Is AirPods Pro 3 worth buying in 2026?

AirPods Pro 3 handle street noise, including cars, horns and engines
An undated image of AirPods Pro 3. — Apple/Canva
An undated image of AirPods Pro 3. — Apple/Canva

As someone who has used the AirPods Pro 2 since they launched in 2022, then you will definitely love the AirPods Pro 3, released on September 19, 2025, offering a better fit, longer battery life, built-in heart rate sensors and more effective noise cancelling, and look set to be just as ubiquitous as their predecessors.

Apple has made improvements in the shape of the AirPods Pro 3, changing slightly the way you put them in and making them more comfortable than their predecessors for extended listening sessions of three hours or more. The company has included five sizes of tips in the box, but if you didn’t get on with silicone earbuds before these won’t make a difference.

What to know about AirPods Pro 3?

One of the major hardware feature addition is heart rate monitoring via sensors on the side of the AirPods Pro 3, similar to Apple’s Powerbeats Pro 2 fitness buds. They can be used with more than 50 workouts started in the Fitness app or a handful of third-party apps on the iPhone and proved to be roughly in line with readings from a Garmin Forerunner 970 or an Apple Watch during walks and runs. 

The earbuds are water-resistant to IP57 standards, which makes them much more robust against rain and sweat than before.

The company said the battery life has been increased by a third to at least eight hours of playback with noise cancelling for each charge, which is very competitive with some of the best rivals and long enough for most listening sessions.

AirPods pro 3 key specs

  • Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, SBC, AAC, H2 chip, UWB
  • Battery life: eight hours ANC playback (24 hours with case)
  • Water resistance: IP57 (buds and case)
  • Earbud dimensions: 30.9 x 19.2 x 27.0mm
  • Earbud weight: 5.6g each
  • Charging case dimensions: 47.2 x 62.2 x 21.8mm
  • Charging case weight: 44g
  • Case charging: USB-C, Qi wireless/MagSafe, Apple Watch

The AirPods Pro 3 sound almost exactly like the AirPods Pro 2, meaning they pump out the same rich, balanced audio output. However, the thing multiple users didn't liked is that the AirPods Pro 3’s charging case actually has less rated battery life than before, at 24 versus 30 hours.

Moreover, the AirPods and case contain 40% recycled material by weight including aluminium, cobalt, copper, gold, lithium, plastic, rare earth elements and tin. 

If you're now thinking to buy AirPods pro 3, then you should know that it have very effective noise cancelling, great sound, best-in-class transparency, water resistance, built-in HR monitoring, great controls, advanced features with Apple devices including spatial audio, very comfortable, excellent case, top class call quality.

However, this is very natural that every device contains some issues, as the AirPods Pro 3 is extremely difficult to repair, expensive, no hi-res audio support, lack features when connected to Android/Windows, look the same as predecessors, only available in white.