I’ve tried several hearing aid substitutes over the years, my past favorite being the now unavailable Bose Hearphones and costing $500. Rather than just a sound amplifier, these had several functions allowing you to filter and focus sounds in various ways and for various situations. They were pretty good.

But now Apple has added some great features to their AirPods 2—features that function like far more expensive hearing aids and at less than half the price of the Bose product. I’ve owned these for a month or so and am now just getting the hang of how to use them. If there is a downside to these earbuds it is the rather deep and confusing tech included in them (or, at least confusing for a grandfatherly type like me). Once they are Bluetooth connected to your iPhone (They connect very easily with the button on the front of the EarPod’s charging case.) they should automatically connect every time you put them in your ears. You will then be able to access all the functions by tapping the “settings” app on your phone. You will find a heading near the top of the list just below the box with your name and iCloud options. Tapping on this will allow you to drill down through several pages of options. There are a lot of options there and it can be confusing, but experimenting with the various functions will help you figure out their purpose.

The key here is to drill down to find the hearing test. This will quickly test for hearing loss by leading you through a series of tones of varying in pitch and volume. The end result will be an audiogram that can be used to program your EarPods as hearing aids. As stated before, it took me several weeks to find and activate this feature, but when I did a whole new experience dawned. Just be patient and search around for this function. It works very well.

Of course, these things also serve as EarPods to listen to music or podcasts. (May I recommend “Pat Gray Unleashed!” if your bent is conservative commentary and just plain fooling around). The quality of sound is phenomenal and the buds are more comfortable than most to keep in your ears for an extended time. To control the volume for this function you can TRY to use the external control buttons located on those silly looking stems that hang out of your ears (good luck) OR just open the “Control Center” page (slide one finger upward on your iPhone screen to access this page) where you’ll find the volume slider. If your EarPods are connected and in your ears you’ll see the slider is marked as controlling the AirPods.

I really like these things now that I’m a little more familiar with them. The quality and value are exquisite. If I discover more, I’ll edit this comment.

4 MONTHS LATER: Apple has improved the controls for these in their latest iOS update. The functions I had to dig around to find are now more easily accessed. Getting to the hearing test is now fairly straight forward.

The Apple AirPods Pro 2 are simply outstanding! The active noise cancellation is the best I've ever experienced — it completely blocks out background noise. The sound quality is incredible with rich bass and clear highs. The hearing aid feature is innovative and useful. Battery life is excellent and the charging case is convenient. They fit comfortably and stay in place during workouts. Worth every penny — the best earbuds on the market!

AirPods Pro 2 (black case not included; I didn't want remove the top because it has an adhesive that will lose effectiveness if I remove)

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the functionality and quality of the AirPods Pro 2. I’ll address the functions below.

Features:

- Noise Cancelling: is pretty good for my purposes. You can definitely tell a difference between this and the transparency mode

- Transparency mode: I’m pretty impressed with the ability to hear through the environment and find it very useful for when I’m doing things and need to be able to hear around me.

- Conversation Awareness: this is a cool feature but can kinda get annoying. Plus, I feel like if you’re actively having a conversation or expect a conversation you probably wouldn’t be using your AirPods to listen to music or anything else. I’m sure there are other uses but I’m just not aware of them.

- Live Translation: This is a pretty neat feature as you can now have conversations with someone who speaks a different language though the languages are still listed to English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese.

- Find my device: one of my favorite features. It’s a small object that can easily be lost. In fact, the previous pair I had was of a different brand and I cannot find them. These can make a noise to assist you in finding them if they are lost.

- MagSafe charging compatibility

- Battery light indicator 


Fit: Has 4 different sizes to get the perfect fit

Sound quality:

- I’m impressed by the quality of the bass for songs. The music listening experience is definitely better with these.

Miscellaneous details

- I really enjoy the design of the earphones in the case. The moment you open them you can easily slide them out with one finger by simply reaching behind and sort of sliding it toward you.

Areas of improvement

- The magnet is somewhat strong to keep the case closed, but can still open accidentally. I ended up getting a case that had a locking mechanism but it would be nice for it to have it as a stock feature.

Final take: I’m impressed with these earphones and find all the above features to be very functional and useful. At its price point I feel that I am getting more than enough value from them.

Having used multiple AirPods models -- including the Pro 3 -- this one is my favorite. I use my AirPods Pro 2 every single day. At one point, I tried to replace them -- because I wanted the better noise cancellation of the Pro 3. That was a shock. The Pro 3 had WORSE noise cancellation and, in the end, I returned them and went back to my Pro 2s. These are also significantly more comfortable for me than AirPods Pro 3.

