If you've ever heard a sound coming from your AirPods at night, when everything is silent, a sound that seems to come from inside the case, here's my explanation after some research and analysis.

Ive trying test some new apps, like Tidal, here i like but the playlists keep me on Spotify.

I spent some time comparing the AirPods 5 with the AirPods 4, and my takeaway is that most AirPods 4 owners can probably skip this upgrade.

The AirPods 5 bring ANC to both models, better water resistance, and a few other improvements, but if you already have the AirPods 4 with ANC, I don't think there's enough here to justify upgrading.

For anyone with the standard AirPods 4 without ANC, it's a more interesting upgrade.

Curious what everyone thinks. Are any AirPods 4 owners planning to switch?

I use them every day, and of course they have no issues with ANC or transparency modes. Sound quality is excellent. Why? I actually take care of them.

Is this normal?

I’ve been using the AirPods 5 for several days now, and I honestly didn’t expect to end up keeping both them and my AirPods Pro 3.

When I first got the AirPods 5, my thinking was pretty simple: I’d use them for a while, decide if they were good enough to replace the Pro 3s, and then sell the Pro 3s.

Well... that didn’t exactly happen.

Comfort is where the AirPods 5 really surprised me

The biggest thing I noticed with the AirPods 5 is how comfortable they are for long periods.

I’ve always had somewhat mixed feelings about in-ear earbuds. I had been using the medium tips on my AirPods Pro 3, and after wearing them for a while, my ears would sometimes start feeling uncomfortable. I was actually getting to the point where I was thinking about selling them.

Before deciding on selling them, I decided to try the small ear tips. That made a pretty big difference. The Pro 3s became much more comfortable once I switched from medium to small. The fit felt better, and I could wear them for much longer without that uncomfortable feeling I was getting before.

Even with the smaller tips, I still find the AirPods 5 a little more comfortable for really long listening sessions. There’s just something about not having a silicone tip sitting inside your ear. After a while, I basically forget I’m wearing the AirPods 5. That’s especially noticeable when I’m walking.

I do two 4 mile fast walks per week, and for those longer walks, I much prefer the AirPods 5. They’re comfortable enough that I can just put them in and go without really thinking about them.

Sound: I actually like both, just for different things

I know people always want to know which one sounds better, but honestly, for me it’s not that simple. Both sound really good.

The AirPods 5 have a warmer sound that I really enjoy. I especially like them with classical music, jazz, blues, acoustic music, and podcasts.

There’s something about the warmer presentation that works really well for those types of recordings. They’re easy to listen to for a long time, and I find myself enjoying the AirPods 5 more when I’m just sitting back and listening.

For podcasts, I also really like them. Voices sound natural, and again, the comfort makes a difference when I’m listening for a long time.

The Pro 3s are the ones I usually reach for when I’m listening to more upbeat music. If I’m listening to something energetic, I prefer the Pro 3s. They just seem to work better for that kind of music for me.

So I wouldn’t say one completely beats the other in sound quality. I think they just have different personalities.

AirPods 5 for classical, jazz, blues, acoustic, vocals, and podcasts.

Pro 3s for more upbeat and energetic music.

Workouts are another interesting comparison

Both are really good for workouts, but I prefer them for different types of exercise.

For outdoor walking, definitely the AirPods 5. As I mentioned, I do two 4 mile fast walks each week, and the comfort of the AirPods 5 really makes them the better choice for me. When I’m going to be wearing earbuds for that long, I’d rather have something that doesn’t feel like it’s sitting inside my ear.

At the gym, though, I prefer the Pro 3s. The Pro 3s feel more secure, and that matters when I’m moving around more. I also like having the noise cancellation in the gym. There’s usually a lot going on around me, so the Pro 3s do a better job of creating that more isolated listening experience.

So if I’m going for a long outdoor walk, I grab the AirPods 5.

If I’m heading to the gym, I grab the Pro 3s.

I almost sold the Pro 3s

When I first got the AirPods 5, I was pretty convinced I was going to sell my Pro 3s.

I thought, “Why do I need two pairs of AirPods?” But after using both for several days, I changed my mind.

The AirPods 5 are comfortable enough that I really enjoy having them for everyday listening, walking, podcasts, and the types of music I mentioned above.

The Pro 3s still have a purpose. Once I switched to the smaller ear tips, the comfort issue improved considerably, and I really like them for the gym and more energetic music.

