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Crystal City, Virginia, is a wind tunnel plastered and pierced by engine roar and rail clatter, a pressure cooker for any earbuds. Every day, I pace beneath the DCA flight paths, waiting for the dog to do her business as jet wash shears the Potomac airspace and Amtrak rattles our building’s foundations. And the newly improved Apple AirPods Pro 3 true wireless earbuds feel purpose-built for my neighborhood’s noise profile.
Toggle these latest AirPods’ active noise cancellation on and the shriek zone drops noticeable notches: the rush of turbofans thins, screechy brakes soften, treble-y traffic recedes. What’s left is a workable hush where the clean edges of hi-hats and bass lines are identifiable again. Upgraded housings, drivers, eartips, and algorithms mean the Pro 3s dig deeper and hold the stage better, whether I’m on a call walking to Whole Foods or just wandering around listening to Wednesday on a Tuesday.
Apple AirPods Pro 3
The design
Apple AirPods are iconic, and the latest iteration feels recut, not refreshed. At first glance, the snozzberries taste like snozzberries. Tested against the Pro 2s, however, the Pro 3s feel consciously chiseled, a touch tidier, better balanced; you twist, they lock, nothing wiggles. Combined with this deliberate angling, the new foam-infused silicone tips seat deeper and hold fast as you shrug off gusts between glass towers. This isn’t a new concept, previously available as a third-party solution. Still, it’s improved isolation executed with typical Apple aplomb (and now there’s even an XXS eartip size to help ensure a proper seal). Add in the increased IP57 rating (new to both buds and case), and you can stop worrying about sweat or surprise dizzle as you race across crosswalks.
The custom, built-in heart-rate sensors log those “oops, jogged for the lights” moments if you have a Fitness workout active. And it appears relatively accurate when compared to an Apple Watch Ultra 2 (and will monitor in tandem with a watch to improve accuracy). Battery life up to eight hours even lets you wander a full day (or take all but the longest haul flights) without worrying about charging. As for Live Translation, that feature will get a proper test on an upcoming trip to Paris (the primary foreign languages nearby are tech bro and defense contractor, which are not supported).
It’s the first AirPods Pro that feels like a whole-body upgrade: fit, frequencies, stamina, smarts.
Apple AirPods Pro 3 (right) vs. AirPods Pro 2 … once upon a time these were the same color, before years of ears. Apple AirPods Pro 3 (right) vs. AirPods Pro 2 … once upon a time these were the same color, before time and grime. Apple AirPods Pro 3 (right) vs. AirPods Pro 2 … once upon a time these were the same color, before wax and backpacks.
The sound
There’s more to Apple’s rethink than ergonomics. The revised dimensions also make room for a multiport architecture that directs airflow while you dodge scooters. This new acoustic chamber, plus H2 chip DSP, allows for a more expressive, incisive soundstage. Paired to an iPhone 16 Pro on iOS 26, the Pro 3s’ fuller, tighter bass throbs, not smears. The streets around Amazon HQ2 may be clogged, but midrange on the way to coffee isn’t congested. Your surroundings may be blurred, but treble is brighter, crisper. While a divisive format, Dolby Atmos-encoded Spatial Audio, in particular, breathes more thanks to the increased separation and extension. Everything comes across a half-step more forward than in the Pro 2, so busy mixes now feel more layered than lumped. There’s still no codec support beyond AAC (not even a bump above the Pro 2s’ Bluetooth 5.3), but AirPods have never been the earbuds of choice for those chasing hi-res audiophile tonality. What these earbuds do is offer iPhone users a lightweight heavyweight, improving the handling of complex music and challenging environments while maintaining Apple’s legendary ease of use. The AirPods Pro 3 narrow the gap with the AirPods Max for Apple’s best personal audio product.
The conclusion
The Apple AirPods Pro 3 improve noise suppression and sonic spaciousness. With their Adaptive EQ and improved battery, they can address HVAC howl to range anxiety. All while keeping the price $249.
Park yourself directly below (or on) an ascending Airbus, and the $299 Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (Gen. 2) are still the ANC benchmark, throwing a slightly thicker blackout blanket over tiring travel. If you want more luxe, lacquered transients and addictive imaging, look to the $499 Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 or $320 Noble Audio FoKus Amadeus and their higher bit-rate codecs (aptX Lossless/LDAC, respectively). The $299 Technics EAH-AZ100 is another articulate alternative. If you want to save money without sacrificing romantic resolution, pick up the $149 Class AB-equipped Cambridge Melomania A100.
But when I’m running out the door and under contrails, as the winds whip along S Eads St., the AirPods Pro 3 earbuds are my default pocket pick to make streets sound less like a proving ground and more like a preferred playlist.
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