Apple AirPods Pro 2 Review

The AirPods Pro 2 are among our favorites to date, boasting notable improvements in sound quality, immersive spatial audio, and noise cancellation. Unfortunately, the full suite of features is only available to Apple users. Sorry, Android fans.

Sound Quality

Our panel of audio experts agrees these earbuds are an absolute treat. We tested them across various genres in a range of environments, and their sound profile is excellent, if not one of our absolute favorites.

These earbuds deliver exceptional sound with a well-balanced and natural signature. The bass is robust, the mid-range is pleasing and well-proportioned, and the treble tones are smooth.

Folk rock classics like “Harvest Moon” by Neil Young sound fantastic. The mellow bass, percussive broom sweeps, and acoustic guitar are beautifully balanced. When the dreamy pedal steel guitar enters at 0:18, the textural contrast is stunning, showcasing each instrument without compromising cohesiveness. The treble range echoes the first-generation AirPods Pro and remains smooth and consistent. Young's voice is clear and moving, avoiding the thin or brassy tones that can sound piercing through lesser earbuds. Even the bright harmonica casts a soft, nostalgic hue, never slipping into sharp or keening notes.

The effect works equally well in rock classics like “Tumbling Dice” by the Rolling Stones and dreamy instrumentals like “Dreaming” by Jon Mclaughlin. However, it doesn't ascend to the crystalline brilliance of the best buds.

The mid frequencies are comparable to those in the first-generation AirPods Pro — pleasing, balanced, and natural. The clean profile sounds great in mid-heavy classic pop like Fleetwood Mac's “Dreams” and 2Pac's “All About U.” Clarity can suffer at higher levels, like Stevie Nicks higher pitched vocals at the 2:19 mark of “Dreams”, but we didn't notice any major compromises in sound quality like distortions or blowouts.

While the bass isn't the most robust, it is more powerful than previous versions. It's fleshed out and full-bodied in “All Eyez on Me” and “Heaven Ain't Hard 2 Find” by 2Pac. In “Summer in the City” by Quincy Jones, the first 30 seconds before the first drum fill is so effortlessly cool. These earbuds clearly present the organ, keys, bass, and percussion in uncomplicated conversation and maintain clarity as the song grows in complexity.

Soundstage

The soundstage describes how the sound is arranged in the room, creating a more live experience.

Due to their compact size and in-ear design, earbuds tend to create a more internal experience. The Apple AirPods Pro 2 are an impressive exception. Their immersive soundstage creates a truly awe-inspiring acoustic experience.

These earbuds offer a surround sound feel that puts you in the middle of the music. Apple's personalized spatial audio system also tracks your head movements, which makes it feel like the music is moving with you rather than staying locked into place. We enjoyed the experience, though a similar feature in the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds earbuds is more effective.

The Pro 2's enveloping audio and well-balanced mix create mesmerizing soundscapes. Lush, ethereal music like “Ready” by Emotional Oranges truly shines. Our musical expert tester Genaveve Bradshaw notes that, “Pop songs like Taylor Swift's 'Lavender Haze' swirl around you during the climax at the 0:51 mark, clearly articulating each element from low beats to high notes in the mix.”

For an objective analysis, our Brüel & Kjaer Type 5128 Head Simulator records the frequency response curve, while SoundCheck, specialized audio software by Listen Inc., measures the curve against our GearLab House Curve. The comparison confirms our findings — while the bass is good, it lacks the boom of our favorite options, and the mids are higher in the mix, affecting the balance overall. The treble frequencies are where most earbuds fall short, and while there is some variation, the Apple Pro's track our House Curve pretty faithfully from 5000 to 9000 Herz and sound fantastic.

Comfort and Fit

Our testers were able to get a comfortable fit with four silicone tip possibilities. They sit securely while allowing ears to breathe, maintaining comfort during prolonged use, significantly improving over previous versions.

Stability

Their secure fit provides remarkable stability during daily activities. We wore them in the office and on sweaty bike rides without issue.

They passed our rigorous stability tests with flying colors, including headstands and headbanging. With an IPX4 rating, these earbuds can handle sweaty bike rides and workouts. Dance your heart out—these earbuds can keep up.

Noise Cancellation

“Holy moly,” said one tester, “the ambient noise-blocking for these buds is amazing!” The AirPods Pro 2 earbuds offer excellent passive noise isolation and active noise cancelling. We discovered new levels of peace at the climbing gym, a respite from background conversation, and a break from the space heater whir. These earbuds reduce the need to crank up the volume. Only a few do a better job.

