APPLE AIRPODS PROsimilar feature found in most other noise cancelling
headphones. It makes it possible to carry on a
conversation or hear a PA announcement without your
own voice sounding loud and ‘in your own head’.
It’s noise cancelling you don’t have to think about.
And if you want to turn it off (or enable transparency
mode), there are several ways to do it. You can use
Siri, long-press the new force-sensitive touch pad on
the stem, toggle it in Control Centre, or in Bluetooth
settings. Apple even added the ability to change noise
cancelling modes in Shortcuts in iOS 13.2, so you can
create some fancy automations that change modes.More testing is still needed
I still need to do a lot more testing. Battery life is a big
concern, of course. Apple promises about the same
battery life as the regular AirPods: 4.5 hours (with
noise cancelling) for the buds and 24 hours of charging
in the Wireless Charging Case. I need to verify that.
After an hour and a half at my desk and half an
hour walking around the neighbourhood with my dog,
most of the time with noise cancellation enabled, the
battery dropped from full to 56 percent.
I also need to test a lot more listening to music
and video, games and phone calls. I need to wear
them for longer periods, and put myself in a wider
variety of settings to see how the noise cancellation
handles them.
All of which is to say that I’m not ready to pass
judgement on them. My initial impression is that people
who loved the AirPods will almost certainly love these
much more. Apple likely has a huge hit on its hands.APPLE AIRPODS PRO
similarfeaturefoundinmostothernoisecancelling
headphones.Itmakesitpossibletocarryona
conversationorhearaPAannouncementwithoutyour
ownvoicesoundingloudand‘inyourownhead’.
It’snoisecancellingyoudon’thavetothinkabout.
Andifyouwanttoturnitoff(orenabletransparency
mode),thereareseveralwaystodoit.Youcanuse
Siri,long-pressthenewforce-sensitivetouchpadon
thestem,toggleitinControlCentre,orinBluetooth
settings.Appleevenaddedtheabilitytochangenoise
cancellingmodesinShortcutsiniOS13.2,soyoucan
createsomefancyautomationsthatchangemodes.Moretestingisstillneeded
Istillneedtodoalotmoretesting.Batterylifeisabig
concern,ofcourse.Applepromisesaboutthesame
batterylifeastheregularAirPods:4.5hours(with
noisecancelling)forthebudsand 24 hoursofcharging
intheWirelessChargingCase.Ineedtoverifythat.
Afteranhourandahalfatmydeskandhalfan
hour walkingaroundtheneighbourhoodwithmydog,
mostofthetimewithnoisecancellationenabled,the
batterydroppedfromfullto 56 percent.
Ialsoneedtotestalotmorelisteningtomusic
and video,gamesandphonecalls.Ineedtowear
themforlongerperiods,andputmyselfinawider
varietyofsettingstoseehowthenoisecancellation
handlesthem.
AllofwhichistosaythatI’mnotreadytopass
judgementonthem.Myinitialimpressionisthatpeople
wholovedtheAirPodswillalmostcertainlylovethese
muchmore.Applelikelyhasahugehitonitshands.