Airpods gen 3: The middle child of the gen 2 and Airpod pros

The long-rumored third-gen AirPods 3 are officially here. Apple just unveiled its latest wireless headphones as part of its October 18th Unleashed event.

The new AirPods look exactly like images that leaked online earlier this year, featuring the same open design (no silicone ear tips) as their predecessor, but shaped like the AirPods Pro. However, the AirPods 3 don't have an active noise-canceling feature like the AirPods Pro, and inturn they are being sold by apple at a lower price than the airpod pros.

The AirPods 3 include a wireless charging case with MagSafe that's slightly smaller than the AirPods Pro's case, all-new "custom" drivers, spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, "HD voice quality" for FaceTime and an adaptive EQ system to optimize sound quality. Apple's improved the battery life, so they now last up to six hours on a single charge, instead of five, at moderate volume levels.

They also have the same force sensors in their stems as the AirPods Pro for controlling playback with a pinch. And importantly, they're sweat- and water-resistant with IPX4 certification (meaning they're splash-proof).

The AirPod 3's new features.

The big question for a lot of people will be whether these new AirPods 3 fit their ears better than the AirPods 2. Some people, had trouble keeping the original and second-gen AirPods in their ears but were able to get a more secure fit with the AirPods Pro. And in some rear instances even the airpod pros were uncomfortable. It's possible that Apple's improved the build for that subset of people who couldn't get a secure fit with all the earlier AirPods.

We should expect that the new AirPods to have improved sound with better bass. open earbuds can be more comfortable, they allow ambient sound (sounds from the surrounding) to leak in, which can reduce bass performance. Apple says the bass has "hit an all-time high" and that the Adaptive EQ "automatically tunes music to the shape of your ear," with "inward-facing microphones that detect what you're hearing, then adjust low- and mid-range frequencies to deliver the rich details in every song, customized for you in real time"

The new airpods also support wireless charging. Just five minutes of charging provides about an hour of battery life, and with four additional charges in the case, users can get up to 30 hours of total listening time.

They are priced above the second gen but not as high as the Pros and the Max. Depending on how well they sound and feel they have the potential to be the next bestselling airpods!