Apple AirPods Pro
iShopChangi
I got to know iShopChangi People’s Choice Deals through their Facebook post. They have advertised the AirPods Pro to be S$295. The recommended retail price (RRP) of AirPods Pro is S$379 on Apple.com/sg.
I camped on 30th June, and when midnight arrives, nothing. I replied to their Facebook post and went to bed. They responded the next day, mentioning the sale is at noon sharp. Again, noon arrives, nothing.
After refreshing for two minutes on their AirPods Pro listing page, the price changed to S$84.
My brother has been monitoring the stock level from their JSON payload; it seems they have 29 AirPods Pro for this sale.
I bought three AirPods Pro at S$84 each. The orders were successful, and the amount was charged to my credit card. I expected it to be a typo, and if they honor it, then it is good. If not, it doesn’t matter anyway.
As expected, about 10 minutes later, the order cancellation came. So I thought they would change the price back to the sale price of S$295, which I would have bought as well. Sadly, that didn’t happen, and I felt cheated.
But little did I know that their service recovery is good. iShopChangi sent an email to me the same night, offering me three AirPods Pro at S$250 each. I accepted the offer but bought two instead.
Since I already paid 2x S$84, they charged me an additional 2x S$166 for the two orders and refunded me on the third order. They shipped it to me via Ninjavan on 2nd July 2020, and I got it on 6th July 2020.
Unboxing
Since AirPods Pro is priced as a premium product, it includes a USB-C to Lightning cable rather than a USB to Lightning cable.
The default packaging comes with two extra ear tips, small and large.
Design
The charging case design is pretty much similar to the AirPods, except that it is wider.
You can charge it via the Lightning port or wirelessly via a wireless Qi charger.
AirPods Pro vs WF-1000XM3
I already have the Sony WF-1000XM3 Earbuds. The only complaints I have with the WF-1000XM3 is with the fitting and the Bluetooth connection.
WF-1000XM3 doesn’t support wireless Qi charging but AirPods Pro does.
I didn’t expect the AirPods Pro’s charging case to be so compact; I expect it to be bigger.
The design of the WF-1000XM3 makes it protrudes out of your ears. Because of that, it creates an uneven weight distribution of the earbuds, and it tends to fall off from your ears easily.
WF-1000XM3’s Bluetooth connection was quite bad at first when I first got it. Through firmware updates, it has improved slightly.
The thing I like about AirPods is the seamless connection between all your Apple devices. The user experience is just fantastic.
Apple even has a setting to test the fit of your ear tips. The default medium-sized ear tips work perfectly for me.
The audio quality of the AirPods Pro is a massive leap from AirPods (2019), but I still find it losing out to the WF-1000XM3 especially in the bass department.
Active noise cancellation (ANC) wise, I felt that both are equally good. However, the seal for AirPods Pro fits my ear better, so the overall for me, the AirPods Pro block out more noise than my WF-1000XM3.
If you are within the Apple ecosystem, I felt that the AirPods Pro is a better buy than the WF-1000XM3.
