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Title: A closer look at the AirPods Pro 3: ANC, Live Translation and heart-
rate tracking

Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2025 19:39:56 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/a-c...

The AirPods Pro 3 are a big upgrade over the AirPods Pro 2. Even though Apple
has continuously added new features to those earbuds over the last three
years, it hasnΓÇÖt changed the design or shape of the earbuds since the first
model arrived in 2019. With the AirPods Pro 3, you might not notice those
tweaks until you remove the new ear tips, and the most impactful upgrades are
all on the inside. After my brief hands-on immediately following the iPhone
17 launch yesterday, IΓÇÖve since spent more time test driving all of the new
features on the AirPods Pro 3 ΓÇö from the improved active noise cancellation
(ANC) to Live Translation and heart-rate monitoring.

Stronger ANC through tech and ear tips

Apple says the ANC on the AirPods Pro 3 blocks twice as much noise as the
AirPods Pro 2 and four times as much as the original AirPods Pro. A big part
of this is due to the ultra-low noise microphones and computational audio on
the earbuds, but the new foam-infused ear tips are also playing a vital role.

The latest ear tips are still silicone on the outside like the Pro 2ΓÇÖs, but
theyΓÇÖre now injected with foam. This provides much better passive noise
isolation to block out distractions, helping with high-frequency sounds like
human voices. In fact, there were several times this week where an Apple
representative had to tap me on the shoulder because with the AirPods Pro 3
on, I couldnΓÇÖt hear them speaking right next to me. No matter how they did
it, the fact that Apple does a better job of silencing chatty co-workers on
the AirPods Pro 3 is a welcome change. ItΓÇÖs impressive when you consider
much of the competition struggles to reduce the volume of human voices on
their earbuds and headphones.

The AirPods Pro 3 are no slouch in general noise cancellation performance
either. During simulated air plane noise and recorded sounds of a bustling
cafe, the earbuds did well to reduce the unwanted distraction of both.
WhatΓÇÖs more, the AirPods Pro 3 silenced the busy demo area outside of the
keynote, providing a welcome respite for a few seconds during an otherwise
stressful day.

Live Translation finally arrives Sam Rutherford for Engadget

After Apple chatted up Live Translation in iOS 26 at WWDC, I was disappointed
that those initial plans didnΓÇÖt include AirPods. I shouldΓÇÖve known the
announcement for the earbuds would come with the next iteration of the
AirPods Pro. Like GoogleΓÇÖs Pixel Buds, AppleΓÇÖs take on the feature relies
on a connected iPhone to do all of the heavy lifting, powered by the
Translate app. However, you donΓÇÖt need a prolonged interaction with a phone
to turn on Live Translation. You can press and hold on both AirPods, ask Siri
or set the shortcut for the Action Button to the task. As a reminder, Live
Translation will be available on AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4
with ANC, because they all carry the H2 chip.

During a quick demo, Live Translation worked well, quickly converting the
Spanish an Apple representative was speaking into English, which Siri then
conveyed in the AirPods Pro 3. ThereΓÇÖs a slight delay, which is expected,
since the captured audio is processed on an iPhone and then translated in the
second language. That might make for some awkward pauses, but IΓÇÖll have to
wait for more real-world testing to know for sure. I did notice that text
translations appeared in the app before they came through the earbuds, but
again, thatΓÇÖs not really a surprise since the iPhone is the brains of the
operation. Plus, youΓÇÖll want to use the phone as a horizontal display here,
since the app provides a real-time transcription for the person youΓÇÖre
talking to.

One aspect of Live Translation that may go unnoticed until you actually use
it on the AirPods is the role ANC plays in the process. After you activate
the translation feature, active noise cancellation kicks in to reduce the
speakerΓÇÖs voice so that you can clearly hear the translation from Siri in
the earbuds. This happens automatically, and during my demo I never felt like
I needed to manually adjust the volume so I could better hear the translated
English over the speaker's Spanish.

Heart-rate tracking, but only for workouts Billy Steele for Engadget

Another big addition to the AirPods Pro 3 is heart-rate monitoring. Apple
first debuted this capability on the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 and is using a
photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor to measure light absorption in blood flow.
Heart rate stats are visible only in the Fitness app during workouts though,
so if youΓÇÖre looking to keep tabs in other apps or Widgets, youΓÇÖre out of
luck. But when it comes to activity tracking, the chorus of accelerometers,
gyroscope, GPS and a new on-device AI model combine with the PPG sensor to
monitor stats for 50 different workouts.

This is another feature IΓÇÖll need to test at home before I can properly
gauge its merits, especially since my testing here in Cupertino consisted
only of a three-minute walk. Sure enough, my live heart rate was displayed on
the workout screen alongside distance covered, average pace, calories burned
and elapsed time. Once I completed that strenuous session, I could see my
average heart rate in the Workout Details summary, just above a graph of the
info.

Improved audio through more air flow

Apple loves to discuss air flow when it comes to audio performance in AirPods
and the company redesigned the venting system in the AirPods Pro 3 to improve
sound quality. The company also turned the ear tip so itΓÇÖs beaming audio
more directly into the ear. Along with Adaptive EQ, this combination provides
noticeably deeper bass and a wider soundstage for more immersive spatial
listening.

To move all of that air around, AppleΓÇÖs acoustics team devised a new set of
fine-tuned chambers to maximize the overall flow. And as a result, the vent
system had to be larger, so now the one on top of the earbuds is nearly twice
as large as the one on AirPods Pro 2. Then, to properly harness all of that
available air space, Apple had to slightly redesign the driver/transducer to
achieve the necessary frequencies. Adaptive EQ has also been expanded since
the inward facing microphones on the AirPods Pro 3 have been moved so
theyΓÇÖre not obstructed by the sides of the ear canal as much.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Maggie RogersΓÇÖ ΓÇ£AlaskaΓÇ¥ was the test track of choice during my demo, a
song IΓÇÖm familiar with since IΓÇÖve listened to the album Heard It in a
Past Life a ton. Beyond the enhancements to bass and the spatial effect, the
thing that struck me about the audio upgrades was the level of detail the
AirPods Pro 3 now provide. The separation of the bass drum and hand pan
enhance the immersion, but thereΓÇÖs also the texture in the sound of both
that is typically lost on most earbuds and headphones. I listened to the
AirPods Pro 2 on the flight out here to refresh my memory and it was
immediately apparent that Apple has made some big upgrades to sound quality
on this new model.

The AirPods Pro 3 are available for preorder now for $249. It arrives
September 19 alongside the iPhone 17 family and new Apple Watches.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/a-c...
anc-live-translation-and-heart-rate-tracking-193956229.html?src=rss

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