I suppose I can count as something of a headphone enthusiast. I started with the MX500 and CX300, and over the years I’ve played with everything from a few hundred to several thousand—or even tens of thousands—of yuan. I still regularly use six pairs today, but the one I use the most is still the AirPods. Simply because they’re just too convenient.

But AirPods aren’t perfect yet. They can’t fully replace all my other headphones. When I need great sound quality, I’ll still reach for my Sennheiser over-ears plugged into an amp. When I need something for sports, I’ll choose a pair with longer single-session battery life, a more secure fit, and proper water resistance. When I need to completely isolate external noise, I’ll go for my custom-molded in-ears that physically block out sound.

Yet the new AirPods Pro 3 have genuinely captured my attention. It really looks like it might be that “all-in-one,” well-rounded, hexagon-warrior, chosen-one device.

The convenience AirPods are known for goes without saying. The new acoustic design reportedly improves sound quality and even brings spatial audio. IP57 dust and water resistance, an innovative heart-rate sensor, and 8 hours of single-charge battery life check all the boxes for sports headphones. And with twice the noise-cancelling power, it also meets the needs of isolating external sounds.

Unexpectedly Strong Sports Capabilities

The biggest innovation of the AirPods Pro 3 is undoubtedly the built-in heart rate sensor. This isn’t Apple’s first attempt at integrating a heart rate sensor into earbuds—its adopted child Beats used one more than half a year earlier, but according to professional foreign media tests, it was almost unusable. Will the AirPods Pro 3 be any better? Let’s take a look at what might be the only fully Chinese-language review of the AirPods Pro 3’s heart-rate-monitoring feature.

What is a heart rate monitor

Let’s start with a simple explanation of what a heart rate monitor is and what it’s used for.

Heart rate has always been the most important metric for quantifying exercise intensity. Heart rate data reflects intensity, efficiency, metabolism, oxygen consumption, lactate accumulation, and fatigue/recovery status. It helps guide your training and ensures you don’t overwork—or underwork—yourself.

But heart rate is not the best metric. Temperature, humidity, dryness, and even your mood can greatly affect heart rate, making it far less precise than power output as a real-time indicator of exercise intensity.

However, that doesn’t mean heart rate is useless. For winter base training, recovery from injury, or beginners just starting out, using heart rate zones for low-intensity aerobic training is an extremely friendly and effective method.

In addition, for those trying to lose weight, staying within Zone 2 guided by heart rate can make training more efficient—and more enjoyable.

Today’s common heart rate monitors come in two forms: bio-electrical (ECG) chest straps and optical heart rate sensors.

Bio-electrical or ECG chest straps are the most common type of heart rate monitor. They typically come as a strap worn across the chest—one of the infamous “two great embarrassments of sports gear,” along with compression tights.

These straps measure the tiny electrical currents across your skin to determine heart rate, using the same underlying principle as medical ECG machines. This is a mature and highly accurate monitoring technology. Chest straps range from basic models costing a bit over a hundred yuan to high-end models costing over a thousand, with more advanced metrics. The downside: they’re not very comfortable to wear.

For this test, the baseline device used is the Garmin HRM-Tri triathlon heart rate strap: formerly Garmin’s flagship product and a benchmark for heart rate straps. A versatile all-rounder, it not only provides basic heart rate monitoring but also tracks advanced running dynamics such as stride length, cadence, and vertical oscillation. It also has excellent waterproofing, can be worn for swimming, records heart rate during the swim and syncs afterward, and supports HRV measurements.

Photoplethysmography (PPG) heart-rate monitoring works by using photodiodes to project light through the skin. Because changes in blood flow cause variations in hemoglobin density, a PPG sensor calculates heart-rate data by detecting differences in light reflection. This technology can experience slight inaccuracies due to sweat, motion, temperature, or ambient light interference, which manufacturers compensate for through their own algorithms.

The strengths and weaknesses of these two heart-rate measurement methods are almost opposite. In real-world use, even high-end optical sensors may show occasional anomalies in the data and cannot match the 100% stability and accuracy of electrical-current-based sensors.

