Amazon’s current deal on the Apple AirPods Pro 2 brings the price down to $199, a 20% discount from the usual $249. If you’ve been eyeing these earbuds for a while, this is a solid time to grab them—especially since pricing tends to fluctuate.

You can pick up your pair at Amazon for $199, a 20% price cut, which saves you $50. Just keep in mind that deals like this fluctuate, so if you’ve been eyeballing these magical earbuds for a while, now might be your last chance to grab them.

CNET’s key takeaways

• You can get these amazing earbuds for just $199 right now on Amazon.
• My teenager loves everything about them.
• The sound quality is exceptional.
• The noise cancellation can help give you some peace, even in a busy home.

My 13-year-old daughter loves her music and her privacy, and for years she has wanted a pair of AirPods. They’re not cheap, so I’ve only been getting her more budget options, like the Amazon Echo Buds, as a result. These kept seemingly disappearing though, so I finally ponied up for the AirPods Pro 2.

I picked them up during last year’s sales, and they were definitely well-received. She’s happy, she uses them every day, and she hasn’t lost them yet. They are currently $199 at Amazon, a nice $50 discount from the usual price. While that’s not the cheapest we’ve seen them, it’s still a solid price for a high-quality pair like these.

Why I didn’t wait for the AirPods Pro 3

Rumors abound that Apple will replace the Pro 2 with an updated Pro 3 version later this year. My kid wanted headphones sooner, so I got her the Pro 2s. But if you’re on the fence, here’s my perspective.

The main improvements to the Pro 3 are said to be heart-rate monitoring like the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 have, as well as a new design. Other speculation points to improved sound and processing with Apple’s H3 chip, temperature sensors, built-in infrared cameras, a touchscreen on the case, live translation of languages and more. There’s no way to know what they actually will have, but I do know that they’ll be more expensive than the Pro 2 (especially at this sale price). I don’t think those new features are going to be worth the money, however.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

You might have a different take, especially if you want heart-rate monitoring on your headphones for fitness sessions or one of those rumored extras. In that case, it might be worth waiting to see what the new versions include. The AirPods Pro 3 are expected to be announced in September and on sale soon after.

Why I didn’t get the AirPods 4 instead

Why did I choose AirPods Pro 2 instead of the newer AirPods 4 with ANC? First off, as I mentioned in another article about a different pair of earbuds I bought, I think sealed, in-ear buds are better than open-design models like the AirPods 4. The seal creates another layer of noise isolation and contributes to superior sound quality, and if you want to pay attention to the world you can always engage ambient sound mode, which Apple calls transparency mode. 

Also a factor was the commentary of CNET reviewer David Carnoy, who considers the Pro 2 the best Apple noise-canceling wireless earbuds: «While we’re quite impressed with those new models — and with the AirPods 4 ANC in particular — the AirPods Pro 2 remain arguably the best Apple AirPods you can buy if you don’t mind having silicone ear tips jammed in your ears.»

My daughter uses earplugs all the time to help her sleep, so she definitely qualifies as somebody who’s comfortable stuffing things in her ears. Like her fingers, when I start using words like «sigma,» «skibidi» and «relatable» to try to relate to her.

I asked Carnoy about the Pro 2s potentially not fitting in her kid-size ears and he reassured me that the range of eartips that come with the Pro 2s «now include XS, so they should fit.» 

Do AirPods make a great gift?

It took me years to finally understand, but yes, for someone looking for wireless earbuds, AirPods — especially the Apple AirPods Pro 2 — make the perfect gift, regardless of whether you’re a teenage girl or not. 

Labor Day has come and gone, and school is back in session. Though the leaves have yet to start turning, fall is making its way here. The official arrival of the season is the autumnal equinox, which occurs in the Northern Hemisphere in September. 

After a hot summer, the fall equinox marks a welcome shift in the seasons for many folks. But what exactly is an equinox? It’s all about Earth and its relationship with the sun. Here’s how to understand, visualize and celebrate the autumnal equinox.

When is the fall equinox?

This year, the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere falls on Monday, Sept. 22. If you want to be extra specific and mark it on your calendar, mark it for 11:19 a.m. PT.

Dates can shift slightly for equinoxes depending on the year, but it’s always around this time in September. The next vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere takes place on March 20, 2026, and will mark the start of spring.

What does the September equinox look like?

Wherever you are on Earth on the day of the equinox (and whether it’s a spring or fall equinox, depending on which hemisphere you live in), the sun will rise as close to east and set as close to west as possible, making it a foolproof compass. Go outside and watch the sunset and sunrise, and make a note of the landmarks in front of the sun. That way, you’ll always know what exactly is west and east.

The two annual equinoxes also feature the fastest sunrise and sunset of the year, with the sun taking just a few seconds to appear and disappear. That’s because this is the steepest angle at which the sun rises and sets during the year.

What is the fall equinox?

The meaning of equinox is right there in the name: a combination of the Latin words for equal and night. 

«There are only two times of the year when the Earth’s axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun, resulting in a ‘nearly’ equal amount of daylight and darkness at all latitudes,» the National Weather Service said in an explainer about the seasons. 

