Twelve South AirFly Pro 2 Review: Add Bluetooth to Every Flight
8.6
/ 10
SCORE Twelve South AirFly Pro 2
Pros Add Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity to just about anything
Tiny
A little easier to use than its predecessor Cons A little more expensive than its predecessor
Minor lip-sync delay due to Bluetooth connection
Not (quite) as necessary as it once was
Twelve South AirFly Pro 2
8.6/10 CNET Score
It can be extremely frustrating to spend a bunch of money on a great set of noise-canceling headphones, only to get on your first flight with them and find out you can't hear the in-flight entertainment. While some over-ear BT headphones can work wired, not all do. Some true wireless earbuds have charging cases that you can plug in via analog and then connect wirelessly, but not all can. Fortunately, there's a solution: The AirFly Pro 2 from Twelve South.
I reviewed the previous AirFly Pro and found it a handy way to add Bluetooth where otherwise there wouldn't be any. The Pro 2 claims to be a little easier to use with more physical buttons, and it features Bluetooth 5.3. Like its predecessor, it's not just for travel. You can use it to add Bluetooth to any device with a headphone output, or if it has an auxiliary input (many older cars), the Pro 2, like the Pro, can also function as a Bluetooth receiver so you can send audio to it from your phone or tablet.
Overall, the Pro 2 works well. There's no need to upgrade if you have its predecessor, but if you fly even occasionally, it's definitely worth having in your carry-on.
Hardware
When in TX mode, the AirFly Pro 2 can transmit audio from a source, like the in-flight entertainment on a plane, to your headphones. It can also receive (in RX mode) Bluetooth audio from a phone, tablet, or computer, to play back on something analog, like older cars, older A/V receivers and so on.
Geoffrey Morrison/CNET
Bluetooth version: 5.3
Connections: USB-C (for charging), 3.5mm analog
Battery life (claimed): 25 hours
Number of simultaneous BT connections: 2
Bluetooth modes: Transmit (TX), Receive (RX)
Bluetooth codecs supported: aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency and SBC (Transmit mode); aptX, aptX HD, AAC and SBC (Receive mode).
The AirFly Pro 2 is a roughly thumb-size dongle with a 3.5mm (1/8-inch) analog connection on one end and a Bluetooth transmitter/receiver inside. You can connect it to anything with a headphone output to send audio via Bluetooth to headphones, or you can connect it to anything with an analog "aux" input and send audio from your phone or media player.
While the original AirFly Pro went for simplicity, with two buttons and a receive/transmit mode switch, the Pro 2 adds a physical power switch and two dedicated pairing buttons for each headphone connection while keeping the original's mode toggle. On the front, volume buttons replace the Pro's single all-purpose button.
Twelve South claims the Pro 2 has 25 hours of battery life. The longest flight you can take right now, from New York's JFK to Singapore, is around 18 hours and 40 minutes, a bit longer than the 15-hour LAX-to-Melbourne flight I took a few years ago. Since your headphones, no matter what they are, won't last that long, this seems plenty. Just remember to charge the AirFly before you go, which takes about two hours if totally empty.
The regular Pro 2 comes with a USB-A-to-USB-C charging cable and a small cloth carrying bag. The Pro 2 Deluxe also includes the dual-mono adapter still in use on some aircraft, as well as a vegan leather pouch. Since it will be difficult to find out if your particular aircraft has the older connection I almost want to recommend the Deluxe. However, it's $10 on top of the Pro 2's higher price compared to Pro, and you can find two-packs of those adapters on Amazon for half that price. I suppose in the grand scheme of things, it's just a few dollars, but with a ton of no-name adapters out there that offer similar features to the AirFly, this much higher than the average price is already pushing it.
Usability
Geoffrey Morrison/CNET
Connecting to the AirFly Pro 2 is easy. Put your headphones into pairing mode, turn on the Pro 2, and that's it. I tried headphones and earbuds of various ages, including the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3, the Sony WH-1000XM5 and my go-to NC earbuds, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra. All connected with no issues. I recommend turning off your phone's Bluetooth before you start so the headphones don't get confused. If you want to connect a second pair to the Pro 2, just hold down the Pair 2 button with the other headphones in pairing mode. If you want to pair a different set of headphones, just hold down one of the pairing buttons. It will flash yellow a few times, then alternate white and yellow just as it did with the initial pairing.
While I understand the original Pro design's preference for simplicity, the additional buttons do make things easier to understand. That's especially important since most people will likely only use AirFly a few times a year. There is no need to add to your overall flight annoyance by trying to remember how to connect your earbuds to watch some stale TV shows.
AirFly Pro (left) and AirFly Pro 2.
Geoffrey Morrison/CNET
There's still some audio latency, which you'll notice as a slight delay between when something happens on screen and when you hear it. As in, people's lips don't quite match up. It's less than 50ms, Twelve South claims 34ms, so it's possible if you don't usually notice or aren't bothered by such things it might not matter. Even if you do notice it, given that an aircraft cabin isn't exactly the place for perfect audio and video, the lag is likely fine. It's worth noting that the original version had the same issues due to its own Bluetooth connection.
Speaking of perfect audio, the Pro 2 features Bluetooth 5.3 and supports the aptX HD codec. In theory, this could mean higher quality audio compared to the base SBC codec for many Android phones (Apple devices only support AAC and SBC). Two things about that, however. First, there isn't a hugely audible difference between SBC and aptX on most headphones. Second, any theoretical improvement in fidelity is going to be completely lost against the roar of jet engines. So to me, it's more that the AirFly Pro 2 is easy to use than any expectations for improved sound quality. The original Pro sounded fine and worked great; this one does too.
Bluetooth 2 go
Geoffrey Morrison/CNET
As a frequent flier and vocal proponent of noise-canceling headphones and earbuds, I've had an AirFly in my carry-on for a while. Sure, you can download shows and movies to your phone or tablet, but there's likely a greater selection of content available with the aircraft's in-flight entertainment. For longer flights, that can be a pretty big deal. Having to switch to wired, non-noise canceling headphones or earbuds is quite a bummer after you get used to the quieter environment that better NC provides. So, for that, the AirFly Pro 2 is a great option, despite its higher price for a limited improvement in features compared to its now-discontinued, but for the moment still available, predecessor.
If you don't think you'll need to connect two headphones at once and you don't need it to receive Bluetooth, the AirFly SE is a cheaper option that basically does the same thing.
There's one other aspect worth considering, which is the overall trend of airlines adding Bluetooth to their in-flight entertainment systems. I recently flew a United flight that had this feature, and others have announced they're adding it. Alaska Airlines, on the other hand, has done away with seatback entertainment on many flights, instead just having you connect to the aircraft's Wi-Fi with your own device to stream their collection of shows and movies. I wouldn't be surprised if even more airlines go that route since it's cheaper for them. For now, though, the vast majority of aircraft don't have either of these options. Also, there's no guarantee that even if your specific route should have one of these options, the aircraft you actually fly in will (plane changes happen often). So the AirFly is less of a must-have than it used to be, and likely even less so going forward, but for the time being, it's still super handy to have.
In addition to covering cameras and display tech, Geoff does photo essays about cool museums and other stuff, including nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers, medieval castles and epic 10,000-mile road trips.
Also, check out Budget Travel for Dummies, his travel book, and his bestselling sci-fi novel about city-size submarines. You can follow him on Instagram and YouTube.
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