But optical sensors are far superior in wearing comfort. They can be built into armbands, wristbands, and watches, and can even support 24/7 continuous monitoring. Apple has taken this even further by integrating optical heart-rate sensors into the already highly compact Beats earbuds and AirPods Pro 3—an impressive engineering feat.

For comparison, I used the Garmin Fenix 7X sports watch, my primary optical heart-rate device. Heart-rate monitoring is just one of the built-in functions of a sports watch, yet the range of metrics it gathers is the most comprehensive: basic heart rate and HRV, blood-oxygen saturation, VO₂ max, respiratory rate, and more. After OTA updates, it even supports advanced running dynamics—like cadence and vertical oscillation—previously exclusive to high-end chest straps, though its accuracy still can’t fully match a dedicated heart-rate strap.

Comfort of Wearing

AirPods Pro 3 > Garmin Fenix 7X >> Garmin HRM-Tri chest strap.

AirPods Pro 3 is undoubtedly the most comfortable, because you simply don’t feel it at all. There are no bumps or special materials on the earbuds themselves, and Apple made the whole sensor module so compact that unless you’re really familiar with product design, you wouldn’t even guess there’s a heart-rate sensor hidden inside.

Next is the watch. For people used to wearing watches, it’s completely natural and doesn’t require any extra step before a workout. Ever since I started using a sports watch, I almost stopped touching my chest strap. But the watch’s sensor does protrude noticeably, and after long wear it leaves clear marks on the skin. Some people even experience mild allergic reactions or slight burns from the optical sensor.

The chest strap is, unsurprisingly, the most uncomfortable. If it weren’t for testing the accuracy of the AirPods Pro 3, I honestly wouldn’t bother wearing it.

Test Data and Analysis

First is the indoor bike trainer test, which provides the most controlled environment. The test covers Zones 1 through 7, from aerobic to anaerobic intensity. In all charts, green represents the baseline Garmin chest strap, blue is the Garmin Fenix 7X optical heart-rate sensor, and red is AirPods Pro 3.

AirPods Pro 3 performed unexpectedly well.

As you can see, the three lines almost completely overlap, with no major heart-rate drops or data anomalies. In the summary data below, all three devices show nearly identical average heart rates, and the AirPods Pro 3’s peak heart rate is only 1 bpm lower—well within acceptable error margins.

Surprisingly, the AirPods Pro 3 actually performed better than the theoretically more professional Garmin device. If you look closely, you’ll notice that whenever power output fluctuates, heart rate also shows small variations. The Garmin chest strap (green line) reacts the fastest, and in some cases it’s the only one that responds at all. That’s why chest straps remain the most precise and detailed heart-rate measurement devices.

But the AirPods Pro 3 performed better than the Garmin watch. During a large 500-watt power change, the AirPods Pro 3 responded faster than the watch.

Next, let’s zoom in. During a sudden anaerobic burst, the chest strap is still the fastest, but the AirPods Pro 3 follow up very quickly—while the Garmin watch hesitates for a moment before catching up.

In two sets of 300-watt high-power outputs, the trend remains the same.

And during a longer period of medium-to-high power output, all three devices were able to measure heart-rate changes accurately enough within acceptable range. But when it comes to detecting subtle heart-rate fluctuations, only the chest strap can truly capture the details—this is determined by the measurement principle itself. For the vast majority of people, though, all three devices are entirely sufficient.

What about outdoor conditions, where things get more complicated?

As it happened, Beijing’s weather in October was unpredictable, so I tested them during a race.

In this round of testing, the AirPods Pro 3 didn’t perform as well as they did indoors—the delay was slightly longer (see the last three red boxes). But overall performance was still very impressive. In fact, at the beginning of the activity, the AirPods Pro 3 entered the correct state even faster than the Garmin watch (first red box).

Even when pushing to peak heart rate, the AirPods Pro 3 showed no issues, and their accuracy was not affected by sweat or other factors.

AirPods Pro 3’s heart-rate measurement accuracy far exceeded my expectations. It’s remarkably good — completely usable. Keep in mind that AirPods Pro 3 measure from the auricle, which has only sparse capillaries, making the challenge much greater than that of a smartwatch. Apple’s technical capability is truly terrifying.

