Review of Twelve South Airfly Pro 2: Add Bluetooth to each flight

It may be extremely frustrating to spend a lot of money on an excellent set of headphones for noise cancellationJust to get on your first flight with them and find that you cannot hear the entertainment in flight. While some BT Over-Ear headphones can work wired, not everyone does it. Some Real wireless earphones Having charging cases that can be connected by analog and then connect wirelessly, but not everything can. Fortunately, there is a solution: Twelve South Airfly Pro 2.

I reviewed the previous one Airfly Pro And I found it a useful way to add bluetooth where there would be nothing otherwise. The Pro 2 claims to be a little easier to use with more physical buttons and presents Bluetooth 5.3. Like its predecessor, it is not just for the trip. You can use it to add bluetooth to any device with a headphones output or if it has an auxiliary input (many older cars), Pro 2, like the Pro, can also work as a Bluetooth receiver so that you can send it audio from the phone or tablet.

Overall, Pro 2 works well. There is no need to update if you have its predecessor, but if you also flight occasionally, it is definitely worth having in your hand luggage.

Hardware

• Bluetooth version: 5.3
• Connections: USB-C (for charging), 3.5 mm analogue
• Battery duration (claim): 25 hours
• Number of simultaneous bt connections: 2
• Bluetooth mode: transmission (TX), reception (RX)
• Supported bluetooth codecs: aptx adaptive, aptx hd, aptx low latency and sbc (transmission mode); APTX, APTX HD, AAC and SBC (reception mode).

Airfly Pro 2 is a dongle in size of a thumb approximately with a 3.5 mm (1/8 -inch) analog connection on one end and a bluetooth transmitter/receiver inside. You can connect it to anything with a headphone output to send audio via headphones Bluetooth, or you can connect it to anything with an analog “aux” entrance and send audio from your phone or Media player.

While the original Airfly Pro went for simplicity, with two buttons and an reception/transmission mode switch, the Pro 2 adds a physical power supply switch and two coupled buttons dedicated for each connection to the headphones while maintaining the original mode. On the front, the volume buttons replace the single button for all the uses of the Pro.

Twelve South says that Pro 2 has 25 hours of battery life. The longest flight you can take right now, from the New York JFK to Singapore, is about 18 hours and 40 minutes, a little longer than 15 hours Lax-to-Melbourne flight that I took a few years ago. Since your headphones, it doesn’t matter what they are, they won’t last so long, this seems a lot. Remember only to load the plane before going, which takes about two hours if totally empty.

The normal Pro 2 is supplied with a USB-A-USB-C recharging cable and a dishes transport bag. THE Pro 2 deluxe It also includes the dual-mono adapter still in use on some planes, as well as a vegan leather case. Since it will be difficult to find out if your particular plane has the oldest connection, I almost want to recommend the Deluxe. However, they are $ 10 at the top of the highest price of Pro 2 compared to Pro and you can find Two packages of those adapters on Amazon half price. I suppose that in the large scheme of things, they are only a few dollars, but with a ton of nameless adapters there that offer characteristics similar to the plane, this much higher than the average price is already pushing it.

Usability

The connection to Airfly Pro 2 is easy. Put the headphones in combination mode, turn on for 2 and that’s it. I tried headphones and earphones of various ages, including the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S3THE Sony Wh-1000xm5 and my NC earphones, the Bose quietcomfort ultra. All connected without problems. I advise you to turn off the phone bluetooth before starting so that the headphones are not merged. If you want to connect a second pair to Pro 2, just hold down the couple 2 button with the other headphones in combination mode. If you want to combine a different set of headphones, hold down one of the combination buttons. The yellow will work a few times, so it will alternate white and yellow just as it has done with the initial coupling.

While I understand the preference of the original pro design for simplicity, the additional buttons make things easier to understand. This is particularly important since most people will probably use Airfly just a few times a year. It is not necessary to add to your overall flight annoyance trying to remember how to connect your earphones to watch some Stantii TV programs.

There is still a little audio latency, which you will notice as a slight delay between when something happens on the screen and when you feel it. As in, people’s lips do not fully correspond. They are less than 50 ms, twelve south states 34 ms, so it is possible if you usually do not notice or you are not annoyed by these things that may not have importance. Even if you notice it, since a aircraft cabin is not exactly the place for a perfect audio and video, the delay is probably good. It is worth noting that the original version had the same problems due to its Bluetooth connection.

Speaking of a perfect audio, Pro 2 presents Bluetooth 5.3 and supports the APTX HD codec. In theory, this could mean higher quality audio compared to the basic SBC codec for many Android phones (Apple devices support only AAC and SBC). Two things about it, however. First of all, there is no extremely audible difference between SBC and APTX on most headphones. Secondly, any theoretical improvement in loyalty will be completely lost against the roar of reaction engines. So for me, it is more than Airfly Pro 2 is easy to use compared to any expectation for better sound quality. The original Pro sounded well and worked great; This too does it.

Bluetooth 2 Go

As a frequent flyer and vocal supporter of the headphones and earphones that erase the noise, I had a fly in the plane in my hand luggage for a while. Of course, you can download shows and movies on your phone or tablet, but a greater selection of content with the air -flight entertainment of the aircraft is likely to be available. For longer flights, this can be a big problem. Having to move on to the headphones or to the non -canceled earphones, not noise, is rather a shame after getting used to the most quiet environment provided better NC. So, for this, Airfly Pro 2 is an excellent option, despite its higher price for a limited improvement of the characteristics compared to its now discontinuous, But for the moment still availablepredecessor.

If you don’t think you will have to connect two headphones at the same time and you don’t need it to receive Bluetooth, the Airfly if It is a cheaper option that in practice does the same thing.

There is another aspect that is worth considering, which is the general trend of airlines that add bluetooth to their entertainment systems in flight. I recently made a United flight that had this function, and others have announced that they are adding it. The Alaska Airlines, on the other hand, has eliminated the entertainment of the seats on many flights, instead of making you connect to the aircraft Wi-Fi with your device to transmit their collection of shows and films. I wouldn’t be surprised if even more airlines follow that road because it is cheaper for them. For now, however, the vast majority of planes has none of these options. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that even if your specific path should have one of these options, the plane in which flights actually (air changes often occur). So the plane is less a must-have of the past, and probably even less in the future, but for the moment it is still very useful to have.

---

In addition to covering the cameras and display technology, Geoff makes photo essays Speaking of fantastic museums and other things, including nuclear submarines, aircraft carrier, Medieval castles and epic Road trips of 10,000 miles.

Also, check Budget journey for mannequinshis travel book and his New science fiction best -selling on the submarines of the city size. You can follow him Instagram AND YouTube.