I gather that not every competitor’s wireless earbuds are quite as good as AirPods, but of those that are, how much do they cost? I would assume they’re still over/roughly a hundred bucks. Maybe we just need a little more competition (and a tiny battery miracle) before these are anywhere near as affordable as wired earbuds.
The Sennheiser and Shure earphones I’ve owned have had amazing sound quality even at lower price points. But those were wired. I don’t recall them having any wireless when I last looked (last year).
You've used wireless Sennheiser, Beats, Shure and Beyerdynamic in-ear headphones over the years? I didn't even know these brands had in-ear headphones "for years".
Let's look up these brands and their wireless headphones at the moment.
First, Sennheiser.
Sennheiser has products like the "MOMENTUM Free In-Ear Wireless" and "Momentum In-Ear Wireless". These are in-ear headphones with a wire that goes around your neck. While reviews don't complain about sound, these can hardly be considered wireless. I mean, the wires are right there (points at screen).
Hardly considered similar products.
Let's visit Beats.
Same thing. Wires. Next.
Shure. Never heard of them, but hey, lets google "Shure wireless in-ear headphones". Wires again. This seems to be a trend.
Beyerdynamic? It's up to you! Yeah, you know already. Wires.
I do believe there is a market for these "wireless" (calling them "wireless" is just lying but hey) headphones, they are widely different form Apple AirPods.
The Apple AirPods are TRUE wireless headphones. They are a whole different product. There are other brands that have similar products (with charging case & without wires), but these are mostly more expensive, have worse specs and/or are mostly a pain to pair because you have to pair both earbuds individually.
I'm not saying Apple AirPods are best in their product class, but I highly doubt they are "worst in class". But then again, we have to consider what "class" they are in anyway. In my opinion, Apple AirPods are WIRELESS in-ear headphones. These products you're talking about are "wireless" in-ear headphones
I agree with your point about the OPs exaggeration of time ("over the years") however I have to disagree with your rant about "true wireless".
Having a wire around your neck is totally different to having one to your phone. It's actually a nice convenience having a neck wire because:
* you're less likely to lose an odd earphone (something that is more likely when your earphones are like loose change)
* you can pop one earphone out and rest it on your shoulder. eg when shopping and you're in the queue to pay. You can then interact with the cashier without appearing rude
* you get extended battery life as you now only need one BT radio per pair of headphones (this is actually the main reason 3rd party ones are cabled and this is a problem Apple have managed to solve with a custom BT radio controller)
The fact that you can buy after market cords for Apple's wireless earphones says a lot about how it's actually a desirable feature for some people. But another example is people who attach neck cords to reading glasses.
Moreover, I do happen to own corded bluetooth earphones and specifically chose them over "true wireless" because they offered the best of both worlds - liberated me from being tethered to my phone or other playback devices while still giving me the convenience to hang the earphones around my neck while I'm not using them. This was a very calculated decision on my part because I did also look at "true wireless" and was very tempted by them. I'm also adamant that I made the right decision given my usages.
Because Apple's main draw is their branding. They want everyone to know that you have an apple product.
Ever noticed that iphone cases have a little cutout in the back so that apple logo is still visible?
Remember the iconic dancing shadow iPod commercials? The person was not the focus; not even the iPod was the focus. The white headphones, unique at the time, were the focus.
IF those had an option of being the 'wire' in a wired set - like... a detachable wire for convenience in both directions - that would be the best of both worlds. I'm meaning like... airpods that could also accept a physical input, and work wired or wireless. Wireless for convenience, wired when needed.
Not everyone's ear is shaped the same. Which is why most other upper end earphones will come with a variety of attachable foam and/or rubber pieces so you can fit the ear bud to your ear.
edit:
Why am I getting downvoted for pointing out a fact that peoples ears are shaped differently? Is this some kind of fanboyism in effect because it wasn't meant as a critisim against Apple. I happen to have an iPhone but opted for 3rd party earphones because they fit better.
I realize my experience is anecdotal. I'm just amused that so many people are concerned about them falling out and yet I have never seen that happen. Maybe the designers at Apple thought about that.
I'm sure they thought about it but my experience with Apple earphones are they don't fit my ears and subsequently fall out.
If it was as easy as a "1 size fits all" then other manufacturers releasing equivalently prices earphones wouldn't go down the multiple attachments route I described.
It's also worth mentioning that having those rubber / foam attachments does have an added benefit in that they contribute to noise cancelling so you don't need to crank the earphones as loud when in noisy locations. Which is healthier for your hearing.
Thankfully Apple don't have a monopoly on wireless earphones. So for people like me who their earphones wouldn't fit, I can have wireless earphones on my iPhone and still have them fit securely for when I'm out running. Win win.
It's also worth noting that different earphones have different frequency curves. Whilst Apple do make some nice sounding earphones, I wanted something with a different colourisation.
I agree that a monopoly would be bad. I responded to the comment about "one odd jostle" making the AirPods fall out. I have never seen that happen for myself or the many runners I run with in races. It is not at all a concern for me, based on my experience. Your postulation leads you to a different conclusion.
Why would they be an inconvenience if you need them all the time? Wouldn't you just keep them attached to the airpod (just like you would with any other earphone)?
In any case, at that price I'd expect those silicone types to come with the airpods - just like they would with any other earphone.
This is exactly why it's better to get earphones that are designed to and come with the attachments. They have no problems charging and are more likely to fit your ear from day one.
Sure they do, depends on your ear size. Happens to me if I simply bend over. (Still love my AirPods, but am forced to use silicone wraps on them if doing anything active with them.)
While I personally have no problems, I know a few people who can't keep them in. It seems to be very much based on if you're lucky enough to have the ear shape that Apple decided to target.
I embraced airpods early because I had the opposite problem: my corded headphones would get caught by a dog leash and pull my $1000 phone out of my pocket.
One person dropped his phone in the tube, due a large amount of people wanting to get out, he could save his $1000 smartphone because he cought the cords of the earphones.
Everything has it's own advantages and disadvantages
Do your regular ear buds just spontaneously fall out of your ears? Why do you think these would? They're actually more secure as there isn't a wire pulling on them.
but seriously... wow up to 5 hours of listen time? My wired QC20 headset gives me ... 160 hours of listen time, and then it keeps going even more. But even the 'functionality' - the noise cancelling aspect - gives me > 8 hours of noise cancelling on a short charge. And when it's out of power, the music still comes through.
When the airpods can be used on airplane flights... maybe I'll take the plunge. (and yeah, for now, I still have an SE for the headphone jack)
to be clear, I was meaning 160+ as in ... they keep functioning forever because they're wired. Sorry - didn't convey that very well. The battery - initially felt clunky - more than makes up for it with the noise cancelling (and that typically lasts 8+ hours on a charge).
There is a happy middle ground. You can have wireless earphones which are wired together. So you have the safety of having a wire round the back of your head but with the convenience of not having your phone wired into your head.
I have Bose earphones designed like that and they cost around the same price as these Airpods. I'm very happy with them.
I ride my bike with my airpods (using only the right side so I can hear cars behind me), and I've had them fall out once, when I was messing around and hitting a curb cut to bunny hop off of.
If I'm sweating they're more prone to fall out, but I have silicone tips that I can put on if I need to.
