AirPods Pro 3 Review After 120 Days: What Changes When You’ve Used the Pro 2 for Three Years?

I’ve been living with the AirPods Pro 3 for over three months now—day in, day out, across commutes, flights, traffic jams, workouts, work calls, and late-night music sessions. And that context matters. I’ve also used the AirPods Pro 2 as my daily earbuds for nearly three years, which means I know exactly what Apple changed, what it refined, and what it quietly took away.

This isn’t a first-impression take or a spec-sheet rehash. It’s a long-term, side-by-side reality check. The AirPods Pro 3 introduce some genuinely meaningful upgrades, especially in noise cancellation, spatial immersion, and features, but they also make a few design and tuning decisions that may not sit well with longtime users. In this review, I focus only on the changes that actually affect how these earbuds sound, feel, and behave after weeks of real-world use.

AirPods Pro 3 Review: Unboxing

Nothing much has changed with the AirPods Pro box, except that it no longer comes with a USB cable. You get some leaflets, the AirPods Pro 3 (with the foam-infused eartips pre-applied), and four additional eartips (of different sizes) in the box. That’s it.

One thing that sets the box apart from other brands is that the AirPods graphics on the front and the fine-printed text on the sides and back are embossed, not printed. And yes, the box reads “Product of Vietnam,” implying that Apple hasn’t yet begun producing AirPods in India.

AirPods Pro 3 Review: Design

The AirPods Pro 3 come in a familiar glossy white charging case that’s prone to scratches (the moment you start using them), with a lanyard loop on the right side, a Find My speaker, a USB-C port on the bottom, an LED status indicator on the front, and a metallic hinge at the back.

Apple appears to have made minor changes to the earbuds’ and charging case’s dimensions, but the most noticeable difference is the charging case’s weight.

The charging case lacks the reassuring heft and the perceived sense of robust build that come with it, something I never noticed on the AirPods Pro 2. In fact, I would say the hinge on the new AirPods Pro feels a tad more flaccid than the sturdy one on the Pro 2.

Instead of the physical button on the Pro 2’s case, the Pro 3 features a capacitive pairing button (built into the front of the case, below the LED indicator), which makes the case look sleeker but lacks the tactile feel of a button and often misses inputs.

The charging case now has an IP57 rating, up from IP54 on the previous generation (and IPX4 on the Lighting AirPods Pro 2 I own). However, Apple still markets it as “dust, sweat, and water resistance,” and I would strongly advise against carrying the AirPods in the rain or inside the swimming pool. Finally, the case supports MagSafe charging.

It might be hard to notice at first, but the external angle of the eartip has been rotated inward (it is not moreperpendicular to the stem). There’s a longer flange that makes the earbuds sit deeper in the ear canal and provides a better fit. The portion that houses the sound drivers is smaller as well.

The new design caused some ear discomfort for the first few days (speaking as a user who prefers the AirPods Pro 2’s comfort-oriented fit). My sister, who has been an avid user of my AirPods Pro 2, doesn’t like wearing the Pro 3 for extended periods (over an hour or so) because they cause her discomfort and irritation.

You see, the foam-infused ear tips can put pressure on the walls of your ear canal, causing discomfort. Pro tip: try down-sizing from your usual eartip size, and you should feel a tad more comfortable.

The foam-infused eartips (for better passive seal) surely provide a better listening experience. The earbuds, like the charging case, now feature an IP57 rating. Further, the box comes with not four but five eartip sizes to choose from (including the new XXS size).

And yes, the AirPods Pro 3 feature a new heart rate sensor (the additional black cutout at the bottom of the earbuds’ top part), which we’ll talk about in a bit.

AirPods Pro 3 Review: iOS-Based Features

To access the baked-in, OS-level features, head to Settings > AirPods Pro 3. At the top, you have the listening modes: including Transparency, Adaptive, and Noise Cancellation, followed by the “Press and Hold AirPods” option and the “Call Controls.”

I have been a big fan of the new Camera Remote feature, as it lets me rest my iPhone against a shelf, a bottle on a table, or a bench and capture wonderful group selfies using the Center Stage front camera, just by pressing the earbuds’ stem.

Then there’s the trifecta of audio features that AirPods are known for: Personalized Volume (adjusts playback volume based on your environment’s volume), Conversation Awareness (reduces media volume and enables Transparency Mode when a conversation is detected), and Loud Sound Reduction.

Personally, I keep the Conversation Awareness feature disabled, especially while listening and singing along to my favorite music tracks, as it detects the singing as a conversation and starts projecting my voice into my own ears (which feels very weird).

Thanks to the U2 Ultra-Wideband chip, the AirPods Pro 3’s charging case is detectable from much farther than the AirPods Pro 2’s. You also get features such as personalized Spatial Audio, Share Audio, and Hearing Aid support.

What’s new, however, is the Live Translation Beta feature (which requires you to download language packs), which currently supports 11 languages (Hindi isn’t one of them). Although great, the feature could be a bit slow at relaying the translated audio.

