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I don’t know what I would do without my in-ear buds.

The wire earphones of bygone days are so annoying and inhibiting in comparison that once you get a taste of the free mobility, convenience, and ease of AirPods, you simply won’t want to tolerate any other way of listening to music, calling, or watching TikTok.

But there’s a lot to learn about your in-ear buds to get the full experience. There’s pairing them correctly with your smartphone, taking advantage of spatial audio for a more immersive sonic experience, and other cool features to know in order to really live your best wireless earphones life.

Whether you have a pair of the original AirPods Pro or Apple’s second-generation ones, this guide by CNET will do wonders for your daily music immersions.

The second-gen AirPods Pro are a follow-up to the original that came out in 2019, coming with the same features, like active noise cancellation for an improved listening experience and interchangeable silicone tips for a more comfortable fit.

Then, last September, Apple debuted a new version of its wireless earbuds called the AirPods Pro 2, which boast a longer battery life, a new charging case with Find My support, updated microphones, new volume controls and a new H2 chip.

You can have a look at the options available to you via Digicape, South Africa’s largest independent Apple retailer, which stocks the AirPods Pro (2nd generation) for R5 599, AirPods 2 with charging case for R2 799, AirPods 3 with lightning charging case or the ones with a wireless charging case for R3 699 and R3 899, respectively.

The first step to get grooving is to pair your AirPods to your phone. Simply unlock your phone, open the AirPods case and follow the prompts that pop up on your phone. (Opening the case near your phone is also how you’ll check the battery life, which is pretty amazing on these new little babies).

Then, instead of tapping one of the AirPods, use the stems of the AirPods Pro as buttons:

Using two fingers, squeeze the flat indention on each AirPod. You’ll hear a click in your ear with each press. Here’s what each button press does:

• Single-press: Pause/Play
• Double-press: Skip forward
• Triple-press: Skip backward
• Long-press: Switch between noise cancellation and transparency mode.

But to change the volume, you swipe:

A nifty addition for the AirPods Pro 2 is the ability to change the volume using the stems. Swipe up to raise the volume and down to lower. Yes. It’s that easy.

The most impressive feature of the AirPods Pro is its active noise cancellation or ANC, which will come in handy if you work or live amongst constant noise. When it’s turned on, noise cancellation blocks nearly all background noise that you’d normally hear with regular earbuds or the standard AirPods. AKA, you get to be immersed in your own world, with peace and whatever sounds you want to listen to.

Turn off noise cancellation with a long press on one of the AirPods’ buttons, or use the Control Center on your iPhone or iPad. Swipe down from the top right corner of your device’s screen; then, when the Control Center appears, long-press on the volume slider. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll have three options: Noise cancellation, Off and Transparency. Tap the setting you want to use.

When you switch to Transparency mode, you’ll be able to hear some of the sounds in your environment, but also still hear the audio playing in your AirPods Pro, which is something you’d use when walking along busy streets so you can hear the traffic, or in an airport when you need to listen for gate changes, for example.

Another nifty feature is the Spatial Audio experience, which provides an immersive surround sound experience, delivering a 360-degree soundscape that adjusts to your movement. Enable the feature in your settings by:

Turn on Spatial Audio by going to Settings > Bluetooth > tap the “i” next to your AirPods Pro and then slide the switch next to Spatial Audio to the On position. You can then listen to a demo to see how the feature works by selecting See & Hear How It Works.

There are two options to ensure you do not use your AirPods case, and we advise using both. First, you can use the Find My app to precisely locate a lost AirPods Pro case:

Open the Find My app on your iPhone and tap on the Devices tab. Tap on your AirPods Pro in the list to see its location on a map. If you’re within 30-feet or so of the case, press the Find Nearby button. Then follow the prompts onscreen to be guided to it.

You can also attach a useful lanyard loop on the right side of your AirPods Pro 2 case, which you can then hook to a backpack, handbag, and keys to ensure they’re always where you last left them. Unless you lose your keys and bag often, then you’re on your own.

Here’s a video covering the basics if you’re more of a visual learner:

Now you should be able to completely master your new wireless earbuds.

Enjoy calling without needing to hold your phone to your ear, listening to music while running without getting tangled in the wire, and not ever needing to untangle your earphones ever again. It’s a wonderful world when you go wireless.

[source:cnet]