Local Costco has them for $250 including 2 year AppleCare+ warranty (better price than from Apple even with Veteran pricing). After hearing several good reviews I decided to give them a try.

Despite being a big Apple fan, I haven’t had a good history with AirPods. Not their fault, evidently I have ears that just don’t work with previous versions.

A few of the reviews I read claimed they fit more securely and comfortably than previous versions and seeing the ear pieces now have a slightly oval shape instead of round decided I would try them out figuring an easy return to Costco if they didn’t work out.

Picked a set up yesterday and set them up. The noise cancelling is a huge improvement over my previous headphones/earbuds (Beats Studio Pro over the ear, Powerbeats Pro 2 buds, Soundcore X20 earbuds). The music sounds great from my iPhone and iPad.

I’ve been wearing Costco hearing aides for about 7 years now and one of the things I was very curious about is the built in hearing test and hearing aid features. Had to do a fit test to confirm a good seal before doing the hearing test and it confirmed a good fit (something I never got with the Powerbeats Pro 2 regardless of trying multiple tips to include aftermarket).

The test seemed pretty accurate compared to the Audiogram I had done at Costco for hearing aids. I set the AirPods up for hearing aid function and wore them for about 4 hours today using them in that role. Have to say they did pretty good. Overall sound and tone is comparable if not a touch better than my Philips HA. My guess is the AirPods have larger drivers geared for music instead of being more dedicated to voice range frequencies.

I was clearly picking up conversations from across the waiting room at the eye doctor with my mother-in-law. They also seemed to do a better job at reducing ambient sounds in the car even without NC on. My guess is because they seal the ear canal they can do better filtering out “noise” whereas the dedicated HA are open and limited to not amplifying those sounds.

Compared to my previous AirPods experiences, I had no issues with these. They felt comfortable and secure without needing to be reseated or feeling like they were coming out.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 911Boss,

Audio wise, they are the exact same drivers and hardware, but the big improvement is they've changed the shape of the AirPod so it fits most ears better, and have gone to a hybrid silicone/foam eartip for more passive sound isolation.

I'll pick up a set when my Pro 2s die, but something Apple surprised me with is the current Airpod Pro software includes all of the software upgrades in the Pro 3, and there are memory foam ear tips to get your Pro 2's close to the Pro 3.

If I were an iPhone user, they'd be the only headphones I'd use.

I got them when they came out and they are a big upgrade from the 2s in my opinion. Mainly with noise cancellation. The adaptive and transparent modes are also much better. I would never use these modes with the 2s, but i use them all the time with the 3s. Transparent mode always seemed like there was a constant hiss in the background, that not there with the 3s. THe adaptave mode is quicker to change between mode. I use this when puttering around the house, so I can still talk to my wife. With full noise cancelling mode active, I literally can't hear her talking to me. Drives her crazy.

I still have the 2s and I actually prefer them for running over the 3s. With the 3s I hear a strong thud with every step, not so with the 2s. I think it has to do with the better fit of the 3s.

I like to listen to audio books when I drive to work and when I take my fun car the exhaust makes it hard to listen to over the stereo. With the 2s, I could always hear the car. I could hear the books well enough, but there was the constant exhaust note. With the 3s, I don't hear the exhaust at all.

I have had every Pro model of these since inception. The 2nd gens were a massive improvement over the 1st gens in terms of noise cancellation and audio quality. The 3’s are better sound quality and better noise cancellation. Like was said the ear tips are the major improvement here. Like my pink foamies I use to ride motorcycles and shoot guns, under the silicon there is foam. I found that I went one size up on the ear tips compared to the 2nd gens. It’s just a better seal now so the noise cancellation is a big jump up from the 2nd gens. I don’t talk on the phone for personal or work without them in my ears. I loathe holding the iBrick in my hand for conversations. And I listen to a lot of music. I can really tell the difference between the 2nd and 3rd gens when I mow. The noise cancellation is a big jump up in noisy environments.

They also (going back to the 1st gens) enable me to leave the phone in the car/truck or at home. I have the cellular version of their watch so my MO when out and about is the watch on the wrist and the APP’s either in the case in my pocket or in my ears as Costco, or brick and mortars, everyone is on their phones, many on speaker so the noise cancellation is absolutely priceless. I won’t even be listening to music. They are in ear just to cancel out all the incessantly noise and cackling. And they are priceless in the gym. Money well spent. I use the F out of mine.

I wore them from 7:30 am to 4:15 pm, 8 hours and 45 minutes solid. Only needed to reseat them a couple of times over the course of the day. When I took them out they were at 6%. Transparency setting with Hearing aid mode all day with maybe 30 minutes or so of music streaming.

