement.<\/p>\n Throw the AirPods Pro 3 in your ears and the world just fades away, as if you\u2019ve suddenly turned down the volume knob on reality. Some sounds bleed through, but this is some of the best noise cancellation around.<\/p>\n The noise cancellation is so good, that as I was typing this review, I almost missed the already-late train I was waiting for because I couldn\u2019t hear it. I had spent so much time gazing into the screen of the iPad I was writing in<\/a> that I missed the sound entirely of the train.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a first.<\/p>\n Spatial audio<\/p>\n Another part of the AirPods Pro 3 is support for spatial audio, something Apple practically introduced into headphones several years ago with support for both an expanded audio track using Dolby Atmos on the phone for movies and also for music as part of Apple Music<\/a>, while its earphones and headphones also support head-tracking to make that experience better overall.<\/p>\n Head-tracked spatial was there at the end of the original AirPods Pro life, and was also there in the second-gen model released a few years ago.<\/p>\n Unsurprisingly, Dolby Atmos spatial audio forms a part of this release, offering more head-tracked audio for Atmos tracks, as well as regular stereo sound that is upscaled to match the spatial sound (should you choose to turn it on).<\/p>\n It\u2019ll switch on for iPhone with Apple Music, which works with specifically-engineered tracks found on that service. If you don\u2019t have an Apple Music subscription and you listen with Spotify, you\u2019ll miss out on spatial, at least for now (until Spotify adds that feature).<\/p>\n With movies, it\u2019s a little more balanced, and you can hear spatial on the iPhone and AirPods Pro 3 with more services. Watching compatible movies and shows on Apple TV and Netflix worked, giving you a sense of surround sound by simply moving your head.<\/p>\n Atmos on the AirPods Pro 3 isn\u2019t necessarily improved from previous generations, but it\u2019s just as dynamic as it ever was, and could make your listening experience that little bit better.<\/p>\n Heart-rate monitor<\/p>\n One of the more unusual features in the AirPods Pro 3 isn\u2019t actually there for sound, but rather your fitness. It\u2019s a little like the Beats Powerbeats Pro from last year, but made a little differently, with support for heart-rate tracking from your ears.<\/p>\n Beats didn\u2019t do it first \u2014 Jabra was there a few years ago, and Sennheiser afterwards \u2014 but Beats has been dabbling with heart rate tracking from your ears using the sensor out of an Apple Watch<\/a>, giving you a little more information when you decide to work out with the earphones.<\/p>\n Apple is following a similar strategy, but using a custom heart-rate monitor and not just what the Apple Watch uses.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t use an Apple Watch, it means you now get heart-rate tracking for workouts from your ears, and if you\u2019re someone who already uses an Apple Watch, you get a combination, with the app taking the best reading from either gadget.<\/p>\n Battery<\/p>\n As you use the AirPods Pro, you\u2019ll need to chew through the battery, just like any other pair.<\/p>\n With this pair, however, the battery is interesting, having improved in listening time, but reducing the overall life for the recharge case, needing charging a little more often.<\/p>\n Officially, there\u2019s up to 8 hours of listening with noise cancellation switched on \u2014 which is the default mode for anyone with a pair of ANC earphones \u2014 but you\u2019ll also get up to 10 hours when ANC is switched off.<\/p>\n That\u2019s just for the listening; the case offers an extra two charges, making it roughly 24 hours all up with active noise cancellation or up to 30 without.<\/p>\n These times are about normal, but not game-changing. We don\u2019t have any major complaints, though. While you can get better battery life with some other pairs, a run time of eight hours of use and a total of 24 all up is actually roughly the norm, and totally fine.<\/p>\n If you need more time with concurrent use (and always worn), you\u2019ll want to consider a pair of larger headphones.<\/p>\n Value<\/p>\n Apple\u2019s price tag also isn\u2019t bad, thanks in part to the price largely staying the same, increasing in Australia by a grand total of $30. In this day and age, that just sounds like the increases to the cost of living as opposed to anything else.