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 Pro Truly Wireless vs Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
Apple AirPods Pro
Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless
Tested using Methodology v1.5
Updated Mar 18, 2024 07:06 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comTested using Methodology v1.5
Updated Nov 01, 2024 06:37 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
TypeIn-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessTruly Wireless
TransducerDynamic
Noise CancellingYes
MicYes
TypeIn-ear
EnclosureClosed-Back
WirelessTruly Wireless
TransducerDynamic
Noise CancellingYes
MicYes
Variants
- AirPods Pro (White)
- CX Plus (Black)
- CX Plus SE (Special Design Edition)
- CX Plus (White)
Our Verdict
Apple AirPods Pro Truly Wireless
Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless
The Apple AirPods Pro are better in-ears than the Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless. The Apple are more comfortable, and have a more neutral sound profile, which some users may prefer. They also have a virtual soundstage feature and can significantly block out more ambient noise around you. However, the Sennheiser have a better battery performance, and their companion app offers a graphic EQ and presets to help you adjust their sound to your liking. They also support aptX Adaptive codec.
Check Price
White
AirPods Pro
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comWhite
CX Plus
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods Pro
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comBlack
CX Plus
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods Pro
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comSpecial Design Edition
CX Plus SE
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods Pro
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comWhite
AirPods Pro
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comWhite
AirPods Pro
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comWhite
AirPods Pro
SEARCH
Amazon.comMain Differences forNeutral Sound
Neutral Sound
Threshold
Neutral Sound
7.4
6.6
Treble Accuracy
8.7
4.5
Mid Accuracy
8.5
7.7
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
In-ear
In-ear
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Closed-Back
Wireless
Truly Wireless
Truly Wireless
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
7.5
6.5
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.01 lbs
0.03 lbs
Clamping Force
0 lbs
0 lbs
Controls
6.2
7.7
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
Not OS specific
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Good
Good
Feedback
Decent
Good
Call/Music Control
Yes
Yes
Volume Control
No
Yes
Microphone Control
No
No
Channel Mixing
No
No
Noise Cancelling Control
On/Off
On/Off
Talk-Through
On/Off
On/Off
Additional Controls
Voice Assistant
Voice Assistant
Breathability
9.2
9.2
Breathability After Picture
Avg.Temp.Difference
0.8 °C
0.8 °C
Portability
9.6
9.5
Portability Picture
L
1.2" (3.0 cm)
1.4" (3.5 cm)
W
0.9" (2.3 cm)
1.2" (3.1 cm)
H
0.9" (2.3 cm)
0.8" (2.1 cm)
Volume
1.00 in³ (16.39 cm³)
1.40 in³ (23.00 cm³)
Transmitter Required
No
No
Case
8.5
7.5
Case Picture
Type
Hard case
Hard case
L
1.8" (4.6 cm)
1.3" (3.3 cm)
W
2.4" (6.1 cm)
2.3" (5.9 cm)
H
0.9" (2.3 cm)
1.7" (4.2 cm)
Volume
3.60 in³ (58.99 cm³)
5.00 in³ (82.00 cm³)
Build Quality
8.0
8.0
Build Quality Picture
Stability
7.5
7.5
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
Bass Amount
-2.57 dB
0.96 dB
Treble Amount
-1.83 dB
-2.08 dB
Frequency Response Consistency
9.3
9.3
Consistency L
Consistency R
Avg. Std. Deviation
0.14 dB
0.15 dB
Raw Frequency Response
Bass Accuracy
8.4
8.7
Std. Err.
1.96 dB
1.67 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
49.67 Hz
39.43 Hz
Low-Bass
-3.57 dB
-3.32 dB
Mid-Bass
-1.63 dB
-0.53 dB
High-Bass
0.36 dB
0.61 dB
Mid Accuracy
8.5
7.7
Std. Err.
2.04 dB
3.01 dB
Low-Mid
2.84 dB
0.04 dB
Mid-Mid
0.9 dB
-3.31 dB
High-Mid
0.35 dB
-3.54 dB
Treble Accuracy
8.7
4.5
Std. Err.