Also, you can buy a single replacement airpod for $70 which isn't a great price, but it's at least on option.
Yes, you can just use one at a time and it'll route audio input/output accordingly. They charge pretty fast in the case, too, so you could go a long time switching between each one at a time.
For long calls I often alternate them, charging one while I talk on the other one.
If you’re playing music or podcasts, removing one from the ear will pause the playback by default, and you have to tap play again. But with phone calls, the call just continues if you remove one for charging.
I wrote off the airpods when they first came out, but then received a pair as a gift. They ended up being one of my must have items. I wish they wouldn't automatically switch to the lower bit rate when they connect to a mac or that I could tell the mac to never use them as a microphone.
Strange that they switch to a lower bit-rate on the Mac for you. I use mine all the time with my MacBook, only when an application starts using the mic will it downgrade to a lower bit-rate. Do you have any software running that continuously claims the microphone?
I've had mine for just under two years now, and I love them, but the battery life is just about halved from the original 8 hours on a charge and the charging case still only seems to provide 3-4 full charges.
But given the price I'm pretty sure I'll keep them around until they only last 1-2 hours on a charge.
I love my AirPods but I am close to taking mine to the store again to be replaced for a second time. I wear them every day to listen to podcasts as I run for 30 minutes. The accumulated sweat has corroded the charging contacts in the case. I am currently working around this by charging them in my girlfriend's case.
Amusingly, the instructions for AirPods say to not get them wet. I don't know how one could exercise rigorously and not get sweat on them.
It really is my fault, but it is not like they are dripping in sweat. It is just the tiny sheen of sweat left over after running and my desire to immediately put them in the case after using to avoid losing them. Now I wipe them down and leave them out for a while before putting them back in the case. This makes them much less handy.
I can see the ad campaign two years from now: Swimmer taps watch to play then dives into a backstroke with airpods visible.
Then you try it at your local pool and the airpods immediately fall out the minute you hit the water, and are kicked by a 6 year old into the pool filter.
It is definitely user error. I thought they were for use while exercising. Since realizing that the problem is tiny bits of water collecting in the tiny little cavity of the case, I leave them out to dry before putting them back in. This certainly makes them less handy.
Sounds like user error. Are you not wiping them off before you put them in the case? I don't believe they are marketed for exercise. In fact, looking at the AirPod page there is zero mention of exercise.
It is definitely user error. I thought they were for use while exercising. Since realizing that the problem is tiny bits of water collecting in the tiny little cavity of the case, I leave them out to dry before putting them back in. This certainly makes them less handy.
OK I'm really impressed that they stay in while running. Do normal apple earbuds fit your ears really well as well (for me they are the worst earbuds shape-wise of all time), or is it just the design of the airpods that is helping here?
the ear fit is about the same. They do not shift around because there’s no torque available to do it. The lack of a cable means that that long wire of mass doesn’t exist and can’t tug them out.
I've always had issues with nearly every wired form factor earbuds. Sweat and movement was always an issue. I ended up giving Yurbuds a try and they are very snug and the same pair has lasted even through a couple marathon training programs.
I will never run with anything wired. It is too dangerous for someone as clumsy as me. I will keep using the AirPods and replace them annually if necessary.
Just curious, anyone using Siri regularly these days? If so, how/for what? I keep trying Siri every once in a while but it doesn’t seem to stick. Only use I find is setting an alarm now and then, but I still often just open the app to do it manually.
I would preferentially use Siri over Alexa for controlling/setting my lights/thermostat/alarms/timers, but alas, the 12" MacBook still doesn't have hands-free Siri, so instead I use Alexa on one of my Sonos speakers.
- Turn on/off lights (I have a couple lamps on HomeKit outlets)
- Get directions
- Set a timer
- Place a call while otherwise using my hands (I have an Apple Watch, which makes this pretty handy)
- Play music / playlist in Apple Music
- Check a sports score
Getting an Apple Watch significantly increased my usage of Siri. It's not perfect, and as I wander around the house doing things (without my phone) the connection sometimes gets tenuous. But a lot of times it is nice to not pull out my phone, and keep using my hands for whatever I was already doing.
I am actually pretty pleased with Siri's functionality to do things for me. I can't speak to the "General Information query" use case, as it has never been compelling for me--however most people say that Siri lags behind other assistants in this area.
Not regularly. But one interesting function I had with it was when I cant locate my phone in my home. I just shout out "Hey Siri" and I can tell by its answer where about it is. It may sound silly but there are countless times when I am about to leave home in a hurry and I cant find my phone. Normally I could have been extremely frustrated and spend minutes looking for it. Now it is just there within a voice command.
I'm just glad that they let you buy the Wireless Charging case by itself. From the press release it wasn't obvious but when you hit 'buy' it gives you the option for $79
Almost insta-bought these, but all they've done is add voice activated Siri (because tapping is too hard) and a wireless case. My two biggest issues (color and the materials used) remain unaddressed.
Apple's insistence that I should use wireless for my ear/headphone needs is a large reason why I'm giving up on Apple products. I love my 2016 iPad Pro and would love to replace it with the 11" 2018 model, but I also love my Sony MDR 7506 headphones and I'm unwilling to trash them for wireless earpods that cost a good bit more than I paid for my Sony headphones. No thanks. Similar deal for iPhone (and the shit keyboards + useless touchbar has already made me switch from MBP to Linux). I ignored Apple for so long and they finally won me over around 2015, only to lose me again because their products seem to be getting worse while getting more expensive.
That's yet another stupid adapter you have to take with you everywhere. Even though I personally use wireless headphones, I wouldn't want to buy something new when _already_ getting a new phone or whatever.
I have an iPhone X, and a new iPad. Each has a separate port type, and the iPad didn't come with an adapter. My wife's newest gen iPhone didn't come with an adapter, it had to be purchased separately.
I don't recall if they came with the standard apple headphones, but she doesn't use those. She has a good pair of Sennheiser earbuds, and so had to buy an adapter separately.
It’s also one more possible point of failure. My adapter causes intermittent skipping and cracklings noises, probably because the contact points aren’t secure. So I’ve basically stopped listening to music and podcasts on my iPhone 8 Plus because of it.
Agreed, it's annoying. Ended up attaching the adapter to my headphone cable with a velcro loop, as I also need to use them in my Macbook, which doesn't have Lightning. Would be even more annoying if I had the iPad Pro and also needed USB-C dongle.
Not willing to go wireless as I use both for music making and wireless latency and compression is unacceptable. On phones I kind of understand it but IMO the iPad Pro not having a headphone socket is not excusable, there must be a way to fit it in.
Just what I need, another adapter that I have to remember to bring with me, not lose etc. Plus the one on Apples website doesn't allow you to charge while the adapter is plugged in, so its either headphone jack or charging cable. No, I do not want this.
Besides, for all of Apples space/thin-saving attempts, requiring me to use an adapter negates all of these completely.
It seems to me that not Apple is forcing you to go wireless, you just don't want change. If I look around me in the streets, I see more wireless earpieces (not only from Apple) than wired ones in use. Looks like the mainstream loves going the Bluetooth route (and ditching cables and dongles).
