Latest Answers - Page 4

ShopSavvy Answers are well-researched expert answers to common questions about popular products

Are AirPods Pro 3 waterproof for swimming and workouts?

Q&A
Published: March 31st, 2026
Last Updated: March 31st, 2026

The short answer: yes for workouts and rain, no for swimming.

AirPods Pro 3 have an IP57 rating, which is a step up from the Pro 2's IP54. That '7' at the end means they can technically survive being dunked in up to a meter of water for 30 minutes. But here's the important caveat: Apple explicitly doesn't recommend swimming with them.

Why not? A few reasons. That rating is for still freshwater under controlled conditions—not the churning, chemically-treated water of a pool or the salt content of ocean water. Both chlorine and salt are harder on electronics than regular water. Plus, vigorous swimming movements can force water into places it wouldn't reach during a gentle dunk.

What they're great for is sweaty workouts. Apple designed the Pro 3 specifically with fitness in mind—the foam-infused ear tips went through over 100,000 hours of testing to ensure they stay put during exercise. You can do your most intense HIIT session without worrying about sweat damage.

Rain? Also fine. Getting caught in a downpour won't kill them.

One thing to keep in mind: water resistance isn't permanent. The seals degrade over time with regular use and exposure. Good habits help: wipe them down with a dry cloth after sweaty sessions, let them air dry before putting them back in the case, and definitely don't try to charge them while wet. The charging case has IP57 protection too, but the USB-C port is still a vulnerable point when moisture is present.

Read More

How long does AirPods Pro 3 battery last?

Q&A
Published: March 31st, 2026
Last Updated: March 31st, 2026

Battery life on the AirPods Pro 3 really depends on how you use them—and the range is pretty wide.

With Active Noise Cancellation on and volume around 50%, you're looking at up to 8 hours. That's a solid improvement over the Pro 2's 6 hours. Turn on Spatial Audio with head tracking and it drops to about 7.5 hours. Using heart rate monitoring during workouts cuts it to around 7 hours since the sensor needs extra power.

Here's an interesting twist: Transparency mode and the hearing aid feature actually get the longest battery life—up to 10 hours. These modes use less processing power than ANC, which constantly works to cancel incoming sound.

The charging case adds enough juice for roughly 24 hours total—though that's actually less than the Pro 2's 30-hour case. Apple apparently made tradeoffs to fit in the improved Ultra Wideband chip for better Find My tracking.

When you're in a pinch, a 5-minute quick charge gives you about an hour of listening. Not bad for those 'forgot to charge last night' moments.

For charging, you've got options: USB-C cable is fastest, but MagSafe, any Qi wireless charger, or even your Apple Watch charger all work. The Watch charger compatibility is especially handy when traveling—one less charger to pack.

There's also a nice battery health feature borrowed from iPhone: you can cap charging at 80% to extend the long-term lifespan of the batteries. Worth enabling if you tend to leave your AirPods on a charger overnight.

Read More

Are AirPods Pro 3 worth upgrading from AirPods Pro 2?

Q&A
Published: March 31st, 2026
Last Updated: March 31st, 2026

Honestly? It depends on what you've got and what you need. Let me break down the actual decision factors rather than just listing specs.

If your AirPods Pro 2 are from 2022 or earlier and the battery life has noticeably degraded, upgrading makes sense purely from a usability standpoint. Same goes if you're still rocking the original AirPods Pro—the jump in noise cancellation alone is worth it.

Here's what the AirPods Pro 3 actually deliver over the Pro 2: noise cancellation that blocks about 2x more sound (lab tests show 90% versus 83% reduction), better battery at 8 hours with ANC versus 6, a heart rate sensor that's surprisingly accurate without needing an Apple Watch, and improved water resistance for sweaty workouts.

But here's the thing—both models now support Live Translation, since Apple added that to the Pro 2 with a software update. So you're not missing out on the headline translation feature if you stick with what you have.

