AirPods Pro 2 USB-C – couldn’t this have happened right away?

Airpods pro 2 need no introduction to anyone, the headphones had their premiere in September 2022. Relative to its predecessor, they really received quite a few improvements, starting with a much better anc (thanks to the H2 chip), a redesigned case or extended battery life. In 2023, during Apple’s Wonderlust conference, the Airpods Pro received the highly anticipated USB-C port – Apple, couldn’t this have been done right away?

Gentle refreshment

You are probably wondering what the new model with USB-C differs from its predecessor…. At first glance, apart from the updated port, it’s hard to find any drastic differences. The current airpods, in addition to a different connector, received support for lossless 20-bit/48 kHz audio when paired with Apple Vision Pro, and the charging case is now dust- and water-resistant (IP54), unlike the version with a Lightning connector.

As for the case’s increased dust and water resistance, it’s really a practical matter, especially if we often move with the headphones outside the house. However, the opportunity to test lossless audio on the Apple Vision Pro is unlikely to come to most of us….

What’s in the box?

In the box, in addition to the headphones themselves (which goes without saying), documentation/instructions, we also get, familiar from the new iPhones, a braided USB-C cable – a nice addition. The new cable, compared to the previous silicone ones, gives the impression of being much more mechanically robust and better made. The earbuds we get in the package with the Airpods are also identical to the predecessor – that is, in XS, S, M and L sizes.

Silence on cue

We can make all setting/mode changes from the control center or directly from the system settings. We can choose from 4 noise control modes:

-Disabled

-Contact mode

-Added with iOS 17 – Adaptive mode

-Noise reduction mode

In contact mode, all ambient sounds are picked up by the microphones, amplified, then go directly to our ears, making us almost forget about the Airpods we are wearing (there is no “clogged ears” effect). Adaptive mode is a “development” of contact mode, with the difference that unwanted external noise (such as the noise of cars on the street, conversations of people on the bus) does not reach our ears, but despite this, we can easily hear a cyclist riding next to us or an approaching car. Artificial intelligence takes care of selectively adjusting the volume level of relevant sounds. I must admit that it works very smoothly. The last to choose is the complete noise reduction mode. As the name suggests, we are virtually completely cut off from the world around us.

A great call detection option is also designed for our use. With a slight delay when the AirPods detect that we start talking, they automatically turn down the music and start amplifying the caller’s voice. This way we don’t have to take off the headphones to talk.

You can read about the rest of the Airpods Pro 2 USB-C capabilities and technical details here:

https://www.apple.com/pl/airpods-pro/specs/

Sound and microphone quality

The biggest advantage of the current Airpods is a very natural, clear and relatively clean sound (although sometimes the lows seem a bit overdriven, so the headphones sometimes fail to play cleanly). Unfortunately, bass is still not the Airpods’ strong point – although this is understandable due to the small diaphragm and size of the headphones. To sum up, the headphones play really well, although, in my subjective opinion, you can easily find other, better-playing in-ear headphones. On the other hand, when it comes to the predecessor (AirPods Pro 2 Lightning), the differences in sound quality actually…. there are none at all.

In terms of the microphone, I experienced a really pleasant surprise. The sound (for wireless headphones) is really clear. Also deserving of praise is the active background clipping by which we are not drowned out even in the most bustling rooms. Of course, it is clear that this is not the quality of a studio microphone. Nevertheless, here we can easily understand the interlocutor without experiencing micro overdrive or echo.

Are AirPods worth the money?

In my opinion. no. Why? Buying AirPods Pro 2 for just listening to music is pointless – at this price you can find a lot more other, better-playing headphones from competitors. However, if you own any other hardware with the bitten apple logo, such as a MacBook, iPhone or iPad then you will simply love these headphones for the possibilities they offer. I might be tempted to say that there is no better choice. The seamless switching between devices or other options simply unavailable outside the Apple ecosystem are just incredibly convenient.

And is it worth upgrading AirPods Pro Lightning to ones modified with USB-C? Here, beyond any doubt, the answer is – no. The differences between these versions of the headphones are so marginal that they completely fail to justify spending almost $1100 on a newer model.

See also: Krux Clapz – Review of a wireless headset at a good price