Apple AirPods Pro 3

As a fitness editor of over a decade, it goes against my professional biology to let a new pair of wireless earbuds go by without putting them through their paces when I work out. I’ve tested dozens over the years, from 2015’s Bragi Dash, one of the first pairs of truly wireless earbuds, to 2025’s swim-friendly Suunto Aqua, which comes with built-in storage for 8,000 songs and AI technology that analyzes your swim stroke, and all the wireless models from Bose, JBL, Beats, and many others. Perhaps the most recognizable and possibly the most ubiquitous are, of course, Apple’s AirPods. Since the brand introduced them in 2016, every new version seems to raise the bar for the entire industry. As an iPhone user, AirPods have become my go-to buds, not only for just about every kind of workout but for taking calls, commuting, and life in general. So when Apple announced the AirPods Pro 3 ($249) this fall — promising better noise canceling, a higher waterproof rating, and an unprecedented language-translation feature — I had no choice but to test them out during a few runs, gym sessions, flights, and walks around town.
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Thanks to a reworked acoustic architecture that more effectively manages the buds’ airflow, which subsequently carries sound into the ear, the bass hits deeper than before and I’m hearing new instruments emerge from tracks I’ve listened to hundreds of times. But what’s impressed me the most is what I’m not hearing. With an upgraded acoustic seal (more on this below) and new ultralow-noise microphones, Apple claims that the active noise cancellation removes twice as much unwanted external sound. Now, I may possess neither the requisite equipment nor academic degrees to verify that claim, but I sure have an easy time believing it. The other day, waiting impatiently for my building’s elevator to arrive at my floor, I realized it had come and gone. I heard nothing — and I wasn’t even listening to music.
I don’t normally wear AirPods as I go about my day. (I enjoy striking up conversations with strangers — perhaps one of my less popular qualities as a New Yorker — and I feel rude doing so with buds sticking out of my ears.) But I keep forgetting to take these out because of how comfortable they are compared with my last set of AirPods. For the first time, Apple has added foam to the ear tips, which it has also rotated slightly for a more ergonomic fit — and it’s a difference I felt. Whether I was running down the West Side Highway in the rain or nodding off to the Shins on a cross-country flight, the AirPods Pro 3 definitely felt more secure and less likely to fall out than previous generations. This tighter seal also contributes to the improved noise cancellation and palpable sense of a higher-quality listening experience.
Previous generations of AirPods have generally been decent options for working out, but the AirPods Pro 3 are the first model to really plant a flag in fitness territory. Most notably, these are the first AirPods to include an integrated heart-rate sensor à la Beats’ Powerbeats Pro 2. Not that I’d expect any runner worth their electrolytes to leave their running watch at home. But, for the sake of science, I did. And I was able to accurately record my heart rate and calorie data while being spurred on by Apple’s new Workout Buddy feature, which peppered my naked-wrist sweat sessions with voice-based motivation and updates based on my real-time and previous workout data. (Personally, I still balk at any kind of synthetic “AI voice” stuff, so I’ve since turned this feature off.) Additionally, these are the first AirPods to earn an IP57 rating for sweat, dust, and water resistance. While that doesn’t quite mean they’re ready for the pool, it’s certainly enough to comfortably ignore the daily weather forecast.
Perhaps the most-talked-about feature of the AirPods Pro 3, Live Translation promises to translate foreign languages in real time. If another person happens to be wearing them too, you can converse as you normally would, hands free, albeit with a decidedly awkward delay of about four seconds. If you’re the only one wearing AirPods, you can have your end of the conversation show up in text form on your iPhone’s screen, which you can then hand over to the other person to read. In both cases, the buds use noise cancellation to lower the other person’s actual voice so that you can focus on the translated audio in your ears. After testing this feature extensively with the help of my wife, who is fluent in German and Mandarin (but, alas, does not have her own pair of Airpods Pro 3, which I suppose is the more likely situation out in the wild), my verdict on Live Translation is that it’s good enough to help you out in a pinch, but it’s still got a way to go. The delay is a steel barrier to natural, free-flowing conversation, and the translation itself isn’t yet advanced enough to catch the nuances of informal speech, such as common idioms or slang. That said, if you’re lost while on a run in a foreign city and need to ask a local for directions — or if you just want to understand what Bad Bunny said during his SNL monologue — it’s fine.
If you tune out the noise of the new and somewhat experimental Live Translation feature and just focus on the independently impressive improvements to sound quality, noise cancellation, and fit, I’d say the Apple AirPods Pro 3 are a solid upgrade, worthy of the $249 price tag. However, if you’re mostly interested in the translation feature, I’d hold off. But for me, when I popped these in, it was love at first silent-crying-baby-on-a-plane. The AirPods Pro 3 have become my default buds for virtually any situation, and I still think AirPods generally have the sleekest design of any wireless earbuds out there.
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