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00:05Okay, the AirPods Pro, Apple's professional AirPods.
00:10Now before they came out, I was using this, Sony's XM3, their WF-1000XM3.
00:16A terribly long name, but a very well-reviewed and well-respected set of wireless active noise cancelling earbuds,
00:23which is the same product category as these, the AirPods Pro.
00:29When Apple launched this product a few days ago, I thought to myself, there's no way that they sound better than this.
00:35And there's no way that the active noise cancelling is better than what Sony offers,
00:39because this thing is good. This thing is, like, audiophiles enjoy this.
00:43And the active noise cancelling in this thing is very powerful.
00:46And I was right. The Sony sounds so much better. Stronger bass, cleaner mids, much cleaner highs,
00:51the instrument separation is noticeably better to me, and the Sony's have better active noise cancellation.
00:57But, I consider Apple's AirPods Pro to be the better product by a long shot.
01:03And it's because of user experience.
01:07Now, the tips on the AirPods Pro are super comfortable,
01:11and it's really important to nail the fit of these tips in your ears to provide the best possible sound isolation,
01:17because the entire thing, like the entire active noise cancellation,
01:21depends on a good seal from the tip, regardless of which company you go with.
01:25And the way that Apple handles it is quite good.
01:27It's not intimidating, they've got this app to kind of guide you through it,
01:30and it's not like this app is super helpful.
01:32But for a lot of people that have never experienced in-ear earbuds before,
01:36it's nice to have guidance.
01:38And another thing, the actual tips themselves, when you pop them off,
01:41there's a mesh at the base of this silicone tip.
01:45So, oftentimes, when you wear earbuds, your ear gunk is going to go into the mesh covering the actual earbud itself,
01:52and they've put another layer of mesh on these silicone tips,
01:56just to prevent that gunk from building up on the actual device,
01:59and just to keep it on the replaceable tip.
02:01It's a small detail, and I've seen this from other devices as well,
02:04but most companies don't do this.
02:06Now, another thing I like is that pressure vent.
02:08So, normally when you stick an in-ear earbud into your ear canal,
02:12there's like this buildup of pressure when you stick it in.
02:14And it's just from the, you know, you're compressing the air space in there by jamming something in there.
02:19But Apple's put this pressure valve in here, so that it just equalizes the air pressure around you.
02:24So, when you put it in, you don't feel that sensation of pressure buildup.
02:28It's something so simple, but so smart.
02:30Like, I love, I don't know, maybe I'm particularly sensitive to that type of sensation.
02:35I've never liked it, but I don't get that at all with the Apple AirPods Pro.
02:40It has decent water resistance, a great sounding mic, way better than Sony's,
02:44and even better than the older AirPods.
02:46And it actually got five hours of battery life with active noise cancellation on it.
02:50That's actually more than what they advertise.
02:52There's also a transparency mode, which allows the mic to pick up voices or kind of important sounds around you.
02:58So, when you have it in your ear, and you have transparency mode enabled,
03:01it'll pipe the important sounds into your audio.
03:05So, you can kind of be aware of what's going around you.
03:07So, you can hear people call your name, or if you're on a bus, like, and your stop goes by,
03:10you'll hear that your stop is going by.
03:12So, you can just be more aware of what's going on.
03:15It's a nice feature, really simple again, but done well.
03:18In terms of the active noise cancellation, the AirPods Pro do it good, but the Sony's do it way better.
03:24The difference, I would say, is not in how it sounds.
03:27Like, they both sound similar in how they treat environmental noise.
03:31It's that the Sony's can handle way louder environmental noise.
03:35Like, I feel like it's double what the Apple AirPods Pro can do.
03:38So, as an example, let's say you're running, and you run by a construction site,
03:42and you pass a very loud, rumbling, idling truck.
03:46If you're right beside that truck, the Sony's will still be able to block that out.
03:49That truck sound will go through, and you'll be able to hear it on the Apple AirPods Pro.
03:54Not that these are bad. Like, this is way better than what the original AirPods offered.
03:59There is a decent degree of active noise cancellation, but Sony does it better.
04:04Now, if you're wondering what the active noise cancellation actually sounds like in the AirPods Pro,
04:08this tech is best at reducing the volume of kind of thumpy, rumbly, lower frequency sounds.
04:15Higher frequency still gets reduced to a certain degree, but not as effectively as, like, the deep, bassy stuff.
04:20So, depending on the environment that you're in, it's going to sound a little bit different in terms of how that cancellation works.
04:25But if you're in a subway, it's going to go from this to something like this.
04:31And then if you're in an airplane, it's going to go from this to something like this.
04:35Now, there are some things I don't like about the AirPods Pro.
04:39First, is the lack of volume control.
04:42Now, maybe, just maybe, Apple wants us to use, like, Siri voice commands more often.
04:49So they'll be like, hey Siri, turn it up, and it'll crank up the volume.
04:52But there are times when you just don't want to be saying things, or reach into your pocket to pull out your phone.
04:57I feel like they should have just given users, like, touch-based volume controls.
05:03But on its third iteration, we still don't have that.
05:06Now, the last thing, and I think this is the most important kind of complaint to have about this device,
05:11the fact that the batteries can't be removed.
05:13So, AirPod 1, AirPod 2.
05:15Both of these have, like, maybe half the battery life that they started off with.
05:20Because I use them pretty frequently.
05:22And it's going to happen to this as well.
05:24Now, it becomes a consumable product when the battery is not replaceable.
05:29Like, this is actually, right?
05:31It's a disposable slash consumable product.
05:34And it sucks knowing that in two years' time, this thing will be in perfect condition still.
05:39Like, the drivers will be great, all the electronics will be in great condition.
05:43But the battery will run out, and I'll have to toss them.
05:46Like, it's just, it's weird to me.
05:48Now, I realize, and I recognize the fact that this is a very small device.
05:52It's super comfortable in your ear.
05:54And the fact that it is so small is probably why they had to build it like this,
05:57with this irreplaceable battery.
05:59But it still sucks.
06:01Now, if you're an Android user and you're wondering,
06:03does this thing connect to this thing?
06:05Or any kind of Android phone.
06:06This is a OnePlus 7 Pro.
06:07It works.
06:08Not everything is going to be there, but all the important functionality is there.
06:12So, you get transparency mode, you get active noise cancellation.
06:15The good stuff.
06:16Okay, here's my final take on this.
06:19This is, like, the perfect, well-built Apple product.
06:24Like, this thing, when I use it, reminds me of what Apple can do
06:28when they build something just right.
06:30It honestly reminds me of why Apple is in the position they are today,
06:33to be this super popular, super loved company by a lot of people.
06:37It's because, once in a while, they drop something like this.
06:39They're not the best sound quality,
06:41and they're not the best active noise cancellation wireless earbuds.
06:44Like, these guys do it better.
06:45But in terms of the overall package, AirPods Pro.
06:48They nailed this one.
06:49Okay, hope you guys enjoyed this video.
06:50Thumbs if you liked it.
06:51Subs if you loved it.
06:52See you guys next time.