Some audiophiles actually prefer how the Pro 2 sound. The Pro 3 have a more V-shaped sound signature with boosted bass and treble, while the Pro 2 are more balanced and refined. Neither is objectively better—it's preference.

The practical question: Do you need heart rate tracking from your earbuds? If you already have an Apple Watch, probably not. Are you frustrated with current noise cancellation? If not, the improvement might not feel transformative. Would you rather put $249 toward something else and grab discounted Pro 2 instead?

My take: first-gen AirPods Pro users should upgrade. Pro 2 owners with healthy batteries can wait unless heart rate monitoring is genuinely appealing. The upgrade is real, but not urgent for everyone.

Read More

How does the AirPods Pro 3 hearing aid feature work?

Q&A
Published: March 31st, 2026
Last Updated: March 31st, 2026

The hearing aid feature on AirPods Pro 3 is genuinely impressive—and actually FDA-approved, which matters more than you might think. It's designed for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss, and the setup process is surprisingly straightforward.

First, you take a five-minute hearing test right on your iPhone. Your AirPods use noise cancellation to create a controlled environment similar to what you'd get in a hearing specialist's office. The test plays tones at different frequencies and volumes to map out exactly where your hearing needs help. If you already have audiogram results from a professional, you can skip the test and upload those instead.

What happens next is where the tech gets interesting. The H2 chip processes incoming sound 48,000 times per second—yes, per second—and adjusts frequencies in real-time based on your hearing profile. Sounds you typically struggle to hear get boosted, while already-clear frequencies stay untouched. The result is that conversations become easier to follow and sounds feel more natural.

There's a Conversation Boost feature that kicks in automatically in noisy environments, prioritizing speech over background noise. It's like having a sound engineer in your ears filtering out the coffee shop din so you can actually hear what someone's saying.

Your hearing settings live on the AirPods themselves, so they keep working even if you leave your phone in another room. You can adjust everything—amplification, left-right balance, tone—from your iPhone whenever you want.

In FDA trials, people using this feature reported benefits similar to those who got professionally fitted hearing aids. And battery life actually improves to around 10 hours in transparency mode while using the hearing aid function. It's not a replacement for serious hearing loss that needs professional devices, but for mild to moderate hearing issues? It's remarkably capable.

Read More

What languages does AirPods Pro 3 Live Translation support?

Q&A
Published: March 31st, 2026
Last Updated: March 31st, 2026

Right now, AirPods Pro 3 Live Translation works with five languages: English (both UK and US), French (France), German (Germany), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain). It's a solid starting lineup, but admittedly limited if you were hoping for broader coverage.

The good news? Apple has confirmed that Chinese (Mandarin in both simplified and traditional forms), Italian, Japanese, and Korean are coming later in 2025. That expansion will make the feature significantly more useful for travelers and international conversations.

Here's what you need to actually use this feature: an iPhone 15 Pro or newer running iOS 26 or later, with Apple Intelligence turned on. The Live Translation feature relies on Apple Intelligence for the heavy lifting, which is why older iPhones don't qualify. You'll also need both your AirPods and your iPhone updated to the latest software.

Before your first conversation, you'll need to download the language models for both languages you want to translate between. Go to Settings > AirPods > Translation > Languages to grab them. Everything processes on your phone after that—no data goes to Apple's servers, which is nice for privacy.

To start translating, just press and hold both AirPod stems until you hear a chime, then start talking. You can also use Siri or the Translate app if you prefer. If only one of you has AirPods, no worries—you can have your iPhone play the translation out loud through its speaker so your conversation partner can understand you.

The feature works best when both people are wearing compatible AirPods, since everyone hears translations directly in their ears without any awkward back-and-forth with phone speakers.

Read More

How accurate is the AirPods Pro 3 heart rate sensor?