Put them in the case for an hour and 15 minutes, they had charged back up to 91% and the case had gone from 100% to 69%. I believe the specs said 24 hours charge with case and about 1 hour of listen time for 5 minutes of charge time. That’s seems pretty accurate.


Wife said she wants pair to try so will be setting her up with a set as well.

Anyone had a chance to evaluate how good the instant/live language translation feature is? I’ve read that it’s not that great.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Anyone had a chance to evaluate how good the instant/live language translation feature is? I’ve read that it’s not that great.

It works sorta ok for Spanish and Mandarin, but there is a delay. Give it a couple years and it will be seamless.

Really it's just speech to translated text, that is then read to you.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Anyone had a chance to evaluate how good the instant/live language translation feature is? I’ve read that it’s not that great.

Had a chance to try it last night, we were watching a show where they were speaking occasional Italian. It isn’t quite a slick as I was hoping it to be.

Basically, it relies on your iPhone for the translation just the same as using the Translation App. Only real difference is that as the phone translates, it “reads” the translation into the earbuds. Going to be difficult to use to surreptitiously to eavesdrop drop on the folks in the elevator or nail salon as it relies on your phones microphone for pickup and not the earbuds and the translation displays on the phone screen as well.

quote:

the noise cancellation is a big jump up from the 2nd gens. I don’t talk on the phone for personal or work without them in my ears. I loathe holding the iBrick in my hand for conversations.

Agree!

I don't have the 3. But I have had every one up to the last model. I am exceedingly impressed with them. And I will not talk on a cell phone without them. The music audio quality is superb. The hold in the ear is superb.

I had them and returned them.

I have the Airpods Pro 2 and love them. But, they are a couple of years old. After reading several rave reviews, I got the Pro 3 from Amazon during their Black Friday sale.

I was pretty underwhelmed. Despite all the reviews, I did not detect any performance improvement.

But, the deal killer for me was the new eartips. I found them to be less comfortable than the tips I have on the Pro 2s. Ear fatigue set in quickly and I had to remove them.

I tied wearing them again a couple of days later and had the same discomfort. So, I sent them back and am going to stick with the Pro 2s until they die.

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:
The hold in the ear is superb.

I like my AirPods Pro (not the 3 version), but I can’t get them to stay in my ears securely. I see people running with them… no way I could do that. I’d lose one (or both) quicker than a cat can lick its hiney.

I’ll use them around the house, but definitely not outdoors.

Bestbuy has them for $219 right now with free shipping or they did. I bought a set for the translation feature earlier in the week but have been to busy to open the box yet.

Also, my AirPods Pro 3 case has a USB-C jack rather than a Lightning jack.

For my AirPods Pro 2 case I bought a 1” adapter with a Lightning plug on one end and a USB-C jack on the other so my USB-C cables served everything. Now I no longer need that adapter.

A couple of years ago I had a medical catastrophe: I lost most of the hearing in my left ear. Steroids were given too late to prevent the hearing loss with Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss Syndrome. As a music lover my whole life, my experience of listening to music is very seriously diminished. I got a good hearing aid (Widex); but music sounded awful. The AirPods Pro 2, with the equalization set for my audiogram, sounded vastly better than the hearing aids. It’s possible that foam plugs for the Widex would have helped that.
But now with the AirPods 3 and their improved noise cancellation, I am resigned to never listen to classical music over a speaker if possible, but to rely on the AirPods. We haven’t gone to a live concert since this happened; I don’t know what it would sound like through the AirPods Pro 3’s.

If anyone is on the fence, Costco has them on sale for $219.99 with 2 years AppleCare. In store or online with free shipping.

I was able to get price adjust on the two pairs I bought so $65 back in my pocket.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
<snip>
We haven’t gone to a live concert since this happened; I don’t know what it would sound like through the AirPods Pro 3’s.

I’m puzzled by that. Possibly this: At the concert you insert the AirPods. Then enable hearing correction and select transparency mode?

Essentially using the AirPods as a hearing aid?

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
<snip>
We haven’t gone to a live concert since this happened; I don’t know what it would sound like through the AirPods Pro 3’s.

I’m puzzled by that. Possibly this: At the concert you insert the AirPods. Then enable hearing correction and select transparency mode?

Essentially using the AirPods as a hearing aid?

That’s the way it works.

I'm curious about the hearing aid feature as my hearing has diminished over the years from the environment I work in.

Might have to take a ride to Costco tomorrow.