I’ve been using Apple’s new AirPods Pro to see if they live up to the hype, and the verdict is a resounding yes — here’s why

Noise cancellation makes a huge difference.

Crystal Cox/Business Insider

I’ve been wearing AirPods for years, and one my biggest gripes has always been their lack of noise cancellation or noise reduction. Whenever I wear them on the subway, I constantly find myself cranking up the volume to drown out the sound of the subway screeching to a halt or background chatter.

Luckily, Apple has finally addressed this with the AirPods Pro. During my time with the AirPods Pro, I found that the noise cancellation feature worked well enough to adequately block out noise from my surroundings — whether it be the noisiness of fellow commuters on the subway, the humming of the treadmill during my morning run, or my coworkers chatting at the office throughout the workday. They also stayed just as snug and secure in my ears during a run as Apple’s regular AirPods.

That noise cancellation feature is powered by inward- and outward-facing microphones, which the buds use to identify and subdue noise from your surroundings. An outward-facing microphone detects noise from your environment so that the AirPods can cancel it out, while an inward-facing microphone picks up any extant noise around your ear canal.

It’s a noticeable upgrade from Apple’s existing wireless earbuds, including the standard AirPods and the Powerbeats Pro, the latter of which features the lesser technology of noise isolation — not noise cancellation. But I still found that Sony’s slightly cheaper $230 WF-1000XM3 did an even better job at blocking out sound than the AirPods Pro. 

If you still want to be able to hear what’s going on in your surroundings, you can also turn on transparency mode on the AirPods Pro, which allows you to hear external sound that would otherwise be blocked by the silicone tips. 

You can switch between active noise cancellation and transparency mode either through the iPhone’s Control Center, or by pressing and holding on a groove on the stems of the AirPods Pro. Although AirPods were initially mocked for their elongated tips that stick out of your ears, this particular thing seems to justify the design – at least a little.

Pressing sensors on the stem to perform actions like turning off noise cancellation or pausing music is much more comfortable than alternatives offered by other companies.

Amazon’s Echo Buds, for example, require you to tap or press on the part of the bud that sits in your ear to perform certain tasks, while you have to press the Sony’s WF-1000XM3’s buds to pair them with your device for the first time. Neither of those gestures feel nearly as comfortable or natural as Apple’s alternative, even if it means the earbud is less discreet in your ear.