Apple AirPods Pro (2nd gen) review: a compelling upgrade

Introduction

Apple has come a long way from the basic ‘buds bundled with iPods and early iPhones. The original AirPods Pro earned coveted places on many a best headphones list, and were one of Stuff’s favourite products of recent years; the blend of convenience, excellent ANC and impressive audio made them a must-have for Apple owners. Do the AirPods Pro 2 improve the formula?

They look pretty much identical as before, but Apple has worked hard to improve noise cancellation and battery life. But there’s no shortage of true wireless competition. Here’s how the AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) stack up today.

Review originally published March 20 2023

• Related: Apple AirPods Pro 2 vs AirPods Pro – what’s the difference, and which one should you buy?

Design & build

Did previous AirPod generations drop out of your ears – even the original AirPods Pro, with their silicone ear tips? Apple has added a fourth, smaller set of XS ear tips, so you should finally get a secure seal. I found them to be super comfortable enough with the regular tips, which I hadn’t expected when trying the initial version. If you’re coming to the AirPods Pro fresh, you can always take the Ear Tip Test when setting them up to decide what fit is best for you.

What is immediately noticeable as you look around the charging case is that it now has a speaker. This initially comes across as a little odd, though comes into its own when you need to find your AirPods case via Apple’s FindMy app. They can now emit out a welcome, shrill tone from the back of the sofa, and they also support Precision Finding if your iPhone does (it’s baked into the iPhone 11 and later).

The tones are fine most of the time, but if you charge them in a quiet environment – like a bedroom at night – you probably want to disable them.

Managing your AirPods is easier than ever, thanks to a dedicated settings menu added in iOS 16. It appears when you’re connected, which isn’t always useful; I had mine on a wireless charging pad, and it kept pinging to say it was fully refuelled. Fine, but I was watching TV at the time and it was a trifle annoying.

The charging case also now comes with a small lanyard clip, so you can attach it to a rucksack or coat. It’s interesting that Apple hasn’t done this before but felt compelled to do it here. Coincidentally, the case is now sweat and water-resistant which is great – it wasn’t previously.

Features

The boost to battery life is welcome, though not immediately noticeable If you’re coming from an original pair of AirPods Pro. You’ll now get a little shy of six hours if you’re listening to music; with the case there’s a combined 30 hours of juice.

One design element I wasn’t so impressed with was the touch-based volume controls built into the AirPods Pro 2’s stems. Like many earphone-based touch controls, it’s easy to make the wrong adjustment – especially if you’re moving about – and I’d rather this wasn’t added.

I’m surprised to see Apple add something that doesn’t impress on numerous rival ‘buds. It does, however, do a great job of distinguishing between presses of the stem (to pause/play or take calls, press and hold to change noise cancellation) and swipes.

Sound quality and spatial audio

I was sceptical that the AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) could be much better than the originals – the first AirPods Pro were genuinely impressive in terms of comfort and sound quality. But it was immediately evident that these provide much beefier and punchier audio than the 2019 pair.

Noise cancellation is also much improved, partly thanks to the new Apple H2 chip running the show. It had no problem blocking out our other half’s TV watching while I watched the F1 on an iPad. The original AirPods Pro had problems blocking out conversation (especially from the TV) and while things aren’t so different it’s startling, there’s no doubt the cancellation is better.

The upshot of this is that you actually need to be careful walking down the street with full cancellation (versus transparency) switched on. It’s actually too good and you end up blocking out sounds you should be hearing.

Spatial Audio can now be personalised through analysis of your ears (you use your iPhone’s TrueDepth front camera) but this isn’t unique to this generation. It’s also available on the older model, as well as the AirPods 3 and AirPods Max, and the Beats Fit Pro, via a software update.

I’ll be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of head tracking spatial audio – some are pretty keen, sure, but I’d rather listen without. The personalisation is easy to do, at least – you do a front view and then turn to the left and then right using the guide and audio cues.

Apple AirPods Pro 2 verdict

If you’re thinking about the merits of a pair of these versus the standard AirPods 3, there really is no contest; these are way better.

Before starting this review, I was also expecting that discounted pairs of 1st generation AirPods Pro would be a no-brainer purchase in comparison – but that would do these 2nd Gen Pros a disservice.

The move forward in sound quality, battery life and noise cancellation are worth the extra outlay without question, and the addition of the case tones for use with FindMy is excellent (though you might need to turn the tones off as a rule). Overall these are a really compelling upgrade.

Apple AirPods Pro 2 technical specifications

Driver size	Not specified
Mics	Three on each AirPod Pro
Connectivity	Bluetooth 5.3, Apple H1
Codec	AAC
Water resistance	IPX4 (buds and case)
Battery life	6 hours / 30 hours (buds/case, ANC on)
Dimensions	31x21x24mm, 5.3g (buds), 45x61x28mm, 51g (case)