If I have to nitpick, it’s that the overall curve is too smooth. This was already somewhat noticeable in the indoor tests, but indoor heart rate fluctuations are smaller, so it wasn’t obvious. Outdoors, where heart rate changes more dramatically, the curve lacks the small micro-variations that a normal heart-rate curve should show.

But whether for elite athletes or beginners, heart-rate data is mostly for logging, not ultra-precise measurement. So aside from someone like me who zooms in on curves, almost no one would notice this.

Data Collection and Expandability

It’s a pity that AirPods Pro 3’s excellent heart-rate measurement capability is not fully utilized. Currently, only iPhone can extract heart-rate data, and even then, only a few native workout apps on iOS 26 support it — and you need to have music playing for it to work. You can’t use them as a standalone heart-rate device.

Third-party app support is currently poor. Mainstream platforms like Strava and Zwift can’t use it. The only third-party app I found that supports it is Keep, but you need a subscription to enable it, which makes it hard to evaluate.

At the moment, AirPods Pro 3 cannot be recognized by more professional sports devices as a Bluetooth heart-rate sensor. The only thing that sort of works is the Apple Watch. According to Apple, when AirPods Pro 3 are used together with Apple Watch, the system uses algorithmic fusion to make the heart-rate data more accurate.

Can AirPods Pro 3 Be Used as Sports Earbuds?

AirPods Pro 3 improve fit. The new foam tips primarily enhance passive noise isolation but also incidentally improve stability. Paired with the new design, even without ear hooks, they stay secure during running and cycling.

With an IP57 rating, they’re safe from sweat and can even theoretically be rinsed under water.

Anyone who exercises often knows you rarely have free hands to answer calls. AirPods Pro 3 add gesture-based controls: shaking your head to decline and nodding to accept. Too bad it never once worked for me—maybe my movements weren’t big enough?

Battery life is rated at 8 hours, or 6.5 hours with heart-rate monitoring. This easily covers a weekend 100-km cycling session. In my test, I listened continuously for 6 hours and consumed 72% battery—consistent with the 8-hour claim. For heart-rate monitoring, my multiple tests averaged 18% consumption per hour, suggesting about 5.5 hours of battery life. My highest was 20% in one hour.

I suspect this is due to differing noise-cancellation loads, because one earbud consumed significantly more—and it happened to be the one facing constant wind. This leads to AirPods Pro 3’s fatal flaw as a sports earbud—wind noise is very loud.

Because of the protruding stem, AirPods Pro 3 naturally catch wind. Whether ANC is on, transparency is on, or ANC is off entirely, the wind noise is always obvious. When cycling, it’s present 100% of the time—even at slow speeds. For running, it appears at around a pace of 4:00/km.

You won’t be unable to hear audio, but it’s definitely loud. And when wind varies from side to side, the imbalance becomes uncomfortable—a common scenario in both running and cycling.

Overall, AirPods Pro 3 are not a perfect sports earbud—and they weren’t designed to be. But their heart-rate monitoring is genuinely phenomenal. For indoor light exercise users without professional sports gear, they can absolutely serve as auxiliary training equipment, helping guide workout intensity and safety. Paired with ANC in a gym, they should be great.

Given such impressive heart-rate performance, I’m very excited to see where Apple takes health monitoring technology next.

Convenient and Comfortable Daily Earphones

I believe many people, like me, always wear earphones when going out alone—both to isolate themselves from the world and to make the journey less boring. In this scenario, AirPods are undoubtedly the best choice.

When the first-generation AirPods were released, Apple was heavily mocked—cutting off the EarPods’ wires just to make a quick profit? Yet once AirPods hit the market, both the media and consumers ended up eating their words: they were surprisingly good. No wonder—AirPods are simply excellent.

Unlike traditional Bluetooth earphones, AirPods don’t require complicated pairing. They seamlessly switch between iPhone, Mac, and iPad. There’s no power switch—they’re ready to use right out of the case. Controls are simple; a tap plays, pauses, or skips tracks. Wearing them is effortless; the EarPods design is actually very well-engineered for long-term comfort. Most importantly, AirPods feature a semi-open design, so they don’t completely block out external sound, allowing conversations without removing the earphones.

