Interesting. I have roughly 50,000 flight miles on the new AirPods Pro 3, and while I do prefer them to the 2s, I too have some annoyances with the left AirPod. In my case it never feels like it fits my ear canal quite right, to the point that I thought I might want different size tips - after trying all the tips, that's not it. The seal is in fact good, but the different feel is noticeable.
The noise cancellation also feels a bit more variable - when it's good it's significantly better, but sometimes I get cycles or loops where the algo doesn't seem to be working right.
I was mulling over getting custom tips, but it's a good reminder it might just be easier to downgrade.
I feel like I'm in-between sizes or something. The medium Apple eartips are more comfortable but tend to sit farther out of my ear canal and feel like they're working their way out. The small eartips stay in more securely, but sit uncomfortably far into my ear canal and lose seal when talking or putting my head in certain positions. I eventually settled on the mediums and have become accustomed to the feeling of them "falling out" even when they're not.
But yes, odd to hear that other people also have issues with the left ear fit, because they must be identical shapes. I wonder if human physiology averages to the left ear being smaller or something. Although I feel like the right ear falls out more easily if I switch to the small tips...
None of the Apple tips work for me, they all leak outside noise and slip out of my ears. I've tried nearly every 3rd party tip on the market, the AZLA ones are the best but with caveats. The Xelastic tips [0] provide the best comfort, noise cancellation and stay in your ears perfectly, but they wear out and become too soft quickly - like every two to three months. The Max tips [1] are durable, stay in properly, and are so comfortable it's easy to forget you have ear buds in. They're not so great at the noise cancellation though so I tend to use these as my every day tips and swap them for the Xelastics when I'm going on a flight or somewhere where the ANC is more important. I haven't tried the Crystal ones yet.
[0] https://store.azla.co.kr/collections/sednaearfit-series/prod...
[1] https://store.azla.co.kr/collections/airpod-pro-ear-tips/pro...
Edit: I didn't know the Crystal ones existed until posting this, so ordering some now to see if they're the best of both worlds. If I remember, I'll report back.
The only thing that works for me is DIY tips.
I buy Comply 600 Core Series (size medium), tear the comply foam off the plastic tube, then place the foam around the Apple silicone tips (size large).
None of the Apple tips on their own seal correctly, nor do any of the numerous third-party tips that I've tried, including hybrid silicone/foam tips.
I get about 6 months out of the foam and they fit in the charging case modified like this.
I tried that one too but they'd squeeze themselves out as the Apple tips' silicon is the smoothest substance known to humanity.
I had a fit issue with Airpods Pro 2 in my left ear. It would always pop out after 20 minutes of rowing. I tried different ear tips, but none of them really worked. ANC is only medium-important to me, so I'm using Airpods 4 with ANC.
Concurring with sibling, AZLA does make good aftermarket tips. I have my Airpods Pro 2 in my work bag and still use their "crystal" tips.
Weirdly, I have fit issues in my left ear, too, like others. Very odd.
I've never had in-ears that use the same size tips. I always just assumed I was the oddball with weirdly mis-sized ears, but I'm pretty sure everyone has it to some degree and just always accept one subpar fit rather than use differently sized tips.
Exact same issues here with my APP3s. (Except it's my right ear)
Wow you fly a lot! These things are out what, 2 months? :O
Doesn't that get exhausting? I used to have a job where I'd be on a plane every week and I couldn't hack it. It's supposed to be liberating to travel but basically just seeing the inside of a plane, taxi, meeting room and hotel room every day it was more like a moving prison. Sometimes I'd sneak out to walk through these strange places. But often I'd be forced to attend boring business dinners.
My last business flight was in 2018 and I don't miss it at all :) I even cancelled my corporate amex since I never use it anymore. And these guys keep asking for copies of ID and stuff for tax records or something (completely stupid because yes I'm still the same person duhhh) so in the end I just rolled my eyes and told them to stuff it where the sun don't shine :P
It can be tiring - and I don’t do it all the time. The reason to travel at all for work is fundamentally relational; I find if I am happy with the relationships the travel on balance is a net positive: it lets me work on what I want to and meet and befriend super interesting people.
That slight difference in agency and relational availability turns into a giant gap in feelings though, I agree. I’ve done the kind of travel you describe in my younger days and found it a mix of masochistically engaging and depression inducing.
Ah I see, I thought this was like a constant thing like it was for me. My flights were all regional so it wasn't so bad in terms of flight time, but it did take over my life. For example, I often had to be at a meeting at 10-11am monday morning in a country 3 hours flight away. So that meant leaving my house at 1am, driving 2.5 hours to the airport, hurrying through the airport, taking a 6am flight and rushing into a taxi to just get there in time.
By that time my whole weekend would be ruined of course and my week would start with a deep lack of sleep.
And I'm not a relationship guy, I'm a bit autistic so any business gathering means heavy stress for me, no positives.
I'm glad that "let's fly over and have a meeting" culture has been dampened a LOT since the pandemic. At least in the company I work at. It used to be basically a power move, for a manager to get a whole room of seats filled with people flying over to their meeting. Often there was hardly any need for us to be there in the first place. It was just a power move for someone to feel important.
But I'm glad you enjoy it at least some of the time!
That amount of flying in ~2 months sounds more like a pilot or flight attendant.
Edit: Or an exaggeration I hope! The guy looks to be in private equity.
To be fair I had like 300 flight miles July-September, but us PE guys occasionally do work for a living! I currently have deals in Japan and UK and family in the west coast of the US so it’s a realistic number.