Apple's latest AirPods are officially here. The AirPods Pro 3 have been a long time coming – three years, in fact – but it looks like they might just be worth the wait.
The new flagships offer advances in sound quality and active noise cancellation (ANC), as well as a redefined design and an upgraded roster of features.
As we know, the world of wireless earbuds is a cut-throat place to be. Bose's flagship QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) stand tall as some of the best noise-cancelling earbuds we've heard, and they too offer plenty for the discerning music listener thanks to their refined, detailed sound and excellent fit.
The question is: how do they square up against each other?
We haven't reviewed the AirPods Pro 3 yet, but we know plenty about them and have sifted through all the details to see what the big claims are and how the upgrades might fare.
We'll update this article with a definitive verdict once we've reviewed them fully and against the Bose, but until then, let's see how the two compare on paper.
Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen): price
Both of these are flagship pairs, so neither comes cheap.
The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) cost £299 / $299 / AU$450. That's a lot of coin, but the same price as their predecessors cost when they launched two years prior, so it's not too unreasonable.
It's a lot more than the AirPods Pro 3, however, which launch at £219 / $249 / AU$429. That's actually £30 cheaper than their predecessors, and still £10 cheaper than when Apple cut the price and switched from a Lightning port to USB-C in 2023. Reason to celebrate if you're in the UK, then.
Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen): build & comfort
Bose's earbuds tend to be some of the most comfortable around, and that's certainly the case with the brand's cannily designed QC Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen).
Their unconventional design fits perfectly in the ear, aided by the stability bands proving a nice, secure experience. They stay put whether you're crunching out a 5K or head banging to Motörhead, an impressive feat considering these aren't specifically conceived as workout buds.
Their touch controls are responsive and intuitive, and you can customise them to your liking. You do only get three sizes of ear tips though, which seems a bit stingy – the AirPods Pro 3 come with five, including a new XXS size – but the second-gen QC Ultra Earbuds' stability bands should be enough to keep them from tumbling out of your ears.
The Bose are much more colourful than the AirPods, coming in four finishes, including the rather fetching Deep Plum. As you'll know with Apple, any AirPods that aren't the over-ear Max only come in one colour: pristine, iconic white.
The Pro 3 are every inch a pair of AirPods, once again sporting that trademark white finish. Apple says their fit has been optimised using more than 10,000 3D ear scans, boasting a slightly smaller size than their predecessors and a design shaped to match the geometry of the ear.
Apple claims these are the "most stable and best fitting AirPods ever", but they'll need to offer a snug, secure experience if they're to match the ergonomic excellence of their Bose rivals.
AirPods have always divided our reviews team somewhat in terms of comfort. Some of us love them, others struggle to get a good fit, even with the ear tip-equipped Pro model. It'll be interesting to see how we get on with the AirPods Pro 3 when we put them through their paces.
Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen): features
The Bose buds give you six hours of use, or 24 hours total when using the charging case. That's less from the buds than the AirPods Pro 3, which last for eight hours, but the same total battery life, so the AirPods edge this one.
The Bose support aptX Adaptive for streaming in 24-bit hi-res lossless with low latency via compatible sources, along with the standard AAC and SBC codecs, while the AirPods lack aptX or any kind of hi-res support. As was the case with the AirPods Pro 2, Apple is sticking with the AAC codec and considers the buds' intrinsic qualities to be sufficient to negate the need for any particularly fancy codecs.
Both support spatial audio with dynamic head tracking – Bose Immersive Audio and Apple Spatial Audio respectively – though we're less keen on Bose's take on this format than Apple's. Apple also includes a more personalised spatial audio feature for iPhone users.
The Bose buds support Bluetooth Multipoint connectivity for easier switching between two connected devices. Apple has its own take on this tech, but it only works with iOS devices – but it is very seamless in use.
The new AirPods now support Live Translation, which can translate live speech in real time. They lower the volume of the speaker and boost the audio translation so you can focus on what's being said without distraction, and can provide on-screen transcripts directly to your iPhone. Increíble!
This feature has also come to the AirPods 4 with ANC and AirPods Pro 2, but note that you'll need to pair them with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iOS device running iOS 26 to get it to work.
Apple has added health and fitness skills to the AirPods Pro 3. Heart rate tracking is now possible thanks to a small photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor that measures light absorption in blood flow within your ear.
Using your iPhone, you can set the AirPods Pro 3 to track 50 different types of workout, and there's a new Workout Buddy to give you personalised insights while you're huffing and puffing.
The AirPods Pro 3 are more weather-resistant than the Bose, offering an IP57 rating to the QC Earbuds' IPX4. That means they're more dust- and water-resistant – ideal for exercising in the great outdoors.
Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen): noise cancelling & call quality
ANC is the feather in Bose's cap. The firm invented the tech, and it continues to excel in its implementation for both its in-ear and over-ear headphones.