Q&A
Published: March 31st, 2026
Last Updated: March 31st, 2026

Here's the thing about the AirPods Pro 3 heart rate sensor that genuinely surprised me: it's not a gimmick. When tested against a Polar H10 chest strap (the benchmark most fitness researchers use), these earbuds were off by an average of just 1.8 BPM. That's basically margin-of-error territory.

The technology is clever. Inside each earbud, there's a sensor pulsing infrared light 256 times every second to detect blood flow in your ear—turns out your ears are actually a great spot for this kind of measurement. The H2 chip then works overtime to filter out all the noise from your movements, whether you're pounding pavement on a run or doing burpees.

What really stands out is the consistency. Even during intense intervals—the kind where cheaper fitness trackers lose the plot entirely—the maximum deviation was only 4 BPM. No dropouts during jump squats or mountain climbers. In some tests, the AirPods actually tracked closer to the chest strap than an Apple Watch did.

The practical benefits are solid: heart rate data feeds into the Fitness app, tracks across 50+ workout types, and helps close those Move rings. You can even use a single AirPod if one's charging, though both earbuds give you the most accurate reading.

A few things can throw off the accuracy—cold weather, earwax buildup on the sensor, or if the earbuds aren't seated properly. But assuming a good fit, you're getting fitness-tracker-level heart rate monitoring without wearing anything on your wrist. For people who hate watch tan lines or find wrist-based tracking uncomfortable during certain exercises, that's a genuine win.

Read More

How does the f/1.4 aperture improve photos on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra?

Q&A
Published: March 31st, 2026
Last Updated: March 31st, 2026

Samsung keeps throwing camera specs at us, and f/1.4 is this year's headline number for the S26 Ultra. But does it actually matter? Let me explain what you're getting.

What Does f/1.4 Actually Mean?

The f-number tells you how wide the camera lens opens. Lower = wider = more light getting in. Think of it like your eye's pupil dilating in the dark.

The S26 Ultra's f/1.4 is wider than the S25 Ultra's f/1.7. That doesn't sound like much, but it translates to about 47% more light hitting the sensor. In photography terms, that's a meaningful jump.

Where You'll Actually Notice the Difference

Low-Light Situations

This is the big one. More light means:

  • Less grain in your photos – that speckly noise you see in dark shots gets reduced
  • Less blur on moving subjects – faster shutter speeds even in dim conditions
  • Better shadow detail – stuff in the dark parts of your photo isn't just a black blob

Night Photography

The improvement is most obvious when the lights go down:

  • Street scenes look cleaner
  • Indoor shots without flash look way more natural
  • Evening photos retain color instead of looking washed out

If you've ever been frustrated by grainy party photos or blurry concert shots, this helps.

Portrait Mode

Here's a nice bonus: wider apertures create more background blur naturally. That "bokeh" effect that makes portraits look professional? You get more of it without the phone's AI having to fake it.

The Catch

Nothing's perfect. Wide apertures can mean:

  • Edges of photos might be slightly softer
  • Very close subjects can have too-shallow focus
  • If you're expecting magic, remember—processing still does most of the work

How It Compares

  • S26 Ultra: f/1.4 (widest of the flagship bunch)
  • S25 Ultra: f/1.7
  • iPhone 17 Pro Max: f/1.8
  • Pixel 10 Pro: f/1.68

Samsung legitimately has the brightest lens here. Whether that makes the "best" photos depends on a lot more than just aperture, but it's a real hardware advantage.

See the Galaxy S26 Ultra camera in action →

Read More

What new Galaxy AI features does the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra have?

Q&A
Published: March 31st, 2026
Last Updated: March 31st, 2026

Samsung went hard on AI with the S26 Ultra. Some of it's genuinely useful, some of it's a bit gimmicky—here's what you're actually getting.

The Actually New Stuff

Photo Assist (The Big One)

This is Samsung's answer to "what if we let AI go wild with your photos?"

