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- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Design
- Sound
- Isolation
- Microphone
- Active Features
- Connectivity
- Comments
Apple AirPods (2nd generation) Truly Wireless vs Apple AirPods (3rd generation) Truly Wireless
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
Apple AirPods (2nd generation)
Apple AirPods (3rd generation)
Tested using Methodology v1.5
Updated Apr 19, 2024 06:39 PM
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Amazon.comTested using Methodology v1.8
Updated Jan 17, 2025 08:32 PM
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Amazon.com
TypeEarbuds
Noise CancellingNo
EnclosureOpen-Back
WirelessTruly Wireless
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
TypeEarbuds
Noise CancellingNo
EnclosureOpen-Back
WirelessTruly Wireless
TransducerDynamic
MicYes
Variants
- AirPods (2nd generation) (With charging case)
- AirPods (2nd generation) (With wireless charging case)
- AirPods (3rd generation) (Lightning Charging Case - White)
- AirPods (3rd generation) (White)
Our Verdict
Apple AirPods (2nd generation) Truly Wireless
Apple AirPods (3rd generation) Truly Wireless
The Apple AirPods (3rd generation) Truly Wireless and the Apple AirPods (2nd generation) Truly Wireless have different strengths, so you may prefer either depending on what you're looking for. The 3rd generation have a longer continuous battery life and button-like controls that are easier to use than the 2nd generation's touch-sensitive surfaces. With iOS devices, they support Spatial Audio and head tracking for virtual surround sound, and their 'Adaptive EQ' adjusts the sound profile depending on how they fit you. Their bulkier design may put pressure on the inside of your ears, but both versions have a one-size-fits-all design, meaning you may prefer either, depending on the shape of your ears. On the other hand, the 2nd generation have a better overall mic performance.
Check Price
With charging case
AirPods (2nd generation)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comLightning Charging Case - White
AirPods (3rd generation)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comWith wireless charging case
AirPods (2nd generation)
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Amazon.comWhite
AirPods (3rd generation)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comMain Differences forNeutral Sound
Neutral Sound
Threshold
Neutral Sound
6.6
7.1
Mid Accuracy
8.4
9.0
Bass Accuracy
5.8
6.3
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
Earbuds
Earbuds
Enclosure
Open-Back
Open-Back
Wireless
Truly Wireless
Truly Wireless
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
7.5
7.0
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.02 lbs
0.02 lbs
Clamping Force
0 lbs
N/A
Controls
4.3
5.5
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
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
No
No
Noise Cancelling Control
No
No
Talk-Through
No
No
Additional Controls
Voice Assistant
Voice Assistant
Breathability
9.2
Breathability After Picture
Avg.Temp.Difference
0.8 °C
Portability
9.6
9.7
Portability Picture
L
1.7" (4.3 cm)
1.2" (3.1 cm)
W
1.0" (2.5 cm)
0.8" (2.1 cm)
H
0.6" (1.5 cm)
0.6" (1.6 cm)
Volume
1.00 in³ (16.39 cm³)
0.62 in³ (10.20 cm³)
Transmitter Required
No
No
Case
8.5
8.5
Case Picture
Type
Hard case
Hard case
L
2.1" (5.3 cm)
2.1" (5.4 cm)
W
1.7" (4.3 cm)
1.8" (4.6 cm)
H
0.7" (1.8 cm)
0.8" (2.1 cm)
Volume
2.50 in³ (40.97 cm³)
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
Sound Profile
Normalization Frequency
1,200 Hz
Bass Amount
-8.65 dB
-5.1 dB
Treble Amount
0.39 dB
-2.3 dB
Frequency Response Consistency
5.6
7.5
Consistency L
Consistency R
Avg. Std. Deviation
1.13 dB
0.5 dB
Raw Frequency Response
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
5.8
6.3
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
6.68 dB
7.8 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
70.25 Hz
40.02 Hz
Low Bass
-13.78 dB
-10.47 dB
Mid Bass
-1.58 dB
-1.36 dB
High Bass
2.09 dB
-0.53 dB
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
8.4
9.0
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
2.17 dB
1.13 dB
Low Mid
1.31 dB
-0.09 dB
Mid-Mid
0.07 dB
-1.29 dB
High Mid
3.01 dB
1.06 dB
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
7.4
7.5
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
3.89 dB
2.9 dB
Low Treble
3.83 dB
-1.79 dB
Mid Treble
3.78 dB
-2.93 dB
High Treble
-2.62 dB
-9.72 dB
Peaks/Dips
7.2
7.5
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
1.97 dB
1.39 dB
Dips
1.12 dB
2.08 dB
Imaging
8.5
9.2
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Group Delay
0.28
0.25
Weighted Phase Mismatch
2.28
1.69
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
1.37
0.24
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
1.28
1.18
Passive Soundstage
2.9
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
9.6
9.3
Acoustic Space Excitation
3.2
3.4
Virtual Soundstage
0.0
2.9
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
No
No
Speaker Modeling
No
On/Off
Room Ambience
No
No
Head Tracking
No
On/Off
Virtual Surround
No
Spatial Audio
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
7.8
7.6
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.358
0.405
WHD @ 100
0.104
0.127
Test Settings
Firmware
1A673
6F21.