AirPods Pro 3 continues these advantages. The Apple ecosystem still achieves seamless switching most of the time, though I’ve encountered a few cases where incoming iPhone calls couldn’t be answered while connected to a Mac.

In terms of wearing comfort, the AirPods Pro 3 is slightly inferior to the regular AirPods due to its physical structure. The semi-open design makes it easy to hear ambient sounds. Transparency mode can be a bit noisy—fine in quiet environments, but in an office or on the street, external sounds come through clearly. Turning off transparency mode gives a more in-ear isolation effect, though the new foam tips may feel slightly pressurized after extended wear. Overall, it’s still excellent, akin to a 99 versus 90 comparison with standard AirPods.

Control-wise, it’s similar. The tap controls on the first and second-generation AirPods were the most convenient. The AirPods Pro series now consolidates all functions on the earphone stem, using different pressure levels and tap counts to skip tracks, answer calls, switch noise cancellation modes, and adjust volume. You just need to get used to the small stem; it’s not as instantly intuitive as tapping the original AirPods.

Another feature I really like on the AirPods Pro 3 is the sleep mode—music automatically pauses when you fall asleep. I suspect this leverages the heart rate monitoring, similar to how a smartwatch tracks sleep. Once it detects you’re asleep, it automatically stops playback. Anyone who has ever slept with headphones knows the frustration of being abruptly woken by an unexpected track—after all, timers are rarely precise.

Another significant downgrade: reduced battery in the case one notable compromise is the reduced battery in the charging case. Officially, the total playback time dropped from 30 hours to 24 hours, but in practice it feels even less. Previously, AirPods cases could go ten days or more without needing a charge, whereas with the AirPods Pro 3, after just a few uses, the battery seems noticeably lower.

Here’s a quick record of battery top-ups: on average, a charge gives about 13 hours, the minimum is 8 hours, and the maximum is 17 hours. It’s not very stable. Interestingly, after heavy usage (like a 6-hour session), topping up doesn’t seem to restore much battery, while after lighter usage, the same top-up might feel like it drains faster.

Sound Quality—Hardly Worth Discussing

While all manufacturers love to tout their headphones’ sound quality, for Bluetooth earbuds, sound quality is largely a moot point. On one hand, Bluetooth transmission protocols inherently limit bitrate. Even high-end headphones supporting LDAC or APT-X Lossless peak around 1 Mbps. Four years ago, AirPods 3 claimed “lossless” support, and yet the AirPods Pro 3 still only supports the modest AAC codec.

On the other hand, Bluetooth earbuds—especially in-ear ones—prioritize battery life over powerful DAC chips or large drivers, so HiFi-grade sound is impossible from both hardware and software perspectives.

Does sound quality matter? Yes, but not as much as you might think. The human ear and brain are fascinating: I’ve listened to in-ear monitors costing tens of thousands, and large over-ear setups costing hundreds of thousands. Initially, the sound impresses—the soundstage feels expansive, the details smooth—but over time, it’s just “good-sounding music.” Different gear shows its strengths mostly in direct comparisons, but after prolonged listening, you acclimate and it all feels normal.

There’s a difference between active and passive listening. Active listening is like visiting an art museum to appreciate a master painting—every subtle brushstroke brings pleasure. Passive listening is like hanging a reproduction at home; you rarely scrutinize it, but glimpsing it in passing still lifts your mood.

Manufacturers understand this. Meticulous HiFi music, like museum-grade art, appeals to a niche audience. It’s often more fun to offer something playful and engaging, like spatial audio.

Spatial audio is a next-generation audio technology based on Dolby Atmos, designed around the listener in a point-to-point audio format. It can separate individual instruments and vocals across 360-degree positions, making sounds appear from above, in front, or behind you, creating the sensation of being in the center of the stage.

Take my favorite spatial audio track, the musical number Satisfied from Hamilton, as an example. Angelica Schuyler, Hamilton’s sister-in-law, performs a toast song at Hamilton’s wedding.

