AirPods 2 review compared to AirPods Pro

It's 2023, and we decided to do a short review of AirPods 2. We have a lot of experience using AirPods Pro and not even the third AirPods. And you want to tell me what’s wrong with us - you ask, and we’ll tell you that these are the best headphones of all time.

It's 2023, and we decided to do a short review of AirPods 2. We have a lot of experience using AirPods Pro and not even the third AirPods. And you want to tell me what’s wrong with us - you ask, and we’ll tell you that these are the best headphones of all time.
If you are in doubt about a purchase, don’t hesitate! More details about this later in the material.

AirPods review - Simka blog

For a very long time, we have been official sellers of Apple equipment, and also ardent fans of AirPods, because they are the best headphones for every day in every sense. First we tested AirPods 2, a couple of years later we tested AirPods Pro, we really liked them, the first headphones with active noise cancellation, after all. But two years later, not everything is as good as it could be.

Obviously, after two years, the batteries in the headset have exhausted their resource, and the battery life has become approximately one and a half times shorter. And both the headphones themselves and the case. The plastic has worn out, turning from glossy to matte (unfortunately, this happens with many AirPods). But if the first two points are completely natural wear and tear, then an extremely annoying minus was the problem of recognizing the case.

AirPods Pro can be in it, in a backpack, but still connect to the iPhone. This is how sometimes a call comes in, you answer, but you can’t hear the other person because the sound comes through your headphones.

Sometimes there are also problems with the operation of the transparency mode. In the summer, when we often walk, ride a bicycle, scooter, motorcycle and listen to music on headphones. Using the noise reduction function while driving next to the road is life-threatening, so you should always turn on the transparency mode to hear your surroundings.

When the wind starts to blow or a car passes nearby, the “adaptive equalizer” begins to dampen the earphone on the side of which the noise source is located or has suddenly appeared. Similarly, for example, when crossing railway tracks, as soon as you approach it, the signal begins to ring and the headphones begin to suppress it.

And so we used and tested AirPods Pro for a couple of years, then we decided to test AirPods 2.
Why did they decide on AirPods 2 and not AirPods 3?

We thought for a while before using or testing other AirPods to replace the Pro. We honestly studied third-party opinions, reviews, and minimal testing in our Simka store in Tula, trying to understand the best option.

In short - a proven option. We have already used them before and tried to walk with them, and their work was appreciated by us at a high level!

Our first impressions of putting on AirPods 2 for the first time, after a long break - after a couple of minutes you already forget that you have something in your ears. The low weight and several points of contact have an effect, and the leg also has a locking function.

As a result, they fit perfectly even during sports, and during the day you don’t even want to take them off. In general, you don’t even have to do this, because their format is open.
Control by tapping is still the best

In AirPods Pro and then AirPods 3, Apple added a pressure sensor so you can press on the earbuds to control playback. Everything would be fine, but tapping on the headphones is the most convenient option.

Simple, because when you press on the headphones, they move slightly in your ear and have to be adjusted. This is very inconvenient, especially when playing sports or riding a bicycle, for example. Plus, in winter, when you put on a hat, you don’t need to crawl under it, you can just make a couple of light touches to your ear, and that’s it.

So, if you live in cold regions, like we do in Tula, keep this in mind. Apple AirPods 2 are literally made for you.
They sound great. Like AirPods Pro and even a little better

In our opinion, and we do not consider ourselves professionals in the field of sound: neither composers, nor DJs or sound engineers. Several components are important to us in sound - depth, width of the stage, and audibility of the texture of the instruments. AirPods 2 has no problems with all this. But, by the way, AirPods Pro had no problems either, but due to the open type, the built-in emitters seem to have more space for sound processing.

This gives you the feeling, you know, as if the music is “breathing.” The Pro, apparently due to the closed design, did not have this feeling.
No spatial audio either

A trick for pampering for a couple of weeks, no more, although impressive. It's quite interesting to turn your head and feel how all the instruments move relative to you. But in real life there is absolutely no point in using this.

Are you going to sit on public transport and constantly turn your head, “looking” at the palette of the song you are listening to? No, because from the outside it will look strange, but in practice for you it will be

It's inconvenient.

Therefore, the old AirPods 2, which do not have this feature, are still no worse.
We hope to see an improved version of AirPods 2

Despite the fact that this headphone format is already 10 years old (EarPods first appeared in 2012 with the release of the iPhone 5, and, in fact, they still live). Jony Ive and the team managed to draw such a successful and convenient design that it is not outdated to this day!

It’s hard for us to say what can be improved here, but we’d like to see some modern features here. Perhaps a more energy-efficient chip, and, as a result, increased battery life.
A short summary

We will not somehow get rid of our test AirPods Pro; we will leave them as spare headphones. Still, active noise cancellation is a cool feature for long trips, so we’ll always keep them with us.

In the meantime, our main headphones will be AirPods 2. We are confident that over the next two years they will please us as much as they do now.

And if you are not sure about AirPods 3, and consider AirPods Pro to be redundant, then the second generation will suit you one hundred percent.