AirPods Pro's Newest Features Try to Rival Sony's WF-1000XM5

Speaker 1: The second gen AirPods Pro just got a brand new update with iOS 17. The AirPods Pro have two brand new features, an adaptive listening mode and a conversational awareness that quiets your music when you want to speak to someone. If those features sound somewhat familiar, it's probably because they've been present in most of Sony's WF 1000 lines. Most recently, the WF 1000 x mark five. So I'm going to test out these buds to see if there's any noticeable [00:00:30] difference in their approach to these features. Let's go. So to know if your AirPods are on the latest firmware, you just need to go to settings, go into Bluetooth and look for your AirPods and tap on the I icon. From there, you should be able to see the version number, which should say six a 3 0 1. If they don't, you can try and speed up the update by connecting your AirPods to your iPhone or iPad. Speaker 1: Just give it 10 or 15 minutes and they should be updated. As an aside, these are the older Lightning AirPods Pro two, [00:01:00] the updated versions have U S B Type C and Lossless audio. You just need the extortionately expensive Apple Vision Pro to make them work. But I digress. Let's get on with it. Both conversational awareness and speak to chat allow users to speak to someone without having to physically take their buds out or lower the volume. However, their approach couldn't be more different in typical Apple fashion. Conversational awareness consists of a toggle in the airport text, and that's it. After that, you just have to start speaking and [00:01:30] your music will gently taper off into the background and transparency. Mobile kick in so you can hear whoever you're talking to. Once you stop talking, the music will fade back up in around five seconds. Speaker 1: With the XM fives, you get a whole lot more control with the accompanying Sony headphone app. With the app, you don't just get to toggle the feature. You also get the option to set the sensitivity from high to low to automatic, and how long before the music restarts once you're done talking. So you do get a little bit more control with the XM five. Once you start [00:02:00] talking, you hear a chime and your music pauses and won't restart until your set time. But what about sensitivity? What does it take for these modes to trigger? Let's find out. Speaker 2: So right now I'm whispering to see if this is enough to trigger conversational awareness mode. And as you can see, the depose is still eyes so whispering works. So I'm whispering now to see if it'll work with speed to chat. And as you can see, the music is still going. [00:02:30] So the spring works. Speaker 1: So humming seems to trigger conversational awareness mode for those hummers out there. [00:03:00] Music pours straight away. So humming, just like the AirPod triggers the speak to chat. Speaker 3: So Speaker 1: Apparently clearing your throat seems to trigger the speak to chat. Who knew? So yeah, it seems like the AirPods do just that little [00:03:30] bit better differentiating from clearing your throat to actual spoken words, which the Sony since stumble over a little bit. But overall, when it comes to both features, if you prefer to pick up where you left off, the XM fives are for you. If you like a more seamless transition in and out of your music, then you want to go for the AirPods. Moving on to each bud's adaptive mode, they are meant to take the guessing game of when you need to engage transparency or noise canceling. The spiel is the more you use them, the [00:04:00] more they adapt to your habits. Once again, with Apple, you just toggle a switch from the control center and forget about it. This makes it a little harder to know if it's actually working or not. For the most part, it feels like you're just in a slightly less transparent transparency mode, but it's long until you start adding loud noises around your environment that you know that it's really working. So right now I have adaptive mode on and I can hear some of my surroundings. When I snap, I can hear my snap [00:04:30] very clearly, but as soon as I put on the vacuum, Speaker 4: Let that go on for a little while. Speaker 1: Suddenly it Speaker 4: Cuts off a little bit in my ears and now that snap is Speaker 1: Nearly ind I. Speaker 3: So Speaker 1: Yeah, adaptive mode works like a jar. With the XM fives, you get far more granular control. Once you have adaptive mode on, you can select from a number of states in which [00:05:00] to have more or less transparency. By default, when you're stationary or on a commute, noise canceling is fully on, whereas when you are on the move, walking or running, transparency mode is on. But you do get to choose how much of the world you want to let in. So if you're on a run, for example, you might want more transparency than if you were on a leisurely stroll. There is this notable chime every single time the states change in the adaptiveness, which can definitely take you out of your music. However, you do have the options [00:05:30] and settings to disable that tone, to make things flow a little better. After spending a little time with both buds, it's clear to see that they've taken totally different approaches. Speaker 1: Everything Apple does is made for complete convenience. That does somewhat stifle control on the user side, but the implementation is so smooth and seamless that you might actually forgive the lack of autonomy. The XM fives, on the other hand, give you all the control for those who know what they're doing. Love to tailor every part of their listening experience. [00:06:00] One thing I could do without is the constant chimes you get when the Buds listening states change. But like I said earlier, you can turn that off in the settings. At the end of the day, if you're someone who just wants to plug, play and forget, then I think the AirPods are a great shout. They do this so well. But for a deeper control, you can go wrong with the XM fives. They give you just enough options to make it worth it without being overwhelming. Well, that's all from me, but what do you think of these buds? Do you think their features were implemented? Well, let us know down in [00:06:30] the comments and don't forget to hit the link in the description to find out more information about these buds. Thanks again so much for watching and I'll catch you on the next one.