Like clockwork, Apple launched a brand new set of iPhones this September. However the spotlight of the “Awe Dropping” keynote for me wasn’t the brand new iPhone 17 lineup and even the Apple Watch Sequence 11. It was the brand new AirPods Professional 3.
As an Android consumer for the previous few years, I’ve all the time been a bit envious of how seamlessly the AirPods work inside the Apple ecosystem. You possibly can effortlessly swap between units, take pleasure in that modern connection animation each time you open the case, and expertise a number of the finest lively noise cancellation on any earbuds.
Certain, Android has loads of robust contenders, too. The Google Pixel Buds Professional 2 and Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Professional are each glorious wi-fi earbuds, and there are equally spectacular choices from manufacturers like Bose and Sony, together with the brand new QuietComfort Extremely Earbuds Gen 2 and Sony WF-1000XM5.
However the AirPods Professional 3 have been the turning level for me. After avoiding them for years, I lastly purchased them — and there is no doubt they’re spectacular. The lively noise cancellation is actually top-tier.
I took two flights sporting them, and there was nearly no cabin noise in any respect. My Pixel Buds Professional 2 have been nice at chopping down ambient sounds throughout journey, however this was on one other degree.
However that is not the function I would like different manufacturers to repeat. Earbuds will preserve getting higher at noise cancellation with every new era, however the function that genuinely blew me away on the AirPods Professional 3 is the built-in coronary heart charge monitoring.
AirPods Professional 3 can now observe your exercises too
One of many new options Apple has added to the AirPods Professional 3 is an optical coronary heart charge sensor. This implies now you can use the AirPods Professional 3 to trace your exercises. Just like different health trackers, the guts charge sensor flashes gentle to measure blood circulation by way of the ear canal and shares that information with the iPhone’s Health app.
The app then makes use of on-device AI to calculate exercise metrics similar to energy burned, steps taken, and distance coated. Apple even claims that the AirPods Professional 3 can observe over fifty exercises, together with operating, yoga, and energy coaching.
And whereas it might sound unusual to trace exercises utilizing earbuds as an alternative of conventional health trackers or smartwatches, it is really a reasonably good concept. The ear is definitely a reasonably steady location for coronary heart charge monitoring, because the sensors are near main arteries and fewer affected by motion throughout intense exercise.
Apple additionally says that when each the AirPods Professional 3 and an Apple Watch are linked to your iPhone, the system routinely makes use of information from whichever system offers essentially the most correct readings at any given second. This ensures one of the best protection and accuracy all through your exercise.
That mentioned, I made a decision to make use of the AirPods Professional 3 as my solely health-tracking system for over every week, evaluating it straight with a devoted health tracker. And here is how the AirPods carried out and whether or not they can actually be thought-about dependable health trackers.
How dependable is the AirPods Professional 3’s coronary heart charge monitoring?
Since I already put on the AirPods Professional 3 all through my exercise periods, with the ability to observe exercises means I can skip health wearables on my wrist, which appears like a win-win for me.
To actually assess whether or not the AirPods Professional 3 is a dependable health tracker, I examined them towards one other health tracker, the Huawei Watch Match 4 Professional, which I paired with a unique smartphone to forestall my iPhone from mixing the information. My objective was to see if the 2 units recorded comparable outcomes, and the result was surprisingly shut.
For context, my exercises normally embrace a mixture of energy coaching, cardio, and stretching. Even on different health units, I usually choose the “Different” exercise mode so I haven’t got to change between a number of modes throughout my hour-long periods.
I adopted the identical setup for this take a look at. I began my exercise on each units on the similar time and in contrast their coronary heart charge and calorie readings all through.
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To my shock, the guts charge numbers from each the AirPods Professional 3 and the Huawei Watch Match 4 Professional have been virtually similar each time I checked. The calorie estimates have been barely completely different, which is sensible since every system makes use of its personal algorithm to estimate energy burned. What impressed me was how properly the AirPods tracked exercise depth and rhythm by way of the ear.
The guts charge is a direct physiological metric, whereas calorie burn relies upon extra on how every system interprets your physique information. The truth that the AirPods Professional 3 matched a devoted health tracker in real-time coronary heart charge accuracy was genuinely spectacular.
For most individuals, particularly informal gym-goers or those that don’t love sporting a smartwatch, this degree of precision is greater than sufficient, for my part. You possibly can merely pop in your AirPods, begin your exercise, and nonetheless get significant insights with none further gear.
After all, for those who’re searching for superior health monitoring, one thing like a Whoop or Garmin watch will nonetheless be the higher selection. However for on a regular basis customers or those that sometimes overlook their tracker at dwelling, the AirPods Professional 3 does a surprisingly good job.
Health in your ears
The AirPods Professional 3 ship an improved lively noise cancelation together with spatial audio with dynamic head monitoring. Apple’s newest earbuds additionally add IP57-rated sweat and water resistance, Reside Translation help, and a built-in coronary heart charge sensor that screens your pulse throughout exercises, bringing health monitoring on to your ears.