My favorite features are:

- Easy to change the volume or toggle noise cancellation without my phone

- Excellent noise cancellation in a busy environment like the office or while vacuuming

- Amazing transparency mode that can actually make it easier to hear the person in front of me in a crowded room

- It charges on my regular Magsafe phone charger

- Long battery life

I've owned all versions of airpods, normal, pro, max, etc. My favorite one for the longest time was the Airpod Pros "version 1". This product is the Airpods Pro "version 2". It took me a while to convince myself to buy these, but after testing both side-by-side I noticed a few very noticeable features.

*ANC is improved. I can say this with certainty. I work hobbies that at times involve loud machinery and fellas yelling at each other. I can tell the difference in the ANC "level". It simply works better than before and it has this additional thing that detects vocal conversations and adapts- the V1 pros didn't have that.

*Sound quality is minorly improved - I have pretty good ears, and the bass sounds a bit better with these. Unfortunately, that's about all I can say about that.

*Battery and compatibility vastly improved; USB-C Charging has been long overdue. The wireless charging works better than v1 too- v1 heats up quite a bit and seems to charge endlessly using the official wireless apple charger. V2 doesn't have that issue. The batteries in the case and pods are nearly 2x better from what I am seeing so far.

*Quality hasn't declined; This one is important to me. I buy apple products mainly because of their build quality and how well they operate with each other. These pair nearly effortlessly with the iPhone, and the FindMy function has VASTLY improved; Making the case able to produce a sound to locate with has been a game changer. Previously with the older Airpod Pros, if you lost them while in the case, you couldn't locate them with the find-my app because they had no way to produce a noise whilst in the case. I am so glad they improved upon this quality aspect and the Airpod's quality continues to rise without noticeable compromises.

*AppleCare+: Nothing has really changed about this and that's a good thing. AppleCare+ works well, and I recommend it. I use it on all of my apple devices. I was happy to see that they made it even easier than before to get AppleCare+ bundled with the actual purchase of the airpods. Before, you had to manually activate it and that was a bit inconvienent. Plus people would forget they had AppleCare and leave their device unprotected because they didn't activate it. Glad to hear they addressed all that as well.

*Lasting technology: My final point is most important to me. I could ramble on and on about this part but long story short- I use these ALL the time, and I'm not joking- around 60-75% of the time I have these in, even without music playing. If you're the type of person who uses these a lot, then going from V1 to V2 is a no-brainer. But if you do NOT use them constantly like I do, don't worry! That's probably good for you and if you're not tethered to them like I am, then you should probably wait for the newer "v3" ones that are coming out sometime next year.

The Airpod Pro's v2 might not be an impressive upgrade for audiophiles, but for almost everyone else the extra bells & whistles make up for the marginally improved sound quality and make it worth the extra cost.

Performance & Features

Audio Quality: Features a natural sound signature with a "satisfying" and "visceral" sub-bass response. The H2 chip enables Adaptive EQ, which adjusts frequencies in real-time based on the fit in your ear.

Noise Cancellation & Transparency: Delivers up to 2x more active noise cancellation (ANC) than the original AirPods Pro, effectively blocking 20–30dB of ambient noise. The Transparency mode is widely considered best-in-class for its natural, almost "telepathic" feel.

Battery Life: Offers approximately 6 hours of continuous listening with ANC enabled. The charging case provides an additional 24–30 hours of total battery life, though some competitors now offer 8+ hours on a single charge.

Intelligent Features: Includes Conversation Awareness, which automatically lowers volume when you start speaking, and Adaptive Audio, which dynamically blends ANC and Transparency based on your environment.

Design & Build

Comfort & Fit: Extremely lightweight at 0.38 oz per pair, featuring four sizes of soft silicone tips (XS, S, M, L) to ensure a secure seal.

Durability: Both the earbuds and the MagSafe case (USB-C version) carry an IP54 rating, making them resistant to dust, sweat, and water splashes.

Charging Case: The updated case features a built-in speaker for Precision Finding via the Find My app and supports USB-C, MagSafe, and Apple Watch chargers.

Pros Cons

Superior soundstage and tonal balance Sub-par microphone in loud or windy areas

Exceptional Transparency mode No manual EQ customization in the app

Seamless switching between Apple devices Clunky experience for Android and PC users

Excellent value at current discounted prices Battery life is shorter than some 2026 competitors

If you're deep in the Apple ecosystem, the AirPods Pro 2 make a compelling case for themselves pretty quickly. The active noise cancellation is genuinely impressive — it handles background noise in a way that makes you realize how much ambient sound you were just quietly tolerating before. Whether it's background chatter, HVAC hum, or general household noise, it disappears in a way that feels almost eerie the first time you experience it.

