We’ve never embraced the open design of Apple’s AirPods because the inconsistent fit of these true wireless earphones rarely translated to quality audio performance. That hasn’t stopped Apple from sticking to the same design for its third-generation AirPods ($179), albeit with a few tweaks. The earbuds still have some problems with how they fit, but new internal sensors and mics help drive some of the best bass we’ve heard from this type of design. The latest version of these earphones also feature shorter stems, a MagSafe charging case, and Spatial Audio support. The second-gen AirPods are still available for $129, but we recommend you spring for the new model because of their superior audio performance. That said, the $249 noise-cancelling AirPods Pro still sound more accurate and fit better because their eartips can form a proper seal, earning them our Editors’ Choice award.
A Revamped, Weather-Resistant Design
The third-generation AirPods may look similar to the previous model at first glance, but side-by-side, their differences are immediately apparent. Both are open-style earbuds and have a stem-style design, but the stems on the newer AirPods are significantly shorter (1.21 inches vs. 1.59 inches) and better-sculpted for in-ear fit. Internally, the new model has a redesigned driver and even a skin-detect sensor that uses light reflections to determine if they are currently in your ear. An H1 wireless audio chip, the same one found in the second-generation AirPods and the AirPods Pro, also sits in each earphone along with a microphone designed to measure how your ear processes sound.
Neither the third- or second-gen models has eartips or earfins to secure their fit and both share the same glossy, almost slippery exterior. A more grip-friendly surface material would have been welcome; it’s easy to lose your handle on the earpieces or the case and send them both flying across the room.
The AirPods are just as lightweight as ever at just 0.15 ounces and have a barely-there feeling because of how they sit in your ear. While we can appreciate their understated presence, it makes the earbuds seem far more likely to fall out than if they had eartips that could form an in-canal seal. The fit can vary ear-to-ear, and even in the same ear, because it’s easy to position the earbuds in slightly different directions. This variance can lead to inconsistent stereo imaging, but an on-board measurement mic is supposed to mitigate this effect; we discuss that technology in the Adaptive EQ section.
The AirPods get the same IPX4 rating as the AirPods Pro, which means they are capable of withstanding a sweaty workout or light rain but not much beyond that. You can’t submerge the earpieces or dunk them for cleaning; a slightly damp cloth is probably the safest bet. The charging case also gets an IPX4 rating, which notable because most true wireless earphones don’t get any IP rating. The protection doesn’t apply to the interior of the case though, so make sure you fully dry the earpieces before docking them for charging. The Jabra Elite Active 75t earbuds are a bit more appealing for runners because of their IP57 rating.
The AirPods support Bluetooth 5.0 and are compatible with the AAC and SBC Bluetooth codecs, but not AptX. Apple estimates that they will last up to six hours on battery. The case holds about 24 additional hours of juice. Your results will vary with your volume levels, talk time, listening time, and use of Spatial Audio. You can charge the case wirelessly with a MagSafe or Qi-certified charger or via the case’s Lightning port. Apple includes a Lightning to USB-C cable in the box.
Familiar Controls, Automatic Pairing
Although the stems of the new AirPods are much smaller, the on-ear controls still work well. They are prone to accidental presses whenever you adjust the in-ear fit, however. One squeeze of the stem produces a clicking sound and controls playback and call management. Double-click to skip to the next track and triple-click to navigate backward. A long press and hold summons Siri manually, but, of course, you can also just say “Hey Siri.” These controls are the same for each earbud and work via an indented force sensor that relies on both touch and pressure; while this means you can control the AirPods with gloves on, you may have trouble doing so because of the small size and slipperiness of their material. As is typical for AirPods (except for the AirPods Max headphones), there are no on-ear volume controls.
Out of the box, the AirPods are ready to pair automatically with iPhones, iPads, and Macs once you flip open the charging case lid; we immediately got a prompt on our iPhone 13 for pairing when we opened the case the first time. The ability to pair the AirPods without having to go to the Bluetooth menu is always something we appreciate. You can connect them to non-Apple products through the standard Bluetooth pairing process.
