I'm pleasantly surprised! - AirPods 3rd Generation Review
Mac Address
·Mac Address
·2022-05-05
·
1,538 words · ~7 min read
0:00
(box slams) - People who have AirPods love them,
0:04
and everyone else doesn't get it, but even after using a pair of AirPods Pro
0:08
for the past 10 months, I'm still a little skeptical about these,
0:12
Apple's $180 third-generation AirPods.
0:15
(plastic clicking) There's a long laundry list of Bluetooth
0:19
headphone competitors that feature silicone tips and active noise cancellation for much, much less money.
0:25
So, why should I bother spending my time covering these?
0:29
They're just going to, oh, oh, oh.
0:34
Wait, what? These sound great, sound great, sound great!
0:42
Ugh, it's the AirPods way. You know what they represent.
0:48
You know how hard they are to maintain. (upbeat music)
0:52
And yet, they worm their way into your ears.
0:56
(upbeat music) (birds chirping)
1:02
I'm afraid that anyone who buys these third-generation AirPods will be quite pleased with them.
1:07
They've got a new design, a new speaker driver, new MagSafe support, and they have a few features
1:13
from previous, more expensive AirPods Pro and Max models,
1:18
but these are still AirPods, so there are no silicone tips or active noise cancellation,
1:24
but what we do get is a brand new hard-shell design.
1:28
The stems are shorter and feature four sensor buttons for media control and Siri.
1:32
The bud itself is a lot bigger and less funnel-ly than the originals.
1:37
The case looks more landscape than portrait. Now, based on past experience,
1:42
I'm still a little bit concerned about these. The mesh is just as close to the tip as before.
1:47
It looks like it's gonna trap ear wax even despite the mesh's convex shape.
1:53
However, these do sit in your ears differently than before.
1:58
(upbeat music) They don't go in deep at all.
2:01
Instead, they sit on the ear's concha without going deep into the canal.
2:06
This means they do feel a little insecure in the ear at first though they haven't
2:10
fallen out on me yet. You know, you do this to get water out of your ears,
2:14
but I can't get the AirPod out of my ear.
2:18
Actually, I think ear wax might not be this big of an issue this generation.
2:23
I've been wearing these, and I've rarely seen any accumulate in the ridge here,
2:26
so there might be hope, but there's only one way to find out,
2:30
and that's giving these to Sarah long-term. Do your worst.
2:34
I'll report back in social media in a bunch of months.
2:37
(aircraft engine rumbling)
2:41
(upbeat music)
2:45
Another thing I was not expecting was that these would sound this good.
2:50
The OG AirPods get the music across, but these really liven things up.
2:54
(upbeat music)
3:00
Even the more expensive AirPods Pro sound flatter by comparison. (upbeat music)
3:08
Apple touts a new custom-designed driver that definitely brings more bass,
3:12
and I swear that I can sense the adaptive EQ modifying the sound to conform to the shape of my ear.
3:17
Like, I can hear it improve.
3:20
There's a very clear opinionated sound to these
3:23
with punchy trebles and base. Ed, our production manager,
3:27
thinks they sound borderline sibilant, but says they're more entertaining than AirPods Pro.
3:31
And yeah, I think that's a good way of putting it.
3:34
That entertaining aspect is also enhanced with the addition of spatial audio, which I'll get into,
3:40
but first, let's take a moment to thank this video's sponsor, Pulseway.
3:45
Pulseway is all about managing devices and infrastructure from one place.
3:50
So, Mac and iPhone-wielding IT professionals can take action
3:53
to kill processes, reset user passwords, run PowerShell commands, backup files,
3:59
and even control devices remotely. There's also powerful auto-remediation to help deal with
4:03
low disk space, high CPU usage, and restarting services.
4:07
Try it for free today at pulseway.com or through our link below.
4:12
Now, what were we watching?
4:15
Ah yes, a piece of audio-visual content.
4:20
When you're watching a piece of audio-visual content, the feature does a great job of simulating
4:24
the exact soundscape of sitting in a movie theater.
4:28
(people chatting) (cars whooshing) but with music, it's hit or miss.
4:32
(upbeat music)
4:36
And that's just with listening to my stereo files. It's good with classical or music
4:41
where instruments occupy a wider stage, but with my electronic tracks, I turn it off and enjoy
4:46
the less processed stream of getting music piped straight into my ears.