You can:

  • Add things that weren't there – Want a sunset in your cloudy day photo? AI can do that.
  • Fix blurry shots – AI tries to recover detail. Results vary, but it works surprisingly well on moderately blurry images.
  • Reframe photos after the fact – Cropped too tight? AI can generate what was outside the frame.
  • Change the whole style – Turn a regular photo into something that looks like a painting or illustration.

Is it perfect? No. Can you tell if you zoom in? Usually. But for social media posts? Pretty impressive.

Now Nudge (Proactive Suggestions)

This one sounds creepy on paper, but it's actually helpful. The phone learns your habits and:

  • Reminds you about meetings when you're near the location
  • Suggests calling someone when you mention them
  • Surfaces relevant info before you search for it

You can turn it off if it feels too Big Brother-y.

Bixby Got Better (Finally)

I know, I know—Bixby has been a joke for years. But this version actually... works?

The big change: it can search the internet now. Ask it about current events, prices, whatever—it pulls live data instead of failing. It also handles complex requests better, like "turn on do not disturb, dim my lights, and set an alarm for 7am" in one go.

Call Screening

Unknown number calling? AI answers first, transcribes what they're saying in real time, and you decide whether to pick up. It's basically a secretary. Really useful for spam calls.

The Improved Stuff

Audio Eraser – Already existed, but now works in Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and more. Before, it was Samsung apps only.

Circle to Search – Faster and more accurate. Circle something on screen, get search results. The recognition is noticeably improved.

Private Album – AI automatically detects potentially sensitive content and offers to hide it. No more awkward moments when someone scrolls through your gallery.

One Thing to Know

Most of this runs on your phone, but the heavy lifting (especially Photo Assist's wilder features) happens in Samsung's cloud. If you're privacy-conscious, check Settings > Galaxy AI to see what's being processed where.

Everything's free with the phone—no subscription required (at least for now).

See the Galaxy S26 Ultra 512GB →

Read More

What does the 1-year US warranty on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra cover?

Q&A
Published: March 31st, 2026
Last Updated: March 31st, 2026

Your S26 Ultra comes with a one-year warranty, but what does that actually get you? Let's cut through the legal language and get to what matters.

What the Warranty Actually Covers

Basically, if something breaks and it's Samsung's fault, they'll fix it. That includes:

  • Hardware just stops working – screen dies, camera fails, buttons stop responding
  • Battery issues – if it degrades way faster than it should (not normal wear)
  • Manufacturing defects – things that were wrong from the factory
  • Software bugs – ones Samsung acknowledges as their problem, not from apps you installed

What It Definitely Doesn't Cover

This is the important part that trips people up:

  • You dropped it – cracked screen, dented frame, any physical damage
  • Water damage – yes, even though it's "waterproof" (IP68 has limits)
  • Someone other than Samsung fixed it – unauthorized repairs void the warranty
  • Normal wear – small scratches, battery losing 10% capacity after two years
  • Problems from apps – if a sketchy app messed something up, that's on you

How to Actually Use Your Warranty

If something goes wrong:

  1. Call Samsung (1-800-SAMSUNG) or use the Samsung Members app
  2. Explain what happened – be honest, they can often tell if damage was user-caused
  3. Prove you bought it – keep your receipt, seriously
  4. Pick your repair option:
    • Mail it in (they send a prepaid box)
    • Find an authorized repair center near you

The whole process usually takes 5-10 days for mail-in repairs.

Pro Tip: Keep Your Receipt

I can't stress this enough. No receipt = no warranty claim. Take a photo of it, save your Amazon order confirmation, whatever. Just don't lose it.

What About Accidental Damage?

The standard warranty doesn't cover accidents. If you drop your phone and crack the screen, you're paying out of pocket (and S26 Ultra screens aren't cheap).

That's where Samsung Care+ comes in. It costs extra, but it covers:

  • Accidental damage (cracked screens, water damage)
  • Extended coverage beyond one year
  • Lower repair costs with a deductible

You can add it within 60 days of buying your phone. Worth considering if you're accident-prone or just want peace of mind for a $1,300+ device.