In testing, however, we found that the automatic pairing across multiple devices can be annoying in certain scenarios. For instance, out of the box, the third-generation AirPods paired with our iMac and iPhone 8 without any input, even though we paired the AirPods with only the iPhone 13 we used for testing. This may be because we previously paired AirPods Pros with the other two devices, but it’s still irritating. To prevent this behavior, go into the Bluetooth settings on your phone or computer and deselect the “Connect to this Phone Automatically” option.
You have to head over to the Bluetooth menu after pairing to adjust various settings even on your iPhone—this is essentially Apple’s answer to the separate companion apps that accompany most other wireless earbuds. Here, you can enable or disable Automatic Ear detection, enable Spatial Audio; and adjust whether the mic always stays fixed to the left or right AirPod or auto-switches when you are using only one earpiece. You can also toggle the optimized charging mode, in which the AirPods learn from your charging routine and wait until you’re ready to use them to charge beyond 80 percent. The Find My feature also lets you locate lost earbuds; each one shows up on a map and you can even search for left or right individually.
One thing missing is an actual EQ rather than Adaptive EQ or presets. The best apps for competing in-ears, like the Jabra Elite 7 Pro, have simple, user-adjustable EQs built-in. Sure, Apple Music lets you choose EQ presets (go to the settings menu to choose from a wide range), but that’s different from a 5-band, user-adjustable presets. There’s no reason why iOS shouldn’t offer that feature and it’s a glaring exclusion considering the AirPods’ price.
Adaptive EQ Means Better Balance
At its core, Apple’s Adaptive EQ is an example of existing technology—digital signal processing (DSP)—renamed to sound like a groundbreaking feature. Without DSP, nearly every pair of wireless in-ears (and over-ears) would distort at higher volumes on tracks with deep bass. That said, DSP is about more than just preventing distortion. Apple and other manufacturers use it to apply an EQ curve to the audio and sculpt headphones’ unique sound signatures. Bass response, in particular, requires adjustments to both compensate for perceived lower responses at lower volumes and to prevent distortion at higher volumes.
What makes Adaptive EQ unique is a microphone embedded in the AirPods that measures how your ear processes audio. It determines how the placement of the earbud impacts audio performance and then actively adjusts the audio. Because the placement of the earbud and its angle can vary so much, the AirPods use the mics’ measurements to generate an EQ curve to balance it out. Earphones with an in-canal seal don’t need to go through this trouble. In other words, while the mic is fancy from a technological standpoint, it’s more so an acknowledgment of the glaring issue with an open earbud design.
We can’t measure the degree to which the mic is actively adjusting the audio, so how well this feature works is a difficult question to answer. In any case, the DSP Apple applies to the signal is a step forward for open earbud designs, regardless of how much of it is a result of the mic measurements. Because of this, the third-generation AirPods benefit from better ear-to-ear balance and audio performance compared with the previous model.
Surprisingly Grounded Sound
We tested the third-generation AirPods’ audio quality with Spatial Audio turned off, though we discuss that feature in the next section. Simply, the new AirPods offer a balanced, clear sound with solid anchoring in the lows and definition in the highs.
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the AirPods deliver some serious low-frequency depth, regardless of volume level. This is a significant development because the second-generation model struggled to reproduce bass depth even at moderate volume levels. At maximum volume levels (and these drivers can get far louder than they need to, or should), there’s no distortion. The in-ear fit can still cause inconsistencies, but the bass response doesn’t seem to suffer as a result. In some scenarios, the open design is even beneficial, making the lows can sound bouncier and more natural.
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Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, better reveals the sound signature of the AirPods. The drums on this track sound fantastic through the drivers—full, natural, airy, and without veering into overly thunderous territory. They present Callahan’s baritone vocals with a rich low-mid presence and crisp high-mid definition. Higher frequencies are bright and clear, lending some extra presence to the acoustic strums and higher register percussive hits.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives ideal high-mid presence, allowing its attack to retain its punch. The vinyl crackle and hiss that are usually relegated to background status take a step forward in the mix, as well—though there’s some sculpting happening in the highs. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with less subwoofer-like depth than we might hear from blatantly bass-forward earphones but are still quite full and deep. The drum loop also gets some added low-frequency thump, while the vocals sound clean, clear, and free of added sibilance.
