Elite 65t

I'll be honest. I agree with all your points. The case is so scratchy I gave up trying to protect mine. When my airpods pro 2 arrived, I wrap it right away in a dbrand skin. A couple months later when I wanted to use case instead of skin, I peel it and it's scratched. How it got scratched I have zero idea. Since then I treat the charging case like my phone case, it's there to protect my airpods not to get protected. Since 2017 alone, I've used OG Airpods, Airpods 2, Jabra Elite 65t, Sony WF XM3, Airpods Pro 1, Sony WF XM4, and now Airpods Pro 2. I know the pros and cons of those earbuds because I don't just try them and return them to shop. In most cases, I wear them for months until they either break or lost. And of all those earbuds, my favorite is still Airpods Pro 2. I know it doesn't have custom EQ. I know it doesn't have custom EQ and it's not the cheapest or best sounding or best looking, or the one with the longest battery life. But I preferred it because of one thing. Comfort In terms of ergonomic, Airpods Pro 2 is perfect for me. And that is what made me worry about Airpods Pro 3. I wanted to try them to see if it would be as comfortable as the Pro 2 because if they aren't then I'm gonna have to buy the late batch Pro 2 that would hopefully last me another 3 years until the Pro 4 came out. When I wear my Pro 2 with transparency mode, sometimes I simply forgot that they're there. Discussions about Pro 3 seemed to be centered around their improved ANC, or polarizing sound signature. But I honestly don't care about those. I need ANC that's just enough to drown my gym poor taste in music when I'm exercising. If I need stronger ANC for flight, I'd take my Sonos Ace. And I don't care about sound quality because I hardly listen to any music. I use my airpods to either watch something, listen to podcast, or ambient sound when I'm working, so as long as it doesn't sound like a $10 earbud, I'm good. The increased battery life got me hyped because I always want my airpods pro to last an entire work day. But the issue of comfort really got me worried. More and more reviewers are coming out to say that they are not as comfortable as the Pro 2 and that really got me worried.

Maybe I was being a bit over the top, it's just never been an issue for me with different headphones, cheap and expensive. Over the head ones might not work as well but in-ear they don't ever seem to fall out I use the jabra elite 65t, older model but it works great. They also make sport modes meant for exercising but the regular ones seem to work fine for me with the right ear gummy piece

Hmm, I found that the 65t and 75t had a ever so slightly better fit but I guess it could be improved with foam tips and the like :) they are very similar to the 75t from what I remember

I wear my noise cancelling earbuds under my over ear construction ear muffs. Just need a pair of buds that are low enough profile that they fit under your ear muffs. I have Sony XM5's and some old Jabra Elite 65's that both work great.

My 65t died three days ago. Got Sony WF-C510 as a replacement.  Really happy with the fit, similar to the my old ones. They don't have the same IP-rating though, so we'll see how long they last. But they only cost $45, and I can use both pods independently, unlike Jabra.