Picked mine up today, and after just a few hours of listening these are my overall impressions:
Design Execution
If you're looking at purely practical use - EDC (everyday carry) viability - these are stellar. They sync almost instantly and there's a plethora of features in the "info" icon on the iPhone Bluetooth settings. The force-press nubs are a bit more annoying than just tapping, but I think most would agree Apple has a winner.
Fit
This is 100% subjective and depends on one's individual ear canal. Personally, I have smaller ears and never had a fit issue with the original AirPods. The AirPods Pro have a slightly tighter fit with greater seal, but are actually slightly more comfortable over longer listening. I could probably keep these in for several hours which I can't say for many IEMs. Assuming a good fit, these'll perform well for working out or running.
Sound Impressions
Most of my listening was done with the ANC off. I feel a slight pressure from the ANC but nothing absurd. ANC produces a slight hissing sound similar to the type you might get with sensitive IEMs. You can't really hear it once you start playing music, but it's still there in the background if you listen very closely.
Bass: Decent DD bass. OK punch, lacks some rumble or extension in the sub-bass.
Mids: Clearly a mid-centric IEM to my ears. Vocals are smoothed out with minimal texture. Not great, but also not bad.
Highs: Just lacking something in general. Not as detailed as I would like - sorry, I suck at describing lol.
Overall, the sound is neutral-bright to my ears and a well-done "mainstream" sound. The AirPods Pros have a non-offending sound signature that most won't fault. Certainly not as bad as I've seen some people describe the AirPods Pros as being; to the contrary, I rather like the tone and prefer it to some of my other mid-fi IEMs (ie, Moondrop Blessing and Fearless S8 Pro; analytical and very aggressive, respectively). I can't deny that the AirPods Pro are a weak contender for technicalities though. I don't want to delve too much into this at the risk of exposing my noobness, but they're clearly not on the same level as even some $100 IEMs like the Moondrop Starfield/KXXS.
Some people have mentioned that they "don't get loud enough". I don't share the same sentiment; I can't get past even 50% without my ears hurting. I recommend checking the Health app, and under Hearing it'll show you your relative listening levels for most Apple products and some Bose ones. This is a really, really underrated feature that I wish more TWS had, and it's a great benchmark for tracking your listening levels. Protect your hearing!
Conclusion
I think there's a lot of people that fail to understand the
intended use of a product. Comparing the AirPods Pro to dedicated IEMs is comparing apples and oranges. Inevitably, though, it'll happen - but that's not to say that the AirPods Pro are bad in terms of sound by any stretch. And to me, it seems that a lot of people - audiophiles specifically - are letting innate biasses direct their conclusions.
The Pros certainly don't deliver good sound quality for $250, but they're also not on the level of $25-$50 IEMs like some would have you believe.
They sound just fine. To this effect, they're more than a viable option for anyone who wants a decent TWS set, and even more so if you're already in the Apple eco-system. My main concern at this point is actually the longevity of the rechargeable batteries they use.