Apple’s latest AirPods Pro offer in-ear heart-rate sensing and deep app integration with Fitness, and that combo, I’ve found myself now wondering if I need an Apple Watch for my day-to-day workouts at all. If your watch time mostly for clocking rings and tracking sessions, earbuds that coach you in real time — while playing music and drowning out noise — start to seem like the smarter, lighter answer.
Why ear-based heart sensing tilts the balance
And it turns out the ear is a pretty good spot in which to measure heart rate. PPG in the ear canal typically reflects a stronger blood flow and less motion artifacts during intense movements than on the wrist. Studies published in peer-reviewed journals including IEEE and the Journal of Medical Internet Research have found lower error rates for ear-based sensors — often by just a few beats per minute — than wrist readings that could drift more under movement.
Apple’s implementation matters, too. It samples optical signals at a more aggressive rate than previous sets of fitness earbuds, hoping to hold lock through intervals, hills and strength circuits where wrist wearables frequently lose their grip. And unlike prior headphones that hid health data behind a paywall, Apple pumps live metrics directly into the included Fitness app. It seems that way, and for the millions who have been plain old freeloaders (by paying nothing), that’s a practical, no-extra-subscription path to the heart-rate coaching.
The market context is interesting: analysts at IDC claim that “earwear” dominates global shipments of wearables. If AirPods are already the default wearable, having them also be bonafide fitness trackers might lure all but the most committed athletes away from wrist devices on convenience alone.
A workout flow that doesn’t need a watch
Here’s the appeal. You begin a workout in the Fitness app, insert the AirPods Pro and you get live zone cues, time in zone and estimated calories. Audio cues and haptics let you keep your phone pocketed. Noise cancellation means goodbye to the gym clatter. And at the end: Your Move ring moves forward, and your workout history is updated — no watch in the mix.
The new AI-driven coaching in the Fitness app (“Workout Buddy,” as Apple calls it), layers in context, like if it’s urging you to back off because your heart rate is spiking too early or pushing for more so you can hit a target zone before cooldown. It’s the kind of advice many people end up buying a watch for, now delivered from the device they already wear and listen to music on.
There’s also a quality-of-life bonus: one less piece to charge, clean after sweaty sessions and remember on the way out the door. For brief workouts, a lift session or low-impact studio class in grandma-closet hot yoga studios, where you always have your phone on you (regrettably), the earbuds alone do just fine.
What you still lose if you go without a watch
Obviously this isn’t going to be a replacement for every watch use case. The Apple Watch is still champion when it comes to full-time stats keeping: resting heart rate trends, heart rate variability, irregular rhythm notifications and ECG readings. Continuous, overnight data helps to refine recovery and readiness insights; you simply can’t collect that passively via earbuds without sacrificing comfort or battery life.
There’s also phone-free freedom. Assuming you depend on on-wrist GPS, cellular calls or safety features like fall detection, the Watch is still the more useful tool. Some iPhone safety features do overlap (for example, crash detection), but the Watch has its own sensors and immediacy.
Coaching depth varies, too. The gold mine of analyzing training load and long-term trends gets even richer with 24/7 data. If you’re after VO2 max improvements, endurance periodization or very advanced recovery metrics, then a dedicated watch still makes sense.
What to expect in terms of accuracy and battery
Accuracy hinges on fit. A good seal also makes it possible for the optical sensor to better capture a clean signal; if someone’s heart-rate strap is bouncing all over the place or someone’s watch band is so bouncy they can barely help but jostle it up and down while running, this can spike noise in much the way those can. In practice, ear sensors often keep a steadier reading during high-cadence (think kettlebell complexes or sprints) movements due to the wrist devices lagging behind or undercounting peaks.
Battery life is the trade-off to bear in mind. HR sampling and ANC plus music will devour listening time, especially on long runs. The charging case helps alleviate anxiety in between sessions, but marathoners and ultra-distance runners are still better off with a watch that will log hours of continuous GPS and HR tracking.
The larger shift: earbuds, as health devices
Apple has been systematically repositioning earbuds from entertainment gadgets to health devices. The AirPods Pro grew surprisingly useful in loud environments with its software Conversation Boost and assistive hearing features, aligning neatly with a broader push toward accessible hearing support under modern regulatory guidelines. Reliable heart tracking widens that arc from hearing to fitness.
It’s a crisp line of demarcation. If your priorities are coached workouts, heart-rate zones and a little ring-closing motivation — with music and noise cancellation on the side — AirPods Pro finally check all of the boxes in style. For things like continuous monitoring, deeper safety features, phone-free training and advanced physiology metrics, the Apple Watch is peerless.
For me, the equation is straightforward: the earbuds I never forget now do the one thing a timepiece on my wrist used to. And it leaves the house feeling lighter — without leaving my fitness routine behind.
