I've been using Apple's AirPods Pro for almost a full year, and they are one of my all-time favorite Apple products. I use them every single day to listen to music, listen to podcasts, participate in videoconferences, and conduct phone calls, and I love doing so. And that really says something about this product because I love them even though I've had two problems. First, I started to hear some weird crackling noises with them — a problem that Apple appears to have now fixed. Second, when I use the silicone tips that Apple includes with AirPods Pro, they AirPods don't stay in my ears very well.
As a solution to that second problem, I added added some memory foam to to the silicone tips in early 2020. I explained the process for doing so in this post, and that made a huge difference in getting the tips to stay in my ears. But over the course of this year, I've had to replace the memory foam once or twice as it has fallen apart, and that has been a bit of a pain.
A few weeks ago, California attorney David Sparks mentioned on the 2020 Holiday Gift Guide episode of the Mac Power Users podcast that there are now vendors who do a good job of combining memory foam with silicone, and he recommended a product by Foam Masters called the Hybrid Silicone-Memory Foam Ear Tips. They are only $15.99 on Amazon, and the product listing says that there is a 30-day money-back guarantee, so I figured that I had nothing to lose by trying them out. I'm glad that I did because I find these even more comfortable than the ones that I created for myself, and they come ready-to-use with no assembly required.
Apple gives you three sizes of tips when you purchase AirPods Pro, and Foam Masters does the same thing. Thus, when you purchase this product, you will get the tip size that works best for you no matter what size you prefer. They come with a small clear plastic case that you can use to store any tips that you are not using.
You connect these tips the same way that you connect the Apple tips: just push them on. When you connect Apple's tips, you feel a slight little click. I didn't feel that same slight click when I connected the Foam Master tips, which made me concerned that they were not connecting correctly. Indeed, there were two different occasions when I removed the AirPod from my right ear and the tip became unattached and stayed in my ear. Ugh. I reached out to Foam Masters to ask about getting a replacement, and the company quickly wrote back to say:
I totally understand what you mean. I can send you replacements, but I know exactly how to solve this problem. The ear tip just needs to be pressed in harder for a nice secure fit. Can you try using a toothpick to clean any possible debris around the bracket on the AirPods Pro itself? And THEN connect the ear tip to the AirPods Pro.
I followed these instructions, and it turns out that there was debris around my AirPod bracket — ear wax can be sort of gross — and I was able to get it off using a toothpick, using the magnification feature on my iPhone so that I could make sure that all of the debris was gone. And sure enough, this was a perfect solution for this problem.
The overall size of the replacement tips are the same size as Apple's tips. Thus, even with the large size attached, my AirPods Pro were still a perfect fit for the charging case.
Note that if you don't want the silicone on the tips, Foam Master also sells a version of its tips with just the memory foam. I didn't try those because I prefer the feel of the silicone that you get with the hybrid model, plus the silicone cover makes the tips more resistant to sweat. Perhaps that is the same reason that Apple decided to include silicone tips with the AirPods Pro, not memory foam.
Thanks to this inexpensive product, my AirPods Pro fit and feel better than ever. I've used them when sitting down, when walking around, and when using my treadmill and getting sweaty (thanks to Apple's new Fitness+ service). No matter how active I am, the AirPods stay in my ears and sound great.
If the tips that Apple includes with AirPods Pro already are already perfect for your ears, then perhaps you don't need to change anything. And I'm a little jealous of you. But if you have ever wished that your AirPods Pro fit and/or stayed in better, I encourage you to to check out these replacement tips and see what you think. Hopefully you will work just as well for you as they do for me.
Click here to get Foam Masters Hybrid Silicone-Memory Foam Ear Tips for AirPods Pro from Amazon ($15.99).