But why should I want change if what they had before works better for me, personally, than what they want me to want? Wireless is all well and good, but I have enough things that run out of battery or get misplaced, so while I understand that its a super convenient technology for some people, for others like me, its unhelpful. Apples previous products were close to perfect for my use cases, but their new ones miss the mark, so they can have a millimeter thinner phones, or push their expensive earphones or whatever. Plus I like my existing headphones and don't want to replace them at this time.
>Just what I need, another adapter that I have to remember to bring with me, not lose etc.
Yeah, your smartphone has only replaced a camera, a portable movie player, a portable music player, a PDA, a phone, a GPS receiver and/or maps, a watch, a gameboy, and 5-6 other devices we had to carry (or couldn't afford to even have) before.
Now it's adding a dongle for headphones we have to remember to carry? Oh, the humanity!
(Plus the fact that there are also lightning equiped headphones).
> Now it's adding a dongle for headphones we have to remember to carry? Oh, the humanity!
It's like 3 dongles if you want to be able to charge and listen at the same time. Like, for example, on a long-distance flight. And it's a completely self-imposed limitation on Apple's part!
You don't need 3 dongles if you want to use wired headphones and charge at the same time. There are 3rd party adapters that plug into a lightning port and allow you to plug in a 3.5mm headphone and lightning cable for charging directly at the same time. There are cheap versions on Amazon.
Apple's insistence that I should use wireless for audio is a large reason I'm doubling down on Apple products. I don't need the tangled messes of headphone wires or the extra opportunities for water ingress. Please please let's get rid of wired audio!
Not to put a too fine point on it, that’s bullshit. I can plug in wired audio on all of my Apple products, except the Apple TV. I did like the optical audio the older models had. By default, I much, much prefer wireless.
GarageBand is a music production app, but, as your question was about more mundane usage, this guy's article makes the point that the audio is no longer a replacement for haptic feedback. It also crippled his app a bit.
What? I have a couple thousand hours on my PS4 with A Sony PS Gold Bluetooth headset, and it is an absolutely awesome setup. (No affiliation, I just like them. I’m on my second pair over the course of about 5 years.)
This. The experience was good enough for most people even for AirPod Gen 1. Battery needs improvement though, and I am sure AirPod 2 will be even better in Audio Quality and ease of use.
And hopefully someday the cost and prices of AirPod will be much lower or even included with iPhone.
Don't forget the lightning to 3.5mm as well. And a dongle that offers a headphone/usb C/Lightning splitter if you want to charge your device and listen to music at the same time (you monster).
$35 just to plug headphones into a phone, something all of my phones could do out of the box for over 15 years.
I’m using an iPhone 6s right now and this phone does everything I want and then some. The only reason I would upgrade is for bettter battery life or maybe a faster processor. Everything else it does perfectly well for me. So why would I want to replace it with a phone that forces me to use a dongle just to continue using it the way I’ve been doing for years? Especially if that dongle negates every size advantage that not having a jack might add.
As for me not wanting to stay current with tech (as someone above said), it’s because, for me, wireless earphones and dongles are a major step backwards. For you, not having a cable and having batteries might be a feature. For me, having a cable and not having batteries is a feature. I don’t want bulky or expensive dongles.
Anyway, unless Apple decides to cater for people like me again, I’m not going to buy any nore of their devices (and I’m not someone who doesn’t buy Apple anyway, I own multiple Apple devices)
>I also love my Sony MDR 7506 headphones and I'm unwilling to trash them for wireless earpods that cost a good bit more than I paid for my Sony headphones. No thanks.
I used to carry a couple of iPod Nano's paired with Shure SE215 to the gym until a few months ago. Despite my intial hesitation against wireless earphones and self-imposed rule of never taking a phone to the gym, Jabra Elite Sport + an iPhone 7 has replaced that setup for now. The sound on the Jabra is far superior, the heart-rate monitor is fairly accurate and there is also basic Strava integration, but more importantly - I am cable-free!
On the other hand, I continue to use ATH-M50x with the iPad Pro 10.5 (which has the 3.5mm jack) due to the comfort and no lag with video content.
It is not about relinquishing or discarding your trusty old gear, but making it work with new tech, wherever and whenever you can, regardless of the ecosystem.
> Put them in your ears and they connect immediately, immersing you in rich, high-quality sound. Just like magic.
I completely disagree with this. It isn’t magic at all. Mine hardly ever work this smooth. Especially transitioning from my iPhone to MacBook Pro. I constantly have to go into bluetooth, manually select them, and even that usually takes a few tries. I like my Earpods from a sound quality perspective but they are anything but magic in the context of “connecting immediately.” The UX NEVER goes as smooth as they describe. I’ve even taken them to the store twice to see if they were defective, which they were not. They always claim it’s so much easier to connect than it really is.
I disappointedly agree (just got a pair for my birthday a couple of weeks ago). It occasionally works as advertised, but most of the time it's about the same as any other bluetooth headset.
Start by listening to something on my iPhone. Sit down and turn off music on my iPhone. Open up my laptop. It unlocks with my Apple Watch. I pop open iTunes or Spotify, hit play with my Air Pods still in. This could also work with my iPad as well. I open my iPad, stop playing stuff on my iPhone, and start playing something on my iPad. I shouldn't have to swap.
Apple knows it's me and knows which device I'm actively using.
Yes, I addressed that in my comment. The common case is that if I'm playing music on my laptop and not playing music on my iPhone (or vice-versa), then I probably want to listen to that music from my laptop, not my iPhone.
For example, let's address your concern with my comment.
"Start by listening to something on my iPhone. Sit down and continue to listen to my music on my iPhone. Open up my laptop. It unlocks with my Apple Watch. I pop open iTunes or Spotify, hit play with my Air Pods still in. Since my iPhone is still playing music, Apple should stick with my iPhone."
I wish they just added a simple "handoff" option in the control panel. I use spotify on all my devices, and use their device handoff a lot and it works really good. Would be perfect if i could open control panel, click audio handoff, and select the detected device from a list.
It’s just whichever one you click play on most recently. The other one just auto-pauses.
For certain short bursts of audio, or depending on the source of the audio (transient system sound, unprompted audio, ring tone, etc.) the paused device can auto-resume when the interrupter is done playing.
For sitting at a new device starting the same “type”of audio stream perhaps you would not auto-resume the paused feed when the new feed stops.
For something like Spotify, opening your MacBook should transfer the stream completely seamlessly from your iPhone as a way to save battery. The same song should never stop playing even for a millisecond (the switchover should be imperceptible) and the UI should sync the current playlist between all iCloud devices.
When you open your Mac you should be able to see the Spotify that was playing on your iPhone right there and click pause if you want. It shouldn’t really be perceptible to the user “where it’s coming from”, it should just work.
Why swap between devices AT ALL? What's with the "concern" that your music is playing from a single device?
I don't quite understand, is there some mental gymnastics being done to figure out the device you're using isn't the device playing music? Shouldn't matter anyway, since you have completely playback control either from your Apple Watch or the AirPods themselves.
The bluetooth asics tend to be very single function oriented. They might support multiple protocols on the stack but they are generally missing things like a muxer so only one audio based protocol at a time. That means if you're streaming audio using A2DP and you receive a voice call, the A2DP stream is dropped and HSP or Handsfree is enabled. The host will then transition to streaming over the new lower bitrate connection.
