With the new AirPods Pro 3 arriving in 2025, there's a strong argument for their inclusion. Appleline of wearable fitness devices along with Apple Watch. That's because, along with the truly amazing new Active Noise Cancellation feature and improved fit, AirPods Pro 3 comes with a never-before-seen feature in AirPods lineup – heart rate measurement.
This isn't Apple's first rodeo; his Powerbeats Pro 2 offered heart rate monitoring when they launched earlier this year, but this is the first time Apple's in-ear heart rate monitoring has gone mainstream. Basically, AirPods Pro 3 can be used either in tandem with the Apple Watch to improve your fitness, or as a standalone health companion.
Heart rate monitoring isn't the only reason to buy them (see noise cancellation, amazing), but it is a very nice feature.
What fitness features are included in AirPods Pro 3?
There are several improvements that make AirPods Pro 3 a great choice for fitness. First, Apple has radically improved the fit and comfort of the latest models. While AirPods of the past often did their own workouts, popping out of your ears or being thrown to the ground during a workout, the new models are decidedly safer and more stable. New foam tips are usually much stronger and more reliable.
Another important fitness enhancement is noise cancellation. When you're working out on a noisy street or in a busy gym, blocking out distractions is vital, and I was amazed at the noise cancellation on display. Noisy gym workouts complete with clanging and grunting are now a blissfully quiet experience and a huge improvement for anyone who wants peace and quiet while working out.
The biggest fitness update is, of course, heart rate measurement. With new sensors, AirPods Pro 3 can measure your heart rate and track workouts just like Apple Watch, with over 50 different workout profiles, all supported by the Fitness app on your iPhone.
How I tested
I've done a lot of testing on the new AirPods Pro 3. I've worn them every day since launch for gym workouts and plenty of runs and walks, easily completing over 50 workouts of varying intensities.
The real test of accuracy and usefulness is comparison with best Apple Watch on the market is the Apple Watch Ultra 3. To this end, I did an hour-long strength training session using both AirPods and Apple Watch Ultra 3 connected to separate devices.
This gave me two separate data streams from each that I can directly compare to determine how the AirPods Pro 3 compare to the Ultra 3.
Results
The test results can be described as generally truly favorable. On my Apple Watch Ultra 3, I recorded a 56-minute, 41-second workout that burned 435 active calories and 558 total calories with an average heart rate of 118 bpm.
My workout on the AirPods lasted 56 minutes and 40 seconds (give me a break, synchronizing them was a bit of a challenge), averaged heart rate of 119 bpm, burned 519 active calories, and totaled 601 calories.
As you can see, the average heart rates are almost identical. Heart rate graphs on each device are also tracked almost identically. But there are some fundamental differences. First, the AirPods Pro 3 doesn't provide zone information in the same way as the Ultra 3. This seems odd to me, given that the data is there for both and could theoretically be processed on the device, but as it stands, this is a major flaw with the AirPods.
Naturally, anyone who wants to train in a specific heart rate zone or get more information about their workouts probably won't buy AirPods for that purpose; you will need at least an Apple Watch or even one of best heart rate monitors.
Image 1 from 2
As you can see, there is also a big difference in the number of calories burned. It remains to be seen whether any device will be able to effectively track this metric during a workout, but I tend to be more inclined to keep an eye on my Apple Watch, which contains more accelerometer data for your workouts.
This is an impressive result from the AirPods Pro 3, but there are some obvious limitations. Last but not least, if you only work out with your phone and AirPods, you won't be able to quickly view your heart rate during a workout like you can with an Apple Watch. However, they seem to be on the right track when it comes to general heart rate tracking.
During the test, I tracked my heart rate between sets and found that the AirPods Pro 3 performed on par with the Apple Watch, often updating at the same time, just before, or right after. There's no perfect science to it, but they do seem to make money to a large extent.
Conclusion
In truth, the AirPods Pro 3's heart rate measurement is probably a nice touch to a great audio product rather than the start of Apple's incredible new line of fitness trackers. Anyone who is serious about working out at the gym, whether it's tracking calories, monitoring heart rate, or something else, would be better off using a more specialized fitness tracker of any type. However, Apple has clearly put a lot of effort into getting the AirPods right, so this is a fantastic bonus for anyone who buys the new AirPods Pro 3.
If you use both AirPods Pro 3 and Apple Watch, it's a completely different story. If you connect your Apple Watch to AirPods Pro 3, they will work in tandem to stream data using the device with the most accurate reading over the last five minutes as the selected heart rate source.
While they can't be used together to get a combined result, having two heart rate monitors will definitely improve overall accuracy, for example if your watch gets weak or you pull out an earbud to chat with someone during a workout.
The best AirPods for different budgets
