好英语网AirPods Pro测评：“可听”时代的最佳选择
We are living in an era of “hearables” — earphones embedded with special sensors that talk to our phones. And Apple’s AirPods, those tiny white earbuds that live in a case the size of a Tic Tac box, are leading the trend.
我们生活在一个“可听”的时代——那就是嵌入特殊传感器、可与我们的手机通话的耳机。引领这个潮流的是苹果(Apple)的AirPods，这款白色的小耳机被装在薄荷糖盒大小的充电盒里。
For several years, I have found AirPods to be as convenient as they are useful. When Apple introduced them in 2016, it popularized wireless earphones with a special chip that connected them to an iPhone. When I popped them in my ears, they seamlessly connected with my device. And when I put them back in their case, their batteries replenished.
几年来，我发现AirPods既方便又实用。这款耳机是苹果公司在2016年推出的，令这种通过特殊芯片连入iPhone的无线耳机普及起来。当我把它们塞进耳朵，它们就同我的设备无缝连接。当我把它们放回盒子，它们的电池就开始充电。
AirPods Pro耳机和充电盒。
Now the AirPods are getting smarter — and costlier. The earlier-generation AirPods cost around $150. The latest model, AirPods Pro, is more expensive at $249.
现在AirPods越来越智能，价格也越来越贵。旧款AirPods售价约为150美元。最新款的AirPods Pro价格更高，为249美元。
But the new earphones, released about a month ago, offer noise-canceling technology. They use microphones to listen for ambient sound and to generate the opposite sound in your ears to reduce noise, like the roaring engines of an airplane and background chatter in an office.
但是大约一个月前发布的新款耳机提供了降噪技术。它使用麦克风接收周围的声音，并在你的耳朵里产生相反的声音，从而抵消飞机引擎轰鸣和办公室闲聊这类的噪音。
The AirPods Pro also have a neat new feature known as transparency mode, which you activate by holding down a button on an earbud stem. The earphones then use their microphones to amplify the sounds around you, so you can hear your surroundings more clearly while listening to a podcast or music. This turned out to be my favorite new feature.
AirPods Pro还有一个简洁的新功能，叫做透明模式，可以按住耳机杆上的按钮来激活。随后耳机会使用麦克风放大你周围的声音，这样你在听播客或音乐的时候，也可以更清楚地听到周围的声音。这成了我最喜欢的新功能。
How good are the new AirPods for that much money? Compared with other high-end headphones, the AirPods aren’t the best at canceling noise. Yet they are competent and a good overall value, and so far, no one can beat the convenience of their compact design.
新款AirPods这么贵，性能有多好？与其他高端耳机相比，AirPods在消除噪音方面不是最好的。但它已经可以满足要求，而且整体性价比极高，到目前为止，它那小巧设计带来的便利依然没有对手。
For several weeks, I compared the AirPods Pro with Bose headphones and a pair of older AirPods in various situations, including my daily commutes and on an international flight. Here’s how that went.
我用了几周时间，在不同情况下对比了AirPods Pro、Bose耳机和老款AirPods，包括我的每日通勤以及在国际航班上的情形。结果如下。
On a Plane
在飞机上
For me, noise-canceling headphones are most useful on a plane. The noises from the engines combined with the conversations of loquacious seat neighbors make it difficult to sleep.
对我来说，头戴式降噪耳机在飞机上是最有用的东西。引擎发出的噪音加上健谈的邻座的聊天令人难以入睡。
So I wore the new AirPods on a recent 14-hour flight. I found several downsides. For one, the noise-canceling somewhat muffled the noise of the plane engines, but not enough to allow me to sleep. And because the AirPods are wireless, I couldn’t plug them into the screen in front of my seat to watch movies.
在最近的一次14小时的飞行中，我戴了新的AirPods。我发现了几个缺点。一方面，降噪功能虽然使飞机引擎的噪音减弱，但不足以让我入睡。而且由于AirPods是无线的，我没法把它们插入我座位前的屏幕看电影。
On the flight, I preferred Bose’s $350 QuietComfort 35, which are large wireless headphones worn over the ears. They significantly cut down on the engine noise, and they have a cord that could be plugged in to my seat’s audio jack to watch in-flight entertainment. But the Bose headphones are bulkier, though they have always fit fine in my carry-on bag.
在飞行中，我更喜欢Bose售价350美元的QuietComfort 35，它是头戴耳罩式无线耳机。它们大大降低了发动机的噪音，而且还有一个可以插入座位音频插孔的连接线，以观看机上娱乐节目。但是Bose耳机体积较大，不过它们始终可以被放进我的随身行李袋中。
As for the older AirPods, I never felt they were adequate to hear music or podcasts amid the engine noise. In the past, I left AirPods at home whenever I traveled.
至于老款AirPods，我从来没有觉得它们能在引擎噪音的环境中优质地播放音乐或播客。过去每次旅行时，我都会将AirPods留在家中。
Verdict: For frequent travelers, I recommend bigger, more effective noise-canceling headphones like those from Bose.
