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The design changes help unlock improvements to sound quality, though a key component of those gains comes from a redesigned low-distortion 10.7mm driver and a new venting system that brings more airflow to the buds.  As I said in my full review of the AirPods Pro 3: "The bass has more definition and extension -- it hits harder and goes deeper -- and the earbuds sound clearer, more natural and open with more sparkle in the treble." It's a noticeable difference, and their sound now rivals that of the very best-sounding earbuds. Reviewing audio products is by its very nature a subjective experien

In my review of the AirPods Pro 3, I pitted them against Bose's $299 QuietComfort Earbuds (2nd gen), which were released in the US only a few weeks ago. Many reviewers said they had the best noise cancelling, and I felt that way, too, until I tried the AirPods Pro 3. Then, I wasn't so sure.  I didn't feel I could declare one better than the other without running my own lab tests on a rather expensive rig that CNET doesn't own, but I was quite impressed with the noise-canceling. Compared to the noise-canceling on the AirPods Pro 2, I could definitely hear the difference when I used the buds on

I personally don't feel that heart-rate monitoring is a must-have feature, particularly if you already own a smartwatch with the feature. But for some folks, it will be a welcome addition.  The heart-rate sensors have been custom-designed for the AirPods Pro 3 (they're Apple's smallest heart-rate sensors) and aren't identical to the ones in the Powerbeats Pro 2, but the experience using the heart-rate monitoring feature is the same. There may be more to come, as Apple has a habit of leaving off a few tricks when it first launches products (remember that the AirPods Pro 2 didn't have spatial au

It's always challenging to assign an exact percentage to the improvement between one generation of a product and the next, and some people will inevitably prefer the older model for their own reasons. But for me, the AirPods Pro 3 are about 20 to 25% better.  While they both use the H2 chip, the newest AirPods have been redesigned on the inside and out, and most people should notice improvements in sound quality, noise cancellation, and fit.  If you own the original AirPods Pro, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend upgrading, especially if your battery life has decreased.  If you're happy with you