Notice: Your browser is not supported or outdated so some features of the site might not be available.
Notice: We're proud to introduce Test Bench 2.0, which overhauls our audio measurements, with new tests and usages. There's even a brand new multi-target graphing tool! You can read all about this in our changelog, featuring commentary from our Test Designer, Pierre.
- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Design
- Sound
- Isolation
- Microphone
- Active Features
- Connectivity
- Comments
Apple AirPods (1st generation) Truly Wireless vs Apple AirPods (3rd generation) Truly Wireless
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
Apple AirPods (1st generation)
Apple AirPods (3rd generation)
Tested using Methodology v1.3.1
Updated Jan 15, 2024 03:46 PM
Searching
Finding storeTested using Methodology v1.8
Updated Jan 17, 2025 08:32 PM
Searching
Finding store
TypeEarbuds
Noise CancellingNo
EnclosureOpen-Back
WirelessTruly Wireless
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
TypeEarbuds
Noise CancellingNo
EnclosureOpen-Back
WirelessTruly Wireless
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
Variants
- AirPods (1st generation) (White)
- AirPods (3rd generation) (Lightning Charging Case - White)
- AirPods (3rd generation) (White)
Our Verdict
Apple AirPods (1st generation) Truly Wireless
Apple AirPods (3rd generation) Truly Wireless
The Apple AirPods (3rd generation) are better for most purposes than the Apple AirPods (1st generation). The 3rd generation have a longer continuous battery life, a better control scheme, and an IPX4 rating for water resistance. They support Spatial Audio and head tracking for virtual surround sound and also come with a case that supports wireless charging. They may also be less comfortable since they have a bulkier design that can put pressure on the inside of your ears. Ηowever, both versions have a one-size-fits-all design, so it depends on the size and shape of your ears.
Check Price
White
AirPods (1st generation)
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods (3rd generation)
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods (1st generation)
Searching
Finding storeLightning Charging Case - White
AirPods (3rd generation)
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods (1st generation)
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods (1st generation)
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods (1st generation)
Searching
Finding storeMain Differences forMixed Usage
Mixed Usage
Threshold
Mixed Usage
6.4
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
Earbuds
Earbuds
Enclosure
Open-Back
Open-Back
Wireless
Truly Wireless
Truly Wireless
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
8.0
7.0
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.02 lbs
0.02 lbs
Clamping Force
0 lbs
N/A
Controls
4.7
5.5
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
N/A
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Subpar
Great
Feedback
Subpar
Good
Call/Music Control
Yes
Yes
Volume Control
No
No
Microphone Control
No
No
Channel Mixing
N/A
No
Noise Cancelling Control
N/A
No
Talk-Through
N/A
No
Additional Controls
Voice enabled controls
Voice Assistant
Breathability
9.6
Breathability After Picture
Avg.Temp.Difference
0.4 °C
Portability
9.6
9.7
Portability Picture
L
1.72"
1.2" (3.1 cm)
W
1"
0.8" (2.1 cm)
H
0.6"
0.6" (1.6 cm)
Volume
1.03 in³
0.62 in³ (10.20 cm³)
Transmitter Required
N/A
No
Case
8.5
8.5
Case Picture
Type
Hard case
Hard case
L
2.06"
2.1" (5.4 cm)
W
1.69"
1.8" (4.6 cm)
H
0.74"
0.8" (2.1 cm)
Volume
2.58 in³
3.28 in³ (53.80 cm³)
Build Quality
8.0
8.0
Build Quality Picture
Stability
6.5
6.5
Stability Picture
Headshots 1
Angled Picture
Side Picture
Headshots 2
Front Picture
Rear Picture
Top
Top Picture
In The Box
In The Box Picture
Sound
Sound Profile
Frequency Response
Sound Profile
Normalization Frequency
1,200 Hz
Bass Amount
-7.73 dB
-5.1 dB
Treble Amount
0.61 dB
-2.3 dB
Frequency Response Consistency
6.4
7.5
Consistency L
Consistency R
Avg. Std. Deviation
0.8 dB
0.5 dB
Raw Frequency Response
Raw FR L
Raw FR L
Raw FR R
Raw FR R
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
6.0
6.3
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
5.27 dB
7.8 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
64.42 Hz
40.02 Hz
Low Bass
-10.94 dB
-10.47 dB
Mid Bass
-0.79 dB
-1.36 dB
High Bass
1.62 dB
-0.53 dB
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
7.9
9.0
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
2.78 dB
1.13 dB
Low Mid
1.7 dB
-0.09 dB
Mid-Mid
0.55 dB
-1.29 dB
High Mid
3.62 dB
1.06 dB
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
7.2
7.5
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
Treble
RMS Deviation From Target
4.18 dB
2.9 dB
Low Treble
4.46 dB
-1.79 dB
Mid Treble
4.26 dB
-2.93 dB
High Treble
0.57 dB
-9.72 dB
Peaks/Dips
7.3
7.5
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
1.83 dB
1.39 dB
Dips
1.13 dB
2.08 dB
Imaging
8.4
9.2
Phase Response
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Group Delay
0.31
0.25
Weighted Phase Mismatch
5.76
1.69
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
1.04
0.24
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
1.5
1.18
Passive Soundstage
2.6
2.9
PRTF
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
N/A
N/A
PRTF Size (Avg.)