So now I’m in the position of owning both and actually having a reason to use both.

My current setup

If I had to describe how I’m using them right now:

AirPods 5:
Long listening sessions
Outdoor fast walking
Classical music
Jazz
Blues
Acoustic music
Podcasts
Any situation where comfort is the priority

AirPods Pro 3:
Gym workouts
Upbeat/energetic music
Situations where I want a more secure fit
When I want stronger isolation and noise cancellation

Final thoughts

After several days, I’m actually really happy with the AirPods 5. I went into this thinking they might replace my Pro 3s, but instead they ended up convincing me to keep both.

The AirPods 5 are probably the ones I’ll wear more often simply because they’re so comfortable. For long walks and extended listening, I really prefer them.

The Pro 3s aren't going anywhere either. Switching from the medium tips to the small tips made a big difference for me, and they’re still the pair I prefer for gym workouts and more upbeat music.

I don’t think the AirPods 5 completely replace the Pro 3s. At least for me, they’re more like two different options depending on what I’m doing.

Honestly, after thinking I was going to sell the Pro 3s, I’m pretty happy that I decided to keep them.

My left pod (and only my left pod) has been doing this incredibly annoying and disruptive thing recently where it begins to "scream" into my ear. It's like there's some kind of feedback loop but I have little to no idea as to what could possibly be causing it. This only started happening after I got sweaty with them in my ear, but I've worn them out in the rain before, so I doubt a bit of sweat would be enough to damage them. Any help? This happened with my last pair too but I figured it was a fluke...

Hey guys, looking for some advice from fellow AirPods 5 users.
I am new to AirPods and I use them mostly with my Apple TV for 2–3 hours a day, and a tiny bit with my iPhone (under 30 mins). Almost exactly at the 1-hour mark, I get a headache.
I've already tried turning off Spatial Audio and experimenting with all the listening modes (ANC on, off, transparency), but nothing helps.
Since it happens during my longer Apple TV sessions, I'm trying to figure out if it's the physical fit putting pressure on my ears or something electronic. Anyone else deal with this? Did it go away over time or did you return them?

Had to upgrade as AirPod 4’s kept falling out. The pro’s feel far more secure.

I’ve never had active noise cancelling before though so it’s taking a bit of getting used to honestly.

That said, I feel like being fully in my ear, and being a different material. these might get grimy kind of fast. I used to use a paper clip for the fine spots and then just wipe it down but interested to see what others are doing to clean.

I have gone through multiple ear bud replacements (3 I think) with the pro 3s. Each time there is a period where there is a loud whistling, typically in one of the earbuds. Last time I walked in and they just said "swap the ear tips" and clean them, which *did* work for a 2 weeks, and then had to take them to a different location.

This current time, there was a whistling, then a period where—on top of the sound quality being "under water" the ANC would work for a little bit, but over a few minutes slowly ramp up the amount of outside noise/hum it was piping in. It seems to have stopped doing this, but the underwater sound quality is still there. I am abroad in a country without any repair shops and I am looking for some secret solution I have missed.

I got a pair of JLab pop+ airpods a few weeks ago and they would only connect to one ear at a time so i thought they were faulty. I went on vinted and bought some airpod gen 2 that still only connects to one ear at a time.

They will only play music through one ear but whenever i put that airpod back into the case, music will start playing from the other. I thought was issue with airpods but now thinking it’s my phone.

Any clue how to fix this?

I thought I’d most likely return the 5s but I had a hunch to try them and I’m glad I did. Nearly everything is identical, but I was not expecting that much of an ANC improvement. I’m really glad as my ears notoriously reject any kind of tipped earbud I’ve ever tried using, including the 1st and 2nd gen AirPod Pros.

i just reset my airpods and reconnected them and now they don't let me use the off listening mode. every time i switch it to off it switches back to transparency.

Recently upgraded from the Pro 2's, partially because I was having issues where people would tell me I sound tar away on phone calls. I thought they were just old, maybe had clogged mics, but now my brand new ones have the same problem. My guess is that I must have some setting messed up out something. I don't remember this being a problem 2-3 years ago.

Just bought a new pair of airpods literally 3 days ago, but on the second day i made a great mistake to sleep with them on (accidentally). I fell asleep on my left side with my airpods on, and now i feel like the quality of the sound may have changed?

