GUWonder

Thanks for the reviews. I ordered a set of the Airpods Pro for $187.98 + 1 Amex MR point on Amazon.

I probably am going to pick up the AirFly Pro for connection with the 3.5mm headphone jacks on planes too and use them with the Airpods Pro.

nmenaker

Yes, the 20% AMEX discount trick/offer is back. Sadly I’ve already used it three times.!

josephstern

Kudos to AirFly Pro for coming up with a catchy name (and not getting sued so far).

There are plenty of others around starting at $18 as compared to the $44 for these. Do you have any reason to believe these are different or better?

nmenaker

I don’t think there have been enough tests yet, but I can say that Twelve South has ALWAYS practiced the apple premium pricing model. They usually have 30-40% off coupons though a couple times a year. I think there are a couple Bluetooth to 2.5mm dongles out there that would provide suitable sound and capability. Maybe not as nice.a form factor, but certainly for less $.

GUWonder

Not really — other than the Apple stores sell the AirFly Pro, and that means that Apple is sort of ok with it.

wco81

Dang that's a good deal with the Amex. But Amazon doesn't show availability until well into December. I go on a flight in the first week to NZ so I bit the bullet.

GUWonder

Don’t believe the availability schedule as shown at time of purchase for these. Amazon told me it would be coming in mid-December when I bought it, but now it seems like I’ll get it as early as November 22nd or as late as November 27th based on updated Amazon emails for the order.

nmenaker

Yeah, AMZN has had them for $234.99 for over a.week now and I think people bought them their to save a little coin. It’s probably going to be one of those holiday things where we’re see them on eBay for $350-$400 by 2nd week do December. So if you WANT one this year/season, I wouldn’t hesitate to get one.

GUWonder

My Amazon order yesterday for the air pods pro had me down for a December 9-12 delivery. Then they emailed me to say November 29-Dec 2. Then they most recently emailed me to say I should get them November 22-27. That’s a big improvement.

richarddd

Is anyone using the APP with an Android phone? If so, any issues?

Are they likely to go on sale on Black Friday?

freecia

Has anyone found which bluetooth version and codecs the AirFly Pro supports? It is available for 2 day shipping but not in the multitude of Apple stores that pepper the SF South Bay.

I went to the store to try the AirPods Pro and sampled it with an in-store iPhone 11 Pro + Apple Music + iOS 13.2 as my phone is not on 13.2. They probably had the firmware update which was released this week applied? The queued playlist was mostly female soft melodies and I could hear the Apple lesson with higher pitched female lecturer in the next seating area while ANC was on. Made me wonder if there's an app which can sample the surrounding sounds and frequencies to suggest a play list or sounds which will be more effective at cancelling out certain sounds. I like MyNoise.net for adding some sounds to mask noise and will need to spend some time building up an album which cancels out specific office mate voices, chatty flyers, and children/babies...

Some initial thoughts from in-store testing-

• Fit: They work for me and 50+% of what was at e-earphones in Akihabara, Tokyo < $100 does not (tested at least 30 pairs in-ears on a visit in Oct 2019). I still reach around the back of my head, pull my ear up a bit, and insert like I do with other in-ear earphones and foam earplugs. Perhaps that won't be necessary with practice but it is habit for forming a good seal.
• ANC: I found the ANC to be 75% of Bose QC20's with whatever tips they put on the sample unit (prob M?) and their playlist.
• Sound quality: ehhhhhhhh. Frequency Response chart here for those who like evaluating things that way https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro...le-airpods.php https://www.soundguys.com/apple-airp...-review-27106/ Nothing sparkled or boomed, acceptable but not pleasantly surprised like I was with Sony WF-1000Mx3 in-ear ANC. Sound preference is personal, though, as is audio choice and I tend to enjoy Sony. Bose QC20's sound were better than most non-ANC $40 earphones and stayed in with S tips.
• Microphonics: None that I noticed but I didn't go walking about with the Apple Sales Associate waiting on me. This is a welcome change from Bose QC20's.
• Mic: This sealed the deal. My cousin owns a pair and gave me a call from inside his home (quiet) to mine (quiet) so I could hear it first hand. Clearer than my Sony WH-1000MX3 over ears mic which isn't acceptable to me based on test calls but it could be quality control as some people seem to feel theirs are ok - Sony WH also gives me more in ear pressure in flight than Bose QC20's and I begrudge the space they require, especially when bending and bonking into the seat in front of me in economy (My height is 5 ft-ish and I fly in Y). Airpods Pro Mic almost as good as the wired Bose QC20. I do occasionally attend conference calls with my headphones, usually from quiet-ish places, so this is important to me in an all-rounder unit.

Will be getting a pair and likely AirFly Pro since it charges via usb-c and transmits + receives. Noise cancelling backup will be Hearos Ultimate Softness foam ear plugs and an ebook or nap https://hearos.com/collections/trave...ries-ear-plugs or perhaps nothing to rest my outer and inner ear. Audio enjoyment in a quiet space will probably be a set of corded earbuds (currently Sony MDR-EX650 AP).

GUWonder

About the AirFly Pro, no idea yet.

I would have to assume there would be some available for sale for that kind of thing or CyberMonday and other such Q4 holiday promotional season sales, but I doubt I could get them for a whole lot lower than c. $188.

Do you really want to carry a Lightning cable around for just this device? Do you really want to pay a premium for an Apple product customized for iOS users when there are devices that are nearly as good or better value for Android phones? I thought that some of the AirPods Pro customization can only be done with iOS (and maybe MacOS) device use. If so, do you have access to some Apple devices to toy around with customizing its settings?

TheMadBrewer

Just for grins, I paired them with my Pixel 3 and everything seemed to work fine. Could start/stop music, change the modes, etc.

GUWonder

I'm curious how resilient are the AirPods Pro compared to the regular AirPods when it comes to them being dropped?

My regular AirPods have managed to fall down 3-8 feet onto hard surfaces more times than I want to count and they still work just fine.

Will the AirPods Pro hold up as well with their noise-cancelling electronics as well after as many drops of the same sort?

TheMadBrewer

I was willing to try pairing my Air Pods Pro to an Android phone to help out a fellow FT-er. However, I am not willing to throw them down the stairs to check this

However I am clumsy so I will report back when I actually do drop them...