(gentle techno music) - Okay, so this is actually the same thing that happened to me with the last generation, where it's September, it's really busy. I didn't really think I was gonna review these. There's lots of other stuff I gotta get to, but just like last time, Apple sent me their latest AirPods Pros. And the first thing I did this time with them was get on a plane and fly with them. And now, I gotta show you these new headphones. These are AirPods Pro 3. They look physically almost the same as AirPods Pro 2, but there's actually a host of new things here. And the thing is I'm not normally an earbuds person and I'm certainly not typically a wear my headphones all day, every day type of person, like so many are. But with all the improvements that they've stacked up in this third generation, I get it. I totally get it. And I think there are a lot of things in here specifically made for that type of person. But first of all, they still sound really good. This was one of the first things I was impressed with with the last gen and I even did some back-to-back listening. And I think these sound even a little bit better. There's more strong base and low end while still keeping, you know, a totally full mid-range and crisp bright highs and very little high volume distortion. And they do seem to get even louder too. And there's a couple reasons behind this sound improvement. If you look very carefully, you'll notice the vents are actually slightly bigger and the interior is redesigned to allow for more airflow. So, I'm betting that's where a bit of that better bass response comes from. But then, also the ear tips go into your ears at a slightly different angle, which you can tell if you look at the second gen right next to this third gen. And the new ear tips are also bolstered with a little bit of foam inside the end. So, they're not fully foam ear tips. They're still silicon, but you kind of get the best of both worlds now. The foam ear tips that you might see on some IMs, you kind of compress them, and then let them expand in your ear. It's this really nice seal and a great fit, but not great for everyday use outside. So, this has some of those benefits in the tip. They have some foam that kind of like molds to the inside of your ear. It's a little bit firmer and it does fit a little better, so it's a better seal. And I gotta say this new combo of the new ear tips, which there's also now a double extra small size by the way. So, there's five ear tip sizes. But the new ear tips plus the new angle that they go into your ear makes these the first air pods that have ever stayed in my ears. It's been years and generations of AirPods that have always slightly wiggled out over time, but these actually stay and that's a game changer for me. Now, I still give the nod to the Powerbeats Pro for working out just because that piece that goes around your ear for the extra bit of security when you're running, or jumping, or moving around a lot, that can't be beat. But for the everyday walking around headphones, these are incredible. They've also added IP57 dust and water resistance for the first time. So they were IPX4 before, which meant they could take a splash, or a sprinkle, or go out in the rain, but now they are protected against a little bit of dust and they can fully survive being submerged underwater. So, that's better for heavy rain, better for spills especially, and even better for a ton of sweat. Like if you somehow sweat so much that AirPods couldn't handle it before, they can now handle it. And turns out this case is also IP57 rated as well which is nice, but that does actually mean it's a new case. And so, the more you look at this new case, the more you'll notice there's a bunch of other little small differences here as well. Like it's a tiny bit thicker and taller, because of the new shape of the buds. And then also, the cutout for the pairing/battery indicator light is now gone, but the light's still there. It's just behind the plastic now and quite a bit brighter, clean. And also just like AirPods 4, the pairing button is gone from the back. So pro tip, if you do need to manually pair these to a non-Apple device for some reason like a computer or an Android phone, you have to open the case and double tap the front to put them in pairing mode. Then there's also a next generation Ultra Wideband chip in the case, which means you can do precision finding from 50% further away, which is extremely convenient. Honestly might still be an underrated feature. The old buds don't fit in the new case and the new buds don't fit in the old case, by the way, just in case you are wondering. And then, there's also some articles about how these don't seem to come with a charging cable and that's true. I unbox them. Sure enough, there was no USB type C cable in that box, but also neither do AirPods 4. And I think you know, to be honest, like most other headphones come with the charging cable, but I think Apple is assuming, probably fairly, that if you're buying the new AirPods, which suck to use with any non-Apple device, then you 99.9% most likely already have an iPhone from the past three years and therefore, already have a USB type C charger or you already have an Apple Watch, which it can also use that charger, or you already have some MagSafe puck somewhere that you can also use. They're probably right, but also the battery life is actually longer on these two, so they'll do eight hours with noise cancellation up from six. So, you can ignore your coworkers for an entire uninterrupted nine to five. And then, transparency mode or hearing aid functionality will do up to 10 hours now from the previous six. Slide in the keynote that rose my eyebrow the most when I saw it when they introduced this a few days ago was "World's best Active Noise Cancellation," of any in-ear wireless headphones. No asterisk, no fine print, no weird comparisons or anything, just all gas, no breaks, big claim. Now, Apple says a lot of things, things like the