The original AirPods released nearly five years ago as an answer to the “courageous”
elimination of the headphone jack on the iPhone 7.
What was originally criticized for its price, memed for its looks, and mocked for [lacking
a wire connecting the two buds together (yeah, that was a thing at the time and it was a
real complaint), AirPods was one of the first players in the true wireless earbuds market
and they inarguably nailed it.
The proof of that isn't just that they were sold out for nearly two years straight despite
moving over 50 million units, no, proof they nailed it was that they continue to sell today
what is essentially the same earbud; 5 years later!
And it's no wondering why people like them: the ease of pairing, battery life, convenience,
and reliability still put them near the front of the pack; however, they never grabbed me,
a chronically diagnosed audiophile.
And it wasn't until the AirPods Pro and subsequent AirPods Max that I conceded fidelity for the
convenience that the AirPods line offered.
But Apple hasn't forgotten the earbud that made them, it seems, and the new AirPods 3rd
Generation now retail for $179.
Of course, the question is are the changes made good ones and are they worth the price?
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The new AirPods 3 look more like their pricier sibling, the AirPods Pro than they do their
predecessor.
Gone is the classic vertical charging case in favor of the wide one found on the Pros;
however, the new AirPods charging case does find itself with a smaller footprint than
that of the pricier earbuds, despite offering six hours more total listening time.
Another feature not found on AirPods Pro?
MagSafe compatibility.
The new case isn’t…
super MagSafe-y with just 4 magnets—one in each corner—but it does indeed snap onto
the MagSafe puck with a bit of encouragement and roughly centered alignment; of course,
it also works with non-magnetic Qi wireless charging mats.
Unlike the prior generation, this wireless charging case is not an additional charge
is and included at the $180 price point.
The design of the earbuds themselves mimic the AirPods Pro as well with an even more
aggressive insertion angle.
Comfort and fit is of course, subjective, and just as the original AirPods and AirPods
Pro were not a catch-all, these are certainly not going to be either; however, the new contoured
design offers a few objective improvements for *most* ears.
First, the angle of the driver aligns with a greater number of ear canals providing a
better natural seal and improved bass response.
Secondly, the wishbone design balances the weight far more than the prior AirPods moving
mass away from the stems and placing the majority of the load inside the ears' concha.
And while not everyone's experience will align with mine—Reddit is already filled with
a bunch of people that say this design is a regression—I (along with a few other people
that tried these very buds) find that they're the most comfortable of any AirPods models
to date—period.
I have very small ears and ear canals so I get discomforted by crap lodged in there after
usually just an hour—it's why I most typically wear over-ear headphones.
Discomfort never came with AirPods 3 and I forgot they were even there on multiple occasions.
I will remark that the shorter stem, which adopts the force sensor from AirPods Pro (gone
is the awful eardrum tapping required previously) seems to point into the cheek for most people—certainly
myself—and is therefore a bit trickier to engage.
Of course, comfort means little if the AirPods sound crappy, so… well… how do they sound?
I felt I needed a baseline, so I went out and bought a brand new set of 2nd generation
AirPods to make the most direct and fair comparisons possible—after all, Apple does still sell
these for $129 so they’re very much competition.
And just as I remember, they’re not very good.
Their loose canal fit makes for an extremely weak low-end (and that’s coming from someone
who doesn’t even really love bass).
Conversely, the other side of the spectrum is overly bright nearing on sibilance.
They have no noise isolation whatsoever but also no soundstage.
They’re frankly bad.
That sets the bar pretty low for the AirPods 3, but I have to say….
wow!
I’m impressed how much better they are.
The frequency response is very inoffensive.
The bass is surprisingly prominent for earbuds that don’t establish a seal with your canal,
but they’re not overpowering and they remain quick and controlled.
The mids are very lush with vocals in particular showing nice separation from instrumentation,
and the high-frequencies are surprisingly punchy, but without being too bright like
the AirPods 2.
Obviously their isolation is poor relative to the AirPods Pro (you will still hear people
around you and people nearby will also hear what you’re listening to), but they isolate
way better than the AirPods 2 and manage to do so sounding more “open.”
Imaging and soundstage is much improved.
A big pitch from Apple for these was Spatial Audio via Dolby Atmos.
I’m, frankly not a fan of Atmos on higher-end headphones, but on the AirPods 3 these audio
processing tricks can occasionally make the AirPods sound better than they really are.
For example, in Michael Kiwanuka’s “You Ain’t the Problem,” the background
crowd stands out from the rest of the track and the whole recording feels very dimensional
with Michael’s vocals shining through with excellent separation and with more weight
than the instrumental.
But not every track is a hit.
Marina’s “Venus Fly Trap” pushes the singer’s vocals underwater with sluggish
bass and an extremely thin high-end.
It sounds legitimately very bad.
So, it’s still a bit of a wash with Atmos tracks, but I do feel that more are getting
better which is good.
I think Spatial Audio is much more effective in movie and TV content however—there’s
generally better mastering and vocals don’t tent to get pushed to the background like
they can in music.
I had a lot of fun watching content on Apple TV+ with these even with the kinda gimmicky
stuff like head tracking disabled.
So, I guess the questions is… are the AirPods 3 worth $180?
In a vacuum, I’d be inclined to say yes… they’re very competent and certainly the
best variant of the standard AirPods—a huge jump from the second generation.
But these don’t exist in a vacuum—and while the new AirPods 3 are good, the older
AirPods Pro are great.
The sonic performance is quite a bit better and then you have the entire ANC capabilities
which in my eyes, is an enormous asset.
And while the MSRP of the AirPods Pro is high, the going rate now is seldom more than $20
extra than the AirPods 3—and on discount days, I’ve seen the AirPods Pro sell for
even less than the AirPods 3.
And with competition that close in price, AirPods 3 become significantly less appealing.
So my suggestion is this… only buy AirPods 3 if the AirPods Pro don’t fit in your ears—that’s
literally the only reason to choose them—which is too bad because they’re really excellent
otherwise.
Maybe if they were $150 or less, the story would change, but they’re not.
So I can’t recommend them.
What I can recommend
is some merchandise from our friends at LTTstore.com!