The asics generally don't support concurrent connections from different devices, with a few exceptions, and so there's a lot of scaffolding that has to be broken down and stood up when switching devices. It's not unlike HTTP over TCP. There probably needs to be a SPDY for Bluetooth.
Some semiconductor manufacturer could really steal the market by making a bluetooth asic with an audio muxer that supports multiple concurrent protocols and can effectively blend the audio while also maintaining multiple concurrent host connections.
From a UX perspective, this presents problems with situations like listening to music on a headset connected to a PC when an audio call comes from your phone. Does the headset duck A2DP? Send PAUSE over AVCTP if available? Just MUX the audio streams and let you sort it out? What do device controls control when connected to two devices?
Another issue with Bluetooth is that hosts generally don't surface useful controls for prioritizing devices or protocols. So in the case of being paired with multiple A2DP devices, a host will usually only automatically connect to the last one used and you have to explicitly connect to others. This is annoying if you regularly transition between Car and Headphones.
There's also an issue of multiple hosts connecting to the same client and prioritization. Hosts tend to open and hold onto a connect even when they're not doing anything because of the scaffolding involved in a connection. That means if you have two phones and one car, only one will work and if you want to use the other one then it requires terminating the other host's connection, usually on that host device.
Yes, I also have connection issues constantly even just on my phone with Spotify - I was wondering if it was semi-intentional on their part to push people to Apple music for a more seamless experience but looks like it's just bad UX
Mine work perfectly. I’ve heard this being a problem from other sources as well though.
Is your phone and/or MacBook older?! If so i suspect the older Bluetooth version may be causing issues here.
Other issues: congested use of the Bluetooth wireless frequency. If you are next to a figurative noisy microwave (busy building, loads of people using the same spectrum), there’s nothing one can do.
Or the AirPods are simply broken and need replacing.
I wouldn't say it never goes as smoothly as they describe, at least in my experience. My experience with the iphone xs + airpods is about:
50% as they describe
49% have to go through bluetooth menu for instant pair
1% they never connect, extreme frustration, have to completely re-pair (no different than any other bluetooth product here, just don't experience it as often with airpods).
With Macbook I almost always have to go into bluetooth. There is no switching experience as they originally showed in the airpods keynote. They actually ended up rescinding the statement that they would do this after the keynote, which is super disappointing.
ToothFairy provides pretty good experience on mac where you have icon in menubar with one click fast pair with minimal problems. Question remains though why you should use paid thirdparty app to achieve advertised experience.
They say that switching between Mac and iOS isn't as smooth and you have to go to the bluetooth menus. But switching between my iPad/iPhone/aTV has pretty much always been smooth for me. I do wish they'd do this for Mac too though.
Unless my memory fails me, selecting them in the volume drop down is enough. No need to fiddle with the bluetooth menu. But I could be wrong as I'm currently not at a Mac.
And it is not even “rich, high-quality sound.” For $70 you can get a pair of (wired) Etymotics earphones that seal the ear canal and have vastly better sound quality. Their more expensive ones sound even better (I have had several sets) but I found the sweet spot at this price point.
I use my AirPods because Apple forced me to by killing the 3.5. In my opinion Apple has been doing consumer unfriendly things for a long time. This, removing function keys, removing Touch ID, losing MagSafe, etc. It is disappointing that despite all this I feel locked into the ecosystem and unable to switch, because virtually all my friends and actually all my family use Apple products and iMessage and Facetime extensively.
That’s very true, but my favorite thing about Airpods (and EarPods before then) is that they don’t seal the ear canal. I use mine almost exclusively while walking on urban streets or taking public transit, and I absolutely don’t want the lack of situational awareness that comes with in-ear headphones. The sound quality is good enough. When I want really good sound quality, I use my big open-ear headphones at home.
>I completely disagree with this. It isn’t magic at all. Mine hardly ever work this smooth.
Mine always work perfectly.
Now, if you were on the iPhone, and you want to use them on the Mac, with the iPhone still nearby connected to them, I'm not sure what you'd expect. For them to magically guess your intention?
Any device playing audio could recognise that it knows that set of airpods and connect seamlessly. Obviously if both devices are playing then it'll always be the one that started playing last that gets the airpods, but I think that's both a rare case and mostly in line with typical user expectation when it does happen.
My Bose QC35s do this very well. They connect to both my iPhone and MacBook via Bluetooth, and if I am listening to a podcast on my iPhone, and get a WebEx/Slack/Etc call on my MacBook, I pause the podcast and answer the call, and it switches between the two seamlessly -- I don't need to do anything.
I agree with you. I still love my Airpods, but the syncing isn’t consistently any better than normal Bluetooth headphones (except for the initial NFC pairing). I don’t even switch them between iOS/MacOS devices very much. I just open them up when I’m on my iPhone X and they rarely switch the audio over automatically. I generally have to swipe down control center and click the little “broadcast” icon in the top right of the Music section and select my Airpods. Sometimes I have to close and reopen that list several times before the Airpods will show up.
On iOS Devices, it seems AirPod work most of the time. Actually I cant even remember a time when it didn't work.
On MacBook though it does requires a little more intervention. I just thought that was expected on computer vs connection to an Appliance ( iOS ).
On other than that, iOS AirPod was the first Bluetooth devices that actually works as Bluetooth had advertised for the past 20 years. And could be one reason why it was so popular. I never thought AirPod would have quietly changed the world, I see people with AirPod everyday and before I was AirPods would be a Gadget for Nerds. I don't agree on the sound quality though. It was not as good as I thought, at least not for its price, but I put up with it due to how easy to use it was. ( And the battery is nearly dead so AirPod will be another iPhone like accessory that I have to buy every 1 - 2 years)
Sad to see no improvement to audio quality. It is the only gripe i have with the current AirPods.
Siri and wireless charging are small qol changes that i would rather see with a major upgrade. Currently I see no reason for anyone to upgrade their existing AirPods.
I love the concept and features of AirPods but unfortunately they aren't for my ears. I'm still waiting for the day they make a true in ear with rubber tips so that people like myself can finally buy into this experience. You'd think they took some notes from acquiring beats. Pretty sure this would open a whole new market of people that aren't currently able to wear, let alone the massive improvement in sound quality to an already great product.
I know this is a tired trope, but can we please stop with the “everything is magical” rhetoric? There is literally nothing groundbreaking about this release. Also, this page feels quite disingenuous when it claims 24 hour life. Maybe I’m just salty, but having to recharge my headphones every 3 hours, regardless of how short a recharge time, does not equal 24 hours of battery life.
I really believe the AirPods are an amazing New platform.. I think people are far more on the go lately and so the AirPods are a perfect way to consume content, that isn’t just music. It started as a silly joke that everyone made fun of but now, at least where I live in NYC, seemingly everyone on every train has them on.
I am a little disappointed in Apple for not adding storage to these though, it wouldn’t be very hard to add a few gigabytes to them and then they would work even without your phone and it would be the iPod all over again. Missed opportunity by Apple for sure.
As a shameless plug I am working on what I think is the perfect companion App for iPods. My app let’s you listen to any article by using some amazing sounding Machine Learning models to grab the articles and convert them to audio. You can check it out here if you like:
When was the last time you took a selfie on your commute?
