I recently switch to iPhone from Android and decided to replace my Sony WF-1000XM4 buds with these. I was pretty happy with the sound quality of the Sonys, especially on Android where I could use the LDAC codec, but I never found their bulky design comfortable in my ears, even after trying about a half a dozen aftermarket tips.

These are a night and day difference when it comes to comfort. Right out of the box, with the stock tips, they just fit easily, without me having to twist and turn and adjust the angle of them, or keep my head perfectly level and not talk or chew while wearing them so that they don't fall out.

Sound quality wise, testing with lossless FLAC/ALAC audio file playback, I think I still prefer the sound of the Sony's on LDAC slightly (a bit more crispness on the high end). However, when connecting them via AAC (the only option on iOS really), I'd say they are pretty evenly matched. I don't think sound quality difference will be that big of a deciding factor for anyone, if they compare these two, they're both pretty great for bluetooth audio,

I didn't think I'd care for the Spatial Audio stuff at all, and I don't really like it much for music personally, but its pretty cool watching surround sound shows/movies on my Apple devices and actually hearing 3D audio placement.

The noise cancelling on both this and the Sonys are pretty great - both do an amazing job of removing constant background noises and a decent job of cutting down the volume of other noises. I feel like the AirPods seem a bit more effective overall though because of the fact that the fit is so much more secure in my ears.

One of the biggest difference I've noticed between the two is that the audio passthrough modes are very different. With Apples transparency mode, it really does almost sound like you're not even wearing them at all - I love being able to listen to music while still hearing around me naturally. With Sony's, it just feels like someone is mixing in a recording of ambient noise into the song you're listening to, very harsh and artificial and hissy in comparison, so I never used that feature.

Battery life has been respectable, I rarely every find myself using the buds until they die, and the case only needs charges once a week or so, even with my pretty frequent usage.

Last but not least, by far my favorite feature of these earbuds that no one really talks about is the physical mute option! When on calls, you can just single squeeze the right buds stem to mute/unmute you, and it makes the noises to let you know which state you toggled. I can't express how much easier this makes my workdays, and I never want to be on a call without them. Plus, the transparency mode makes me feel less deaf when I'm talking on the phone with both buds in, so I don't feel the need to always take one bud out when I'm on the phone, like with the Sony's.

As someone who commutes a lot and needs to stay focused during the day, the noise cancellation on these has been a game changer for me. The 2x improvement over the previous model is extremely noticeable, as i can now hear dramatically less background noise when I'm trying to concentrate. Hooking them up to my phone with Bluetooth was simple! Just hold down the button on the back of the case while your phone is searching for a device. What I wasn't expecting was that upon hooking them up to my phone with Bluetooth, without even being on a call yet, the noise cancellation was activated.. I never realized how loud the world was before I had these. But they didn't make everything so silent that you are not completely aware of your surroundings, thanks to transparency mode which you can easily switch in or out of. It's useful when I'm walking through a busy city street or while I'm at home with my kids so that I can hear any nearby conversations, traffic noises, announcements, or people speaking to you, without having to constantly take the earbuds out! I don't feel isolated from my environment this way. Needless to say, the audio quality while in call, or listening to music is flawless. It's been a while since I've been able to actually hear the other caller or music with such clarity, and the caller could hear me perfectly too thanks to the personalized spatial audio and volume adjustments that really tailored the experience to my preferences. I love how immersed I feel in my music and podcasts. The comfortable silicone tips also help keep the AirPods securely in my ears while doing chores at home or during workouts. I will admit that at first I wasn't sure if they would actually stay in my ear the whole time without slipping out, because regardless of which size tip I put in (they include 3 different sized silicone tips), it just felt like it wasn't going to hold, but to my surprise it held quite well without me having to constantly push it back in. As for the battery life, I can get up to 6 hours of use with the noise cancellation feature on, versus the 4.5 hours of the previous model. And the MagSafe charging case extends that to a total of 24 hours, so I rarely have to worry about running out of battery. As a frequent earbud user, the upgrades in these 2nd generation AirPods Pro have been nothing short of amazing! The noise cancellation, transparency, and audio customization features make them a pleasure to use in all the settings of my busy life. Please don't hesitate to consider getting a refurbished product from Bestbuy! The Geek Squad certified refurbished condition ensures that you're getting a high quality product at a better value. And they arrived in excellent condition too! Overall, I'd highly recommend these earbuds to anyone that's in the market for a premium wireless audio experience.

I had a moment on a plane back home the other day where I thought back to junior high school in 2008, where the absolute pinnacle of listening for me was a pair of wired skull candy earbuds that were probably no more than $30. Now, if I could go back and hand these to my kid self, I’d be blown away.

After using the airpod pro 1s for maybe about 3 years or so, I had decided to try the second gen, as people had been touting the more powerful audio processor for noise cancellation offered a much better experience, and I gotta say, they’re not wrong. It is not perfect, by any stretch, but for the sheer convenience and form factor of airpods, the fact that that level of noise cancellation at all is seriously impressive.

Aside from that though, there’s the new added touch features on the stem, like swiping up and down to raise and lower the volume, a feature I figured I would never use, but have come to find that I actually walk away from my phone and need to lower audio much more frequently than I thought, especially when using the new adaptive transparency mode.

I think this is probably the biggest feature for me, the regular transparency mode on the originals (still available on the pro 2’s) was fantastic, but the adaptive mode actively attenuates loud noises around you while attempting to boost things you might wanna be hearing, like a direct conversation. The tech for this isn’t all the way there; the speed at which the noise cancellation kicks in is noticeably slower than you’d like it to be, but maybe the next gen of the pros, especially with Apples new AI tech, we’ll start to see a real breakthrough in the adaptive audio. Despite this, I find myself walking around in adaptive mode pretty constantly in my day to day life.

Ultimately, we’re pretty close to the point where , I’d imagine, a 3rd gen of the pros will be released, so I’d wait for now to see if the feature set for those is worth splurging on the New Product Pricing for, otherwise, if it bumps the price down on these even more, you might not even need anything else.

Trying my wife’s regular AirPods is what really opened me up to the whole “true wireless” earbud experience. She’s had several others (including Skullcandy), but when I heard the quality of sound, with how lightweight they were (I forgot they were in my ears at one point), I had to buy a pair of my own.

I decided to one up her, and get these Pros. While not as easy to forget about in your ears, the features vs the same gen “regular” AirPods more than make up for it. When you hold the volume slider on the scroll down screen, you can choose various adjustments (noise cancelling, transparency, or adaptive, which is a mix of both). Fixed Spatial Audio (think Dolby Atmos) is definitely worth turning on for a “wider” soundstage. It comes with several rubber tips for different ear sizes, and you can do a fit test through your iPhone (the standard ones were a good fit for me).

And because of these tips, I do believe they stay in your ear better than the standard AirPods. I’ve only dropped an AirPod twice in probably close to a year of having them while on the go.

Connectivity is excellent, and relatively seamless. I’ve connected it to my iPhone, MacOS, Nintendo Switch seamlessly. The only issue I had was connecting it to Windows 10, but a quick Windows update fixed that. That says more about my rapidly aging computer and how much I use it, more than it says about the AirPods though.

I do love the sound quality, especially with the Spatial Audio on. I’ve never been one to follow trends, and always have been a “budget audiophile”, trying to find the best sounding headphones (usually under $100) for the price. While these definitely aren’t “budget”, the sound, wireless connectivity, ease of use, and portability combined, definitely justify the price.