Viewing 19 posts - 1 through 19 (of 19 total)
  • Tell me all about AirPods…
  • allthegear
    Free Member

    Since I upgraded my iPhone SE to an iPhone 7 I don’t have a headphone port any more and my EarPods are purely MacBook only from now on.

    Whilst the AirPods are still six weeks delivery from Apple, John Lewis seem to have a batch. The EarPods “fit” my ear well so I’m assuming the AirPods will be the same?

    Anyone actually have a pair and can tell me more before I press Buy?

    Rachel

    metcalt
    Full Member

    Love them, I think they’re one of my favourite Apple Products.

    Sound quality is better than the EarPods. Probably not good enough for Audiophiles but I’m happy with them, I’d put them on par with my old Sennheiser CX300IIs.

    The fit is very much like the EarPods, and they’re more secure than you would think. The only time I’ve dislodged them was taking off my jumper without removing them, I’ve been running, cycled and shaken my head as hard as I could (for Science) with them in and they stay.

    Can’t comment on Siri as I have them set up to play/pause when I tap them but the call quality is good, people have had no issues hearing me when using them outside and were surprised I was hands free.

    Battery life is decent, I use them to listen to music/podcasts at work and have only run out of battery once or twice. Once in the case they charge pretty quickly. I charge the case once a week, maybe less.

    Pairing is as simple as opening the case next to your phone and tapping the popup. They were then paired to my Mac as well.

    Not having a cable is the best thing, not being tethered to my phone is great. I can leave it on the desk if it’s on charge and wander down to the kitchen to make a cuppa without them dropping off. I’m now looking for some bluetooth over the ear ones to replace my cable ones.

    Noise cancellation is pretty much non-existent, this doesn’t bother me as I like to know what’s going on around me walking around outside but it might bother some.

    The case also picks up lots of dust around the lid/hinge so be prepared to be wiping that a lot.

    allthegear
    Free Member

    Bought! 😀

    Thank you

    Rachel

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    allthegear
    Free Member

    Just a quick update – the AirPods arrived and they’re fab!

    Unbelievably simple process to pair them to the phone – just open the case next to the phone and click OK. That’s it – they’re paired with my iPhone, my watch, my MacBook, the lot.

    Sound is better than EarPods but nothing special – mainly as they don’t block out any outside noise. They certainly good enough for my 46 year old ears. Surprisingly controlled bass, actually. It’s not boomy at all.

    Being able to pull one out of ear and the music stop is handy. Also handy is being able to walk around the house, leaving the phone in the living room and still be able to listen to music and answer calls. Just works.

    If I could have one extra feature, it would be to be able to slide my finger up and down the left AirPod to adjust the volume.

    Rachel

    drlex
    Free Member

    Noice! Tempted, but just upgraded the erg with this month’s “spare” money.

    This may be of interest:
    [video]https://youtu.be/S3RNqcc0xWw[/video]

    stilltortoise
    Free Member

    Thanks for the update. I’m intrigued by these things. There’s a lot to like about the design, but a lot to dislike too. Not being able to change the volume without talking to Siri or getting the phone out is the biggest downside for me. I bet that the 2nd gen model with have some way of physically controlling volume. You can’t rely on Siri when you’re on a flight, for example.

    craigxxl
    Free Member

    I’ve been intrigued but I’m still not seeing the benefits over a standard pair of bluetooth headphones other than the easy pairing. What am I missing?

    stilltortoise
    Free Member

    What am I missing?

    Siri. At least that’s my understanding of the only key, functional, difference. Siri actually works reasonably well with Apple Music, so if you’re in that infrastructure AirPods are a good solution. I could be missing something else though.

    drlex
    Free Member

    Some competing offerings look less attractive – Verge review of dash pro earbuds

    craigxxl
    Free Member

    Siri. At least that’s my understanding of the only key, functional, difference.

    Nope. I get Siri by holding down the call button on my Plantronics Back Beat Fit headphones.

    allthegear
    Free Member

    Can’t say I noticed an issue getting them out of the charging case. I just pulled them out. Mind you, I don’t have massive bricklayer fingers…

    There’s no “difference” between these and other Bluetooth headphones, other than their far greater involvement in the ecosystem. I only needed to pair them once and whichever device is nearest to me and making a noise will play through the AirPods. Makes life just less fuss.

    Rachel (happy bunny listening to the Eurythmics)

    prawny
    Full Member

    IMO they are the worst looking of all the wireless earphone options, and that’s going some.

    Also I’d much rather have ones with a short cable to tether them so I can hang them round my neck when not listening to them, nowt worse than pocket fluff earphones.

    Jakester
    Free Member

    £159!!

    Just taken a look, and £159!!!

    I’d want someone to follow me round singing to me for that.

    timmys
    Full Member

    IMO they are the worst looking of all the wireless earphone options, and that’s going some.

    Also I’d much rather have ones with a short cable to tether them so I can hang them round my neck when not listening to them, nowt worse than pocket fluff earphones.

    I pretty much agree that they look ridiculous.

    I therefore bought some BeatsX which conform to your description but also give most of the Airpods advantages as they contain the same Apple wireless chip.They also have physical controls for volume etc. The only thing they don’t have is a fancy charging case. One niggle is they don’t auto-pause when you take them out of your ears unlike the AirPods.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    I pretty much agree that they look ridiculous.

    Yep saw a few people with them in Cupertino a few months back and they looked pretty odd (to say the least).

    stilltortoise
    Free Member

    I like the look of those BeatsX, but even they are £130. I’m not sure the problem of plugging headphones into my iPhone is one worth over a tonne.

    njee20
    Free Member

    They’re £130 because they’re Beats, rather than because they have no cable.

    AirPods do look absolutely awful IMO, I’ve not sat close enough to someone wearing them to find if the sound leaks out quite as horrifically as it does with EarPods too. I’d sooner stand on the train than sit next to a moron wearing EarPods, and having to have them super loud as they don’t block any external noise. RAAAAAAAGE.

    Still… glad the OP’s pleased with them.

    CountZero
    Full Member

    AirPods do look absolutely awful IMO, I’ve not sat close enough to someone wearing them to find if the sound leaks out quite as horrifically as it does with EarPods too. I’d sooner stand on the train than sit next to a moron wearing EarPods, and having to have them super loud as they don’t block any external noise. RAAAAAAAGE.

    You’ve only just noticed this? It was a ‘thing’ years back, even before iPods, people complaining about the ‘tsss tsss tsss’ noise made by the headphones that came with Walkman cassette players, I’ve heard it from people on the Tube wearing actual over-ear ‘phones, but hardly ever from EarPods; I can’t imagine the AirPods would be much different, and why do they look any worse than any other BT ‘phones with a neck band, or BT Beats Solos?
    They’re certainly a lot less obtrusive than the huge ‘cans’ wannabe DJ-types wear in the street.

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