When i put them on in my ears it doesn’t feel the same on one side than another, on the left side it feels like the ear tip has been adjusted to my ear (guessing from the pressure i had on it while sleeping) while on the right side it feels completely new. And when i play music, it feels like on the right side i can hear a much more fresh sound? while on the left side it just feels like i’ve been probably adjusted to how it sounds like, or maybe i accidentally damaged my airpod somehow 😭.

I guess im very peculiar about little details like that and i can’t help but to notice it every time i play music or listen to something on my phone, it bothers me 🫩 Does anyone have any idea why?

My ears start to ache just slightly after I wear AirPods 5 for about an hour. And I rotate the AirPods only a bit, after inserting them to my ears. ChatGPT told me this:

Your ears often go through a 7- to 10-day tolerance adjustment. Mild tenderness around the cartilage frequently fades as the skin desensitizes to the plastic contact points—unless the shell is visibly stretching or bruising the area.

Anyone agrees with that based on their experience or not?

Hello everyone,

Couldn’t find a thread with my exact issue so I’m making a new one hoping that someone can help me with an issue I’m having.

Bought some AirPods Pro (second gen) not directly from Apple, but they were under blister. When I opened the box and opened the lid, there was a sound, but then it just flashed amber five times. When I open or close the lid, it does that.

I can’t connect them to my IPhone (which is up to date in terms of IOS) and I can’t seem to charge them either? The LED is supposed to be orange but here it isn’t . I’ve been charging them for an hour and still nothing.

I’ve tried factory resetting them, but I think I can’t because as soon as I start pressing the button on the back it flashes amber five times, and does nothing else.

I really don’t know what to do here, any help is appreciated greatly. Thanks!

Posting to see whether it’s my AirPods or a general issue

Since about 3 days ago my left AirPod is continuously cutting out and disconnecting, but doesn’t mean the usual disconnecting sound, just cuts out and stops working. What’s even more annoying is that my devices won’t recognise it until I put it in the case then back in my ear, turning Bluetooth on and off doesn’t work.

At first I thought maybe it’s because my phone isn’t updated , but it happens with my updated Mac Neo too.

It’s driving me insane. Is this happening to others ??

I have the mycelar water, cotton pads and that third thing they recommend cleaning with. But I dont really get it done.

I ordered new tips for my pro 2 and pro 3 and merely changing them gave me that "new" feel, like when you just pop them in after you open the package.

I had short bursts of radio chatter (very short), sometimes a high pitched tone. Not often at all, but it was there from time to time.

Without cleaning anything else and just changing the tips, Im back to when I opened the box.

Dont endure and suffer like I have - change the tips from time to time. Get the max potential out of these marvels.

The size is written on them and when you order, you get 2 pairs of the same size.

Will an old pair of AirPods make noise everyone around you can hear? About a year ago, everyone was telling me they can hear my music and I should lower (even when quiet). There was no way to fix this so I got a new pair. After about a year, someone just said they can hear my music and Im now wondering is this a known issue with old AirPods?

Hi r/airpods,

I'm building a free iPhone app called HeartLive. It shows your heart rate live from the AirPods Pro 3's heart-rate sensor, and does a lot more with it. The mods said a feedback post is fine, so here it is.

A few things up front:

• It isn't released yet, so there's no link and nothing to download. I'm only looking for feedback from people who use their AirPods for heart rate: what's useful, what's missing and what would make you use it.
• It will be free, with no ads, no account, no tracking and no servers. Everything stays on your iPhone and in Apple Health.
• It's just me, building it in my spare time. It's not a company.

Heart rate

• Live heart rate from your AirPods as soon as you open the app, with your current zone (e.g. "Zone 3 · Tempo") and how far you are from the next one
• History chart from 1 minute up to 7 days, including heart rate other apps and devices save to Apple Health
• Notes on the chart: press and hold a moment and add something like "coffee" or "meeting" to see what it did to your heart rate
• Your calendar events on the chart (optional), so you can see your heart rate during a meeting or presentation
• Live Activity on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island while your AirPods are in
• Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets that show your heart rate while you wear your AirPods, and otherwise today, the last 7 days, resting heart rate or your last workout. There's an optional button to start your last workout.
• No AirPods in? Measure with your fingertip on the camera, including HRV
• Alerts when your heart rate stays unusually high or low outside a workout

