Twelve South AirFly Pro, the Wireless Panacea [Review]

Twelve South AirFly Pro, the Wireless Panacea [Review]

March 6, 2020 10:56 EST • Alexandre Vallières-Lagacé • 4 minute read

A few months ago, I reviewed the original AirFly from Twelve South and had such a great experience that I was wondering if they could do something more, like add more to the product to make it even better. I’m happy to report that we now have the Twelve South AirFly family of products with the original AirFly, the USB-C, the Duo and the Pro !

To put it simple, the Classic is the one I reviewed with one pair of headphones and 8 hours of battery life. The Duo supports two headphones and has 20+ hours of battery life. The USB-C swaps the 3.5mm jack for a USB-C port and the Pro has a few extra tricks up it’s sleeve! This is the little guy I reviewed!

Design

The AirFly Pro is kind of the AirFly Classic which means it connects to any 3.5mm port, often called the AUX port on stereo and gym equipment to allow a non-Bluetooth capable device to broadcast its audio over Bluetooth.

It comes in a very small and now rounded and slightly longer and thicker but narrower than the Classic. You really feel the quality of the parts here and it does come with a carrying case and cables including a cap for the 3.5mm cord.

The Pro has three major changes from the Classic, first off the battery life goes from 8 hours to 16 hours, and you can charge it via USB-C. The second is that you can pair two headphones to it so you can share the movie in a plane or the audio while exercising with a loved one.

And finally, what I think really makes this the audio panacea, it can act both as a Bluetooth transmitter for use in a plane or with a Nintendo Switch or as a Bluetooth receiver for uses when you want to send audio to the AirFly. You could send your Spotify music from your phone to your car or visit a friend’s house and send your own playlist to their home stereo and be the DJ for the night!

Features

  • Both a transmitter and a receiver
  • Can connect two headphones
  • Charges via USB-C
  • 16-hour battery life

Performance

The AirFly comes with a simple booklet to get this setup, it’s not the most intuitive setup thanks to the different audio devices and their different ways to put them into pairing mode. The AirFly Pro tried to make this as simple as possible with only one main button, a reset button and a Rx/Tx switch to toggle between receiving and transmitting audio.

I did need to do a few tried to get both my AirPods and the Sennheiser Momentum 3 properly paired. But once it was done it really works like a charm, turn the AirFly Pro on and turn your audio devices ON and bingo!

AirFly Pro, up close and personal

Sound quality is perfect, even with the phone in my pocket with the AirFly Pro, I did not have interference troubles or anything like this. The range is not what I would call amazing if I start to go to another floor but given the use case at hand of being close to the device it does not really matter.

Conclusion

Overall the experience is great and I really like what they did with the new models which is better for people with a different need while keeping the cost down. You should use this page to decide on which of the AirFly family member is the best for your specific need. I know that I will continue to use the AirFly Classic with my Nintendo Switch since it’s a bit thinner and the Pro will be ideal for in-flight entertainment as the transmitter and in the car as the receiver since my 2011 car does not have great Bluetooth audio hardware.

For use with the Nintendo Switch, I kind of wish we could have a Light version that can fit very closely to the Switch as a thin layer behind the console. The Pro works great but dangling kind of feels weird. I’ll probably add some Velcro behind it so it stops bumbling around.

Once again, Twelve South made a bang with what I think is more than what could be expected and every single product of the family is a great addition to anyone’s gadget pouch! Highly recommended!

Review Summary

AirFly ProTwelve South LLC
AirFly Pro

You have two sets of AirPods and want to share the audio during a flight? Or send your phone’s music to your car? The AirFly Pro allows to do both and more!

AirFly Pro
AirFly Classic

The Good Stuff
  • Great design
  • Simple setup
  • Great battery life
  • Both transmitter and receiver
  • Charges via USB-C
The Bad Stuff
  • A bit thick for certain use
The Ratings
Design
90%
Features
90%
Performance
80%
Price
90%
Overall: 88%
Disclaimers: This product or service was provided by the company or partner for the purpose of this review.
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