AirPods Pro (2nd generation): a year in our ears

By the Orchard Lab team · 2026-10-12

We have used the second-generation AirPods Pro with the USB-C case on commutes, flights and long days at the desk. Here is how they have held up.

The good

• Noise cancellation is strong enough to make a train ride genuinely quiet, and Adaptive Audio handles the transition to a noisy street better than we expected.
• Transparency mode remains the most natural we have tried — you forget you are wearing earbuds.
• The case charges over USB-C, has a speaker for Find My, and a lanyard loop that we actually use.

The not-so-good

• Fit is personal. Run the ear-tip fit test in Settings and try the other tip sizes before giving up.
• They are at their best with an iPhone. On Android or Windows you lose automatic switching and most of the settings.