These earbuds block so much sound that we leave the volume low when we need more awareness of our surroundings. While the adaptive audio function works to balance noise cancellation with environmental awareness, we wouldn't trust it in high-consequence situations. However, it does reliably help maintain spatial awareness without overwhelming distractions. The full transparency mode is exceptional, allowing you to hear your surroundings, but it adds a layer of white noise to music.

Noise isolation and cancellation significantly enhance the listening experience, allowing you to focus fully on the music. Noise isolation blocks physically, while active noise cancellation (ANC) counteracts ambient noise with opposing sound waves. As demonstrated in our diner test, inserting the earbuds diminishes auditory chaos. Turning on the ANC dampens it further.

High-frequency sounds with shorter wavelengths are often effectively blocked by passive noise isolation. These earbuds dampen the treble range by 20 to nearly 27 decibels and knock the mid-tones down a notch as well. The long waves of low-frequency bass notes work their way past the earbuds themselves. That's where ANC comes in, blocking between 20 to around 30 decibels across all frequencies. The combination works well.

Ease of Use

These buds are delightful if you already live within Apple's extensive and welcoming ecosystem.

App Features

The usability of the AirPods Pro 2 hinges on the device you pair it with. If you use Apple products, it's a dream. If you don't, it's clunky. These earbuds do work with Android devices, but some features are unavailable, and the sound quality is diminished.

For Apple users, these buds offer all the usual features — an ear fit test to optimize sound quality and noise cancelation, a location feature to help you find lost buds, and touch controls for audio playback and Siri access.

They feature noise cancellation and transparency modes, allowing you to isolate or integrate ambient sounds. An “adaptive audio” function tries to save you from having to decide, identify, and transmit ambient noises it thinks you should hear. We didn't notice this in action.

They offer “conversation awareness,” turning the music down when you start talking, and “personalized volume” that uses AI to adapt your volume preferences to your environment. They'll also customize the sound profile to your ear and head shape with the iPhone's “TrueDepth” camera. The process was frustrating, and we didn't notice much difference in sound quality. Apple touts “personalized spatial audio” that tracks head movements to provide a surround-sound sensation.

These earbuds lack a manual equalizer option, relying instead on “adaptive EQ.” This feature records the music inside your ears, adjusting it in real-time to account for the earbud's position and fit. Although it's convenient, we missed the ability to manually adjust settings.

Connectivity

We experienced no notable connection issues during testing, especially when pairing with Apple devices. We analyzed Amazon user reviews, noting all 1-star reviews where users mentioned connectivity troubles.

When comparing connectivity issue rates among our tested earbuds, the AirPods Pro did impressively well, with an issue rate of 0.27%, which is well below average.

Battery Life

While the AirPods Pro 2 don't have the longest battery life, the 8.5 hours we measured is enough for most. It is more than the six hours that Apple claims. We played music at 75% volume until the earbuds stopped. With extra features turned on, the battery will drain faster.

The charging case holds four charges, extending entertainment to 34 hours before you need a full recharge. A quick 5-minute recharge in the case will give you another hour.

Call Quality

The AirPods Pro 2 earbuds are the best at crystal clear phone calls, even with significant background noise.

We played the recorded script of our testers speaking through a speaker and assessed the audio quality on the other end of the call. These earbuds delivered excellent voice clarity across a range of settings, including a quiet room, office noise, and loud Subway sounds.

We were blown away by how well we could understand the recordings over Subway sounds. Despite the challenging environment, the voices remain clear, and the surrounding chaos fades to the background, demonstrating the earbuds' ability to manage and isolate sound.

The AirPods Pro 2 were a standout at filtering office noise, managing to suppress background typing and chatter, making voices sound clearer and more distinct.

Silent room calls are crystal clear, working well for the high tones of the woman's voice and the lower register of the man's timbre.

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Should You Buy the Apple AirPods Pro 2?

If you're a dedicated Apple user and can afford them, these earbuds offer one of the best experiences. They sound great, with top-notch noise isolation and cancellation for a fully immersive experience. Comfortable to wear, they also boast solid battery life, provide more case-based recharges than most competitors, and feature impressive call quality. Android users should look elsewhere, as it's not worth the high price with the limited features.

What Other Earbuds Should You Consider?