The seamless device switching is the other standout feature for everyday use. Moving from iPhone to iPad to Mac and back happens automatically and quickly enough that it stops being something you think about — it just works, which in the Apple world is both expected and still appreciated when it actually delivers.

Transparency mode is worth calling out too — the ability to flip between full noise cancellation and hearing your surroundings naturally, without taking the earbuds out, is genuinely useful in real life situations rather than just a spec sheet feature.

Sound quality is excellent for earbuds at this size, and the Conversation Awareness feature that auto-lowers volume when you start talking to someone is one of those small touches that makes day-to-day use more natural.

Premium priced, no question — but for an iPhone user who wants earbuds that just integrate into their daily life without friction, the AirPods Pro 2 deliver on the promise.

A couple months ago I got “commercial” hearing aids from the VA. However, I didn’t like how they operated so I gave them back, and they’re going to order a different brand/model, which I’ll have in about three months (!) So I went in search of quality, inexpensive hearing aids to fill the gap. (My hearing loss is considered mild, at -32db on one side and -39db on the other.) I got the AirPods last Friday, and the software for hearing aid support rolled out last night (iOS 18.1) So this will be a two part review.

Part one is the overall operation as earbuds for music and calls. These are my first ever Apple branded sound devices. Once I got the correct tips installed and the buds fitted, I was ready to go. OMG! The sound quality overall is the best of any earbuds I’ve ever owned, and by a huge margin. Astonishing bass, and crisp high range. (My hearing loss is in the upper ranges.) I’m beyond happy. Overall, the only thing I’m dissatisfied with is the battery life at 5-6 hours, but the extremely fast recharge speed eases that compliant. Voice quality when on a call is crystal clear. Controls are easy, though a bit hard to operate considering how small they are.

Part two is the hearing aid function. The first thing I had to do was take a hearing test with the included software. (However, if you prefer to use a third party hearing test, you can import that profile and use it.) The hearing test takes about 5 minutes, after which the hearing aid sound enhancement profile is set automatically and they start up. I was totally gobsmacked at how well these things work! They boost the exact freqs I need. They actually work considerably better than those $7000 (egads!) hearing aids that I returned.

Now for the ANC. At home, I sit right in front of a large, noisy window air conditioner. On the opposite side of the room is a dehumidifier (I live in south central Texas, where it was 91° yesterday.) Between these two pieces of equipment, it’s pretty noisy here. I turned on ANC and the room went absolutely silent. So silent that I thought I’d popped a circuit breaker and everything had stopped running. I removed one of the AirPods, and the noise returned. Amazing.

In short, everything I’d hoped the commercial hearing aids would do, the AirPods actually DID. I consider this the smartest purchase I’ve made in years. Only one negative, and that’s the ear tips. None of the provided sizes are a good fit for me, so I’m now looking to memory foam replacements. But that’s a very small gripe. If you’re looking at these, either for music or hearing, don’t hesitate. You’ll be glad you got them.

EDIT: I had to go to a doctor appointment across town today. Part of the route is on a toll highway with an 80 mph speed limit and heavy traffic. I got up to speed and turned on noise cancel mode. INSTANTLY the car was completely silent at 80 mph. No road rumble, no engine noise, no wind noise, no traffic noise. It was an amazing and invigorating experience. Oh, for those wondering about recharge time, if you take them all the way down to 0% battery and they shut down (I’ve now ascertained that 6 hours is about what you get with all the options turned on), it only takes about 15 minutes in the charge case and you’ll easily get another 3-4 hours out of them.

EDIT2: Okay, I’ve had these for almost a month, and I just keep liking them more and more. I didn’t mention pairing in my original text above, so I need to mention it here. There is, in effect, no pairing that you need to do, at least in the Apple-verse. By the time I’d opened the charging case and looked at the buds, they’d already paired with both my iPhone and iPad. I didn’t have to go into settings on my iOS devices, or press any buttons on the case. Just open case and it’s done. As a computer engineer for 40 years, I have never seen a faster or more seamless pairing of anything.

One more word on recharging: just today I took them all the way to zero. Dropped them in the charger and in FIVE MINUTES they were at 24%.

I am in love with the hearing aid functionality. I hear sounds in movies that I’d never heard before in my life, even when my hearing was perfect. And I can adjust amplification either by going into settings on my iPhone, or sliding my finger up or down on the stem.

Die sind sehr, sehr gut !

Dies sollte jeder Handybesitzer haben,er kann besser in Ruhe alles hören und verarbeiten.

Alle anderen Mitbewohner bleiben ungestört !

Mein Sohn mag die Pods, tun ihren Dienst, er meint es muss nicht immer die dritte Generation sein.