On orchestral tracks, like John Adams’ “The Chairman Dances” and the opening scene from The Gospel According to the Other Mary, we noted something I’d never imagine to hear from an earbud that doesn’t seal off the ear canal: a nearly accurate sound signature. Sure, there’s still potential for a mismatched in-ear balance, but the sound has body and even some spatial depth. The lower-register instrumentation sounds fantastic, too.
Spatial Audio, Mic Performance, and Siri
Spatial Audio is a feature that can make audio sound bigger and more directional through the AirPods. It has two modes: Fixed and Head Tracked. Fixed Spatial Audio adds a sense of roominess to the mix with an effect similar to the simulated surround features used in many gaming headsets. Head Tracked Spatial Audio uses motion sensors in the AirPods to detect how you move your head and then adjusts the perceived location of the sound accordingly.
Both forms of Spatial Audio provide fun effects, but most music is not recorded in such a way to take advantage of them. This can sometimes harm the sound balance, so you should probably disable the features when listening to stereo mixes. As for music that is mixed with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos (a similar audio processing system), that’s a different story.
Apple suggests checking out James Blake’s “I’m So Blessed You’re Mine” and a scene from Greyhound to truly experience Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos mixing at their finest. These samples certainly have a spatial feel, but they also sound good without the effect. At worst, the feature is harmless and easily turned off, and at best, the effect is kind of cool. But we have yet to find a better use for Spatial Audio than slowly spinning around in a chair so that it sounds like the music is moving around our heads, dizziness aside.
The regular mics on the AirPods offer strong intelligibility. We could understand every word we recorded when we tested them using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 8. Though Bluetooth audio artifacts were still audible in the signal, the clarity was top-notch. The mic also handled windy outdoor scenarios fairly well—we could still hear wind in the recordings, but it didn’t impact vocal intelligibility.
Siri, which is accessible simply by speaking to Siri through the AirPods, had no problems understanding our voice commands. If you are a fan of asking for a weather report or playing a song relatively quickly after saying “Hey Siri,” this feature won’t disappoint. If you don’t like the idea of Siri always listening, you can easily turn this feature off in the Siri settings menu; just look for the Listen for ‘Hey Siri’ option.
So Many Pods
You can now choose from three in-ear AirPods models, with prices ranging between $130 and $250. The $180 third-gen AirPods are a serious upgrade over the still-available second-gen AirPods; they fit better and offer some potentially useful audio processing features. The only compelling reason to go with the second-generation AirPods is to save money, but if that’s your goal, you could save even more and get a better audio experience from a non-Apple pair of earphones, such as the $80 Anker Soundcore Life P3. You sacrifice the seamless integration between AirPods and iOS, but if audio and active noise cancellation (ANC) is a priority, it’s a worthwhile trade-off.
The Editors’ Choice-winning and ANC-enabled AirPods Pro bests the third-generation AirPods at ear-to-ear consistency because of their in-canal fit, something we can’t emphasize enough. The Pro model also enables a more realistic and transparent listening experience, even if it is still a bit sculpted. Some people really like boosted bass, however, and the new AirPods deliver deeper, fuller bass response than the AirPods Pro. Discounting in-ear fit, it’s a matter of taste.
Other similarly priced true wireless options that seal off the ear canal also compete (and in some cases surpass) the audio quality of the third-generation AirPods. Some even offer customizable EQs via companion apps and boast better water resistance. The $199 Jabra Elite 7 Pro earphones or the $180 Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless earbuds are both excellent options, for example.
Refined, But Not Best in Class
The third-generation AirPods are a notable improvement over the previous two models, especially in terms of audio quality. Seamless integration with iOS devices, the inclusion of a MagSafe-compatible charging case, and a water-resistant build earn them the highest rating we’ve ever given to in-ears that don’t seal off the ear canal. However, the lack of true, user-adjustable EQ is disappointing at this price. And Spatial Audio is fun, but more or less a gimmick at this point. We still recommend the AirPods Pro for Apple users who care most about audio quality. Everyone else should consider the less expensive or similarly priced alternatives we highlight above for their superior combination of fit, function, and high-fidelity
