Noise cancellation is an extremely useful feature of the AirPods Pro, which blocks out annoying background noise. This is how you improve noise cancelling by the ears!
Noise reduction with the AirPods
The first and second generation AirPods Pro have noise control, in English noise cancelling named. With the audio function, ambient noise is blocked by the earphones. This means you no longer hear the noise of the plane during a flight and talking in a busy train compartment is filtered out. The function is very useful in a busy environment, but it may still happen that not all the noise is stopped.
There are several ways to improve noise cancellation with your AirPods. It is important to mention that the second generation of AirPods has a new H2 chip, with which noise control has been updated. With the AirPods Pro 2 the noise cancelling So slightly better, but with both generations of earphones there are ways to make noise cancellation even better. That’s how you do that.
1. Choose the correct settings
The earphones have different listening modes, depending on how much sound the earphones let through. With the AirPods Pro you can choose between three types of noise control: ‘Transparency’, ‘Adaptive’ and ‘Noise reduction’. Do you want to block out as much noise as possible? In that case, choose the latter, as the earphones will block out all ambient noise. Especially if you also listen to music, you hardly hear anything from your surroundings anymore.
In transparency mode, the AirPods do not filter out ambient noise, in adaptive mode transparency and noise reduction are combined. You will still hear ambient noise, but loud disturbing noises will be blocked. You activate noise cancellation by squeezing the stems of the AirPods Pro. Do you want to adjust those settings? It goes like this:
- Grab the AirPods and remove them from the case;
- Open ‘Settings’ on your iPhone or iPad;
- Select ‘AirPods Pro’, the earphones will automatically appear under your Apple ID;
- Choose ‘Left’ under ‘Press and hold AirPods’;
- Tap ‘Noise Control’ and select the listening mode of your choice;
- Go back to the settings by tapping ‘Back’;
- Choose ‘Right’ under ‘Press and hold AirPods’;
- Finally, select a listening mode of your choice there too.
In the settings it is possible to link a different listening mode to the left and right earphones. For example, you can activate noise cancellation with one of the AirPods Pro, while switching on transparency mode with the other earpiece. Make sure that noise cancellation is linked to at least one of the AirPods, so that you are sure that you activate the correct listening mode. Then press the stem and you will no longer be bothered by noise in the background!
2. Test proper fit
The AirPods Pro differ from the AirPods 3 by the fit. Both the first and second generation AirPods Pro have silicone attachments that block out ambient noise. If you buy new AirPods Pro, you will receive these attachments in three sizes. This way you can choose which size best suits your ears, so that the AirPods remain comfortable.
It is important that you choose the right size, because if you use the wrong size, background noise will still be allowed through. Even with noise cancellation enabled, the AirPods Pro do not block out all the noise from your environment. Are you unsure whether you have chosen the right size for the silicone attachments? Then you can perform a fit test via the settings of your iPhone or iPad. You do this in the following way:
- Grab your AirPods and put in the earphones;
- Open ‘Settings’ on your iPhone or iPad and go to the AirPods;
- Scroll down and choose ‘Fit Test’;
- Then tap Continue and run the test.
Want to buy AirPods Pro?
Noise reduction is now indispensable if you regularly wear the AirPods Pro in public or in busy areas. Unfortunately, the function remains exclusive to the AirPods Pro, with the ‘normal’ AirPods 3 you have to do without it. noise cancelling doing. With the AirPods Pro 2, Apple has even expanded noise control with the adaptive listening mode and call detection. With the latter function, the sound of the earphones is automatically reduced when someone is talking to you.
For the time being, we won’t see any new AirPods Pro, because Apple is reportedly not planning to release the earphones until the end of next year. If you are still looking for new earphones with noise cancellation, this is a good time to choose the AirPods Pro. The second generation has better noise cancellation and more features, but if you don’t want to pay the top price, the first generation AirPods Pro are also a good choice. View the best prices here!