Some of my favorite Pro 3 features, the ones that I use daily, are Head Gestures (lets me accept/decline calls by nodding my head or moving it sideways), “Pause Media When Falling Asleep” for those who listen to podcasts or songs to sleep, and the Custom Transparency Mode (located in Accessibility > Headphone Accomodations), which lets you personalize the audio-passthrougn according to your preference.

What’s entirely new and exclusive to the AirPods Pro 3 is the built-in heart rate sensor, and unlike the one on the Powerbeats Pro 2, it showcases your real-time heart rate in the Health app.

While tracking an indoor walk in the Fitness app, I found that wearing the AirPods not only tracks heart rate but also retrieves the distance metric, even when the iPhone is resting in one place. However, the sensors’ accuracy largely depends on the fit.

AirPods Pro 3 Review: Sound Quality

Unlike the AirPods Pro 2, the AirPods Pro 3 feature a revised sound signature with a more pronounced V-shaped profile, including deeper bass and brighter, crisper highs (resulting in clear and crisp vocals), achieved through a new acoustic architecture and foam-infused tips. And I am all up for it.

However, as you increase the volume, the bass appears to fade away (subtly but significantly), implying that the sound signature differs based on the volume levels. The latest firmware version, “8B34,” is said to address this issue, but I don’t notice much difference.

I’m also concerned that the tuning can make them feel slightly odd for users accustomed to the Pro 2’s neutral, warmer, smoother tuning. Switching from the previous generation to the latest model could be a mixed experience, especially for audiophiles.

I noticed that the Pro 3 features a wider, more spacious soundstage; it feels like the audio is being played around you. There’s plenty of separation between instruments as well. Apple’s Adaptive EQ works well, too, but what doesn’t work is the lack of a manual equalizer.

Furthermore, the AirPods Pro 3 still don’t support higher-resolution audio codecs like LDAC or aptX. Another downside is that the sound quality depends on achieving a perfect seal with the right-sized eartips.

AirPods Pro 3 Review: ANC, Transparency, & Microphone

While I couldn’t quantify the “2x” better noise cancellation claim by Apple, the Pro 3 helped me listen to my favorite music tracks in the middle of a chaotic traffic jam on one of the busiest routes in Lucknow, that too, in an open three-wheeler (despite being based on the same H2 chip).

Whether it’s the loud, irritating horns of mid-sized trucks, the constant hum of an airplane engine, city traffic rumble, metro vibrations, or highway road noise inside cars, the AirPods Pro 3 suppress persistent low-frequency sounds more effectively. Sounds like human chatter, keyboard clicks, café clatter, and sharp traffic cues are softened more consistently than on the Pro 2, though not fully eliminated.

Apple’s Transparency Mode remains the best-in-class. The audio passthrough feels more natural and airy, but it also feels a bit too processed at times. Even so, I often enable the Transparency Mode and listen to songs at the lowest volume, and it feels as if the song is playing in the background.

Had it not been for the consistent pressure from the foam-infused eartips, I would have said that “it feels as if the earbuds aren’t there at all.”

Finally, the microphones on the AirPods Pro 3 sound fuller and clearer, and they work extremely well with Apple’s Voice Isolation feature. I’ve been using them to record videos as well, and the results are nothing short of impressive.

AirPods Pro 3 Review: Battery Life

With ANC enabled, the AirPods Pro 3 consistently last around seven hours on mixed-volume playback (between 40 to 80%), and the charging case has enough juice to charge them twice (the claimed battery life is up to eight hours). For this, I kept switching between listening modes, kept heart-rate tracking enabled, and kept head gestures enabled.

So, while the single-session life is better, the combined case-and-earbuds battery life isn’t the best in the segment. I assumed that the iPhone 17 should be able to charge the AirPods Pro 3 wirelessly, but that’s not the case.

Review Verdict: Should You Buy The AirPods Pro 3?

The AirPods Pro 3 are not a radical reinvention, but they are a confident refinement of Apple’s true-wireless formula. They deliver class-leading ANC and Transparency, a larger, more immersive soundstage, improved microphones, and a feature set that feels deeply integrated into the Apple ecosystem.

That said, they’re not without compromises. The foam-infused tips can cause discomfort, the sound tuning is more opinionated and volume-dependent, there’s no manual EQ, no high-resolution codecs, and the charging case feels less premium than before. Battery life is good, but not class-leading.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a more neutral sound signature, don’t mind missing on the heart rate tracking feature, and a bigger battery in the charging case, go with the AirPods Pro 2. They offer incredible value for money between the discounted rates of Rs. 17,000 to Rs. 19,000.

• Who should buy: Apple users who want the best ANC and Transparency, value spatial audio, and a bass-forward sound signature
• Who should avoid: Audiophiles seeking neutral tuning or EQ control, Android users
  

Smartprix ⭐ Rating: 8.6/10

• Design and Fit: 8.5/10
• Connectivity: 7.5/10
• Sound: 9/10
• ANC & Transparency: 9.25/10
• Controls: 8.5/10
• App and Features: 9/10
• Microphones: 8.5/10
• Battery and Charging: 8.75/10

… First reviewed in January 2026 …