So you’re a happy Android user, but you’ve been eyeing Apple’s new AirPods Pro with a little envy. “Do Airpods Pro work with Android?” you think to yourself. Well, there’s good news and not-so-good news.
Before you go further down this particular rabbit hole, it’s a good idea to check out Jeff Benjamin’s video review of the AirPods Pro. If you’re still not clear on the overall merits of these new, upper-tier successors to the original AirPods design, follow along below.
OK, still interested in getting AirPods Pro for your Android device? Perhaps you have devices using both operating systems and want to avoid buying multiple brands of buds. Maybe you just want to dabble a bit on the other side of the fence. Whatever your reasons, rest assured that AirPods Pro work with Android. After all, they’re still just Bluetooth buds. They should work with any modern device that can pair with Bluetooth headphones. However, you are sacrificing a few things if you decide to cross the divide between Montague and Capulet.
AirPods Pro with Android: Sacrifices must be made
The experience of using AirPods Pro with Android is somewhat diminished compared to the pure Apple configuration. You don’t get the seamless integration with iOS that lets you customize aspects of the AirPods Pro or call up Siri. There’s no AirPods Pro Android app at the moment, which means that unless you have an iOS device to tweak the default settings, you’re stuck with the out-of-box configuration.
Features like Fit Test, Audio Sharing, and even battery level indication are all not available for Android users right now. Noise cancellation and Transparency mode do work, being baked into the hardware. However, much of what makes the AirPods Pro special is part of iOS.
So perhaps something like the Sony WF-1000XM3 buds would be a better choice for pure Android users. If however you have, for example, an iPad and an Android phone, you should find the AirPods Pro a perfectly serviceable choice to work on both.
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