I listened to a lot of mic testing a few months ago, frustrated by the AirPods Pro Gen 1 too. My conclusion was that all wireless earphone mics are pretty bad, and you’re not going to sound good unless you hold the phone up to your cheek or use a headset. But if you just want the best you can get in wireless earphones, I think the Jabra Elite 7 Pro and Sennhesier Momentum 3 are both a step up from the AirPods Pro Gen 1. They sound cheaper and let in more background noise, but they don’t have that underwater sound, parts of your voice disappearing, or sporadic background noise amplification, making them more intelligible and less stressful on a call.