The screen thing is likely still an issue for mainstream but for me I mostly listen to my content. Screentime only happens at lunch or at home.
Maybe some people can't live without a big screen their commute, but some of us can.
Also, I think given the option I would prefer to carry a tablet in my bag for the situations I want and have time for a screen, and make do with the watch+pods for the majority of scenarios.
In other words, give up a cellphone altogether and replace it with a watch/pod pair and an optional tablet.
I don’t think I’d want to have them without the second device. Without a second device (with a screen), you’d be stuck with a voice interface for anything more complicated than play/pause, next track, and volume. And to put the CPU required for that, with storage would make the headphones too big and take too much battery.
I just can't take your opinion seriously. I believe you will be strongly biased towards Apple. Why?
1. Headphones have CPU and you call it a platform. Almost every digital watch (not smart watch) has a CPU and nobody I know calls it a platform. Can you build on top of AirPods?
2.
> seemingly everyone on every train has them on
Seemingly everyone? Not sure about NY but in London <20% of the people have them. So seemingly nobody. I could say it's dead technology then.
Apple is succeeding because of the fanboys not because it's legitimately good and this infuriates me. It's been getting a lot worse lately, but somehow we don't see this enough so I am just trying to balance things, excuse me.
Been trying to do this having Siri read the page to me, but you often get to much non-article text cruft. I'll definitely try this out- if you're successfully filtering out ads and other non-article text, it'd be great to get some of my 'reading' in on my commute.
I'm surprised with how people enjoy AirPods in the city, seeing as they don't block any noise and are functionally useless in any noisy environment (trains, streets, etc). I liked the form factor, but couldn't hear anything out of them unless I was on max volume.
If Apple made IEM-like AirPods, I'd definitely jump back in.
AirPods are my best purchase in the last two years. I talk to my research collaborators and clients on Skype almost every morning. The calls can go on for hours. I love the freedom I have to walk around the office while on call, airpods connected to mac. I also use them in the gym connecting them to the ipad while doing eliptical and switching to iphone while doing weights.
A counter anecdote: My AirPod purchase was a complete waste of money. The quality is OK at best, handoff between my X and iPad pro is crap, they don't always pair, and they fall out of my ears if I tilt my head at all.
I end up just using my Bose headphones (which are still a PITA for multiple devices), the airpods sit around unused.
Honestly, I couldn't be bothered to return them. I gave them a chance for a month before giving up on them, and trying to find all the packaging just wasn't worth the effort.
I'm planning on giving them to some other family member here shortly, since it does seem like I'm in a minority when it comes to the fit.
Counter counter anecdote: handoff has never been a hassle for me between iPhone and iPad pro, and I've worn them for working out for a year and they've never fallen out
I'm sure that's the case in your experience and perhaps the experience of all people whose ears fall within the range of ear size/shape that Apple designed for.
But these things don't fit everybody. The wired version flies right out of my ear very easily. No way am I going to buy these things if tilting my head means losing one or both.
These are not good headphones. The battery life is kind of bad, the charging system is finicky, the sound is poor, and there's not even passive noise isolation. I have a $50 pair of over-ear bluetooth headphones that have week-long battery life, sound pretty good, can be charged while being listened to, and have a 3.5mm plug for passive wired listening when the battery runs out.
Like everyone else, I bought and used a set of AirPods for a while, but I ended up going back to the wired headphones when I wanted tiny little earbuds while walking or biking. My wired headphones work everywhere (including my iPod, which I use every day) and the AirPods are finicky, frequently lost connection between themselves, and required charging all the time. Much easier just to tuck a wired set down my sweatshirt and use the in-line remote to control volume (which the airpods can't do).
Battery life is only an issue for me on long phone calls, then I play the alternating game of which ear I am using with the other recharging. this also lets me leave the phone on the charging stand and walk around without issue.
are they the best, I don't know, but for music the play time is significant and long enough for outdoor tasks. That is important as I don't have route the cord under my shirt or some other tricks to keep it from interfering with my work.
so its a to each their own, we all can come to a happy conclusion with more options
There's a case to be made for their shortcomings, but this is more of a "No wireless, less space than a Nomad. Lame" style critique, not seeing anything about their unique proposition, and criticizing them for what they are not even supposed to be (e.g. high-end or noise cancelling). Some of those things are not faults with the Airpods, but personal taste which can be satisfied with another headphone/brand.
>These are not good headphones.
Yes, they're not good. Just the best in their category.
>The battery life is kind of bad
For two tiny isolated, on-each-ear earbud style headphones? Compared to what, your "over-ear" set?
>the charging system is finicky
Put them in the case, they're charging. The case stays charged for days of casual use. What exactly is "finicky"?
>the sound is poor
Good enough for music, movies, and calls. I also have (from past purchases) the Parrot Zik 2, the ATH-50x (for simple DAW monitoring), and Sony WH1000XM3, and I could not care less for the differences in sound compared to the convenience of the Airpods.
>and there's not even passive noise isolation.
A fact which probably saves lives of people crossing the street constantly.
I disagree on the best in class. Apples insistence on hard plastic means they give up the proven best choice for sound isolation (silicone or foam buds). Claiming it is a feature to save lives is a stretch.
There’s plenty of better sounding fully wireless headphones in that price range - Jabra elite 65t are meant to be good, I have the beoplay e8 and they are quite nice, Sennheiser momentum are in that same price class etc etc.
Is that category not already dominated by the limitless croakie-style bt headphones on amazon for cheap? You can probably find a waterproof pair too. I mean if the sound quality is nothing to write home about, all you are really paying $160 for is to stick them in a chic box.
First off, I just want to be clear - not trying to sound confrontational, but I want to respond because I'm having fun reading and thinking about your comments.
>Compared to what, your "over-ear" set?
Yeah, that's the comparison I was making. The airpods didn't provide any functional upgrade over earpods (or any set of cheap wired headphones with a remote/mic in them) for me. The airpods made things harder. The double-tap to skip tracks was far from ideal given that it just resulted in slamming this little headphone into my ear, and that kind of hurt. The inline remote/mic was better for that, and it also allowed me to change volume - the airpods not having volume adjustment on them meant I had to keep my device in my pocket, so now the advantage of bluetooth (device set further away, not in the pocket) is gone. The over-ear set has volume controls and a play/pause button.
>Put them in the case, they're charging. The case stays charged for days of casual use. What exactly is "finicky"?
Charging my over ear set is uncomplicated - everything I have charges off of microUSB so I always have that connector around, and to charge the headphones I just plug in the charger. I can use them while they're charging. Airpods require me to stop using them to charge. Nothing else I have is like this - phones, iPods, laptops, or other bluetooth headphones.
I don't worry about the over-ear set coming off. They're comfortable and sit nicely while walking. I always wear a hat when using airpods because I worry about them falling out. When an earpod falls out, it dangles off the other one, and I put it back in. Especially useful while biking (helmet makes wearing ear-covering hats harder).
I get that airpods are probably the best in the category of tiny little 'true wireless' earbuds. I get that 'put them in the charging case' is really the only way to do charging for this type of headphones. I understand they did the best they could, and that with this style of headphones there's severe limitations. But after having owned a pair, I don't understand why anyone would want to use them over something 1/3 the cost that offers much more convenience.