<\/p>\n The AirPods Pro first and second-gen were both $399, and the third generation is priced at $429 (or $479 in New Zealand). That\u2019s hardly a price rise to be concerned about, and is roughly where other big names are placing their truly wireless noise cancelling options. Some are higher priced, so again, this isn\u2019t a stretch from Apple.<\/p>\n For what you get, the value seems to pretty much be bang on where it needs to be. Not much more than $400, the AirPods Pro 3rd gen price makes sense. It could always be less \u2014 saving money is always welcome \u2014 but we have few quibbles with the price for what Apple has made, and for what Apple has delivered on.<\/p>\n What needs work?<\/p>\n Most of the AirPods Pro 3 experience is pretty solid, especially if you have an iPhone or iPad with an Apple Music subscription.<\/p>\n Living inside the Apple ecosystem makes the AirPods Pro better, but it\u2019s not completely perfect.<\/p>\n The shape of the new ear-pieces may not be as comfortable as the gen two model, and even for this reviewer, it\u2019s been a little trying at times. They fit and they hold better \u2014 we\u2019ll definitely agree with that \u2014 but they can also take a little time getting used to. It\u2019s a slightly different design, and it shows in the fit.<\/p>\n The question of sound quality is also one that needs to be talked about.<\/p>\n Our experience both with the Pickr Sound Test and without delivered great sounding audio, though some tracks clearly struggled. We\u2019re not entirely sure whether it\u2019s a problem of Adaptive EQ or even Dolby Atmos, but a handful of the tested tracks didn\u2019t sound as good as with the AirPods Pro 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n We\u2019re not entirely sure the fix, and it could even be something as simple as Apple issuing a patch. But our experience tells us these AirPods could be a little better, ironing out these issues.<\/p>\n What we love<\/p>\n However, the problems were only there on a handful of tracks. In fact, on our 25 track test list, only three stood out as truly problematic, raising concerns about the Adaptive EQ. That\u2019s not a lot of trouble, to be honest.<\/p>\n So what do we love about the AirPods Pro 3? The strength of the noise cancellation married to the support for Dolby Atmos spatial audio, which also works on movies, too.<\/p>\n The sheer combination of these features helps the AirPods Pro 3 to stand out. Granted, you need an iPhone or iPad if you want to experience both the way they\u2019re meant to, but if you have any model from the current iPhone range, the AirPods Pro 3 should deliver.<\/p>\n AirPods Pro 3 vs the competition<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that there is a lot of competition out there Apple is competing with, most of which offer more than just compatibility with Apple products.<\/p>\n There are earphones from Bose and Beats and Nothing and Sennheiser and Shokz and Oppo and Bang & Olufsen and plenty of others. Lots of choices for lots of people.<\/p>\n In the world of the iPhone, the obvious competitors to the AirPods Pro 3 are Apple\u2019s own ANC AirPods 4<\/a>, plus Beats models like the Powerbeats Fit, which are similar to the second-gen AirPods Pro, but with a more fitness-friendly fit.<\/p>\n For top-class noise cancellation, Apple\u2019s AirPods Pro 3 really compete best with the three reigning champions in this category: the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2nd-gen<\/a>, the slightly older Sony WF-1000XM5<\/a> (which we expect an update for shortly), and this year\u2019s excellent Technics AZ100<\/a>.<\/p>\n From our own reviews and analysis, the AirPods Pro 3\u2019s best competition likely comes from Bose, which delivers one of the best pairs of noise cancelling earbuds, complete with a variation of active noise cancellation that plays nicely with any mobile operating system, something not even the AirPods Pro do well with.<\/p>\n Final thoughts (TLDR)<\/p>\n For folks living in the Apple world, however, the AirPods Pro 3 are an easy choice because they just work.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/apple-airpods-pro-3-review-2025-01-jpg.webp.webp\"\/)
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\nDesign and features<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/apple-airpods-pro-3-review-2025-03-jpg.webp.webp\"\/)
An evolution of the AirPods Pro. From left to right: AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/apple-airpods-pro-3-review-2025-07.jpg\"\/)
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Despite its name, Adaptive Audio isn\u2019t control for the Adaptive EQ. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/apple-airpods-pro-3-review-2025-11-jpg.webp.webp\"\/)
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