N/A
N/A
PRTF Distance
N/A
N/A
Openness
9.7
9.3
Acoustic Space Excitation
3.4
3.4
Virtual Soundstage
2.9
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
No
Speaker Modeling
On/Off
Room Ambience
No
Head Tracking
On/Off
Virtual Surround
Spatial Audio
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
7.9
7.6
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.177
0.405
WHD @ 100
0.128
0.127
Test Settings
Firmware
6F21.
Power
On
Connection
Bluetooth
Codec
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
Test Instrument
Audio Precision APx517B
EQ
Adaptive EQ
ANC
No ANC
Tip/Pad
Default
Microphone
Integrated
Isolation
Noise Isolation - Full Range
1.3
1.7
Noise Isolation - Full Range Graph
Noise Cancelling
No
No
Overall Attenuation
-2.64 dB
-3.75 dB
Isolation Audio
Bass
-0.01 dB
-0.02 dB
Mid
1.1 dB
-0.95 dB
Treble
-8.72 dB
-11.36 dB
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios
1.9
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios Graph
Airplane Noise Attenuation
-3.32 dB
Airplane Noise Isolation Audio
Office Noise Attenuation
-3.35 dB
Office Noise Isolation Audio
Street Noise Attenuation
-3.57 dB
Street Noise Isolation Audio
Noise Isolation - Voice Handling
Female Voice 1
Male Voice 1
Female Voice 2
Male Voice 2
ANC Wind Handling
ANC Wind Handling Graph
ANC Wind Noise
N/A
Leakage
7.3
7.0
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
37.73 dB
39.46 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
Yes
In-Line
No
No
Boom
No
No
Detachable Boom
N/A
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
6.2
6.0
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
354.04 Hz
67.27 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
2.83 dB
3.25 dB
HFE
3,368.2 Hz
1,659.96 Hz
Weighted THD
31.268
3.887
Gain
28.6 dB
18.34 dB
Noise Handling
6.2
5.5
SpNR
14.85 dB
12.16 dB
Noise Gate
Always On
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
5.5
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
5.5
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
7.1
7.2
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
4.8 hrs
6.8 hrs
Additional Charges
5
5.0
Total Battery Life
27 hrs
40.8 hrs
Charge Time
0.5 hrs
0.8 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
Yes
Standby mode
Audio While Charging
Yes
Yes
Passive Playback
No
No
Charging Port
Lightning
Lightning
App Support
5.5
5.0
App Picture
App Name
N/A
iOS Interface
iOS
Yes
Yes
Android
No
No
macOS
N/A
Yes
Windows
N/A
No
Equalizer
No
No
ANC Control
No
No
Mic Control
N/A
No
Room Effects
No
No
Playback Control
No
No
Button Mapping
Yes
No
Surround Sound
N/A
Surround Support
Yes
Connectivity
Wired Connection
0.0
0.0
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
N/A
No
USB Audio
N/A
No
Detachable
N/A
No
Length
N/A
N/A
Connector
N/A
No Wired Option
Latency - Analog
N/A
Latency - USB
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
Recorded Latency Connection
No Wired Audio
Wired Latency
N/A
Bluetooth Connection
6.9
7.2
Bluetooth Version
4.2 + W1 chip
5.0+H1 chip
Multi-Device Pairing
No
No
NFC Pairing
No
Quick Pair (Android)
No
Quick Pair (iOS)
Yes
Line Of Sight Range
91 ft
205.05 ft (62.50 m)
Latency - SBC
168 ms
184 ms
Latency - aptX
N/A
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality)
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)
N/A
Latency - LDAC
N/A
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Codec
SBC
AAC Support
Yes
aptX(LL) Latency
N/A
Wireless Connection (Dongle)
0.0
0.0
Line Of Sight Range
N/A
N/A
Latency - Dongle
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
PC Compatibility
Analog
No
Wired USB
No
Non-BT Wireless
No
PlayStation Compatibility
PS4 Analog
No
No
PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PS5 Analog
No
PS5 Wired USB
No
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
No
Xbox Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
No
No
Xbox One Wired USB
No
No
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Analog
No
Xbox Series X|S Wired USB
No
Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless
No
Base/Dock
2.2
2.2
Type
Charging Case
Charging Case
USB Input
No
No
Line In
No
No
Line Out
No
No
Optical Input
No
No
RCA Input
No
No
Dock Charging
Yes
Yes
Power Supply
Lightning
Lightning
PC / PS4 Compatibility
PC / PS4 Analog
No
No
PC / PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PC / PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Check Price
White
AirPods (1st generation)
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods (3rd generation)
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods (1st generation)
Searching
Finding storeLightning Charging Case - White
AirPods (3rd generation)
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods (1st generation)
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods (1st generation)
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods (1st generation)
Searching
Finding store
Apple AirPods (1st generation) Truly Wireless
Apple AirPods (3rd generation) Truly Wireless
Comments
Apple AirPods (1st generation) vs Apple AirPods (3rd generation): Main Discussion
What do you think of these products? Let us know below.
Looking for a personalized buying advice from the RTINGS.com experts? Insiders have direct access to buying advice on our insider forum.