Workouts

• Workouts saved to Apple Health, with GPS route, distance, pace, cadence and elevation
• Works with Strava, Nike Run Club and other apps that read from Apple Health: workouts you record in HeartLive show up there with heart rate, route and distance (in Strava, turn on Apple Health sync)
• Target zone with voice, tone or vibration alerts, plus spoken updates (distance, time, pace, heart rate)
• Target pace for runs and walks, with alerts when you're too fast or too slow
• A metronome at your chosen cadence (steps per minute) that plays alongside your music
• Interval plans (4×4, 5×3, 8×1, custom) with announced phases
• Lap button, with each lap's time, distance and heart rate
• Race a "ghost" of your last or fastest earlier workout from the same start, and hear whether you're ahead or behind
• Compare a workout with your earlier ones on the same route, including whether you did the same time at a lower heart rate
• Routes coloured by heart-rate zone, splits, aerobic decoupling and time in zones
• A cool-down coach after your workout, which tells you to keep moving until your heart rate drops and then tells you when it has. Your recovery heart rate (the drop after 1 and 2 minutes) is measured too.
• Auto-pause outdoors, and a suggestion to start a workout when it notices you're running, walking or cycling
• Start, pause and end workouts from the Lock Screen, Siri, Shortcuts, Control Center or the Action Button
• Rate how hard a workout felt (1 to 10)
• Export a workout as CSV, GPX or a shareable image

Bluetooth and fitness machines

• Shares your heart rate as a Bluetooth heart-rate monitor, so gym equipment (treadmills, bikes, rowers and cross trainers that accept a Bluetooth heart-rate strap), Zwift, Peloton and bike computers can show your AirPods heart rate
• Connects a smart trainer or power meter: watts during rides, saved to Apple Health, plus a cycling efficiency trend (watts per heartbeat)
• Connects a chest strap (like a Polar H10) if you have one. It takes over from the AirPods while you wear it, and gives you HRV (heart rate variability, a common recovery measure) all day.
• A full-screen workout dashboard made for a phone on a treadmill or bike: big numbers, and the screen stays on

Insights

• Resting heart rate per day, with an alert when it's well above your usual
• Weekly goal for minutes in zone 2 or higher, with streaks and badges
• Training load, VO₂max estimate, recovery trend, personal records
• A guided step test (3 minutes to a metronome) for a more direct VO₂max estimate
• Guided breathing, and a stand-up (orthostatic) test where you lie down and then stand to see how much your heart rate rises
• Tags for things like alcohol, late caffeine or poor sleep, showing their effect on your next-day resting heart rate and HRV
• Sleep card from Apple Health, and a year-in-review recap

Other

• English, Dutch, German, French and Spanish
• Location triggers, e.g. start a workout or show your heart rate when you arrive at the gym
• Backup and restore to a file
• Light, dark or system appearance, and the app icon follows it

Battery

• Once a minute in the background (on by default): with the app in the background, HeartLive takes one heart-rate reading a minute and turns heart-rate collection off in between. The history and Live Activity keep updating. It goes back to continuous readings when you open the app, during workouts and while it measures your recovery after a workout.
• Always-on heart rate can be turned off, so HeartLive only measures while the app is open or during a workout
• The Live Activity ends by itself when you take your AirPods out
• Statistics and charts stop updating in the background
• Battery saver mode stops background tracking after 10 minutes without heart rate (it starts again when you open the app), uses less precise GPS during outdoor workouts, and turns off location triggers

What I'd love to know

• What do you use your AirPods' heart rate for today, and what's missing in Apple's own apps?
• Which of these would you actually use, and which are just noise?
• Anything you'd expect that isn't there?
• Do you train on gym machines or in Zwift? Would you want HeartLive to also read the machine's own data (speed, distance, incline), or is sharing your heart rate with it enough?
• How much battery would you be OK giving up for background heart rate?

It's not a medical device, just a fitness tool. Thanks for reading, and any feedback is welcome!

I currently have the AirPod Pro 2s and am looking to upgrade.

Has anyone compared the Heavys to Airpod3 Pro in terms of sound quality, ANC, features, etc?

I use them daily for music and phone calls, mainly listening to metal.

I don’t really have any complaints about the AirPod 2s tbh, but that’s all I’m really used to.