Airpods Pro 2 Review: Closer to Perfection

For their price of $249, the AirPods Pro 2 are perhaps the closest thing to perfection when it comes to true wireless earbuds. If you're an iPhone user, it's getting pretty hard to recommend anything else at this price range, considering how beautifully the AirPods Pro 2 manage to combine convenience and great sound, without any tradeoffs.Exciting sound with Spatial Audio, unreal active noise cancellation, plus some nice little upgrades to the charging case make these a worthy upgrade not only over the first-gen AirPods Pro, but arguably over any other AirPods you may currently be using.

Let's take a closer look…

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AirPods Pro 2 unboxing and ear tips sizes

The AirPods Pro 2 come in a very familiar, minimalist white square box. The earbuds are the only thing you'll see on top of the box, printed beautifully, and even embossed.Stickers on the side of the box, and the printing on the bottom reassure you that these are 2nd generation AirPods Pro with a MagSafe charging case (hard to tell otherwise, at least at first).

Getting to your new true wireless earbuds is the usual ordeal for Apple products – you hold the top of the retail box, with the bottom part sliding out slowly, so you can really savor the moment.

Inside the box you're greeted with your new AirPods Pro 2 wrapped in protective plastic, a Lightning-to-USB Type-C charging cable, paperwork (no Apple sticker though), and not the usual three, but four pairs of ear tips.

Those are extra small, small, medium and large ear tips too choose from, with the medium ones already pre-applied to the earbuds.

We all have different ear shapes and sizes, some of us even have different-sized earholes, so having these options is more than welcome, and appreciated.

AirPods Pro 2 design and colors

For their price of $249, the new AirPods Pro (2nd generation) feature a design that's, at first glance, virtually identical to the original 2019 AirPods Pro (1st generation). However, there are some visual differences we'll talk about soon enough.The earbuds have the familiar straight stems, with touch-sensitive spots that serve as playback controls. We also have generally the same glossy plastic build as always.

Looking closer at the earbuds, though, Apple has changed two things – one tiny, hard-to-define, black design element has been moved up where their air vent previously was, while the vent itself has also been moved upwards to the top of each earbud. That aside, nothing new visually for the earbuds.

But the AirPods Pro 2 charging case has a few new things going for it, visible almost immediately. First, it now has a metal lanyard loop to the right, which is a nice little touch to see make a comeback in general. But perhaps even more noteworthy – the AirPods Pro 2 case now has its own speaker on the bottom, and thus, a little speaker grill next to its Lightning charging port. Yep, no USB Type-C, still.

This new speaker will deliver low battery alerts, or help you find your AirPods Pro 2 case if you lose it, by making a noise when prompted via Find My. It even makes a cute little beeping sound when you put your earbuds back inside the case, and close it. Nice touch.

Besides that, the AirPods Pro 2 case is a familiar rounded rectangle, with a solid-feeling lid, and a metal hinge. On the front of the case, we still have a single LED light, and on the back of the case is the Bluetooth pairing button you'll likely never need to use.

Now let's talk about the AirPods Pro 2's color options – there are none. As you may have expected, the AirPods Pro 2 only come in glossy white, for both the case and the earbuds themselves. The case can be engraved if you want to add your own little touch to your personal AirPods Pro 2, but that's about it. I wish Apple at least changed things up a bit by making the case matte plastic, but hey…

Both the AirPods Pro 2 earbuds and the case are IPX4 sweat and water resistant, which means they're well adapted for non-water sports and exercise. No matter how intense and sweaty your workouts may get, your AirPods will be fine.

The total weight of this package (AirPods Pro 2 case + the earbuds) is 1.79 ounces (50.8 grams), which is comfortably light. It's easy to forget about in a pocket in general, although the case didn't visibly get any thinner or narrower than the first-gen AirPods Pro's case.