>Airpods require me to stop using them to charge. Nothing else I have is like this - phones, iPods, laptops, or other bluetooth headphones.
That goes with the form factor (which is the main selling point for its other benefits, mainly freedom from cables when using them), not some special problem of the airpods themselves.
Not one mention of the Samsung ear buds. Samsung is continuing to beat Apple in technology innovations. Wireless charging, heartbeat monitor. You can even charge them on your S10.
The other thing I don't like about the pods is how much sound the let out. Ever been in an elevator with someone with airpods, you can hear everything they are listening to.
The problem with Samsung ear buds is the same as with other samsung premium products: they are really nice, but at the end they are only slightly cheaper than apple ($150 vs $180) whereas they are worse in a few categories - battery life, multi-device support and microphone quality being just three of them.
Not to mention charing from S10, which for now seems to be as terrible idea as the built-in fingerprint sensor - using S10 as charger generates significant amounts of heat that will quickly kill your phone battery.
And that's a problem with every samsung products - cheaper, but still really expensive considering all of the drawbacks.
233 comments
[ 2.4 ms ] story [ 287 ms ] threadThe AirPods sounds terrible. Worst in class.
Some of the brands I’ve used over the years include Sennheiser, Beats, Shure and Beyerdynamic.
Let's look up these brands and their wireless headphones at the moment.
First, Sennheiser.
Sennheiser has products like the "MOMENTUM Free In-Ear Wireless" and "Momentum In-Ear Wireless". These are in-ear headphones with a wire that goes around your neck. While reviews don't complain about sound, these can hardly be considered wireless. I mean, the wires are right there (points at screen).
Hardly considered similar products.
Let's visit Beats.
Same thing. Wires. Next.
Shure. Never heard of them, but hey, lets google "Shure wireless in-ear headphones". Wires again. This seems to be a trend.
Beyerdynamic? It's up to you! Yeah, you know already. Wires.
I do believe there is a market for these "wireless" (calling them "wireless" is just lying but hey) headphones, they are widely different form Apple AirPods.
The Apple AirPods are TRUE wireless headphones. They are a whole different product. There are other brands that have similar products (with charging case & without wires), but these are mostly more expensive, have worse specs and/or are mostly a pain to pair because you have to pair both earbuds individually.
I'm not saying Apple AirPods are best in their product class, but I highly doubt they are "worst in class". But then again, we have to consider what "class" they are in anyway. In my opinion, Apple AirPods are WIRELESS in-ear headphones. These products you're talking about are "wireless" in-ear headphones
Having a wire around your neck is totally different to having one to your phone. It's actually a nice convenience having a neck wire because:
* you're less likely to lose an odd earphone (something that is more likely when your earphones are like loose change)
* you can pop one earphone out and rest it on your shoulder. eg when shopping and you're in the queue to pay. You can then interact with the cashier without appearing rude
* you get extended battery life as you now only need one BT radio per pair of headphones (this is actually the main reason 3rd party ones are cabled and this is a problem Apple have managed to solve with a custom BT radio controller)
The fact that you can buy after market cords for Apple's wireless earphones says a lot about how it's actually a desirable feature for some people. But another example is people who attach neck cords to reading glasses.
Moreover, I do happen to own corded bluetooth earphones and specifically chose them over "true wireless" because they offered the best of both worlds - liberated me from being tethered to my phone or other playback devices while still giving me the convenience to hang the earphones around my neck while I'm not using them. This was a very calculated decision on my part because I did also look at "true wireless" and was very tempted by them. I'm also adamant that I made the right decision given my usages.
Remember the iconic dancing shadow iPod commercials? The person was not the focus; not even the iPod was the focus. The white headphones, unique at the time, were the focus.
https://m.imore.com/these-are-best-ways-personalize-your-air...
Why can't we have high quality wired headsets?
edit:
Why am I getting downvoted for pointing out a fact that peoples ears are shaped differently? Is this some kind of fanboyism in effect because it wasn't meant as a critisim against Apple. I happen to have an iPhone but opted for 3rd party earphones because they fit better.
If it was as easy as a "1 size fits all" then other manufacturers releasing equivalently prices earphones wouldn't go down the multiple attachments route I described.
It's also worth mentioning that having those rubber / foam attachments does have an added benefit in that they contribute to noise cancelling so you don't need to crank the earphones as loud when in noisy locations. Which is healthier for your hearing.
It's also worth noting that different earphones have different frequency curves. Whilst Apple do make some nice sounding earphones, I wanted something with a different colourisation.
In any case, at that price I'd expect those silicone types to come with the airpods - just like they would with any other earphone.
One person dropped his phone in the tube, due a large amount of people wanting to get out, he could save his $1000 smartphone because he cought the cords of the earphones.
Everything has it's own advantages and disadvantages
but seriously... wow up to 5 hours of listen time? My wired QC20 headset gives me ... 160 hours of listen time, and then it keeps going even more. But even the 'functionality' - the noise cancelling aspect - gives me > 8 hours of noise cancelling on a short charge. And when it's out of power, the music still comes through.
When the airpods can be used on airplane flights... maybe I'll take the plunge. (and yeah, for now, I still have an SE for the headphone jack)
Well that's because it's got a massive battery hanging off it isn't it? Not sure they're really equivalent products.
I have Bose earphones designed like that and they cost around the same price as these Airpods. I'm very happy with them.
It's really nice for when I'm riding my bike or in a store to be able to listen to something, but also have situational awareness.
If I'm sweating they're more prone to fall out, but I have silicone tips that I can put on if I need to.
Also, you can buy a single replacement airpod for $70 which isn't a great price, but it's at least on option.
Use the adapter and you can use any wired headset you want.
If you’re playing music or podcasts, removing one from the ear will pause the playback by default, and you have to tap play again. But with phone calls, the call just continues if you remove one for charging.
However, I also see little reason to upgrade.
But given the price I'm pretty sure I'll keep them around until they only last 1-2 hours on a charge.
Amusingly, the instructions for AirPods say to not get them wet. I don't know how one could exercise rigorously and not get sweat on them.
Then you try it at your local pool and the airpods immediately fall out the minute you hit the water, and are kicked by a 6 year old into the pool filter.
How are you persuading Apple to replace them multiple times for water damage?
- Send a text while driving, walking with my kids, etc
- Create a reminder with a specific time or place ("Hey Siri, when I get home remind me to take out the trash")
- Resume an Overcast playlist ("Hey Siri, resume Overcast tech playlist")
- Turn on/off lights (I have a couple lamps on HomeKit outlets)
- Get directions
- Set a timer
- Place a call while otherwise using my hands (I have an Apple Watch, which makes this pretty handy)
- Play music / playlist in Apple Music
- Check a sports score
Getting an Apple Watch significantly increased my usage of Siri. It's not perfect, and as I wander around the house doing things (without my phone) the connection sometimes gets tenuous. But a lot of times it is nice to not pull out my phone, and keep using my hands for whatever I was already doing.
I am actually pretty pleased with Siri's functionality to do things for me. I can't speak to the "General Information query" use case, as it has never been compelling for me--however most people say that Siri lags behind other assistants in this area.
