Apple's 2023 AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) with USB-C are now more affordable than ever before
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With the extra-durable Jabra Elite 8 Active frequently available at reduced prices of $150 or $160, Samsung's non-Pro Galaxy Buds 2 currently fetching a crazy low $80, and Apple's own Beats Studio Buds marked down from $150 to $100 more often than not these days, you might be wondering if the AirPods Pro 2 are worth your time and hard-earned money anymore.
The answer, of course, is... not so much at a $249 list price, but if you can get these bad boys for 70 bucks less than that, they're definitely still pretty tempting. That's a discount we've never seen offered by a major US retailer since the second-gen AirPods Pro were refreshed in September 2023.
Until earlier today, that is, when both Amazon and Best Buy suddenly started charging 28 percent less than usual for the noise-cancelling AirPods Pro 2 with a USB-C case. Curiously enough, this hot new and totally unprecedented deal is not advertised as part of Amazon's Big Spring sale or any similar special Best Buy event.
But we're fairly certain the $70 discount will not last very long, either going away completely once demand ramps up or getting demoted to the $50 or $60 available a number of times in the past. That means you'll have to decide pretty quickly if these are the best wireless earbuds for you from both a pricing perspective and as far as capabilities go.
Originally released back in 2022 in a "traditional" Lightning version, the second-gen AirPods Pro moved to a more modern USB-C charging standard after a year while keeping all its other specs and features unchanged. That's not necessarily a bad thing, of course, and if you're a hardcore Apple fan, you may have trouble even considering an alternative to this hugely popular product.
The active noise cancellation, Transparency functionality, spatial audio technology, Apple H2 connectivity, and the battery life are all very difficult to beat for iPhone users, and if you hurry, the value for money equation looks just right too.
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