In-ear heart-rate monitoring is one of the marquee features of the new Apple AirPods Pro 3. Is it better than what you get from an Apple Watch? Here’s the deal: For certain exercises, in-ear monitoring is a stronger option; besides, there are many people who don’t want to wear smartwatches, so for them, it’s a great alternative when it comes to health tracking.
The new pair of AirPods looks almost the same as AirPods Pro 2, but that’s where the similarities end. Some may not enjoy wearing wireless earbuds for long hours, and others may enjoy over-ear headphones for comfort. And, of course, there are people who prefer earbuds over smartwatches. That’s the category Apple is addressing with AirPods Pro 3. As we work on the full review of AirPods Pro 3, which features stronger bass and a more pronounced low end while maintaining the mid-range and crisp, bright highs, here is why the new heart-rate sensors matter.
Tech wizardry
A black dot sits on the outside of each earbud. That is the infrared heart-rate sensor pulsing 256 times per second to measure light absorption in blood flow. The technology is different from what we saw on Powerbeats Pro 2.
Readings from the heart-rate sensor on the AirPods Pro 3. Picture: Mathures Paul
Many companies have tried in-ear heart-rate sensing but most have made compromises. Apple has integrated all the wizardry into the Fitness app. This is the app where you see all the rings and workouts. But so far, you needed an Apple Watch to get it going.
Now you can record a workout using a pair of AirPods. Combined with sensor fusion from the AirPods Pro accelerometers, gyroscope, GPS, and a new on-device AI model on iPhone, users can start up to 50 different workout types, track heart rate and calories burned, close their Move ring, and earn awards in the Fitness app.
Once you pair the new AirPods to your phone, you get a bunch of sport profiles in the app. Every sport profile has three options.
First is music. Turn on Autoplay Media and you then get two more choices — Picked for You or Choose Media. The second option is Workout Buddy. Now it doesn’t require an Apple Watch. You can choose a Voice style and let the app motivate you through exercise routines. The last option is setting a workout goal, which includes Calories, Distance, and Time.
Once you hit the start button, the AirPods Pro 3 will pull data from the heart-rate sensors in the buds.
Why is in-ear monitoring important?
Let’s pick a couple of sports, like boxing and weightlifting. While training, a boxer wouldn’t wear a smartwatch under the glove. Weightlifting puts strain on the arms and muscles. These are people who can easily shift the heart-rate sensing action to the ears.
There are more workouts where in-ear monitoring helps. For example, dumbbell workouts, indoor rowing, and some HIIT bodyweight work. So far, many have used something like a Polar H10 chest strap connected to the Apple Watch as a more reliable signal. But chest straps can be uncomfortable. AirPods can be a good alternative.
Also, the new sensors allow an opportunity to see how accurate the Apple Watch heart rate sensor has been. During our brief usage at Apple Park, the recordings matched real-time with those from the Apple Watch. The AirPods were paired to an iPhone that had a third-party login, so it had no clue about what the Apple Watch was recording.
If you have an Apple Watch and wear it with the AirPods Pro 3, the algorithm decides which is the better source for processing data. At no point will the app ask you to choose where the heart-rate data should come from.