The new 3rd generation AirPods was released by Apple on October 26th. Airpods 3 is the latest version of the wireless solid white earbuds that you see at least one person in a room wearing. This new AirPods 3 follows the standard AirPods from 2019 and AirPods Pro from 2020. It is part of Apple’s Wearables, Home and Accessories business that generated approximately 8.7 billion dollars of revenue in the June quarter this year. According to the Counterpart Research Estimate, Apple sold around 72.8 million AirPods in 2020. The undeniable popular AirPods series’ new Airpods 3 is 179 dollars and has a similar design to that of AirPods Pro. So, what is the difference between AirPods 3 and other models, and is it worth upgrading?
The distinct differences between the AirPods 3 and AirPods Pro is its battery life. Airpods 3 offers the longest battery life with around six hours of listening time in contrast to the four hours and thirty minutes of listening time of the Airpods Pro. The AirPods 3 also offers a fully water and sweat resistant experience to its users as well. The earbuds of AirPods Pro were also water and sweat proof, but not its charging case. In the newest model, the charging case also carries the water and sweat resisting carry called IPX4 which ensures that both the earbuds and case themselves are resistant to water.
AirPods 3 is seventy dollars cheaper than the AirPods 3 which and in turn gives up features of silicone ear tips, noise cancellation and transparency mode. As it lacks a tighter seal in the ears, the AirPods 3 is unable to block outside sounds and also are unable to fit every size of ears. With the silicone eartips, individuals were able to use different sizes to fit their ears, however AirPods 3 do not offer any size adjustments which could possibly lead to an uncomfortable fit for some. But AirPods 3 does support Spatial audio just like that of similar with AirPods Pro and AirPods Max that allows different sounds to come from different sides of the earbuds. Another surround effect featured in AirPods 3 is the Head Tracked that uses onboard accelerometers to track the user’s head motion and use that data to pan the audio to whichever side the user turns their head. This feature creates a virtual stage for the user to imitate the sound experience of an actual live performance. Furthermore, a small skin sensor featured in the new model more accurately detects when the earbuds are in your ears, and can automatically turn them off when it senses that it is not in your ears.
Despite these advanced features, in terms of sound quality, the AirPods Pro tops the AirPods 3 as the biggest feature the AirPods 3 lacks is the noise cancellation and the silicone ear tips. With many cheaper alternatives with similar technologies and quality such as the Samsung Galaxy Earbuds or Beats Studio Buds, what makes AirPods so attractive to consumers? Its white smooth, clean looking earbud with the brand of Apple, the new model of AirPods are predicted to sell well like their previous models. With the cheaper price tag and its brand as the new third generation, these earbuds are attracting a lot of attention from the AirPods lovers.