AirPods Pro II - My Take

Table of Contents

• Intro

• Buying Adventure

• Sound

• Software Features

• Hardware Features

Intro

I had been waiting for several months to upgrade my original AirPods Pro. This is actually the third pair of them that I have had and I had issues with all of them at some point. I don’t think that’s really an overall flaw and it didn’t dissuade me from purchasing them again, but I was definitely glad I had AppleCare + on them. Now to be fair, I didn’t go through three pairs. It’s just that every time someone else in the family needed a set, I bought new ones and kept them and passed down the old ones. Why would I do that when they were exactly the same? It’s all about how much I use them versus others.

This last pair I knew wouldn’t be passed down. First of all, the others that have them aren’t having any new issues and mine are actually starting to not hold a charge for nearly as long. Now, I say I knew they wouldn’t be passed down but as soon as I got my new ones, I did have a family member offer me what I could have gotten for them in trade. So they are still being actively used.

I could have justified upgrading months ago, but all the rumors pointed to them getting USBC in the fall so I waited. I’m glad I did but at the same time, I have been missing out for a while. Let’s just say that I got all the things I expected, a few positive surprises and then one feature I assumed would be great that I have already turned off. So let’s talk through all of this.

Buying Adventure

Apple announced the new version at their September event and I placed my order for them that evening. That meant they were supposed to arrive on launch day, September 22. That was fine by me as I hoped to get my new phone on that same day. Didn’t turn out that way for either piece of hardware.

I’m pretty familiar with receiving Apple hardware on launch day. I can tell you the basic route the device is going to follow through the UPS system, especially if it’s shipping directly from China. I was pleasantly surprised when my AirPods shipped a couple of days prior to the 22nd and they were coming only from CA. That means Apple already had them in the US ready to go. Should be super simple right? Nope.

I was watching UPS because I also had a couple of watch bands coming on the 22nd. I thought it odd that the watch bands shipped a day after the AirPods via standard shipping and they started moving sooner than the AirPods (which were supposed to come express). To make a long story short, even the night of the 21st, the watch bands had made it to Utah and the AirPods still hadn’t left the warehouse in CA. They didn’t make it on time. They actually didn’t arrive until almost a full week later.

Now, I could have just waited. My phone wasn’t coming until about that time anyway. I would have done that except for immediately when they went on pre-sale, Best Buy had them for $50 off. Now, I don’t do pre-orders through anyone but Apple. You just don’t know what you are going to get. Carriers might be a bit more firm in what they tell you but you don’t really know if Best Buy is really going to have the inventory. Even on the 23rd, they still had inventory and could deliver to me on the 27th. So I pulled the trigger.

They arrived on the 27th. The Apple ones arrived on the 28th and I only opened the box to make sure they were there and did a return. Apple makes it super simple to do the return. I printed the labeled, taped it to the box and dropped it at FedEx. A couple of days after they were back at Apple I had my refund.

So just a little adventure there.

PRO TIP:

I always get AppleCare + on any headphones I purchase. It’s more than paid for itself in express replacement saving me a trip to an Apple Store (at least an hour each way). When I buy them from Best Buy, they regularly have the headphones on sale so I think the last 3 or 4 sets of headphones have come from them, I don’t but the AppleCare through them. I used to but I realized that it didn’t get activated with the devices and I would have to reach out to Apple to get it done. Because it was a third party purchase I had to have receipts and a bunch of stuff like that to get everything connected. That never made sense to me.

This time, I bought the AppleCare on my phone the day after I had set up the AirPods. I couldn’t believe how easy it was. With the AirPods connected I went into their settings and there was a nice big button saying Add Coverage. I hit that and within about two minutes, it was paid for and connected to my devices. I was able to use Apple Pay so got the cash back on my Apple Card and I was set. I’ll do it this way every time from now on.

Sound Upgrade

This version of the AirPods Pro had a lot of advantages over my previous versions. I’ll cover those in a minute but what I didn’t expect was to find a noticeable improvement in the overall sound quality. I’m not an audiophile, but I listen to a lot of podcasts and a lot of music. I want it to sound good. I have my phone set to download music at the highest quality possible (even though I know the headphones don’t support it) and I have the equalizer set just right for me. The first time I listened to something I could tell there was a lot of improvement. And that was before using any of the new features that came in iOS 17.

What showed this the most for me was when I put Fallen Kingdom on my iPhone 15 Pro Max with the AirPods in. Amazing picture and sound. It’s hard to compare to the size and scope of a theater, but this was so amazing that I could just watch the whole movie that way. Definitely a plus.

