Twelve South’s AirFly Finally Gets a Screen. The Catch Is Battery Life.
The AirFly has always had one annoying problem: you can’t tell what it’s doing. You hold a button, watch a tiny light blink, and hope your AirPods connected before the movie starts. Twelve South’s new AirFly View fixes that with something the line has never had before: a screen.
It launched on October 27 for $79.99, in Black and Coastal (blue), on Twelve South’s site and on Amazon. Twelve South’s other AirFly models (SE, Deluxe and Pro 2) don’t have one (9to5Mac has the launch details).
What the screen actually does
The display takes the place of the big + and − buttons on the AirFly Pro 2. According to Twelve South, it:
- Walks you through pairing step by step, in any of 24 languages.
- Shows which headphones are connected, by name. With two pairs connected, both names appear.
- Shows the AirFly’s own battery, so it doesn’t die halfway through a flight without warning.
- Gives you on-screen volume and mute, plus a menu for switching modes.
Twelve South says the screen “walks you through setup, then gets out of the way”. 9to5Mac notes it turns off when you’re not using it.
Everything else carries over
Under the screen, it’s very close to the AirFly Pro 2. It plugs into any 3.5mm headphone jack, including plane seatbacks, gym equipment, car stereos and old home stereos, and sends that audio to any Bluetooth headphones. You can connect two pairs at once to watch the same movie together. There’s also a Receive mode that works the other way round, streaming from your phone into a car’s AUX port or a speaker.
New on the spec sheet are Bluetooth 5.3 and Auracast, a Bluetooth broadcast feature. Auracast only helps if your headphones, hearing aids or speakers support it, and Twelve South’s own FAQ says to check that first. Support is still uncommon. It charges over USB-C, and the box includes a hard-shell travel case and an international airline adapter. Notebookcheck also confirmed the Bluetooth version and the box contents.
The catch: battery life
| AirFly View | AirFly Pro 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price (Twelve South) | $79.99 | $59.99 |
| Screen | Yes | No (+/− buttons) |
| Battery (rated) | Up to 16 hours | 25+ hours |
| Headphones at once | 2 | 2 |
| Transmit and Receive modes | Yes | Yes |
That screen costs you $20 and at least nine hours of rated battery. Sixteen hours still covers almost any single flight, and it charges over USB-C like the rest of your gear. But if you take long trips and forget to charge things, the Pro 2’s 25+ hours is the safer bet.
Where to get it
- AirFly View in Black on Amazon
- AirFly View in Coastal on Amazon
- AirFly Pro 2 Deluxe (white) on Amazon, if you’d rather have the battery
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. When we checked on November 5, 2026, both AirFly View listings were in stock at $79.99, shipped and sold by Twelve South. The AirFly Pro 2 Deluxe was $59.99, sold by Amazon.com. Check the current price on Amazon.
PCGeek’s take
This is the AirFly most people should have got in the first place. The hard part of using one was never the audio. It was the guessing: is it on, is it pairing, are both headsets connected, is it about to die? A screen answers all of that at a glance, and that’s worth $20 to anyone who flies with a partner. If you already own a Pro 2 that works, though, there’s no reason to replace it. And if you mainly fly long-haul solo, the cheaper Pro 2’s longer battery may matter more than the screen.
Image: Twelve South.
Would you pay $20 more for the screen, or keep the extra battery? Tell us in the comments.
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