AirPods (2nd generation) vs AirPods Pro (1st generation)

AirPods (2nd generation) were announced on 20 March 2019, and AirPods Pro (1st generation) followed on 28 October 2019 as Apple’s first sealed AirPods. That one change, a tip in your ear canal, accounts for nearly every difference below.

Apple no longer sells either. Its current open pair, AirPods 5, has noise cancellation without tips, and the Pro line has moved on to later generations. So the real choice is keeping the pair you have, buying one of these used, or moving to a current model.

Side by side

Spec	AirPods (2nd generation)	AirPods Pro (1st generation)
Announced	20 March 2019	28 October 2019
US launch price	$159 with Lightning case; $199 with Wireless Charging Case	$249
Fit	Open long stem, one size, no tips	Sealed short stem, three silicone tip sizes
Chip	H1	H1
Driver	Not published	Custom high-excursion driver, vented; Adaptive EQ
Noise cancellation	No	Yes; no decibel figure
Transparency	No	Yes
Spatial audio	Not published	Yes, with dynamic head tracking
Listening, one charge	Up to 5 hours	Up to 4.5 hours with ANC; up to 5 hours with ANC and Transparency off
With the case	More than 24 hours	More than 24 hours
Quick charge	15 minutes for up to 3 hours	5 minutes for about 1 hour
Water, buds	Not published	IPX4, non-water sports
Water, case	Not published	Not sweat or water resistant
One bud	4 g; 40.5 × 16.5 × 18.0 mm	5.4 g; 30.9 × 21.8 × 24.0 mm
Case	38.2 g; 53.5 × 44.3 × 21.3 mm	45.6 g; 45.2 × 60.6 × 21.7 mm
Controls	Double-tap, plus Hey Siri	Force sensor, plus Hey Siri
Bluetooth	5.0	5.0
Hearing Aid	No	No

The seal and the two listening modes

The Pro’s silicone tips, in three sizes, close off your ear canal, and it pairs that seal with the two listening modes the open AirPods lack: Active Noise Cancellation for a train or a plane, and Transparency to let voices back in without taking a bud out. Apple doesn’t give a decibel figure for this first Pro, and the “twice as much” claims you may have seen are about later Pros. Conversation Awareness and Adaptive Audio came later too, with AirPods Pro 2.

AirPods (2nd generation) are one size with no tips at all. A bud weighs 4 grams and, with its long stem, stands 40.5 millimeters tall; it rests in the bowl of your ear. The Pro bud is 5.4 grams and 30.9 millimeters, shorter and heavier, and its noise cancellation needs one of the three tips to seal. If tips have always bothered you, the open pair avoids them. If you want quiet, you’ll be trying tip sizes.

The Pro also brings a custom high-excursion driver and Adaptive EQ, and later software gave it spatial audio with dynamic head tracking for Dolby Atmos and 5.1 content, plus Spatialize Stereo on iOS 15 or later. Apple doesn’t list spatial audio for AirPods (2nd generation).

Water: only the Pro buds are rated

AirPods Pro (1st generation) buds are IPX4, sweat and water resistant for non-water sports and exercise. That’s not a swimming rating, and the resistance isn’t permanent. The case is the weak spot: Apple says neither the 2019 Wireless Charging Case nor the 2021 MagSafe Charging Case is sweat or water resistant, so a damp gym bag is a risk for the case even when the buds are fine.

Apple doesn’t publish an IP rating for AirPods (2nd generation), for the buds or the case. If you sweat through workouts, the Pro is the safer of the two, as long as the case stays dry.

Battery: a near tie, with different quick charges

The open AirPods are rated for up to 5 hours of listening. The Pro gets 4.5 hours with noise cancellation on, or 5 with noise cancellation and Transparency off, so on one charge they’re within half an hour of each other. Both reach more than 24 hours with the case. Apple measured both with 256 kbps AAC.

Apple rates the quick top-up differently for each: 15 minutes in the case gives AirPods (2nd generation) up to 3 hours, and 5 minutes gives the Pro about 1 hour.

Double-tap or squeeze

Both wake to “Hey Siri”; the stems are what differ. AirPods (2nd generation) use a double-tap to play, skip or answer a call. The Pro has a force sensor: press once to play or answer, twice to skip, three times to go back, and press and hold to switch between noise cancellation and Transparency.

For calls, both have dual beamforming microphones, and the Pro adds an inward-facing one. AirPods (2nd generation) sense your ear with dual optical sensors and use a motion accelerometer and a speech accelerometer; there’s no force sensor and no skin-detect sensor. Both come in white, and neither case has a speaker, a lanyard loop or a U1 chip.

Buying used: know which case you’re getting

Every case here charges over Lightning, but there are four of them, and a used pair won’t always come with the one you expect.

AirPods (2nd generation) came with either the Lightning Charging Case, which charges only by cable, or the Wireless Charging Case, which adds Qi charging and keeps the Lightning port. Apple gives one size and weight for both, 38.2 grams, and the box had a Lightning to USB-A cable. The buds are models A2032 and A2031; the Lightning case is A1602 and the wireless case is A1938.

AirPods Pro (1st generation) came with a Qi Wireless Charging Case and a Lightning to USB-C cable. The 2021 MagSafe Charging Case adds magnetic alignment, still charges by Lightning, and still isn’t water resistant. Both Pro cases are model A2190, so check the serial number: it ends in 0C6L or LKKT on the 2019 case and in 1059 or 1NRC on the MagSafe case. The buds are A2084 and A2083 either way; the MagSafe case doesn’t change them.

What they cost, and when to skip both

AirPods (2nd generation) launched at $159 with the Lightning case or $199 with the Wireless Charging Case, and AirPods Pro (1st generation) at $249. Those launch prices say little about a used pair today, so weigh what a seller is asking against a current model, and confirm which case is included before you pay.

Skip both if you want Hearing Aid: Apple offers it on AirPods Pro 2 and later, and no firmware update will bring it to either 2019 pair. Skip both if you want noise cancellation without tips; that’s AirPods 5. And skip both if you want a case rated IP54 or IP57, or up to 8 hours with noise cancellation on; those come with later Pros.