iPhone 16 Pro has studio quality microphones. Stuff that's obviously not totally true or that's greatly exaggerated for marketing purposes. But this one, this one's interesting. So, the way they're quantifying it is they're saying it cancels twice as much noise as the last gen, which were already really good. Matter of fact, if you go and watch that 2022 keynote, when they introduced the AirPods Pro 2, they said that those were twice as powerful as the first gen AirPods Pro. Now, these do have the same H2 chip as the previous generation, so it's not the chip, but the new ear tips with foam, the new angle that they go into your ears, and the bigger vents and probably some more improved software tuning all combine to give you much better, allegedly two times noise cancellation from the previous. And yeah, the ANC is pretty incredible in these. With my music at basically half volume, I already hear nothing but my music. Now in this studio environment, where you know, there's some voices, maybe occasional louder noises, one really loud mechanical keyboard and a few dog barks, like that's pretty easy. I'm locked in. I'm only hearing my music. But I also took a flight with these, like I said, and the white noise of the airplane just dropped down. It was almost completely erased, not totally to zero, but more than enough to fully immerse in whatever media I want to and actually enjoy the improved audio quality, which is saying something. And these of course still have other features, transparency mode, adaptive EQ, conversational awareness is here I'm just, I'm very happy with this ANC. I went and compared them back to back with the Bose QC Ultra 2, which I found less comfortable and don't seal in my ear as well. And they also don't cancel as much sound. The Sony WF-1000XM5 sound really good, but the fit and noise cancellation also aren't as strong. And these Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are very comfortable and I think even look better, but don't sound as good or cancel as much background noise. These have been pretty excellent for me. Still no lossless audio to anything not called Vision Pro, but this is about as good as I've heard wireless earbuds sound. Now speaking of workout headphones, these also have a new feature and it's this little window over here in the back of them, that's a heart rate monitor. So, AirPods Pro 3 can measure your heart rate while working out. I consider this a nice to have the same way it was in the Powerbeats Pro. What's nice is it's well integrated in the Apple Fitness app. So even if other earbuds integrate heart rate sensors, not sure they'll be able to plug in to this ecosystem as nicely to count your calories and keep your rings closed. Classic. But it's nice for people who don't have Apple Watches. So if you do have an Apple Watch and you wear it at the same time and work out, apparently it's using its own algorithms and software to decide which is the better source to take that data from. Because at no point does the app tell you or let you choose where it's getting your heart rate. Apple also introduced live translation alongside AirPods Pro 3. It's not exclusive to these like they might want you to think. So I won't spend too much time on it in this review, but it is powered by Apple Intelligence and it does require you download each individual language offline before using it. So, everything works offline without internet connection. So, that's cool. And I'm starting to think this is the perfect year to do a big comparison just on all these live translate features 'cause it seems like 2025 is the year of live translation. And there's a bunch of different versions of it and I kind of wanna see which one's best, like is it a phone app, or is it phone plus headphones, or will it be smart glasses with AI, or will it be a pin? That probably won't be a pin. But this really feels like the year live translation actually finally became possible. But overall, okay, better fit, better sound, better ANC, IP rating now, better battery life, all for the same price. I get it. People who wear AirPods all day are gonna love these things. People who sometimes wear AirPods are also gonna love these things. Honestly, the only reason they're not about to become my new dailies is because I still prefer over-ear headphones. So, I mostly still use my Sonys for traveling, and listening to music, and watching movies. Anytime I'm on a plane, I have these. And then when I work out, it's back to dedicated workout headphones, which for me are still the Powerbeats. But if you want one pair of headphones to do everything or if you're on the fence, like these really don't have any weaknesses, if you're an iPhone user. Well played Apple, well played. Now fun fact, the original AirPods were announced 3,295 days ago and they still look like this, Like the tech has gotten way, way better. But all these generations later, they still go with this small white, glossy dental floss case. So, channel sponsor Dbrand can change that. 'Cause the grip case for the AirPods Pro 3 is a great way to keep that charging case safe from scuffs, and scratches, and drops. But I'm really just into how you can change up the look of the things, because you can customize it literally dozens of ways. I've got the matte black one here, but they've got a ton of options to choose from and it goes perfectly with any of Dbrand's phone cases like this Grip case, which can also be customized to match your AirPods or even Dbrand's new Tank Case, this super overkill tactical looking case they've launched alongside the iPhone 17 series. So if you're like me and you wish there was a matte black iPhone 17 Pro this year, well then either of these are pretty good options. So if you are trying to pick up a case for your AirPods or your iPhone 17, then I highly recommend checking out Dbrand Link will be down below. Thanks for watching. Catch you very soon. It's techtember. I'll catch you real soon in the next one. Peace. (gentle techno music)