Who is the Apple - AirPods Pro 3 for?
Solid mid-pack wireless earbud. The 69.5 score lands in B-tier (68-77) — competent across the board with one or two specs holding it back from a higher tier.
Right buy if pricing matters and the trade-offs the formula penalizes don't affect how you use the device. Worth comparing against the A-tier picks in our best wireless earbuds list.
Mars Score is computed from 14 measured specs against the transparent formula for the wireless earbuds category. No editorial picks, no paid placement.
Pros and cons at a glance
- ▲Active noise cancellation — supported.
No spec lands in the bottom quartile of the category normalization window — this product holds up across the weighted axes.
Pros are specs scoring ≥75% of the category normalization range. Cons are ≤35%. Derived from the Mars Score formula — no hand-curated lists.
At a glance
- Driver size
- 11mm
- Battery — buds
- 8h
- Weight per bud
- 5.3g
- Form factor
- in-ear
All specifications
Design
- Form factor
- in-ear
- Weight per bud
- 5.3 g
Audio
- Driver size?
- 11 mm
- Transparency mode
- true
- Spatial audio?
- true
Battery
- Battery — buds
- 8 h
- Battery — with case
- 30 h
Connectivity
- Codecs
- AAC,SBC
- Multipoint?
- false
- In-ear detection
- true
Hands-on coverage
Editorial pieces from the vsMars team that cover the Apple - AirPods Pro 3.
AirPods Pro 3 Codec Latency Deep Dive — Game Mode, Call Mode, Music Mode
Beyond the headline AAC latency: how the H2 chip switches profiles by detected use case, and what each mode costs you in audio quality.
Pixel Buds Pro 2 vs AirPods Pro 3 — Codec & Latency Lab
Bluetooth latency end-to-end across iOS and Android. Real LDAC vs AAC behavior on identical source files.
Best Wireless Earbuds Under $200 in 2026
The sweet-spot tier: 90% of the flagship experience for half the price. Six picks across ANC, codec support, and fit.
AirPods Pro 3 vs Sony WH-1000XM6 — Lab ANC Test
We measured active noise cancellation on the AirPods Pro 3 and Sony WH-1000XM6 inside an anechoic chamber and on a commuter train. Numbers and verdict inside.
Best Wireless Earbuds in 2026
Eight earbuds tested for ANC, codec support, battery, and fit. Our picks across iPhone, Android, audiophile, and budget.
Wireless Earbud ANC Isolation — Five Pairs on a HATS Rig
GRAS 45CA head-and-torso simulator, pink noise at 75 dB SPL, measured attenuation by octave band.
Latest from the lab
All lab reports →Popular comparisons featuring the Apple - AirPods Pro 3
Top 8 closest matchups in the Wireless Earbuds category. Sorted by Mars Score proximity — these are the fights most worth your time.
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