Apple AirPods Pro 2 Expert Review

The Apple AirPods Pro 2 is a budget-priced OTC hearing aid that achieved a SoundGrade of B in HearAdvisor's lab testing. At $249, it represents Apple's entry into the hearing assistance market, leveraging its popular earbud platform with FDA-cleared hearing aid functionality.

In our testing, the AirPods Pro 2 demonstrated particular strength in music streaming quality, scoring well above the category average. Feedback handling was also excellent, earning a perfect 5.0/5 score in both fit conditions. However, the device showed a significant performance gap between initial and tuned configurations—speech understanding improved substantially with proper adjustment, suggesting users will benefit from taking time to optimize their settings rather than relying on out-of-box defaults.

The main weakness observed was own-voice comfort, which scored below the category average due to occlusion effects from the closed dome design. Users who are sensitive to hearing their own voice may find this noticeable. Speech-in-noise performance, while improved after tuning, remained modest compared to higher-ranked competitors in this price range like the Elehear Beyond.

The AirPods Pro 2 is best suited for existing Apple ecosystem users with mild-to-moderate hearing loss who prioritize seamless iPhone integration and excellent audio streaming quality. Those seeking maximum speech clarity in challenging listening environments may want to consider alternatives that scored higher in our speech-in-noise testing.