View the Galaxy S26 Ultra 512GB with warranty →

Read More

What is Super Fast Charging 3.0 on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra?

Q&A
Published: March 31st, 2026
Last Updated: March 31st, 2026

Samsung loves their marketing names, and Super Fast Charging 3.0 is exactly what it sounds like—the third version of their fast charging tech, and the S26 Ultra is finally hitting 60W. Here's what that actually means for you.

The Simple Version

Your S26 Ultra can charge faster than the S25 Ultra could. We're talking 60W vs. 45W, which translates to roughly 30 minutes to hit 75% battery from dead. That's legitimately useful when you're running out the door.

How We Got Here

Samsung's been incrementing this gradually:

  • S20 days: 25W (the original "Super Fast")
  • S22-S25: 45W (called Super Fast Charging 2.0)
  • S26: 60W (now Super Fast Charging 3.0)

Yes, Chinese phones have been hitting 100W+ for years. Samsung's more conservative approach focuses on battery longevity over headline speeds.

What You Need for 60W

Here's where it gets slightly annoying: Samsung doesn't include a charger. To actually hit 60W, you need:

  1. A charger that does 60W or more with USB-PD and PPS support (Samsung's 65W charger works, as do most 65W GaN chargers from Anker, Baseus, etc.)
  2. A decent cable rated for the power draw

Your old charger will work fine—it just won't be as fast.

Actual Charging Speeds

Real numbers, not marketing ones:

  • Dead to 50%: About 18 minutes
  • Dead to 75%: About 30 minutes
  • Dead to full: About 55 minutes

These assume ideal conditions. If your phone's warm or you're using it while charging, expect slightly longer times.

"Won't Fast Charging Kill My Battery?"

This is the #1 concern I hear, and fair enough. Here's the reality:

Samsung built in a bunch of protections:

  • The phone monitors temperature and slows down if it's getting too hot
  • There's an "Adaptive" charging mode that learns when you wake up and slows overnight charging
  • You can set an 85% charge limit to extend battery life even more

Is any fast charging as gentle as slow charging? No. But Samsung's implementation is one of the more careful ones out there. Your battery should still be healthy after 3+ years of normal use.

Can I Use My Old Charger?

Yep. A 25W charger charges at 25W. A 45W charges at 45W. The phone just takes what it gets. You only need to buy a new charger if you want the full 60W speed.

View the Galaxy S26 Ultra 512GB →

Read More
💬 ShopSavvy Answers
Expertly researched answers to specific questions about products you're interested in.
Our team of dedicated researchers sources and verifies information on everything you've been asking about like compatibility, durability, hidden features, and much more, helping you make informed decisions with confidence.
Browse A–Z
Jump straight to any letter to see every answer that starts with it.
Browse all answers alphabetically →
Get ShopSavvy
ShopSavvy is totally free and works on all popular phones and browsers
Download ShopSavvy AppDownload ShopSavvy App

Compare prices across thousands of stores in real-time, set price alerts, watch for deals by keyword, and much more.

Install ShopSavvy Browser ExtensionInstall ShopSavvy Browser Extension

Compare and track prices automatically while you shop online at thousands of websites.

🔥 Trending Deals

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I trust product Q&A from ShopSavvy?

In most cases, yes. Our answers are researched using ShopSavvy's product database, real-time pricing from thousands of retailers, and analysis of user reviews. That said, product details can change — we recommend checking the latest prices and availability before making a purchase.

Where does ShopSavvy get its product information?

We pull data from thousands of retailers and combine it with user reviews and expert analysis. Our product database covers millions of items, and prices are typically updated multiple times a day.

How current are the answers on ShopSavvy?

We try to keep our content as fresh as possible. Most answers are reviewed and updated regularly, though the frequency can vary depending on how quickly a product category changes.