Review: Apple AirPods 3 packs amazing tech into tiny buds

Apple AirPods 3 is music to your ears but is it perfect?

Third generation Apple AirPods.

It’s nearly sunset at Sydney Park, in the city’s inner west, and I’m walking briskly along a dirt track with sizeable undergrowth listening to a spatial audio playlist on Apple’s new third generation AirPods.

Spatial audio is Apple’s take on virtualised surround sound and AirPods 3 has it. Voices can sound out in front of you, instruments can play besides or behind you. Artists can configure where sounds originate from with software. Apple last week demonstrated software that achieves this on its new MacBook Pros.

Apple AirPods 3

It’s about creating tiny differences in the sounds coming to your left and right ears to signify direction.

Traditional surround sound involves multiple speakers in a room; AirPods emulating this in a small earbud which is clever tech.

For added realism, the dynamic head tracking that comes with Apple’s spatial audio prevents the music changing direction when you move your head. It retains its three dimensional position.

As I walk along this track, the unexpected happens. My left AirPod falls out, ricocheting off my left forearm and ending in the thick undergrowth before I had a chance to see where it went. Lost AirPod. My review is blunted.

I start by looking through the scrub to no avail. As AirPods have their own power, they can play a tune when lost, so I fire up the Find My app on the iPhone to get it to reveal itself. Sadly I can’t hear a thing with cicadas and other insects in full early evening voice.

Apple AirPods 3 Find My option

Fortunately a woman behind me on the track offers to help. She hears the high pitched tune coming from the scrub at right. It’s high pitched and sounds like the evening call of an insect. The left AirPod 3 is found. (Memo to Apple: Give uses tune options as the default frequency might be too high for some users.)

The incident highlights one issue I have with AirPods 3. Apple continues to run the gauntlet of one size fits all ear holes with AirPods and with AirPods 3 in particular, which does not use silicone earbud tips to help secure them.

Putting that concern aside, which may or may not be an issue for you, depending on your earhole size, the sound emanating from those small AirPods is full bodied, vibrant, and immersive, thanks to Dolby Atmos and spatial audio.

AirPods 3 are great. You get nearly all of what AirPods Pro offers for $120 less – $279 for AirPods 3 as against $399 for AirPods Pro.

Apple AirPods 3 supports spatial audio

As well as spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, AirPods 3 offers adaptive EQ which modifies the sound based on ear geometry. This improves low and mid frequencies.

AirPods 3 can switch to whatever Apple iPhone, iPad or Apple TV you are using, it connects directly to Apple Watch if you listen to music while training, which I do with Apple Music, and it supports Siri voice commands.

You can charge AirPods 3 in three ways: on a Qi wireless charging pad, with a lightning cable or with Apple’s MagSafe magnetic connector introduced last year. Apple promises longer listening time on AirPods 3 (up to 6 hours) compared to AirPods Pro (up to 4.5 hours). You get 30 hours overall using refills from the case.

AirPods 3, like AirPods Pro, is sweat and water resistance.

You do, however, miss out on active noise cancellation available with AirPods Pro and AirPods Max headphones.

The Force Sensor located on the stem is configured differently on this new model. On AirPods Pro, I press the sensor to toggle noise cancellation. With AirPods 3, you press it once to play, pause or answer a call, twice to skip forward, three times to skip back, and hold it to summon Siri.

Apple AirPods family and Australian prices.

It’s fiddly, but I get it working, using my thumb and middle finger to squeeze the stem’s sensor, with my index finger holding the AirPods firmly to my ear. The easier option is to ask Siri to perform these functions. These days Siri manages to hear your voice commands without you needing to turn down the volume.

AirPods 3 also works with Apple TV including movies making use of surround/spatial sound such as Greyhound with Tom Hanks on Apple TV+. The sound was sheer graphic realism. You can see why this movie earned an Academy Award nomination for best sound.

AirPods 3 represents amazing technology wrapped up in tiny buds and the $279 price is tempting. If you do have trouble keeping them in your ears, maybe shell out another $120 for AirPods Pro which additionally gives you noise cancellation. If you stay with AirPods 3 you can enjoy vibrant spatial sound on the go as I did.

Apple AirPods 3 are available from Tuesday October 26. Price: $279.

AirPods 2 remains on sale at $129.