Power
On
On
Connection
Bluetooth 4.0
Bluetooth
Codec
SBC, 16-bit, 44.1kHz
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
Test Instrument
Audio Precision APx517B
EQ
No EQ
Adaptive EQ
ANC
No ANC
No ANC
Tip/Pad
Default
Default
Microphone
Integrated
Integrated
Isolation
Noise Isolation - Full Range
1.0
1.7
Noise Isolation - Full Range Graph
Noise Cancelling
No
No
Overall Attenuation
-1.95 dB
-3.75 dB
Isolation Audio
Bass
0.32 dB
-0.02 dB
Mid
0.98 dB
-0.95 dB
Treble
-6.94 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
7.2
7.0
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
38.25 dB
39.46 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
Yes
In-Line
No
No
Boom
No
No
Detachable Boom
No
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
6.4
6.0
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
261.43 Hz
67.27 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
3.34 dB
3.25 dB
HFE
3,319.91 Hz
1,659.96 Hz
Weighted THD
27.169
3.887
Gain
38.23 dB
18.34 dB
Noise Handling
6.9
5.5
SpNR
13.93 dB
12.16 dB
Noise Gate
Always On
Always On
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
7.5
5.5
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
6.0
5.5
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
6.6
7.2
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
4.1 hrs
6.8 hrs
Additional Charges
5.0
5.0
Total Battery Life
24.6 hrs
40.8 hrs
Charge Time
0.5 hrs
0.8 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
Standby mode
Standby mode
Audio While Charging
Yes
Yes
Passive Playback
No
No
Charging Port
Lightning
Lightning
App Support
5.0
5.0
App Picture
App Name
No App
iOS Interface
iOS
Yes
Yes
Android
No
No
macOS
Yes
Yes
Windows
No
No
Equalizer
No
No
ANC Control
No
No
Mic Control
No
No
Room Effects
No
No
Playback Control
No
No
Button Mapping
Yes
No
Surround Support
No
Yes
Connectivity
Wired Connection
0.0
0.0
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
No
No
USB Audio
No
No
Detachable
No
No
Length
N/A
N/A
Connector
No Wired Option
No Wired Option
Latency - Analog
N/A
Latency - USB
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
Recorded Latency Connection
No Wired Audio
Bluetooth Connection
6.8
7.2
Bluetooth Version
5.0+H1 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
149.00 ft (45.42 m)
205.05 ft (62.50 m)
Latency - SBC
176 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
PC Latency (aptX HD)
N/A
PC Latency (aptX-LL)
N/A
iOS Latency
80 ms
Android Latency
165 ms
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
No
Wired USB
No
No
Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PlayStation Compatibility
PS4 Analog
No
No
PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PS5 Analog
No
No
PS5 Wired USB
No
No
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
No
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
No
Xbox Series X|S Wired USB
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless
No
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
Check Price
With charging case
AirPods (2nd generation)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comLightning Charging Case - White
AirPods (3rd generation)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comWith wireless charging case
AirPods (2nd generation)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comWhite
AirPods (3rd generation)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Apple AirPods (2nd generation) Truly Wireless
Apple AirPods (3rd generation) Truly Wireless
Comments
Apple AirPods (2nd generation) vs Apple AirPods (3rd generation): Main Discussion
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