Airpods 3 test, Apple improves the magic of its True Wireless headphones at a high price

Depuis 2016, Apple a, par trois fois, défini sa vision des casques true wireless. En donnant un cadre clair à ce nouveau type de produit, tout d’abord, avec sa première génération d’AirPods. En leur apportant, une légère mise à jour en juin 2019, avec une deuxième génération capable de recharger son boîtier sans-fil et d’invoquer Siri, sans avoir à toucher les oreillettes. Enfin, la troisième fois avait été la bonne avec l’introduction des AirPods Pro, un modèle plus compact, intra-auriculaire et surtout doté d’une fonction de réduction de bruit active (ANC) d’une qualité exceptionnelle. Un modèle surtout qui définissait une nouvelle hiérarchie dans la gamme des écouteurs true wireless Apple, avant l’introduction de l’ovni passablement coûteux qu’est l’AirPods Max en fin d’année 2020.

A revised design, inspired by the best of the AirPods

Two years later, after many rumors, more or less wise, more or less realistic, Apple therefore returns to the bedside of "classic" AirPods.It retains the principle of configuration in a few seconds, from the instant connection to your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, from the ease of daily use, everything that made the first AirPods success, and, of course,Open headsets.They land in the pavilion without obstructing the ear canal.It means that there is no sound insulation, even passive.

Furthermore, these new Wireless True borrows a little from AirPods Pro to renew themselves, and gain in appeal.

Thus, its stems, which hang out of the ears, are shorter - 33%, if we believe Apple.If we turn to the technical sheet, we see that it is only 3.079 cm high, against 4.05 cm previously.To the eye, in hand and in use, this shortening of the stems is rather good news, and does not at all harm the use of headphones, whether to get them out of their box or to slip them inan ear.Better still, the tip no longer supports (or less) on the jaw, which was not necessarily pleasant.

In the pavilion, the new design holds well in place, even when you jump, is agitated or short. Le léger gain en largeur (1,826 cm, contre 1,65) et en profondeur (1,921 cm, pour 1,8 cm sur les AirPods de 2^e génération) assure un confort accru et une stabilité renforcée – au moins dans notre oreille.

The weight of each headset increases slightly, but not in a sufficiently significant way for this to cause inconvenience or discomfort.Apple has planned that these new AirPods will accompany you during your sports sessions - excluding swimming pools, obviously.Its headphones (and their box) are resistant to sweat and water.To be precise, they meet the IPX4 standard, the 4 indicating that they resist splashes, but not an immersion.

Finally, AirPods 3 benefit from a new sensor, which can know if the headphones are in your ear or in your pocket.In addition to the proximity sensor, this optical sensor detects if it is close to your skin, if this is the case, it will automatically launch the reading set in break when you have removed the AirPods.If he detects that he is in a pocket background, he will stop the music, if not done and will put the earpiece on standby.

A new case, a new autonomy

To stick to this design change, the third generation airpods housing also sees its shape evolve.Wider and stunned, it looks more like what we know with the AirPods Pro.Like the airpods, this small case is extremely finished, gives an impression of solidity, and produces a small dry and pleasant noise when it is closed.Pleasure, like the devil, is always in detail.

As with all True Wireless helmets, the case is essential.Not only does it allow you to store the headphones, and therefore avoid losing or damaging them, but also recharging them.

Apple indicates that the case offers five recharges to its headphones and announces around 30 hours of total autonomy.According to the American giant, its AirPods 3 can, in fact, hold 6 hours in conventional listening.We have measured much greater autonomy, at 7:09 a.m. - 1 h 57 more than the previous generation.It is therefore more than 35 hours of listening that this little set should offer you.

And since we are talking about autonomy, let's talk a little charge.The AirPods 3 case can recharge via its usual lightning socket, or in wireless thanks to Qi technology, such as the previous generation.On the other hand, small novelty, it is now possible to recharge the airpods 3 case thanks to a Magsafe charger.A small magnetic surface will then position it perfectly for an optimal load.Too bad the iPhone 12 and 13, also compatible with this technology cannot recharge them ...

Small aside: the Box of the Airpods Pro now on sale also benefits from this small improvement.Previous boxes can also be recharged via Magsafe, but without magnetization, positioning must be adjusted by the user.

A pleasant sound, but a lack ...

The new design of this third generation is also accompanied by some internal improvements.The driver, the part that produces air movement and therefore sound, is always designed by Apple, obviously.The engineers of the Californian giant also added a microphone, turned towards the interior of the ear, to grasp what is understood, and thus adjust the sound produced.This novelty serves as the basis for the EQ adaptive, which adjusts in real time medium and bass frequencies.The sound supplies adapts to the shape of your ear, to the possible movements of the atrium in the pavilion and also to parasitic sounds.

Nevertheless, without reduction in active or passive noise, we should not expect miracles.In public transport, planes or a noisy environment, there will be no other solution than to push the sound to the maximum, or to find a quieter place, if possible.However, when the background noise is homogeneous and not too strident, we will then be able to listen to a podcast or an audiobook without having to stop or rewind regularly.We will also note more nuance in the bass, especially for the voices.

Moreover, frequency response curves, from our tests, show slightly wider spectrum coverage on this third generation (80.7% against 80% on the second generation of AirPods).The new AirPods attack a little earlier in the bass (46 Hz against 111.8 Hz, previously) and finish a little further in the treble (16,174 Hz, against 16,097 Hz).

Nevertheless, we note that the curve oscillates.She collapses in the low mediums and plunges into the treble too.The bass and mediums appear much more dominant, and in fact, it is understood, is felt.

In the ear, the treble lacks presence.It is above all obvious in the complex pieces, in particular, whether it is jazz or classic.The dynamics are correct, the pleasure of listening to songs is there, of course.

Airpods 3 provide a very honest sound, without being exceptional.They cover 22.6% more frequencies than the average WIRELESS TRUE headsets that we have tested in the past 24 months.Which finally says about the very great diversity of quality of offers on this market.

In a silent or relatively calm environment, we will manage to appreciate our favorite pieces.We can even try a spatial audio that Apple highlights so much.If the rendering will not be as incredible as with an installation 9.1.4, we will arrive by listening to experience this slightly exhilarating feeling of musical vertigo on certain pieces.Especially since the AirPods 3 allow dynamic monitoring of head movements.

Airpods to the call

This technology applies both to music and movies, if you watch them with the airpods targeted with the ears, or to your facetime calls in group.Because, the AirPods, like all their counterparts, obviously do not serve to listen to music.They are also very practical for making or receiving calls, telephone or other.

On this point, microphones capture the voice very well, even in a noisy environment, and above all even in a windy environment.It is these same microphones that will be maneuver when you invoke the Apple assistant of a "say, siri" full of going.As with all Apple devices, the magic sentence will sometimes work ... and sometimes, no.It is therefore necessary to arm yourself with patience or manually activate the assistant by pressing the pressure zone of one of the headphones.Ultimately, we especially appreciate the Apple assistant when he reads us an incoming message and asks us if we want to answer.This function, deactivable, is very practical when you do not want to take your phone out of your pocket.

Anyway, the audio quality of calls is still as good.Apple uses its AAC Eld Codec, for HD sound.Difficult to stick an SD, HD or other label with the supplied sound, but it allows you to hear and understand your interlocutor, which is essential.