Arc finally expanded its horizons, reaching beyond the aerospace-grade metal smartphone bumper cases it cut its teeth on (and made a name for itself with) by releasing its all-new Arc Pulse AirPods Pro 2 case. Leveraging a similar design and installation process, I love its iPhone 16 Pro Bumper Case and couldn’t wait to see if it could bring that magic to AirPods – spoiler alert…it totally did. My complete hands-on impressions await below.
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Hands-on with Arc’s metal Pulse AirPods Pro 2 case
The all-new Arc Pulse AirPods Pro case works on both AirPods Pro 1 and Pro 2 and comes in three colorways:
Features at a glance:
- Aluminum 6063-T6 with high-end anti-scratch coating.
- Precision pressure-fit design with a slide-on mechanism.
- Residue-free application.
- Secured with reusable microsuction pad on the top shell.
- Tested to withstand 10ft drops for unmatched durability.
- 360-degree protection from every angle.
9to5Toys’ Take
While perhaps the case with a great many reviews, with this product especially, if you like what you see in the imagery here, you’re more than likely going to like this AirPods Pro case as well.
The imagery is quite true to form – it’s impeccably polished and shiny, extremely shiny. If you don’t like that, you won’t like this case. Or at least, you won’t like the Silver or Rose Bronze colorways – the black one has a more matte finish to it by the looks of it, but I did not get to see this model in person so I can’t say for sure.
All of that said, it won over more than a few skeptical friends and family after a couple hours of it sitting out on the table during a get together last weekend.
Arc says its AirPods Pro 2 case is “precision-machined from aerospace-grade aluminum,” and this I can very much believe. It is just as impeccably made as it is shiny, with a smooth rounded outer body and an equally as rounded edge framing the front and back of your AirPods case. From the front top lid side of the case meets the bottom perfectly while around the back side there are slightly sharper (looking, not the touch) beveled cutouts that allow the case to open cleanly and all the way. The outputs on the side for the lanyard as well as the three along the bottom are equally as precise and well-done.
As for the form, fit, and overall look. I’m very impressed here. But considering this is more or less and extension of its best-in-class iPhone Arc Pulse bumper cases we have raved about for years, I can’t say I’m at all surprised.
Speaking of which, it Arc Pulse case fits right onto your AirPods Pro 1/2 case very much the same as its iPhone counterpart, for the most part. This is a two piece case – the top half and the bottom. The bottom uses the same precisely fit friction to slide right onto your AirPods Pro case with zero adhesive – it hasn’t fallen of once no matter how much I tried, while still being able to slide right off if you need it to. The top however, does require a very thin sheet of adhesive tape, unlike the iPhone models. It is hidden way up at the top of the underside of the top case and has worked flawlessly – it hasn’t slid off once no matter how much I tried to leverage gravity or shake it loose, but it does take some work to get it off on purpose.
But how can this case possibly still support the wireless charging on AirPods Pro 2 if the frame-style bumper case doesn’t allow the back of the AirPods case to make contact with my charger? I asked myself the same thing the second I got it on there.
The answer is I have no idea but it 100% totally does – is it just close enough to still work just fine? It passes through the metal? Again, I don’t know but it really does.
Okay, not how’s about this Zippo lighter-style ping you mentioned in the launch coverage? Does it actually do that?!
Well no…or actually kind of yes.
I would not describe it as a ringing ping per se, but it does make a slightly metallic clack when you flip your case open and closed with your thumb. I like this, did it way too much when I first got it on there, got slightly addicted to doing it, and then immediately go worried I was just going to end up breaking the case or something.
So a better answer is yes, it does make a very satisfying sound when you flip it open, I’m not sure you’ll want to get used to doing that or why anyone would really want that all that much, but it does.
In the end, this thing is made very well. It shines literally as bright as the images male it seem like it does, and it fits wonderfully. It’s even less of a fingerprint magnet than I expected, but you can also expect to have to wipe it down from time to time to keep it looking that polished. Thankfully the materials used here make that equally as easy to do. This, and perhaps the price, are really the only negatives I can come up with here.
Buy the Arc Pulse AirPods Pro 2 Case
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