It’s 2022 and I’m buying the AirPods 2… After the AirPods Pro… Not even the third ones? What’s happening to me? You ask and I’ll tell you that these are the best headphones ever.
If you have doubts about the purchase, do not hesitate! More on this later in the material.
Before AirPods 2 I went with Pro. What happens?
Since 2018, I am an avid fan of AirPods because they are the best headphones for every day in every way. First it was the AirPods 2, two years later, in 2020, I bought the AirPods Pro, I was very happy with them, the first active noise canceling headphones after all. But two years later, not everything is as good as it could be.
It is obvious that after two years, the batteries in the headphones have run out and the battery life has been reduced by about one and a half times. And both the headphones themselves and the case. The plastic has worn off, gone from shiny to matte (this happens with all AirPods). But if the first two points are quite natural attrition, then the moment with the case recognition problem turned into an extremely annoying inconvenience.
AirPods Pro can be on it, lie in a backpack, but still connect to the iPhone. This is how sometimes a call comes, I answer, but I cannot hear the caller, because the sound comes out of the headphones. Or when you watch videos, the phone just picks up and starts playing sound through the “ghost” AirPods.
But this is nothing compared to the stupid transparency mode operation. In the summer I often ride a bike and listen to music with headphones. It’s clear that using noise reduction while driving on the side of the road is life-threatening, so I always turned on transparency mode to hear the surroundings. And you know what?
When the wind starts to blow or a car passes by, the “adaptive equalizer” begins to mute the headset, from whose side the noise source is located or suddenly appeared. Similarly, when crossing train tracks, as soon as you get close to it, the signal starts to play and the headphones start to suppress it. What the heck Apple?
Also, during this time I realized that in-ear headphones for me are not suitable for the role of everyday headphones.
And so I spent 2 years with AirPods Pro, I couldn’t stand it and decided to buy AirPods 2. A reasonable question is why not third parties?
Why I took AirPods 2 and not AirPods 3
I thought about buying new AirPods to replace the “pros” for six months. I honestly studied the reviews, tried to understand the best option, sometimes decided to “keep mine”, but in the end, the other day I went to the nearest DNS and bought the second generation.
Why? In short, a proven option. I already went with these for two years and everything was excellent. But the third AirPods were very attractive. After all, it’s a new generation, a new design, spatial audio, adaptive equalization, and some kind of improved sound.
But one day I put them on at a friend’s house and realized that these are the same powders from which the pads were simply removed. They seem to cling tightly to the ears, but don’t sit as easily as the latter. After 15 minutes, I realized that they were extremely uncomfortable for me. When you put on AirPods 2, after a couple of minutes you already forget that you have anything in your ears. Low weight and various contact points affect: the leg, among other things, has a fixing function.
As a result, they sit perfectly even during sports, and during the day you won’t even want to take them off. In general, it is not even necessary to do this, because they have an open format.
Control, tapping is still the best
In AirPods Pro and later AirPods 3, Apple added a pressure sensor so you can press down on the earbuds to control playback. Everything would be fine, but playing the headphones is the most convenient option.
Quite simply, because when you press down on the earphones, they move a bit in your ear and need to be corrected. It’s terribly annoying. Also, in winter, putting on a hat, you don’t need to get under it, just make a couple of light touches on the ear, and that’s it.
So if you live in cold climates, keep that in mind. AirPods 2 are literally made for you.
They sound great. How AirPods Pro and even a little better
In sound, three components are important to me: the depth, the width of the stage, and the audibility of the texture of the instruments. The AirPods 2 have no problem with all of this. The AirPods Pro didn’t have them either, but due to the open type, the built-in emitters seem to have more room for sound processing.
From this it feels, you know, like the music “breathes”. In the sockets, apparently because of the closed design, there was no such feeling.
By the way, yes, there is no adaptive EQ, but rightly so, because the “fixed” nature of the second capsules is no worse.
No spatial audio
Chip to pamper yourself for a couple of weeks, no more, although impressive. It is quite interesting to turn your head and feel how all the instruments move relative to you. But in real life, there is absolutely no point in using this.
Are you going to, sitting on public transport, constantly turn your head, “looking” at the palette of the song you are listening to? No, because from the outside it looks weird and in practice it will be inconvenient for you.
Therefore, the old AirPods 2, which do not have this feature, are still no worse.
Now I hope to see an improved version of AirPods 2
Despite the fact that this format of headphones is already 10 years old (EarPods first appeared in 2012 with the launch of the iPhone 5 and, in fact, they are still alive). Jony Quince and the team managed to draw a design so successful and convenient that it has not become obsolete so far.
I don’t know what can be improved here, but I would like to see some modern chips here. Perhaps a chip with greater energy efficiency and, as a result, a longer battery life. Why not dream?
What’s the score
I will not sell or give away AirPods Pro to anyone, I will leave them as spare earbuds. Still, active noise cancellation is a great feature for long drives, so I’ll keep them in my backpack.
In the meantime, the main outdoor headphones for me will be the AirPods 2. I’m sure that for the next two years they will please me as much as they do now.
And if you are not sure about AirPods 3 and consider AirPods Pro redundant, then the second generation will fit one hundred percent.
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Source: IXBT
