Key Takeaways
- AirPods Pro is available for $249 at Apple.
- AirPods Pro features 6 hours of battery life, water resistance, and Apple’s latest audio features.
- This article contains six underutilized tips and trick for Apple’s 2nd generation AirPods Pro.
The AirPods Pro is my favorite pair of earphones that Apple sells. These small, activity-focused earbuds have six hours of battery life, are water-resistant, and offer all of Apple’s latest audio features as the only pair of AirPods to have the H2 chip. Priced at $249, it represents a decently significant price jump from the 3rd generation AirPods. Still, for prosumers like me, the best tech is easily worth the price.
Here are six underused tips and tricks for AirPods Pro that I recommend you don’t miss out on.
1 Swipe for volume
Adjust your volume by dragging your finger
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Adjusting the volume of your AirPods Pro is surprisingly easy with this first hidden tip. Drag your finger up or down the indent of an AirPods Pro stem. Dragging up will increase your volume, and dragging down will decrease it. This can be a much more convenient way to adjust your volume without pulling out your phone.
2 Press and hold
Activate Siri or switch between noise control modes
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With the same indent on your AirPods Pro stem used to adjust your volume, you can also control your audio by squeezing it down with two fingers. One press pauses or plays your audio, while a double and triple press skip and go back, respectively. Pressing and holding down can either activate Siri or switch between two or more noise control modes: Noise Cancellation, Adaptive, Transparency, and off.
To select whether a press and hold changes between Siri or noise control: open Settings > select your AirPods Pro > choose Left or Right under PRESS AND HOLD AIRPODS > select either Siri or Noise Control. If you choose Noise Control, you can select two or more noise control modes to switch between.
3 Personalized Volume
Automatically adjust your volume based on your environment
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Personalized Volume is exclusively available on the 2nd generation AirPods Pro. When enabled, this feature automatically adjusts the volume of your audio based on the noise in your environment. For example, your audio may increase when walking near a loud construction site and decrease as you walk away.
To enable Personalized Volume: open Settings > select your AirPods Pro > toggle Personalized Volume to green.
4 Conversation Awareness
Turn down your volume when a conversation is detected
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Conversation Awareness is another audio-focused feature similar to Personalized Volume. It attempts to adjust your volume based on your surroundings. This feature lowers your volume when a conversation is detected and increases it when the conversation is over. It’s a handy feature that aims to eliminate the need to pause and resume audio when interrupted for a brief conversation.
To enable Conversation Awareness: open Settings > select your AirPods Pro > toggle Conversation Awareness to green.
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5 Loud Sound Reduction
Reduces the loud noises around you
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Loud Sound Reduction is a spin-off feature of active noise cancellation. When loud noises are detected, your AirPods attempt to generate sound waves to cancel out the noise. Loud Sound Reduction can be an excellent feature while walking, as it helps you avoid being blasted by loud noises without changing other aspects of your listening experience, like volume, as Personalized Volume does.
To enable Loud Sound Reduction: open Settings, select your AirPods Pro, and toggle Loud Sound Reduction to green.
6 Ear Tip Fit Test
Check you’re using the best ear tips
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Every pair of 2nd generation AirPods Pro comes with four sizes of silicone ear tips: extra small, small, medium, and large. Personally, I found that only the extra small fit my ears well, which is why I wasn’t a fan of the 1st generation AirPods Pro, which only came in three larger sizes. If you’re unsure which ear tip size is best for your ears, Apple offers an Ear Tip Fit Test on iOS. By running this test, you’ll be informed whether the ear tip size on either ear provides an appropriate seal.
To conduct an Ear Tip Fit Test: open Settings, select your AirPods Pro, scroll down to and tap Ear Tip Fit Test, tap Continue, and then tap Play. You’ll receive individual results for each pod.
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