Tired of your dusty old AirPods? Apple’s latest and most upgraded wireless earbud, the AirPods Pro 3 are a massive leap over the older generations, and Best Buy currently has them marked down to just $200, a $50 discount from their usual price. We think they’re the best AirPods yet, and well worth the upgrade even for AirPods Pro 2 owners.
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Review: Apple AirPods Pro 3
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Review: Apple AirPods Pro 3
The biggest improvements are to the sound isolation and active noise-canceling, which our reviewer Parker Hall compared to the Bose QuietComfort Ultra 2 earbuds. It does an excellent job of tuning out all but the highest pitch noises.
They sound great across a variety of genres, with boosted highs and lows that can be a bit much at times, and nice detail and immediacy for earbuds. They’re a great fit for working out or getting yard work done, thanks to boosted highs and lows that assist the ANC, and in particular sound great with pop, hip-hop, and bright jazz.
Apple’s close integration of hardware and software means these can also pull off some neat tricks, like real-time translation. When paired with any iPhone with Apple Intelligence, you can speak a variety of languages into the phone, and the earbuds will translate them to your own. They also have heartrate sensing, which we found surprisingly accurate. Other headphones have similar features, but getting them all in one place, along with quick pairing and Siri compatibility, helps these feel like the full package.
While they look largely the same as the second generation, there were some improvements to the fit that anyone with smaller ears will appreciate. The ear tips are thicker too, with a foam layer that helps with sound isolation and noise reduction. They’re more durable, with an IP57 rating that will go everywhere with you except into the pool.
While I’m often tempted by the deals I cover, as a devout Android user, I’ll be keeping my wallet in my pocket today. The AirPods’ rich set of features really only work meaningfully with iOS and Mac, so if you don’t have an iPhone, iPad, or other Apple computer to connect to, you’ll want to check out our other favorite earbuds.