2.06 dB
7.6 dB
Low-Treble
-1.01 dB
-8.79 dB
Mid-Treble
-1.37 dB
-2.96 dB
High-Treble
-2.39 dB
-3.14 dB
Peaks/Dips
8.8
7.6
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
0.85 dB
1.34 dB
Dips
0.71 dB
1.8 dB
Imaging
8.3
9.4
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Group Delay
0.12
0.14
Weighted Phase Mismatch
2.86
0.78
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
2.11
0.31
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
1.38
0.94
Passive Soundstage
1.0
0.8
PRTF
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
N/A
N/A
PRTF Size (Avg.)
N/A
N/A
PRTF Distance
N/A
N/A
Openness
2.0
3.3
Acoustic Space Excitation
2.1
0.4
Virtual Soundstage
2.9
0.0
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
No
No
Speaker Modeling
On/Off
No
Room Ambience
No
No
Head Tracking
On/Off
No
Virtual Surround
Spatial Audio
No
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
8.2
7.3
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.214
0.419
WHD @ 100
0.078
0.163
Test Settings
Firmware
2B584
1.8.19
Power
On
On
Connection
Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth 5.0
Codec
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
aptX, 16-bit, 48kHz
EQ
Adaptive EQ
Neutral
ANC
On
On
Tip/Pad
Silicone (small)
Silicone (small)
Microphone
Integrated
Integrated
Isolation
Noise Isolation
8.0
6.7
Noise Isolation
Isolation Audio
Overall Attenuation
-21.02 dB
-18.53 dB
Noise Cancelling
Yes
Yes
Bass
-16.34 dB
-8.84 dB
Mid
-22.6 dB
-14.62 dB
Treble
-24.81 dB
-32.52 dB
Leakage
8.2
9.6
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
32.59 dB
23.35 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
Yes
In-Line
No
No
Boom
No
No
Detachable Boom
No
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
5.0
5.5
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
630.82 Hz
364.41 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
3.63 dB
5.41 dB
HFE
7,896.12 Hz
2,712.23 Hz
Weighted THD
248.68
3.598
Gain
7.31 dB
27.8 dB
Noise Handling
6.4
6.6
SpNR
16.18 dB
36.91 dB
Noise Gate
No
Always On
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
7.0
7.0
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
5.5
6.0
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
6.9
7.3
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
5.3 hrs
6.8 hrs
Additional Charges
5.0
2.0
Total Battery Life
31.8 hrs
20.4 hrs
Charge Time
1.1 hrs
1.3 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
Standby mode
Auto-Off Timer
Audio While Charging
Yes
Yes
Passive Playback
No
No
Charging Port
Lightning
USB-C
App Support
5.5
7.5
App Picture
App Name
iOS Interface
Sennheiser Smart Control
iOS
Yes
Yes
Android
No
Yes
macOS
Yes
No
Windows
No
No
Equalizer
No
Graphic + Presets
ANC Control
On/Off
On/Off
Mic Control
No
No
Room Effects
No
No
Playback Control
No
No
Button Mapping
Yes
Yes
Surround Support
No
No
Connectivity
Bluetooth
6.9
6.8
Bluetooth Version
5.0+H1 chip
5.2
Multi-Device Pairing
No
No
NFC Pairing
No
No
Line Of Sight Range
171.00 ft (52.12 m)
159.12 ft (48.50 m)
PC Latency (SBC)
188 ms
231 ms
PC Latency (aptX)
N/A
217 ms
PC Latency (aptX HD)
N/A
N/A
PC Latency (aptX-LL)
N/A
N/A
iOS Latency
49 ms
86 ms
Android Latency
86 ms
68 ms
Non-Bluetooth Wireless
0.0
0.0
Non-BT Line Of Sight Range
N/A
N/A
Non-BT Latency
N/A
N/A
Wired
0.0
0.0
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
No
No
USB Audio
No
No
Detachable
No
No
Length
N/A
N/A
Connection
No Wired Option
No Wired Option
Analog/USB Audio Latency
N/A
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
USB-C
Check Price
White
AirPods Pro
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comWhite
CX Plus
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods Pro
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comBlack
CX Plus
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods Pro
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comSpecial Design Edition
CX Plus SE
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods Pro
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comWhite
AirPods Pro
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comWhite
AirPods Pro
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comWhite
AirPods Pro
SEARCH
Amazon.com
Apple AirPods Pro Truly Wireless
Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless
Comments
Apple AirPods Pro vs Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless: 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.