4:51
Now, if you set your spatial audio to head tracking, you will constantly think that the audio
4:55
is coming from your device's speakers (upbeat music)
5:02
which for me sets off panic because in LMG's writer's block,
5:07
using speakers there will get you a proper scolding.
5:10
Seriously, it's worse than a 19th century library in here.
5:15
Oh, another neat addition is that they've added MagSafe to the charging case of this and AirPods Pro
5:20
so you can stick it to any MagSafe accessory. No 15-watt fast charging though.
5:24
Battery life is better giving you up to six hours from the buds,
5:27
and I have to say in my usage at the office, I never ran them down below 50% in a day.
5:33
Oh, and when I leave the desk, I don't really put them back in their case
5:36
because I'm a bad boy. Hey! - Hey Jonathan!
5:40
Do you know where all the iPhones are? (upbeat music) - Oh yeah, I'm reviewing them.
5:46
Where'd I put my AirPods? Ah, this is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate
5:51
the enhanced Find-My feature. There's no ultra wide band like AirTags,
5:55
but if you lose your AirPods, your iPhone can try and get you closer to them
5:59
as long as they can connect to each other with Bluetooth, which isn't always a guarantee nor will you hear much
6:05
should you make them play sound. I've got a connection! Okay, so low signal, keep moving.
6:09
Oh, signal increasing. Okay, I'm gonna make it play a sound.
6:14
(AirPods beeping) There they are.
6:19
This is a nice to have, but it will be frustrating if you're used to looking for AirTags.
6:23
Oh, and by the way, this also works on AirPods Pro.
6:27
I was also hoping to report that these have had no Bluetooth problems with my M1 iMac
6:32
like other AirPods I've used, but now that I've used them for a few weeks,
6:36
uh, they're just as bad. (upbeat music)
6:39
There's a lot of AirPods magic in here, and they've surprised me,
6:43
but $180 is still a lot of money,
6:46
and it's worth putting that price into context. Last year, the old AirPods were $20 less
6:51
unless you opted for a wireless charging case. Then, they cost 200.
6:55
So, 180 should seem pretty great.
6:59
Oh, and second-gen are now 130, by the way,
7:02
though I can't really recommend them for you know the reason.
7:07
I wore a lot of earbuds to see how these stack up.
7:10
Most all of them had silicone tips and a form of noise cancellation.
7:15
The best alternative to my taste would be the OnePlus Buds Pro.
7:19
They sound pretty great and give you AirPods' magic-like features if you use a OnePlus phone,
7:24
but you're watching "Mac Address," so you probably don't have a OnePlus phone,
7:28
and if you do, welcome. Might I suggest an iPhone?
7:31
Nevertheless, you might think that spending less money
7:34
than these and going with one of the alternatives is a better option.
7:38
Well, if you fly a lot, then yes, perhaps,
7:41
but I did a quick survey of people here at the office and found that there's a good number of us
7:46
who don't like noise-canceling silicone tips ear buds.
7:50
I can tell you from personal experience that they do tend to pop out of my ear.
7:54
Now, if you take silicone tips out of the equation, the options get slim.
7:57
This is a collection of what we had at the office,
8:01
and it's a lot of AirPods wannabes.
8:04
They're cheap, and they sound really bad.
8:08
(railroad crossing bell ringing) (upbeat music)
8:14
Yes, without silicone tips, you don't get sound isolation.
8:17
The world around you is completely audible with crystal clarity.
8:21
I like this, but then again, I'm the person who wears their AirPods pro
8:25
in transparency mode all the time anyway, and I know I'm not alone.
8:30
I'm quite surprised with these AirPods. They sound a lot better than I was expecting.
8:35
They fit better in my ear than I was expecting. They accumulate earwax way less than I was expecting.
8:41
And if I were to go out and buy a pair of Bluetooth headphones right now,
8:44
it'd probably be these. Thanks for budding into this "Mac Address."
8:49
Now, if you're a big AirPods fan, give this video a like, and if you wish you had a set, why not subscribe?
8:54
Now, I'm curious what you think are a viable alternative to these AirPods third-generation.
9:00
Very hard to find good ones without silicone tips.