The Earth spins on an axis (imagine a line running from pole to pole) and the planet sports a jaunty 23.5-degree tilt. The tilt is what gives us seasons. As the Earth orbits the sun, the tilt means some areas of the planet get more direct sunlight than others. That’s how it can be summer in the Northern Hemisphere (tilted toward the sun) and winter in the Southern Hemisphere (tilted away from the sun) at the same time. During the equinox, the sun shines straight at the equator and gives equal love to the two hemispheres.

Other planets that are also tilted on their axes of rotation also experience equinoxes. The time scales can be very different, however. An equinox on Saturn only comes around about every 15 Earth years. That means each season lasts for over seven years on Saturn. It’s even wilder on Neptune, which has seasons that last decades. We can be grateful for the relatively short seasons on our planet.

How is equinox different from solstice?

As with equinoxes, solstices are associated with Earth’s tilt, but instead of daylight and nighttime being even, the days and nights are at their extremes. The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, while the summer solstice is the longest. This year, the winter solstice for the Northern Hemisphere falls on Sunday, Dec. 21.

See equinoxes from space

Earth-watching satellites up in orbit have a unique view of the equinox. A NASA Earth Observatory video shows Earth from space and how the positioning of the sun’s light shifts with the changing of the seasons. It’s a great way to visualize what’s happening during our planet’s orbit around the sun. 

How to celebrate the fall equinox

Equinoxes aren’t like eclipses or meteors. There isn’t a big wow moment when you see something spectacular. The fall equinox this year will look like any other day, but it’s a handy way to mark the changing of the astronomical seasons. You can go around and declare, «It’s officially the first day of autumn!» How you celebrate is up to you. Here’s a suggestion: Put on your favorite sweater, go for a scenic foliage drive and sip a pumpkin spice latte to welcome fall in style.

Every time I use an iPhone, I lament that it doesn’t have one of the most practical mobile AI tools: Google’s Circle to Search. Until that feature comes to the iPhone — and I really hope it does soon — I don’t think most people will realize just how useful it can be. 

Circle to Search is a way to quickly pull up information about anything on your Android phone’s screen. Just long-press the home button and then circle, scribble or tap whatever you want to look up. If you’re scrolling through Instagram and see a vacation spot you’d like to identify, a pair of shoes you want to buy or a word you want to look up, just draw around it and Google will pull up a list of relevant Search results.

You can even use your phone’s camera to point at something, then use Circle to Search to find out more. And a new capability that debuted on Thursday continuously translates text as you scroll through social media posts or switch between apps. 

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Apple’s Visual Intelligence feature has some similarities to Circle to Search; it uses Apple Intelligence to identify what’s around you and whatever you snap a picture of. A new functionality arriving with iOS 26 will allow the tool to work with screenshots, so you can ask ChatGPT about what’s on your screen, add an event to your calendar or search for a product. But those capabilities are still relatively limited compared with Circle to Search. Plus, Visual Intelligence is available only on iPhone 15 Pro models or later, while Circle to Search is on a much broader range of Android phones.

I’ve used Circle to Search for a variety of tasks, from figuring out where to buy tea sets to identifying a song to looking up the breed of cute cats. (Clearly, the use cases are diverse.) It’s a seamless way of finding relevant links and information about anything that piques your curiosity, without struggling to describe it in a traditional Google search — especially when you don’t know the name of what you’re searching.

But if you do prefer to add words to your query, you can still do that with Circle to Search. Once the results pop up at the bottom of your screen, you can type in the Search bar to get more specific answers and information. 

Circle to Search debuted in January 2024 on the Samsung Galaxy S24 series and the Pixel 8 lineup, and it’s now available on the latest Pixel devices as well as on Galaxy S, Z and A phones — meaning it’s not just confined to the priciest devices.

When will Circle to Search come to iPhones?

I’m glad more phones are getting Circle to Search and that it’s become somewhat standard on a handful of premium and more affordable Android phones (and I hope it lands on more). But I’m eagerly awaiting the day this feature arrives on the iPhone. I’m not holding my breath for Apple to announce the arrival of this capability at its iPhone 17 event on Tuesday, but I suppose anything’s possible. 

Google hasn’t said anything about bringing Circle to Search to Apple devices, though you can carry out a similar function on iPhones using Google Lens in the Google app and on Chrome. But that’s simply not good enough for me. Circle to Search has been out for nearly two years, and it’s about time it made its iPhone debut in full force. 

It’s a contentious time for tech companies like Google, Samsung and Apple, which are racing to crank out the most advanced AI-powered features. So while other Google apps and features like Lens, Drive and Calendar have made their way onto the iPhone, this is a whole different ball game. 

But if reports about Apple potentially supercharging Siri with Google’s Gemini are any indication, there’s a high chance the two companies can agree that Circle to Search is a feature that also belongs on iPhones. And once it arrives, you’ll likely wonder how you ever lived without it.

Until then, I’ll just keep wishing I had an Android phone in my hand each time I scroll past a particularly tantalizing teapot on Instagram.