AirPods 5 cost $129 or $149 and AirPods Pro 3 cost $249, and Apple’s tech specs show what the extra $100 to $120 buys: 8 hours of listening with noise cancellation instead of 4 or 5, a heart rate sensor, Hearing Test and FDA-authorized Hearing Aid features, MagSafe charging and a lanyard loop. What they share is the H2 chip, an IP57 rating, Bluetooth 5.3 and a five-minute charge that gives around an hour of playback.
The comparison matters more this year because AirPods 5 are the first open-ear AirPods with Active Noise Cancellation that Apple rates at up to 1.5x the previous generation. Our AirPods 5 announcement story has the launch details. Below is a line-by-line reading of both spec sheets.
AirPods 5 vs AirPods Pro 3 spec sheet
| Spec | AirPods 5 | AirPods 5 Wireless Charging Case | AirPods Pro 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $129 | $149 | $249 |
| Chip | H2 | H2 | H2, plus 2nd-gen UWB chip in case |
| Fit | Open-ear | Open-ear | In-ear, five silicone tip sizes |
| Listening, ANC on | Up to 4 h | Up to 5 h | Up to 8 h |
| Listening, ANC off | Up to 6 h | Up to 7 h | Apple’s pages differ |
| Total with case, ANC on | Up to 20 h | Up to 22 h | Up to 24 h |
| 5-minute charge | Around 1 h | Around 1 h | Around 1 h |
| Water rating | IP57 | IP57 | IP57 |
| Earbud weight | 4.3 g | 4.3 g | 5.55 g |
| Case weight | 32.3 g | 34.7 g | 43.99 g |
| Case charging | USB-C | USB-C, Apple Watch charger, Qi | MagSafe, Apple Watch charger, Qi, USB-C |
| Case speaker | No | Yes | Yes, plus lanyard loop |
| Heart rate sensor | No | No | Yes, for workouts |
| Hearing Test / Hearing Aid | No | No | Yes / Yes |
| Live Translation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.3 |
Battery: 8 hours vs 4 or 5 hours with ANC on
The largest gap on the sheet is single-charge listening with noise cancellation. Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 tech specs list up to 8 hours with ANC on, against 4 hours for the $129 AirPods 5 and 5 hours for the $149 model. With the case, the Pro 3 reaches 24 hours to the AirPods 5’s 20 or 22.
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The Pro 3 sheet also has modes AirPods 5 lack: 7.5 hours with Spatial Audio and head tracking, 6.5 hours during heart-rate workouts and 10 hours in Transparency or Hearing Aid mode. For ANC-off listening, Apple’s pages differ. The Pro 3 spec page lists only the ANC-on figure while a compare page fetch returned 6 hours, so we are not quoting a Pro 3 ANC-off number. All five models get around 1 hour from a five-minute charge.
Weight, water rating and case
AirPods 5 earbuds are 4.3 g and 30.2 by 18.3 by 18.1 mm; AirPods Pro 3 earbuds are 5.55 g and 30.9 by 19.2 by 27.0 mm, the extra depth coming from the silicone tip. Both carry an IP57 rating for sweat, water and dust, which puts the AirPods 5 on equal footing here for the first time.
The cases diverge more. The AirPods 5 case is 46.2 by 50.1 by 21.2 mm at 32.3 g for USB-C or 34.7 g for wireless. The Pro 3 case is 47.2 by 62.2 by 21.8 mm and 43.99 g, and it charges over MagSafe, Apple Watch chargers, Qi and USB-C. Only the $149 AirPods 5 case and the Pro 3 case have a speaker for Find My; only the Pro 3 has a lanyard loop and a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip for precision finding.
Sensors and health features
AirPods Pro 3 have a heart rate sensor for workouts and the full hearing health suite: Hearing Test, FDA-authorized Hearing Aid, Hearing Protection and Automatic Conversation Boost. Apple’s compare page lists all of these as No on AirPods 5.
What AirPods 5 do match is the software layer: hands-free Siri AI, Live Translation, nod and shake Siri Interactions, Voice Isolation, Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness and Personalized Spatial Audio all appear on both sheets. Siri AI needs iOS 27, which ships September 14 according to our iOS 27 release date story.
Price and what is in the box
AirPods 5 are $129 with the USB-C case or $149 with the Wireless Charging Case; AirPods Pro 3 are $249. The Pro 3 box adds five silicone tip sizes and a case with speaker and lanyard loop. No model includes a USB-C cable on Apple’s tech specs; the Pro 3 sheet states it is sold separately.
AirPods 5 pre-orders are open with availability September 18. If you want the longest ANC battery, hearing features or a heart rate sensor, the $100 step to the Pro 3 is where those live. If open-ear comfort, the H2 chip and IP57 are enough, AirPods 5 cover the rest at half the price.
