AirPods 5 or AirPods Pro 3: what the extra 100 dollars buys, and which AirPods 5 case to pickAirPods 5 or AirPods Pro 3: what the extra 100 dollars buys, and which AirPods 5 case to pick

AirPods 5 cost 129 dollars with a USB-C case and 149 dollars with a wireless charging case, and AirPods Pro 3 cost 249 dollars, at Apple's US store on 11 October.

This guide is built from Apple's technical specifications for both models and its Compare page, with MacRumors' AirPods 5 guide as a cross-check. All three use Apple's H2 chip, all three have Active Noise Cancellation, Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Personalized Spatial Audio and Live Translation, and all three are rated IP57 for dust, sweat and water. The differences are below.

Apple says AirPods Pro 3 cancel up to three times as much noise as AirPods 5, measured to the IEC 60268-24 standard. Neither model comes with a USB-C cable in the box. The AirPods Pro 3 case also has Apple's second-generation Ultra Wideband chip for finding it, which the AirPods 5 sheet does not list, and the AirPods 5 sheet does not list Personalized Volume or Loud Sound Reduction either.

Which AirPods 5 case should you buy?

The 20 dollar step buys more than wireless charging. The earbuds themselves last an hour longer, the force sensor gains a swipe for volume, and the case gets a speaker so Find My can make it play a sound. MacRumors, which compares just these two, calls the wireless model the better buy for most people, and Apple's numbers support that: an extra hour per charge and a findable case for the price of a lunch.

Who should pay for AirPods Pro 3?

• Commuters and flyers. Three times the noise cancellation and double the time per charge are the two largest gaps in the table.
• People who want a hearing aid or hearing protection. AirPods 5 offer neither.
• Anyone who exercises without an Apple Watch, because heart rate in the earbuds is Pro only.

Our take

The real choice is about fit before it is about features. AirPods 5 sit in the ear with no tips, which many people find more comfortable and some find falls out. AirPods Pro 3 seal the ear canal, and that seal is a large part of why their noise cancellation is so much stronger. If tips have never suited you, the Pro 3 spec sheet is beside the point.

For everyone else, APPDOOK's verdict is that the 149 dollar AirPods 5 are the right pair for short trips and calls, and the Pro 3 are worth the extra 100 dollars for anyone who spends hours a day in noise. We found that moving from AirPods Pro 2 to Pro 3 trades case capacity for time in the ear, and the same pattern holds here: against the wireless AirPods 5, the Pro 3 lead by only two hours in total but by three per charge. Heart rate is the feature that makes the Pro 3 a different product, since GymKit can take it from AirPods Pro 3 through an iPhone. On longevity the two are closer than the price suggests: iFixit found AirPods 5 batteries can be replaced without destroying the earbud, a first for AirPods, so a 129 dollar pair is not quite as disposable as earlier generations were.