The other place that I use headphones extensively is on bike rides and walks. I do have a pair of Beats Fit Pro and those are normally my go to for workouts. I haven’t used them since these new ones arrived. I could tell on the first bike ride how much of an improvement these were. Not only was the sound better, but the wind noise was significantly reduced, Siri recognition was greatly improved and the one thing I was worried about - my gaiter messing with the volume on the touch capacitive stems - was a non issue. It was such an improvement that I’m not sure I’ll go back to the Beats anytime soon.

Software Features

Let’s talk about the features that require the newest AirPods Pro II and iOS 17 to leverage. It’s all around adaptive audio.

Conversation Awareness

Starting off with something I have turned off now and that is conversation awareness. At first I had a lot of mixed feelings but it didn’t take long for me to realize that the feature needs a lot of refinement.

What it’s supposed to do is recognize when you start talking to someone and lower the volume so you can hold a conversation. It does that. But it also takes way too long to bring the audio back up to where you wanted it. It also triggers way too easy. My grandkids in the background trigger it. And then the thing that pushed me to turn it off was when I started singing along to a sing and realized that was going to trigger it every time. So it’s off. Maybe Apple will improve the feature and make it more usable but it’s a no for me right now.

Personalized Volume and/or Adaptive Noise Control

This has been great so far. I do have a hard time figuring out if it’s a volume adjustment or adaptive noise control kicking in but what I do know is that I love that when I’m walking or riding and a loud vehicle approaches, I can still tell the vehicle is there but there are enough adjustments made that I can still hear whatever I’m listening to crystal clear. This is one of the times when Apple has developed a feature that “just works”. They used to say that a lot and there are many areas where they think it works and it doesn’t. This one is solid and absolutely gets a thumbs up from me.

Optimized Charging

These are small devices with really small batteries. That means they don’t have a lot of juice in them so you are going to constantly be draining them low and charging them back up. I expect the battery to wear down and to do so quickly. Battery optimization, in theory, will help extend the life of the case batteries by charging it to 80% most of the time and only to full when you need it.

Great in theory, but I don’t think the case is the problem. I think it’s the AirPods whose battery is more likely to wear out. But I have this turned on. I’m not sure it’s figured out my patters in the few weeks I have had them. It’s either that or the fact that I’m only using wireless charging that gives me pause on this. Sometimes I see the case stop charging at 80ish% and other times it just keeps going. Not sure it matters all that much. It’s one of the reasons I have AppleCare +. I’ll probably leave it optimized and just not worry about it.

Hardware Based Features

Stem Swipe

When these were first released, I remember a bunch of folks that got them right off the bat struggling to do the swipe gestures on the stem to adjust the volume. I don’t see why it was an issue. I got it the first try and it works flawless. There is also plenty of feedback to tell you that you made an adjustment. My one, pre-purchase concern was that when I wore a gaiter biking or walking, that moving my head would trigger volume adjustments. It’s a non issue.

Find My

I think it’s great that you can now play a sound and have it come from the speaker in the case. I don’t think I have ever misplaced an earbud but I have had to search for them while in the case. Previously that was almost useless. But now that you can play the sound and use find my more accurately, it’s a great enhancement.

One side effect is that it appears that there is always some sort of a connection to the case and buds. It used to be that when you closed the lid on the case, you couldn’t see the status of either the case or the buds on your phone. Now, I can almost always see the status, even if they have been “disconnected” for hours. I think that’s fine, other than it may mean there is a constant low battery drain of some sort. But probably worth it for the find my features.

Wrap Up

Just to wrap up, I love to keep my AirPods in a case. I have them in my pocket with keys and a wallet. They are outside a lot and I just don’t want the case to look like it was a cat toy. This year I bought an rfun case off of amazon for it. It’s kind of fun as it looks like the case is wearing a pair of headphones. Those headphones help keep the case closed and can act as a stand. Kind of cool. I’m not convinced it’s as compatible with wireless charging as they claim, but it works.

Overall, I’m thrilled with these. Like I said, I don’t think I’ll be going back to my Beats anytime soon. These just sound so much better and have so many more features. If you are using regular AirPods or your first gen pro’s are getting a little long in the tooth, find a sale and make the purchase. Absolutely worth every penny. Don’t forget the pro-tip on getting AppleCare +. For a $29 investment, it just means you don’t have to worry about much at all with them.

Enjoy!