Apple's AirPods Pro are excellent, but it's the exclusive features that make them invaluable (2024)

I spend every day testing out the newest and best wireless earbuds, so trust me when I say that you don’t have to spend hundreds for excellent sound quality, and feature-packed buds also don’t demand you to drain your bank account. But I still use the pricey AirPods Pro all the time. Why exactly? It’s not just the quality that keeps them in my pocket, but the number of exclusive smart features that Apple reserves for its interconnected products.

Because I’m an iPhone owner, and I use a Mac and an iPad too, I’ll often return to the second-gen AirPods Pro after testing and reviewing the latest and greatest. Yes, they’re brilliant in so many areas (they’re up there with the best whether you’re looking at noise cancellation, sound, pocketability, or features) but it’s also that they’re also stuffed full of a bunch of Apple-only capabilities nobody else is getting their hands on any time soon.

Let me explain by running through five features that make them so useful:

1. Audio sharing

This is probably the number one reason AirPods remain travel essentials for me. Instead of fussing around with sharing earbuds or trying to find a splitter for some wired headphones, it’s possible to simply 'share' the audio from one source device – like my phone or iPad – to two pairs of compatible headphones.

At the moment, this just works with Apple devices and certain AirPods and Beats models, but it’s so seamless that I’d recommend AirPods for this feature alone, especially if you’re going on a long bus or train journey with your partner and don’t want to stop your binge-watch of The Witcher together.

The promise of Bluetooth advancements and 'Auracast' should mean that this feature won’t remain exclusive to only Apple-made headphones in the future but, right now, audio sharing is just for those in Apple’s walled garden.

2. Transparency mode with 'Conversation Awareness'

The presence of a 'transparency' or 'ambient sound' mode isn’t a novel or exclusive feature in earbuds, but this is one of those areas where Apple’s implementation just works best.

It’s entirely possible to leave your AirPods Pro in, switch to the transparency mode and hold an entire conversation with it sounding completely natural. The extra step of turning on 'Conversation Awareness' (which notices when you’re speaking and dials down the background noise) helps, but they’re already delivering the best awareness without additional steps.

I’m not just saying this; I often leave these buds in while I’m ordering my morning coffee, I won’t need to take them out when I need to hear an announcement that tells me why my train hasn’t moved for the last five minutes and I’d be able to leave the AirPods in during a jog or walk without worrying that I’m not going to hear hazards on the road.

This mode is also smart about how it amplifies ambient noise: it’ll make sure you’re aware of what you need to hear but will calm down the din of nearby roadworks with its 'Loud Sound Reduction' toggle. That in itself isn’t exclusive to AirPods Pro, but the whole experience has also been improved with Apple’s 'Adaptive' option — this underrated mode adapts to changing noise environments, switching your buds in and out of transparency and noise cancelling without you needing to do anything. It’s very impressive.

3. Movie-ready 'Personalised Spatial Audio'

There are now several earbuds with a spatial audio feature, but you may need to dive into apps and settings to enable it. Apple’s version of this functionality works best because it applies automatically to compatible content, levelling up the audio experience for movies and shows in the likes of Disney+, Netflix, Apple TV+ and more.

It’ll take those Dolby Atmos audio mixes that you hear blasted at you from all angles at the cinema and make it feel like the effects are coming from everywhere around you in a 3D environment. It’s cool enough that once you’ve heard it, you’ll wish it was available on everything you watch.

I especially enjoyed watching shows like Andor, Severance and Masters of the Air as well as movies including Dune, Extraction 2 and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse with this immersive effect. And, since it launched, it’s been further upgraded to take into account your unique ear shape for “personalised” spatial audio.

Hearing the whoosh of a TIE fighter as if it’s above you or the creep of footsteps as though they’re behind you makes for a pretty special way to heighten the realism for movie fans, and the buds also dynamically track your head position so the effect always sounds like it’s coming from your device, whether that’s your iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV.

And we haven’t even mentioned how well this spatial imaging works when you play songs mixed for it in Apple Music. Looking for a starting point? We’d throw on the immersive mixes of Billie Eilish’s 'What Was I Made For?' and 'Rocket Man' by Elton John. You’ll feel like you’re right in the studio.

4. Hands-free 'Hey Siri' support with notification announcements

Relying on voice assistants with wireless earbuds is one of those features that should feel amazing and futuristic but tend to require you to press a button or memorise a tricky series of taps. All too often, I forget to use it. But that’s not the case with my AirPods Pro.

When wearing these, I don’t have to remember any taps or controls because it just works with a simple utterance of “Hey Siri” or “Siri”, so I find myself starting my walk to the train station by saying “Siri, play my podcast queue”, “Hey Siri, is it going to rain today?” or “Siri, add eggs to my shopping list” more often than you’d expect. I’m still not sure if it’s something I’d use all the time in public but it’s super handy, especially if you use other Apple devices or have any smart home kit set up on Apple’s HomeKit platform.

You’ll also have the option of Siri announcing your incoming notifications, and this one’s been invaluable a few times. For one, I’m not always going to dig out my phone when walking from place to place, so it’s convenient for the voice assistant to just read aloud that message asking me to pick up milk on the way home. These useful Siri-powered features also work on some Beats devices, and while I know it won’t appeal to everyone, I’ve found it useful to know what messages, reminders and events are coming through without needing to continually pick up my phone.

5. Clever 'Find My' integration

I’d file this one under 'added peace of mind' as I’ve only misplaced my AirPods around the house a handful of times, but the extent to which 'Find My' is built into these buds makes them invaluable to anyone prone to forgetting where they last put their AirPods.

Should the worst happen, you can hop into the 'Find My' app and check the location of your earbuds. If you’re lucky, they’ll be within sight and you can tap a button to make them emit a chime. The second-gen AirPods Pro are one of the only models available with that little chirp built right into the charging case. If they’re in Bluetooth range, you also get accurate directions to the nearby location of the earphones, courtesy of the ultra-wideband chip.

AirPods lost and far from home? You’ll also be able to take advantage of Apple’s 'Find My' ecosystem to pinpoint their exact location on a map using your iPhone, iPad, or the iCloud website. I haven’t yet had to use this feature, thankfully, but I’m glad it’s there and it’s not something you’re going to find on other pairs yet.

What about the alternatives?

Don’t care about these extras or more fussed about cross-device compatibility? I get that and often feel the same way. Luckily, I’ve tested out several pairs that I recommend as alternatives to AirPods or AirPods Pro, depending on your priorities. These can often cost a lot less than the Apple pair.

If you want top sound quality for under £150, check out the Final ZE2000 and ZE3000, or the Nothing Ear (2). Want fantastic budget all-rounders with impressive noise-cancelling? You should look at the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, the JBL Live Pro 2 and the Jabra Elite 5.

Still keen to get most of these Apple-focused features but also use non-Apple and Android devices? You’ll want to go with Beats. We recommend the Studio Buds to those on a budget, but we’re also fans of the Studio Buds + and the Beats Fit Pro, especially when they’re on offer.

Staying in the premium tier? If you’re not on a budget we’d say that the top Bose buds beat all challengers when it comes to noise-cancelling, the flagship Sonys are a great option for features and ANC, while the Technics AZ80 and Jabra Elite 10 are some of the best all-rounders. For those with sound quality as the main priority, the AirPods Pro are worthy, but so are the Technics, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3, the Final ZE8000 and many more. Just be warned, this can all start to get pretty expensive when you start looking at the leading brands.