AirPods Pro 2nd Generation – Unboxing, Review and How Tos

After a long 3-year wait, Apple finally decided to release the AirPods Pro 2nd Generation and they’re as amazing as expected! Here, I’ll review these AirPods.

Coming with additional features from its predecessor, the AirPods Pro, the AirPods Pro 2nd Generation is most definitely an upgrade. I’ll provide you with a quick review together with a few how-tos for navigating the new AirPods product.

Below, you can watch my YouTube video review to get an up-close and hands-on experience with the AirPods Pro 2nd Generation.

AirPods Pro 2nd Generation Review

Once you purchase the 2nd Generation AirPods from Apple or any of their authorized retailers, you will receive the product in white packaging with all the authentic Apple branding. Ensure the product is sealed to prevent the risk of purchasing a product that has been tampered with. When you slide open the box, you are greeted with the user manual containing instructions on how to use the AirPods Pro 2.

AirPods Pro 2 Design

After it, you then find the AirPods case with the earbuds placed in them. The AirPods Pro 2nd Generation comes only in the colour white, so for those of you with a heavy colour preference, this is a compromise you will have to make. The design of the AirPods case isn’t so different from its predecessor, though it has a few minor improvements that I will reveal shortly.

On the front is a light indicator that, when you open the lid of the earbuds, shows whether the AirPods case has enough charge or not. When charging, the indicator will help you know whether the case has been fully charged by lighting red when charging and green when fully charged.

Within the back of the case is a magnet that allows for wireless charging. These AirPods can be charged in various ways that I’ll get to shortly. Now, for those of you like me who misplace your AirPods case, Apple has introduced a lanyard hook on the right side of the case. This allows you to attach the case to your bag, belt hoop, keyring, or wherever you’d like, just to ensure you don’t lose them.

On the bottom of the case is a lightning charging port and another amazing feature, a speaker that helps you locate the case with ease.

AirPods Pro 2 Charging

Inside the box comes a lightning to USB-C cable for fast charging of the case. Now, the AirPods Pro 2nd Generation has a variety of charging options that I said I will mention. First, you can charge the case by using the charging cable provided in the packaging. All you have to do is connect the USB-C end of the cable to a power source and the lightning cable end to the AirPods case. The case will produce a sound, through the speaker at the bottom to indicate it is charging.

Secondly, you can use the Apple Smart Watch magnetic wireless charger. Connect the charger to a power source, lay the back of the AirPods case to the magnetic end of the wireless charger, and voila! the case begins to charge. Similar to the Smart Watch wireless charging process, you can use an approved Qi-certified wireless charger to charge. Now to the earbuds!

AirPods Pro 2 Earbuds

After the charging cable is a casing containing not two, but three extra pairs of ear tips. The extra tips range from extra small (XS), small (S) to large (L), with the medium-sized ones being on the earbuds. So, whatever size your ears may be, Apple has ensured the earbuds will fit comfortably in your ears.

Apple has designed the earbuds to have almost twice the Active Noise Cancellation compared to the AirPods Pro 1. The earbuds also come with better-quality sound and clearer audio during voice calls. With these earbuds, you won’t have to worry about constant recharging of the earbuds due to their 6 Hours of continuous playback, or up to 4.5 hours of talk-time with a single charge. It provides up to 30 Hours when charging the earbuds with the case after their depletion of charge.

Just like its predecessors, the AirPods Pro 2nd Generation comes with Siri which assists you when on the go, just say “Hey Siri”.

How-tos of the AirPods Pro 2nd Generation

How to connect the AirPods Pro 2 to your iPhone

Connecting an iPhone to these AirPods is no heavy task. Follow the steps below and you’ll be listening to your favourite tunes in no time.

1. The start of this process is ensuring your AirPods Pro 2 has enough charge, your phone’s Bluetooth is on and your iPhone’s software is up to date. Now you can move to the next steps.
2. Place your iPhone and AirPods close together.
3. Open the lid of your AirPods Pro case. A pop-up should show on your iPhone. If the pop-up doesn’t appear, long press the button on the back of the AirPods case. This should bring the pop-up.
4. The first pop-up will contain a few media control tips. Press Skip.
5. The next pop-up will be the notifications you want Siri to announce to you when using the earbuds. You can press customize to select and deselect the notifications you want. If you want all the notifications, press announce calls and notifications.
6. After this, the next screen will be setting up Personalised Spatial Audio. This is a feature that provides a more immersive surround sound experience when listening to audio. This will require recording all angles of your face. You can skip this step by clicking Not now.
7. The next pop-up will show you what percentage the earbuds and case are. This is basically an indication that your AirPods are connected and ready to go.
8. Press Continue
9. An Apple Music prompt will also appear after this. You may decide to click accept if you want the subscription or click not now to avoid it.
10. Your AirPods Pro 2 are finally fully set up and you can listen to your music.

Connecting to them from now on will be easier as you will just have to open your AirPods’ case and your phone will automatically connect. Keep in mind your Bluetooth will still have to be on to connect.

How to fix your left, right or both AirPods or AirPods Pro if they are not working

How to control media in the AirPods Pro 2nd Generation

The AirPods Pro 2nd Generation earbuds have an added feature that sets them apart from other AirPods released by Apple, and this is the volume controls. The ‘stem’ of the earbud has slightly sunken strips that allow for controlling what you are listening to. The various music controls are as listed below;

1. Single squeeze – Play/pause
2. Double squeeze – Go to the next song
3. Triple squeeze – Restart the current song
4. Four squeezes – Go to the previous song
5. Swipe up – Increase music volume
6. Swipe down – Reduce music volume

There are also controls for phone calls. These are;

1. To receive or end a phone call – Press once
2. To reject a phone call – Press twice
3. Press & hold to;
   • Activate Siri
   • Activate Noise Control or Transparency

The call controls to end a phone call are the default AirPods Pro 2 actions. However, these can be changed in the AirPods settings.

Having all this information about the AirPods Pro 2nd Generation, I believe you have made the right option of upgrading your current AirPods to the AirPods Pro 2nd Generation. Or if you are yet to decide on your first-ever earphone purchase, you will go for them.

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