Eric Chan / Engadget
awaiting,three yearsApple finally announced a brand new AirPods Pro second generation(hereinafter referred to as AirPods Pro 2). Before the event, there had been a lot of news and rumors, saying that Apple has been sharpening its sword for many years, what will happen to the new in-ear active noise-cancelling headphones, and the new products that have come out in reality seem to surprise everyone. This time, the AirPods Pro 2 uses stronger noise cancellation as the main axis of the upgrade, and adds a series of changes to improve the operability, but the long-awaited high-resolution audio has not been heard. Is such an upgrade a failure? Or is it Apple’s smartest move? Let me share my thoughts with you here.
The evolution of the headset itself
Eric Chan / Engadget
With the debut of AirPods Pro 2, everyone’s attention is naturally focused on the earphone person. From the outside, AirPods Pro 2 is not different from the previous generation. If the first generation of the editor had replaced the ear sponge, it would really be confused when taking pictures. However, a sliding gesture has been added to the operation, so that AirPods Pro 2 can adjust the volume directly by swiping the iconic earphone handle, so that the independence of the earphone is more complete, and the operation on the mobile phone and watch is reduced. needs. So everyone keeps talking about taking this little pole of the AirPods Pro 2 away? No, Apple has entrusted the task.
Eric Chan / Engadget
Where you can’t see it, it has the biggest upgrade of AirPods Pro 2. Apple has equipped the earphones with a new H2 chip, which it claims has doubled the number of transistors to more than 1 billion, so that there will be stronger computing power and energy efficiency. The most direct reason for improving the computing power of active noise-cancelling headphones, we have also mentioned when we talked about other brand products in the past, that is, to allow headphones to process more and more complex audio data faster, thereby improving noise reduction. accuracy.
Here’s a quick review of the principle of active noise-cancelling headphones, which cancels external noise by letting the headphones play a sound signal that is out of phase with the external environment. At this time, there is a major challenge to the processing performance of the noise reduction chip of the earphone, because it must be powerful enough to calculate the inverse signal in a timely and accurate manner, because the performance improvement of H2 is almost equal to the performance improvement of AirPods Pro 2 in noise reduction. The improvement, in Apple’s parlance, is double the upgrade, capable of processing 48,000 times per second.
Although I usually cooperate withear cottonTo enhance the sound insulation of the original AirPods Pro for treble and vocals, but when listening to AirPods Pro 2, after choosing the appropriate original ear gel, it has a very good noise reduction effect. When there is music playing, it is unlikely to hear the outside world. the sound of. Going back to the urban legend that the ANC function of AirPods Pro gradually weakens, the editor himself has not encountered this problem. There is a conjecture here that the eargel becomes old after long-term use. You may try to replace it with a new one. The ear gel can also bring a different sense of hearing.
Eric Chan / Engadget
On the other hand, Apple has also added a feature called “Adaptive Transparency Mode”, which allows users to turn down the loud noise and reduce the sudden The loud noise may be frightening, and to a certain extent, it is more protective of the hearing. If you have the opportunity to connect AirPods Pro 2 to Apple Watch to listen to songs, you can enter the “Hearing” app to view the reduced noise level in real time. The difference can be as much as 20 decibels. However, for the light rail LRT sound that I hear most often, it seems that the sound is not loud enough to be offset. I will try to find the construction site to test it later.
New settings page / Ear ID?
Eric Chan / Engadget
In the past, the setting pages of AirPods were all hidden in the Bluetooth page, but when iOS 16 comes, there is finally a separate page. After connecting the iPhone to the headset, it is easier to adjust the relevant settings. In addition, if you are holding an iPhone with a TrueDepth camera to use with AirPods Pro 2 (AirPods Pro 1,AirPods 3、AirPods Max You can also) connect, you can add more files of personalized spatial audio.
When set up, just like Face ID to record faces, the personalized spatial audio is Ear ID. It needs to scan the size and shape of the head and ears. After completion, it will apply to all supported headphones in Apple ID.Yes, the entire setup process follows Sony The Personalized Audio feature of the headset is similar, so this will also be a standard feature of the new generation of headphones, right?
Take Apple Music as an example, pastSpatial Audio EffectsAlthough it can highlight the sense of positioning, it will have a sense of excessive distance and feel very empty. However, after it has become a personalized spatial audio, the sense of space will become more accurate, and you will have a three-dimensional spatial audio experience at a more comfortable distance. It is the most obvious and most effective upgrade in the sound effect improvement of the entire AirPods Pro 2.
Has the charging box been upgraded again?
Eric Chan / Engadget
Along the way, the AirPods product series has been upgraded more intensively than headphones. First, wireless charging was added, and then MagSafe charging support was added. This time, the new MagSafe charging box that came with AirPods Pro 2 is even more surprising. Apple Watch Magnetic Charger Support! This reduces the appearance of cables on the table, and the all-in-one charging stand can also charge different products more flexibly.
Eric Chan / Engadget
In addition to making charging easier, Apple also seems to want to solve the problem of often missing AirPods Pro. In addition to the fact that the headphone body already supports the Find My network earlier, the new charging box this time has a built-in U1 chip for accurate search, and there are speakers on the body to emit prompt sounds. After testing it, I found that it is quite loud. I believe it can increase the chances of everyone finding the charging box.
Eric Chan / Engadget
Of course, Find My is a way to treat the symptoms but not the root cause. It’s best if the earphone box doesn’t fall from the body. So Apple simply added a strap hole to the side of the new MagSafe charging case, allowing you to hang the AirPods Pro 2 on your bag. But in this way, isn’t the third-party protective case useless? Or will it open up a new way of making money for pendant ropes? Just let’s see.
Eric Chan / Engadget
Finally, the charging box itself has also followed up on the waterproofness of the earphones. It has IPX4 certification and can withstand water splashing on the device from any angle for 10 minutes.
Summarize
Eric Chan / Engadget
After fully experiencing the various functions of the second generation of the new AirPods Pro, are you satisfied with this upgrade? Hi-Res support has not been added, but other parts have been improved to varying degrees inside and out.That is to say, the editor also agrees with Apple’s approach. After all, not everyone can enjoy and experience the improvement of sound quality (many people are still using it. Spotify), and are also strongly influenced by subjective opinions. In contrast, stronger noise reduction, swipe gestures, and the new MagSafe charging case are all real upgrades.
Of course, the editor personally still hopes that one day Apple can really hand over a wireless codec that can correspond to high-resolution music, so that the iPhone can listen to songs on par with the Android camp. However, the current high-bit rate Bluetooth encoding has stability problems, and it may greatly reduce the user experience. Even if it can be obtained, it will be an endless investment to face other challenges in sound quality. So Apple is wiser to stay put.
In the end, it also echoes the feeling of the earlier AirPods Max evaluation. For Apple, AirPods Pro 2 is not a product that pursues the best sound quality. It is more like a complete part of the Apple ecosystem, allowing Siri, Apple Watch, iPhone , Apple TV has a voice channel. So it doesn’t matter if you don’t directly respond to the most direct demands of music lovers, because the improved operability of AirPods Pro 2 is more direct and attractive to a wider audience.