More often then not however, I find it infuriating at how bad it is at picking up "Hey Siri"
I can literally get a Audio Technica Headset for that price tag.
Same reason.
Interestingly, Steve actually compared Apple to Porsche in a quote back years ago. [0]
[0] - https://www.macworld.com/article/1029181/themacturns20jobs.h...
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MR8U2/wireless-charging-c...
Not willing to go wireless as I use both for music making and wireless latency and compression is unacceptable. On phones I kind of understand it but IMO the iPad Pro not having a headphone socket is not excusable, there must be a way to fit it in.
Besides, for all of Apples space/thin-saving attempts, requiring me to use an adapter negates all of these completely.
Yeah, your smartphone has only replaced a camera, a portable movie player, a portable music player, a PDA, a phone, a GPS receiver and/or maps, a watch, a gameboy, and 5-6 other devices we had to carry (or couldn't afford to even have) before.
Now it's adding a dongle for headphones we have to remember to carry? Oh, the humanity!
(Plus the fact that there are also lightning equiped headphones).
It's like 3 dongles if you want to be able to charge and listen at the same time. Like, for example, on a long-distance flight. And it's a completely self-imposed limitation on Apple's part!
I can’t charge and listen to music. Phone low on battery? Hey guess what! Don’t you wish you has just bought our expensive blue tooth speakers?
NO. If I want actual sound I’ll get it from people who love for sound.
Not good for people who enjoy the higher audio quality or just don't want to mess about with charging yet more batteries
Since when proposing a sold separately wirelesses alternative is "forcing you to go wireless"?
https://stephencoyle.net/airpods
It is very noticeable in games and movies. Until they solve that problem first, wired solutions will always be needed.
That's a problem with bluetooth protocol in general.
https://www.rtings.com/headphones/tests/active-features/late...
And hopefully someday the cost and prices of AirPod will be much lower or even included with iPhone.
I’m using an iPhone 6s right now and this phone does everything I want and then some. The only reason I would upgrade is for bettter battery life or maybe a faster processor. Everything else it does perfectly well for me. So why would I want to replace it with a phone that forces me to use a dongle just to continue using it the way I’ve been doing for years? Especially if that dongle negates every size advantage that not having a jack might add.
As for me not wanting to stay current with tech (as someone above said), it’s because, for me, wireless earphones and dongles are a major step backwards. For you, not having a cable and having batteries might be a feature. For me, having a cable and not having batteries is a feature. I don’t want bulky or expensive dongles.
Anyway, unless Apple decides to cater for people like me again, I’m not going to buy any nore of their devices (and I’m not someone who doesn’t buy Apple anyway, I own multiple Apple devices)
I used to carry a couple of iPod Nano's paired with Shure SE215 to the gym until a few months ago. Despite my intial hesitation against wireless earphones and self-imposed rule of never taking a phone to the gym, Jabra Elite Sport + an iPhone 7 has replaced that setup for now. The sound on the Jabra is far superior, the heart-rate monitor is fairly accurate and there is also basic Strava integration, but more importantly - I am cable-free!
On the other hand, I continue to use ATH-M50x with the iPad Pro 10.5 (which has the 3.5mm jack) due to the comfort and no lag with video content.
It is not about relinquishing or discarding your trusty old gear, but making it work with new tech, wherever and whenever you can, regardless of the ecosystem.
I completely disagree with this. It isn’t magic at all. Mine hardly ever work this smooth. Especially transitioning from my iPhone to MacBook Pro. I constantly have to go into bluetooth, manually select them, and even that usually takes a few tries. I like my Earpods from a sound quality perspective but they are anything but magic in the context of “connecting immediately.” The UX NEVER goes as smooth as they describe. I’ve even taken them to the store twice to see if they were defective, which they were not. They always claim it’s so much easier to connect than it really is.
Start by listening to something on my iPhone. Sit down and turn off music on my iPhone. Open up my laptop. It unlocks with my Apple Watch. I pop open iTunes or Spotify, hit play with my Air Pods still in. This could also work with my iPad as well. I open my iPad, stop playing stuff on my iPhone, and start playing something on my iPad. I shouldn't have to swap.
Apple knows it's me and knows which device I'm actively using.
I could be using the MBP and want to hear music from the iPhone though.
For example, let's address your concern with my comment.
"Start by listening to something on my iPhone. Sit down and continue to listen to my music on my iPhone. Open up my laptop. It unlocks with my Apple Watch. I pop open iTunes or Spotify, hit play with my Air Pods still in. Since my iPhone is still playing music, Apple should stick with my iPhone."
For certain short bursts of audio, or depending on the source of the audio (transient system sound, unprompted audio, ring tone, etc.) the paused device can auto-resume when the interrupter is done playing.
For sitting at a new device starting the same “type”of audio stream perhaps you would not auto-resume the paused feed when the new feed stops.
For something like Spotify, opening your MacBook should transfer the stream completely seamlessly from your iPhone as a way to save battery. The same song should never stop playing even for a millisecond (the switchover should be imperceptible) and the UI should sync the current playlist between all iCloud devices.
When you open your Mac you should be able to see the Spotify that was playing on your iPhone right there and click pause if you want. It shouldn’t really be perceptible to the user “where it’s coming from”, it should just work.
I could live with that. As long as it's consistent.
I don't quite understand, is there some mental gymnastics being done to figure out the device you're using isn't the device playing music? Shouldn't matter anyway, since you have completely playback control either from your Apple Watch or the AirPods themselves.
Because I'm not watching the new trailer on my iPhone when sitting at my computer.
> What's with the "concern" that your music is playing from a single device?
It's not. It's that I'm playing some media I want to hear on a certain device.
> I don't quite understand
You don't, so assuming it's some mental gymnastics is rude. Don't be rude.
> Shouldn't matter anyway, since you have completely playback control either from your Apple Watch or the AirPods themselves.
You don't.
The asics generally don't support concurrent connections from different devices, with a few exceptions, and so there's a lot of scaffolding that has to be broken down and stood up when switching devices. It's not unlike HTTP over TCP. There probably needs to be a SPDY for Bluetooth.
Some semiconductor manufacturer could really steal the market by making a bluetooth asic with an audio muxer that supports multiple concurrent protocols and can effectively blend the audio while also maintaining multiple concurrent host connections.
From a UX perspective, this presents problems with situations like listening to music on a headset connected to a PC when an audio call comes from your phone. Does the headset duck A2DP? Send PAUSE over AVCTP if available? Just MUX the audio streams and let you sort it out? What do device controls control when connected to two devices?
Another issue with Bluetooth is that hosts generally don't surface useful controls for prioritizing devices or protocols. So in the case of being paired with multiple A2DP devices, a host will usually only automatically connect to the last one used and you have to explicitly connect to others. This is annoying if you regularly transition between Car and Headphones.
There's also an issue of multiple hosts connecting to the same client and prioritization. Hosts tend to open and hold onto a connect even when they're not doing anything because of the scaffolding involved in a connection. That means if you have two phones and one car, only one will work and if you want to use the other one then it requires terminating the other host's connection, usually on that host device.
Is your phone and/or MacBook older?! If so i suspect the older Bluetooth version may be causing issues here.
