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The extra-small eartips on the new AirPods Pro are their best feature

One of the tiniest upgrades to the new AirPods Pro is my favourite. The new extra-small eartips included with the second-generation Apple AirPods Pro make these professional wireless earbuds almost a perfect fit for my ears.

Although the original AirPods Pro were fantastic, I had a lot of trouble keeping them in my ears unless I was sitting completely still, even when using the tiniest eartip (at the time). Whenever I was on a Zoom call, I was forever fiddling with my headphones. The prior generation of AirPods Pro often fell out of my ears when I was chewing. It was annoying to have to wriggle them back into my ears every few steps while running.

The issue was not a deal-breaker. My constant use of AirPods Pro continued. The constant need to fiddle with the AirPods Pro’s settings quickly became an annoyance that I resigned myself to living with.

At first, I wasn’t really enamoured with the fact that the eartips were much smaller than average.

When I placed my purchase for AirPods Pro, the inclusion of extra-tiny eartips was well down on my list of priorities. More intriguing were the enhanced battery life, enhanced noise cancellation, and revised charging case. The extra-small eartips were not included with the headphones, so I didn’t even bother testing them out. I decided to simply use medium-sized dice and see what happened.

However, after wearing them for a few days, I ran into the identical fit concerns with the second generation Pros as I did with the first. It’s hardly surprising that they keep coming loose considering the design is very similar to the first generation AirPods Pro (and because I stuck with the medium eartip out of pure laziness). Even after inserting the tiniest eartips, I didn’t think I’d notice a difference. The improved fit of the AirPods Pro makes them preferable to their previous models.

I no longer have to play “how few times can I poke my own ears” when on a video conversation, and I can enjoy my meal without always looking down to make sure I don’t drop my headphones. During my runs, I am able to tune out the noise in my ears and concentrate on the rhythm of my feet.

However, the second generation of the Pros are the only ones officially permitted to use the smaller eartips.

After using the AirPods Pro for over a month, I can say without a doubt that the smaller eartips are my favourite new feature. Although Apple claims that its eartips “have been designed specifically for their AirPods Pro generation,” my colleague Chris Welch discovered that the tips fit either version of the earbuds, so you could try purchasing a set of replacements for the second-gen Pros and sticking them on your older pair of buds for $7.99.

I can’t believe how much of a difference that little tweak has made; it’s what sold me on the new Pros. My only remaining hope is that Apple would release their USB-C enclosure sooner rather than later.