The newly released AirPods Pro 3 offer an extended single-charge battery life compared to their predecessor, the AirPods Pro 2, but feature a reduced overall battery life when factoring in the charging case.
According to Apple, the AirPods Pro 3 earbuds provide up to two hours of additional listening time on a single charge. However, the total listening time, including the charging case, is 24 hours for the AirPods Pro 3, a decrease from the 30 hours offered by the AirPods Pro 2. This represents a 25% reduction in overall battery life.
This indicates that while the AirPods Pro 3 excel in continuous music or podcast sessions due to the improved single-charge performance, the charging case depletes at a faster rate, especially when a power source isn’t available.
Physical analysis reveals that the AirPods Pro 3 case, while similar in size to the Pro 2 case, is lighter, weighing 44 grams compared to 50.8 grams. This suggests a smaller internal battery capacity within the case.
One possible explanation for the reduced battery capacity is the inclusion of a U2 chip for Find My functionality, replacing the U1 chip used in the AirPods Pro 2. The U2 chip could potentially consume more power or require more physical space, necessitating a smaller battery.
As a result, users of the AirPods Pro 3 can anticipate needing to recharge the case more frequently. While the AirPods Pro 2 case could recharge the earbuds up to four times, the Pro 3 case is expected to provide only about two full recharges.
Despite the reduced overall battery life, the AirPods Pro 3 offer benefits in specific usage scenarios. Users can enjoy approximately 30 minutes more battery life when utilizing the new heart rate sensor compared to the AirPods Pro 2. Furthermore, when employing the Hearing Aid Transparency mode, the AirPods Pro 3 can achieve up to 10 hours of battery life.