Bose's latest flagship earbuds offer smoother changes in levels of noise cancellation to deal with sudden spikes like sirens or car horns than their predecessors. They're quick to adapt to whatever we throw at them during our review, proving effective at softening harsher sounds while also dispatching lower-level rumbles.
You can choose from three levels of ANC: Quiet, Aware and Immersion (which involves Bose's spatial audio tech), plus you can add your own custom presets with the amount of noise cancelling dialled in to your liking.
In their Quiet mode, the buds suck all of the sound away, cocooning you in an eerie vacuum of silence. It might be a bit unnatural for some people, but if it's pure silence you crave, there's none better out there at this level.
"Noises across the sonic spectrum, be they clacking keyboards, chattering colleagues or cars beeping their horns on the street, simply dissolve into near-insignificance, with harsher and more intrusive sounds shut out even more effectively than before," we wrote in our review.
Bose's ANC tech is put to good use for voice calls too, reducing background sound to boost the caller's voice. Wind and office chatter rarely get a look in. Rivals might be a little warmer and more natural in terms of voices, but the Bose do an excellent job at blocking distractions.
So Apple has its work cut out, but it's coming out fighting, claiming that the AirPods Pro 3 offer the “world's best active noise cancellation of any in-ear wireless headphones". That's fighting talk, and we hint a challenge to its Bose rivals with such a bold and assertive statement...
Apple claims that the Pro 3's ANC is up to twice as effective as the Pro 2's, and four times as effective as the original AirPods Pro. This is thanks to ultra-low noise mics and advanced computational audio, plus new foam-infused ear tips for greater passive noise isolation (i.e. better blocking of your ear canal).
If Apple can make good on these claims, we should be in for a treat. The AirPods Pro 2 have excellent ANC, with their own methods of damping down sudden noises that proves effective even on the harum-scarum environs of the London Underground.
So any improvement could make the Pro 3 among the best in their class, and we can't wait to compare how they fare against Bose in real-life testing.
Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen): sound
Sound quality makes or breaks a pair of earbuds, so we were a little surprised that the latest Bose buds don't have a new driver. Rather, Bose fine-tuned the audio to improve the bass response and smooth out higher frequencies, something that sounded like it might not be enough to keep up with more 'ambitious' rivals.
However, it worked out well, offering a noticeable boost in sound quality over the first-gen models.
The 2nd Gen Ultra earbuds reach "impressive new depths while retaining the requisite tautness and agility of their lower-end reproduction," we wrote in our review.
"Mournful strings plunge deeper than before, but across all frequencies there's satisfying body and texture to notes that goes beyond what the original QC Ultra Earbuds could muster".
"It’s a clearer performance, too, and improved levels of crispness help to delineate where each note starts and finishes with a sharper, keener focus."
The newer buds sound richer and more authentic, and whatever we throw at them, we're impressed with how composed, full-bodied and natural the second-gen buds sound.
Given that the original QC Ultra Earbuds were five-star performers, it seems a little tweaking was all that was needed.
For the AirPods Pro 3, Apple is sticking with the same H2 chip as their predecessors, but has looked at other ways of tweaking the sound quality.
Apple is touting a new multiport acoustic architecture that controls the airflow that carries sound into the ear. Along with next-gen Adaptive EQ, we are promised deeper bass and a widening of the soundstage so you can hear every instrument in a track. Apple also claims to bring "vivid vocal clarity to higher frequencies".
The Transparency mode is now more personalised so that the wearer's voice, and those speaking to them, sound more natural than ever.
The AirPods Pro 2 were the first Apple earbuds to earn five stars from us for their detailed, well-organised and snappy presentation, so the Pro 3 are building on a solid sonic base.
It is perfectly possible that Apple can build on the foundation laid by the second-gen Pro buds with a few subtle tweaks rather than with a major overhaul. Whatever the case, we can't wait to test the new AirPods Pro 3 to see if they can live up to the legacy of their predecessors.
Apple AirPods Pro 3 vs Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen): early verdict
It's exciting times in the world of true wireless earbuds. The new AirPods Pro 3 make some bold claims, especially about ANC quality, and could position them as one of the best wireless earbuds around, especially if you're a dedicated iPhone user looking for earbuds to work perfectly within the established iOS ecosystem.
The Bose pair are still relatively new to the market, delivering some of the best ANC performance of any buds we've tested at the premium level. Add in the great sound quality and solid feature set, and you have a pair to be reckoned with.
Can Apple match Bose's best? We'll update this article once we've fully reviewed the AirPods Pro 3.
MORE:
Read our Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) review
AirPods Pro 3: price, features, and everything you need to know about Apple's new flagship wireless earbuds
I'm hyped about the AirPods Pro 3 for 6 key reasons – starting with their price
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