At the beginning, when Angelica delivers her lines, you can hear her calling out the bridesmaids and groomsmen in front, while harmonies come from behind your ears. It feels as if you are standing at the wedding, right between Angelica and the bridal party.

Then the song moves into Angelica’s stream of thoughts and flashback memories, with notes swirling from all directions like a vortex, pulling you into the flow of time. You can hear snippets of the earlier track A Winter’s Ball coming from various directions, following Angelica’s recollection of first meeting Hamilton.

Lin-Manuel Miranda uses parallel narrative in this song—two stories unfolding across a single time dimension. With traditional stereo music, all sound comes from one angle, making it hard to perceive depth. Spatial audio lets you “stand on the stage” as Angelica, experiencing her frustration and uncertainty firsthand. Coupled with video, it allows a deeper understanding of this groundbreaking musical.

Currently, the best spatial audio experience is still a home theater setup. AirPods render spatial audio through headphones, which cannot fully replicate the sensation of being in the center of the stage. You can hear harmonies around you, but precise front/back positioning is limited. This is not a limitation of AirPods specifically—headphones in general face this challenge.

So far, I’ve only experienced true home-theater-level spatial audio on Sonos’ Bluetooth headphones, Ace. This requires decoding full Dolby Atmos through Sonos speakers, then transmitting it via WiFi to the headphones. This points to another technical frontier for wireless headphones—WiFi audio. If Apple wants to push AirPods’ sound quality further, this is a potential path. Xiaomi has already demonstrated it, and Apple has related technology: Apple TV and HomePod can transmit Dolby Atmos audio via WiFi.

Overall, in terms of sound quality, the AirPods Pro 3 is similar to its predecessors—above average, capable of providing enjoyable sound, but not exceptional.

Top-Tier Noise Cancellation

I’m very sensitive to the ear pressure changes caused by noise cancellation. I once tried the first-generation AirPods Pro, but I couldn’t stand the dizzying feeling of ear pressure shifting when ANC was on—it gave me a headache immediately, like a tightening curse. For a long time, on long trips or in noisy environments, I relied on a FiiO Bluetooth ear-hook paired with custom in-ear monitors for pure physical noise isolation.

But as I mentioned at the start, AirPods are a must-have. Carrying an extra set of headphones is a hassle, so I’ve tried different noise-canceling headphones, including the AirPods 4 ANC version. Semi-open designs greatly reduce sudden ear pressure changes, but they compromise noise cancellation, making them unsuitable for long trips.

The AirPods Pro 3, however, deliver outstanding noise cancellation. The new foam ear tips fully isolate external noise, and the new multi-hole design keeps ear pressure changes minimal—acceptable for me. Among all the noise-canceling headphones I’ve tried, only the Sonos Ace can achieve zero ear pressure change, but that’s a bulky over-ear design, not practical for travel.

AirPods Pro 3 can fully replace my custom in-ear monitors while adding convenient features like automatically switching to transparency mode and lowering music volume during conversation—a true showcase of technological convenience.

Summary

The AirPods Pro 3 is a top-tier noise-canceling headphone, an excellent everyday headphone, a headphone with adequate sound quality, and, within limits, a top-notch in-ear sports headphone. It’s not a perfect “hexagonal warrior,” but it does cover all six sides and works hard to expand its boundaries.

If you’re hesitating between different headphones, AirPods Pro 3 is the one you can choose blindly. For features that competitors have, like noise cancellation and sound quality, it excels. For features competitors lack, like the seamless ecosystem experience, it also excels. Its limitations stem either from form factor constraints, like spatial audio, or from overreaching beyond its abilities, like in the sports headphone category. But for users doing indoor workouts, yoga, or dance, AirPods Pro 3 is fully capable of supporting exercise.

AirPods Pro 3 can rightfully claim to be the most versatile TWS Bluetooth headphone today, with enormous potential for future development. Imagine the possibilities when heart-rate monitoring is paired with health algorithms—the user base is far larger than that of the Apple Watch. With the newly launched real-time translation across Mainland China, the AirPods line truly deserves to be called Apple’s greatest product after the iPhone.