Airpods Pro (Gen 1)

Back when I was locked into the Apple ecosystem and worked in an open-plan office, I wanted to get convenient headphones to isolate myself from the buzz of office life and focus on my tasks.

The AirPods Pro do what they say on the tin, but they’re not suitable for my needs. I replaced them with wired EarPods.

Why I got it

I got the AirPods Pro because they had noise cancellation, an important feature for working in an open-plan office. The sound quality seemed good, and they seemed like a good fit for someone already locked in the Apple ecosystem.

Retrospectively, they were also an ego purchase: I bought them because I could afford them and didn’t mind paying that price to join the Apple club.

What I like

The AirPods Pro can connect to several devices. They can work with my laptop and phone and generally do a good job of prioritizing what devices I want to get sound from. For example, they prioritize phone calls even when I listen to music on my computer.

I’m not an audiophile, but the sound quality is good enough to enjoy my music even in noisy or crowded environments. The build quality is also good.

There is no cable to entangle in pockets, and the battery life is reasonably good for such tiny devices.

What I don’t like

The AirPods Pro were yet another device to charge. This has become even more painful since I switched to the USB-C iPhone 15 Pro because the AirPods Pro Gen 1 case requires a lightning cable. Note that the AirPods Pro Gen 2 have a USB-C case.

The AirPods Pro are tiny. They’re easy to lose. The controls are also very unintuitive. I never knew if I made the right gesture and ended up giving up, always reaching for my phone when I needed to do anything.

The microphone is terrible, and people constantly complained that they couldn’t hear me. This is a significant problem when trying to place phone or VoIP calls.

Finally, the AirPods Pro are very pricey. When I bought them, they cost €279 and didn’t last very long.

Conclusion

They are good-quality headphones, but they are not a good fit for me. I don’t want to have to maintain another device, and the controls are not intuitive for me. When they broke down despite being treated well, I replaced them with dirt-cheap EarPods that I’m much happier with.