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Tech · Apple · 2023

Apple AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C)

If you live on Apple hardware, the convenience gap outweighs any sound-quality argument.

The phone in your pocket rewrites this order — #1

Overall

8.5

out of 10

Axis scores

Tech is scored on these 5 axes. The total is their plain average — nothing is weighted.

Apple AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C) — axis scores out of 10Horizontal bar chart of editorial scores out of 10 across 5 axes. Bars run from a shared zero baseline; longer is better. Apple AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C): Performance 8.5, Value 7.8, Durability 8.0, Ease of use 9.3, Design 8.8.PerformanceApple AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C) — Performance 8.5 out of 108.5ValueApple AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C) — Value 7.8 out of 107.8DurabilityApple AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C) — Durability 8.0 out of 108.0Ease of useApple AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C) — Ease of use 9.3 out of 109.3DesignApple AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C) — Design 8.8 out of 108.8Editorial score out of 10 — higher is better
  • Performance — How well it does the core job
  • Value — What the same money buys elsewhere
  • Durability — Failure and fade reports past the one-year mark
  • Ease of use — Setup, daily operation, cleaning, maintenance
  • Design — Build quality and how it sits in a room

Specs

Codecs
SBC, AAC
Battery
About 6 hrs with ANC on
Charging
USB-C
Water resistance
IP54

As published by the manufacturer. We didn't measure these ourselves.

Is it for you

Buy it if

  • An iPhone, an iPad, and a Mac all in daily rotation
  • You move between devices constantly and want the handoff automatic
  • Call quality is a real part of your day

Skip it if

  • Android is your main phone, which strands most of the feature set
  • Local lossless files are the point, and AAC is the ceiling here

Audio follows you from phone to Mac to tablet without a menu; opening the case puts battery levels on screen; Find My locates a lost bud down to a room. You are buying the connection, not the sound. Small things, repeated a dozen times a day, are the kind of value a spec comparison never shows.

The USB-C revision matters more than it sounds. Charging aligns with everything else you own, and the case gained an IP54 rating, so the thing that lives in a pocket with keys and coins is now rated against dust.

Cancellation on this generation is strong for an in-ear design, a clear step up from the first Pro and competitive with anything else at this size. Adaptive Audio blends transparency and cancellation dynamically, and it is the feature most likely to be left on instead of switched off after a week.

On Android it degrades to an ordinary pair of AAC earbuds with no app, no firmware updates, no automatic switching, and no ear-tip fit test. Everything that justifies the price is gone.

The stem-mounted force sensor for volume is more reliable than the touch surfaces competitors use, though it takes a few days to stop feeling odd. Battery degradation on the buds themselves is the known long-term limitation, and Apple’s replacement path is a paid service, not a user-swappable cell. Factor that into a three-to-four-year ownership window.

Last updated . The scoring method is on how we rank.