The AirPods Pro join Apple’s existing AirPods lineup that includes the first-gen and the second-gen AirPods. And besides its ‘Pro’ moniker, it features a new design (with comparatively shorter stem and smaller case) that is lightweight and offers an in-ear headphone style to give it a comfortable and snug fit in the ear. The earbuds come with flexible silicone ear tips in three different sizes to cater to different ear contours. Besides offering a snug and comfortable fit, the silicone tips also provide an improved seal (isolation) that plays a crucial role in offering an immersive sound experience. Another change that makes the new AirPods, ‘Pro’, involves the stem, which now includes what Apple likes to call ‘Force Sensor’. Essentially, the sensor allows users to perform actions like play/pause tracks, skip tracks, answer/hang-up calls, and a lot more. The new AirPods are now also both sweat and water resistant, making them ideal for people with an active lifestyle. At its core, the AirPods Pro comes with Apple’s H1 chip that features ten audio cores that are responsible for powering every single feature on the device. Apple says the new chip has extremely low latency at audio processing, which allows it to offer real-time noise cancellation and deliver high-quality sound. In terms of battery, the AirPods Pro offers up to five hours of listening time with Active Noise Cancellation turned off. On the other hand, with Active Noise Cancellation turned on, they offer up to four and a half hours of listening time and up to three and a half hours of talk time. Additionally, Apple says the new AirPods offer over 24 hours of listening time or over 18 hours of talk time with the Wireless Charging Case, which can be charged using either lightning cable or a Qi-certified charging mat.
Talking about the USP of the AirPods Pro — Active Noise Cancellation — the AirPods use two microphones along with advanced software to adapt to each individual ear and fit and remove background noises. Out of the two microphones, one of the microphones faces outwards and detects external sound to analyze environmental noise and create an equivalent anti-noise that cancels out the background noise. Whereas, the other microphone, facing inwards, listens toward the ear, and allows the AirPods to cancel out the remaining detected noise. By doing so, the AirPods manage to offer what Apple calls a ‘customized’ noise-canceling experience.
Besides Active Noise Cancellation, the AirPods Pro also offers immersive sound experience using Adaptive EQ that automatically tunes the low-and-mid frequencies to adapt to an individual’s ear and offer a rich and immersive listening experience. Additionally, the AirPods Pro also offers transparency mode, which, as the name suggests, allows users the option to simultaneously listen to music while listening to the nearby sound.
AirPods Pro: Pricing and Availability
The all-new AirPods Pro is priced at USD 249 in the US and is available for pre-order starting today. It will start shipping on Wednesday, October 30 and will be available later this week. As for India pricing, the AirPods Pro is priced at INR 24,900 and will be available sometime later.