结论：对于常旅客，我推荐大一些的、降噪效果更好的头戴式耳机，例如Bose。
On a Train
在火车上
I wore the new AirPods Pro on several trains on the Bay Area Rapid Transit system. With noise-canceling turned on, the earbuds sounded good and did a fine job drowning out the conversations around me. But when the train came to a screeching halt, the earbuds were ineffective at muffling the earsplitting noise.
我在旧金山湾区捷运系统的几班列车上戴上了最新的AirPods Pro。开启降噪功能后，耳塞听起来不错，对于隔绝周围的谈话也做得很好。但当列车急刹停下来时，耳塞无法有效地减弱这个刺耳的噪音。
In similar tests, my Bose headphones sounded great on the train, but they, too, couldn’t muffle loud braking. This is to be expected: In general, noise-canceling technology reduces low-frequency sounds, not high-frequency noises like screeches or babies screaming.
在类似的测试中，我的Bose头戴式耳机在火车上听起来很棒，但是它们也无法减弱刹车的巨响。这是预料之中的：通常，降噪技术可以减少低频声音，而不是像尖锐的声音或婴儿尖叫那样的高频声音。
On BART, when I wore normal AirPods, I could barely hear anything playing from the earbuds. I often didn’t bother to use them on the train.
在捷运上，当我带着普通的AirPods时，几乎听不到耳机发出的声音。我一般不会在火车上用它们。
Verdict: On noisy trains, the AirPods Pro are just as good as other noise-canceling earphones, and they are much better than normal AirPods.
结论：在嘈杂的火车上，AirPods Pro与其他头戴式降噪耳机不相伯仲，但它们比普通的AirPods好得多。
On the Streets
在街上
The new AirPods were great to use outdoors. By turning on transparency mode, I was able to listen for cars while crossing the street and remain attentive while walking around less safe neighborhoods.
新的AirPods非常适合在户外使用。通过启动透明模式，我能够在过马路时注意听汽车的动向，在不那么安全的社区中走动时保持警惕。
In contrast, the Bose headphones lacked a transparency mode (though some other Bose models have the feature). I often just took them off outdoors for safety purposes.
相比之下，Bose头戴式耳机没有透明模式（尽管某些其他Bose型号有此功能）。在户外或出于安全考虑，我一般就把它们取下来。
Verdict: The AirPods Pro became my go-to earphones for running errands like going out to the grocery store and walking my dogs. A bonus: They were easier to grab on the go because of their smaller size.
结论：在去杂货店或遛狗等日常任务中，AirPods Pro是我的耳机首选。额外好处：由于尺寸较小，外出时可以轻易带走。
On the Phone
通话中
After some experimentation, I learned that transparency mode was the best for taking phone conversations on the new AirPods. People’s voices sounded loud and clear in the earphones, but just as important, I was able to hear myself better, which helped me be more mindful about enunciating words and made me feel more confident over all.
经过一些实验，我认识到透明模式是新AirPods在接电话时的最佳方式。耳机中人的声音响亮而清晰，但同样重要的是，我也能更好地听到自己的声音，这使我更加留意字词发音，并使我感到更加自信。
Whenever I took calls on the Bose headphones, I could hear the person I was calling very clearly, but I sounded muffled to myself, which was jarring.
当我用Bose头戴式耳机接电话时，我能清楚地听到电话那头的人，但我听到的自己的声音是闷的，对比强烈。
I also enjoyed taking calls on older AirPods, partly because they connected with my phone quickly when a call came in. But being able to hear myself better in transparency mode on the Pro model made a big difference.
我也喜欢在老款AirPods上听电话，部分原因是当有电话打入时，他们可以快速连上我的手机。但Pro的透明模式让我能更清楚地听到自己，这是一个巨大的区别。
Verdict: If you talk on the phone frequently, the AirPods Pro make an excellent headset.
结论：如果你经常打电话，AirPods Pro是一款出色的耳机。
Bottom Line
最后
While there are bulkier headphones on the market that do a better job at noise-canceling, the AirPods Pro are adequate in most situations, and their compact size makes them more convenient. They are a major improvement; I hesitate to recommend older versions because the new model is far superior.
尽管市场上有更大的头戴耳机在消噪方面做得更好，AirPods Pro在大多数场景的表现是足够优秀的，并且它们的小尺寸使其更加方便。它们是一项重大改进；我不愿推荐老款，因为新款实在要好得多。
Unfortunately, there’s one big thing that hasn’t changed. In my review of the previous AirPods, I noted that after about two years, my first-generation AirPods started dying because their batteries had worn out. They could not be revived because the batteries could not be replaced.
不幸的是，有一个大的地方没有改变。在我对上一代AirPods的评测中，我注意到，大约两年后，我的一代AirPods开始因电池老化而失灵。由于无法更换电池，它们是不能死而复生的。
Apple confirmed the batteries could also not be replaced on the AirPods Pro. That’s because, in part, their design involves embedding the batteries, circuit boards, microphones and antennas directly into a tightly sealed, tiny package.
苹果确认了AirPods Pro上的电池也无法更换。这是因为，在某种程度上，它们的设计涉及将电池、电路板、麦克风和天线直接嵌入一个紧密封闭的小外壳中。
So if you buy the AirPods Pro, be warned: You will most likely have to pay up all over again in two years.
所以，如果你要买AirPods Pro，请注意：你很可能在两年后不得不再掏腰包。