The meme “oh no, he can’t hear us, he’s wearing AirPods” has never been more accurate than with the release of the new AirPods Pro in October. 

The newest line of AirPods features better sound, an easier fit and a noise cancelation feature that blows the competition out of the water. 

Even though the Pro’s release comes with many great features, the $250 price tag causes people to question whether the Pro’s are worth it. 

“AirPods are earbuds that do exactly the same thing as any other brand’s earbuds do, but feature a brand name that is appealing to people,” senior Charles Russell said. 

The AirPods Pro is a massive improvement in the wireless earbud market. They come with different-sized silicone earbud tips which give the earbuds a comfortable fit, while also making a great seal in your ear. 

The fit also increases the sound quality of the new AirPods. Because the old AirPods featured a universal tip size, they had a hard time getting a good bass response. Apple did a good job of creating earbuds that can reach the entire range of sound from vocals to bass. 

Active noise canceling has finally made its way into Apple’s latest AirPods. Other brands that create headphones like Samsung and Audio Technica have used something called anti-noise, which is a very low-frequency sound that can be turned on to block out surrounding noise. It does not interfere with the quality of the music. With an outward-facing microphone, the AirPods detect external sound then use anti-noise to cancel it out. 

“I’ve owned the new AirPods for over a month now, and I can say that they are totally worth the $250 price tag,” junior Brandon Luk said. “The new noise-canceling feature makes them worth it. During lunch, you can block out all the noise in the cafeteria with the new feature.”

If you feel like rejoining society after entering the world of noise cancellation, the AirPods feature a transparency mode which is useful for crossing streets or whenever you have to be more alert. 

One thing Apple could have done better is battery life. With only four-and-a-half hours of battery life with noise cancellation on, AirPods become one more thing to charge at night. Eventually, you will run out of outlets with your Apple Watch, AirPods, iPhone and all the other electronics that will charge on the bedside table as you sleep. With the charging case, the AirPods have 24-hours worth of listening time. 

While the Apple AirPods are not perfect, it is nice to have an Apple product where you can clearly see improvement. The company has clearly heard the consumer complaints of repetition and only small improvements and has responded by putting more resources into their audio department.