Other issues: congested use of the Bluetooth wireless frequency. If you are next to a figurative noisy microwave (busy building, loads of people using the same spectrum), there’s nothing one can do.
Or the AirPods are simply broken and need replacing.
With Macbook I almost always have to go into bluetooth. There is no switching experience as they originally showed in the airpods keynote. They actually ended up rescinding the statement that they would do this after the keynote, which is super disappointing.
I use my AirPods because Apple forced me to by killing the 3.5. In my opinion Apple has been doing consumer unfriendly things for a long time. This, removing function keys, removing Touch ID, losing MagSafe, etc. It is disappointing that despite all this I feel locked into the ecosystem and unable to switch, because virtually all my friends and actually all my family use Apple products and iMessage and Facetime extensively.
Mine always work perfectly.
Now, if you were on the iPhone, and you want to use them on the Mac, with the iPhone still nearby connected to them, I'm not sure what you'd expect. For them to magically guess your intention?
On MacBook though it does requires a little more intervention. I just thought that was expected on computer vs connection to an Appliance ( iOS ).
On other than that, iOS AirPod was the first Bluetooth devices that actually works as Bluetooth had advertised for the past 20 years. And could be one reason why it was so popular. I never thought AirPod would have quietly changed the world, I see people with AirPod everyday and before I was AirPods would be a Gadget for Nerds. I don't agree on the sound quality though. It was not as good as I thought, at least not for its price, but I put up with it due to how easy to use it was. ( And the battery is nearly dead so AirPod will be another iPhone like accessory that I have to buy every 1 - 2 years)
Siri and wireless charging are small qol changes that i would rather see with a major upgrade. Currently I see no reason for anyone to upgrade their existing AirPods.
I guess it’s good if you’re a frequent user of Siri, talk/listen for exceptionally long periods, or really hate the pairing lag (3-5 seconds).
I am a little disappointed in Apple for not adding storage to these though, it wouldn’t be very hard to add a few gigabytes to them and then they would work even without your phone and it would be the iPod all over again. Missed opportunity by Apple for sure.
As a shameless plug I am working on what I think is the perfect companion App for iPods. My app let’s you listen to any article by using some amazing sounding Machine Learning models to grab the articles and convert them to audio. You can check it out here if you like:
https://articulu.com
When was the last time you took a selfie on your commute?
The screen thing is likely still an issue for mainstream but for me I mostly listen to my content. Screentime only happens at lunch or at home.
Maybe some people can't live without a big screen their commute, but some of us can.
Also, I think given the option I would prefer to carry a tablet in my bag for the situations I want and have time for a screen, and make do with the watch+pods for the majority of scenarios.
In other words, give up a cellphone altogether and replace it with a watch/pod pair and an optional tablet.
1. Headphones have CPU and you call it a platform. Almost every digital watch (not smart watch) has a CPU and nobody I know calls it a platform. Can you build on top of AirPods?
2.
> seemingly everyone on every train has them on
Seemingly everyone? Not sure about NY but in London <20% of the people have them. So seemingly nobody. I could say it's dead technology then.
Apple is succeeding because of the fanboys not because it's legitimately good and this infuriates me. It's been getting a lot worse lately, but somehow we don't see this enough so I am just trying to balance things, excuse me.
If Apple made IEM-like AirPods, I'd definitely jump back in.
I end up just using my Bose headphones (which are still a PITA for multiple devices), the airpods sit around unused.
I'm planning on giving them to some other family member here shortly, since it does seem like I'm in a minority when it comes to the fit.
But these things don't fit everybody. The wired version flies right out of my ear very easily. No way am I going to buy these things if tilting my head means losing one or both.
Like everyone else, I bought and used a set of AirPods for a while, but I ended up going back to the wired headphones when I wanted tiny little earbuds while walking or biking. My wired headphones work everywhere (including my iPod, which I use every day) and the AirPods are finicky, frequently lost connection between themselves, and required charging all the time. Much easier just to tuck a wired set down my sweatshirt and use the in-line remote to control volume (which the airpods can't do).
are they the best, I don't know, but for music the play time is significant and long enough for outdoor tasks. That is important as I don't have route the cord under my shirt or some other tricks to keep it from interfering with my work.
so its a to each their own, we all can come to a happy conclusion with more options
>These are not good headphones.
Yes, they're not good. Just the best in their category.
>The battery life is kind of bad
For two tiny isolated, on-each-ear earbud style headphones? Compared to what, your "over-ear" set?
>the charging system is finicky
Put them in the case, they're charging. The case stays charged for days of casual use. What exactly is "finicky"?
>the sound is poor
Good enough for music, movies, and calls. I also have (from past purchases) the Parrot Zik 2, the ATH-50x (for simple DAW monitoring), and Sony WH1000XM3, and I could not care less for the differences in sound compared to the convenience of the Airpods.
>and there's not even passive noise isolation.
A fact which probably saves lives of people crossing the street constantly.
There’s plenty of better sounding fully wireless headphones in that price range - Jabra elite 65t are meant to be good, I have the beoplay e8 and they are quite nice, Sennheiser momentum are in that same price class etc etc.
For the "lightweight, minimum BT-connectivity fuss, no wires, BT earbuds" category, which they basically kick-started and dominate.
>Compared to what, your "over-ear" set?
Yeah, that's the comparison I was making. The airpods didn't provide any functional upgrade over earpods (or any set of cheap wired headphones with a remote/mic in them) for me. The airpods made things harder. The double-tap to skip tracks was far from ideal given that it just resulted in slamming this little headphone into my ear, and that kind of hurt. The inline remote/mic was better for that, and it also allowed me to change volume - the airpods not having volume adjustment on them meant I had to keep my device in my pocket, so now the advantage of bluetooth (device set further away, not in the pocket) is gone. The over-ear set has volume controls and a play/pause button.
>Put them in the case, they're charging. The case stays charged for days of casual use. What exactly is "finicky"?
Charging my over ear set is uncomplicated - everything I have charges off of microUSB so I always have that connector around, and to charge the headphones I just plug in the charger. I can use them while they're charging. Airpods require me to stop using them to charge. Nothing else I have is like this - phones, iPods, laptops, or other bluetooth headphones.
I don't worry about the over-ear set coming off. They're comfortable and sit nicely while walking. I always wear a hat when using airpods because I worry about them falling out. When an earpod falls out, it dangles off the other one, and I put it back in. Especially useful while biking (helmet makes wearing ear-covering hats harder).
I get that airpods are probably the best in the category of tiny little 'true wireless' earbuds. I get that 'put them in the charging case' is really the only way to do charging for this type of headphones. I understand they did the best they could, and that with this style of headphones there's severe limitations. But after having owned a pair, I don't understand why anyone would want to use them over something 1/3 the cost that offers much more convenience.
That goes with the form factor (which is the main selling point for its other benefits, mainly freedom from cables when using them), not some special problem of the airpods themselves.
The other thing I don't like about the pods is how much sound the let out. Ever been in an elevator with someone with airpods, you can hear everything they are listening to.
Not to mention charing from S10, which for now seems to be as terrible idea as the built-in fingerprint sensor - using S10 as charger generates significant amounts of heat that will quickly kill your phone battery.
And that's a problem with every samsung products - cheaper, but still really expensive considering all of the drawbacks.