The basic Airpods are crap, noise cancellation is useless, they fall off the ear. You're better off with Sony or JBL at half the price. The Pro ones are good.

I don’t have AirPods basic but I’ve got 2nd gen AirPods Pro and they’re one of the best products I’ve bought in a long time. I’d put them up there with my 2011 kindle I still use every day.

Yup, that version is the good one. My wife had the Pro 2s and was super happy with them until they died after two years. I got her a pair of AirPods 4 with ANC and we had to return them because they were subpar compared to the AirPods Pro 2. The price difference between 4 ANC and the Pro 3s is like $60 and you get an actual useful product if you're willing to spend that amount.

I have the original Pros (who's ANC failure made them less enjoyable) and recently got Pro 2s. The Pro 3s (and more so in subsequent iterations) are going to have some incredible tech. I am most excited about silent speech.

What is silent speech?

I’m considering Pro 3 for the hearing aid + live translation features, but not in a big rush… I wish they would bring these to Pro 2, because it really seems like an artificial restriction…

I got the pros. I think they are great in every way except (1) they fall out of my ears, but that’s cause I’ve got a genetic polymorphism that makes me make crazy amounts of earwax and my doctor warned me that one of these days I’m gonna wake up and not be able to hear cause my ears are clogged —- I don’t wear them outside, I just wear them where having them fall out is not a problem, (2) the noise cancellation is supposed to turn itself off when I talk to somebody and it seems like they always turn it off whenever I mutter to myself, but when I actually talk to somebody, they don’t, and (3) young people these days walk around with AirPods in and they just can’t hear you. It’s just like they’re 95 years old.

I don't own AirPods but it is a huge commercial success.

i’ve owned airpods for 8 years and lost them once. by “lost” i mean i forgot them when frantically checking out of a hotel to catch a flight.

Not everyone is careless with their things. On the aspect of battery replacement, i agree it’s a shame.

You have to have the right ear form for ordinary AirPods. Comes with the design, sadly.