Apple Airpods purchase advice …I know nothing!

As per title, my daughter has requested a pair for her birthday.  What should I be looking for, as I know nothing about them.  Probably looking to buy from Ebay (Eye wateringly expensive new from Amazon!).  Had a quick look and 4th Gen active noise cancellation seem to be the latest.  But what about 2nd and 3rd Gen – Happy to buy 4th Gen if better?  Any advice would be appreciated.  Thanks

only advice id have is only buy from legitimate sources, these things are heavily faked

second thing would be why does she want those specifically, is there a feature she really wants?? plenty of decent alternatives out there without apple tax

I know nothing about them either but John Lewis have them a bit cheaper https://www.johnlewis.com/apple-airpods-4th-generation-with-usb-c-charging-case-2024/p112608886

From my own experience of buying eBay is FULL of fakes and scams.  They’re in demand, theres no reason for them to be discounted new unless they’re hooky somehow. I wouldn’t buy from anywhere other than Apple/Amazon/John Lewis

for models and buying advice I’d look here https://www.macrumors.com/search/?s=airpods

Different models have different ear fittings, and you need to be sure that the one you buy fits your ears. No point getting brilliant technology if they fall out of your lugs.

Really stupid question… does she have an iPhone?  Or another Apple device to use them with?  Because otherwise there not a lot of point in having AirPods.

I like the standard AirPods with the wireless charging. Can’t stand things IN my ears as I have very narrow ear canals and psoriasis, and I have EarPod shaped ears so they do not fall out. Used them for several years without issue. Used to get three hours of listening service so ideal for a good dog walk. But… battery life is now down to 45 minutes so I have returned to wired EarPods because there is no means of changing the batteries and no obvious recycle scheme or discount for replacement. So long-term, I am happy with the wires.

And buy from a reputable source. Mine were from John Lewis. It helps immensely if the wired EarPods fit your ears. If they don’t AirPods aren’t for you.

Many thanks for the advice – particulalry about the fakes/scams.  Her sister has a pair which she regularly pinches, so I know they fit.  And yes, I know you can get probably better and cheaper alternatives.  But I also know anything less than what she’s asked for will more than likely be met with dissapointment!  Hay-ho, teens and their foibles!

I got some 4 gen a couple of months ago. I didn’t get on at all with older ones with the silicon earpiece, they kept falling out until one day one fell into the toilet when I was cleaning it. By that point I had run out of patience and, in a sulk, I refused to recover it and flushed it away. The solid design of the 4 gen stays in my ears much better, the noise cancelling is clever and the sound quality is great.
I think ear fit is very personal though and others will probably have the opposite experience of me.

The 4th gen was recently released and introduced active noise cancelling, which was only available in the Pro model before.  They’ve also improved the ear fit and I think the stalks are also a bit shorter.

They do sell a version without ANC, which also comes without the wireless charging case and this is a lot cheaper.  If they want AirPods but don’t already have a wireless charging stand then the cheaper version should fit the bill

@tired

no obvious recycle scheme or discount for replacement. So long-term, I am happy with the wires.

Here’s the very obvious battery replacement service (which I’d be almost certain is a discount for replacement.  Battery services is £49 for buds + £49 for case regardless of the model as far as I can see.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/airpods/repair

Thanks. I’ll take them up on that. It will definitely be a replacement. I wonder what they do with the piles of the words best selling wireless headphones. I imagine they recycle the batteries. It wasn’t around when I enquired previously – maybe the shame and newer versions have left them with an easier recycling position

Thats cheaper than the single one I replaced for Son1. Be careful. He was on a flight. The attendant spoke to him and he took one pod out and put it on the meal tray, which she then emptied into the bin. You can’t retrieve anything from the rubbish in a plane.

There are also Beats models, which are another Apple company and have the same full integration with iPhones. My daughters both have them (different models) and they’re very happy with them. The colours are more interesting, too.

Probably looking to buy from Ebay (Eye wateringly expensive new from Amazon!)

New ones will almost certainly be fake and do you really want to get some used ones?

John Lewis have them at £10 discount currently and no need to pay for Pro version as standard are very good. I wouldn’t bother looking at other options as airpods just work seamlessly and are reliable.

I wouldn’t bother looking at other options as airpods just work seamlessly and are reliable.

So do Beats, and they’ve got a cheaper <100gbp model.

Thats cheaper than the single one I replaced for Son1. Be careful. He was on a flight. The attendant spoke to him and he took one pod out and put it on the meal tray, which she then emptied into the bin. You can’t retrieve anything from the rubbish in a plane.

I noted that. Ultimately they’e got to make it at least the same price to buy individual buds plus a case as it is for a new set.  It’s £250 for 2 individual buds plus a case for the pro 2 vs £229 for the new item.  Seems bang on to me.

So their margin on battery replacements is lower

(that happened to me with the car key on an Isle of Wight ferry.  We had to run to the kitchen from the car, empty loads of black sacks and find the key in the filth.  Not my finest moment.)

Dunno about airpods specifically, but lots of other alternatives for far less. Anyway, my teens have moved on from little in-ear-pods. Massive over-ear cans is where it’s at now it seems. And they do sound good and for similar cost as airpods including wireless/noise cancelling tech etc. Harder to lose massive cans too.

The 4th Gen get poor reviews compared to the current 2nd gen in-ear ones.  I was updating a pair of 1st gen and tried them both.  For me the 4th gen were way behind the current 2nd gen (which are unfortunately £50 more) on both sound quality and noise cancelling.

I wear them mainly when travelling (plane and train), for Teams meetings when in office (usually just in one ear) and on the Wattbike when zwifting.  The new ones (2nd) gen, are about a month old and a lot better that the 1st gen they replaced.  rather spendy though at about £190 I recall.

Different models have different ear fittings, and you need to be sure that the one you buy fits your ears. No point getting brilliant technology if they fall out of your lugs.

+1

I have a set of Pixle Buds Pro which are amazing and do all sorts of cool stuff like the gesture control, live translation, etc but I have big ears with tiny canals so even with the smallest tips they’re both painfully tight and rattle out.

So if anyone wants to swap for some Airpod Gen4’s because they don’t suit your ears?

 But I also know anything less than what she’s asked for will more than likely be met with dissapointment!

good-enough quality bluetooth headphones are available for less than a quarter of the price…

random cheap ones made to look like airpods by morally lacking parts of the internet are probably half the price…

the usablilty/simplicity of using the apple ones when within the apple ecosystem (and even outside it, they work on my work laptop too), switching between multiple devices; easily seeing the charge state, locate with the “FindMy” app, there’s no comparison to the cheaper ones.

For something potentially to use every day for years, well worth the price. Love mine.

Does the transparency mode work well? In the need for some sports headphones and was looking at Shockz, but wondered if the AirPods would work with this mode?

^^^ yes, works well IMO

Does the transparency mode work well? In the need for some sports headphones and was looking at Shockz, but wondered if the AirPods would work with this mode?

I’d differ to IainC on that.  Transparency mode works, but in my view best with conversation awareness so you can, say, speak to someone in a shop or the street.  Conversation awareness detects when YOU speak, drops the music volume and turns on transparency so you can hear replies.  But because it’s not ‘transparent’ – it’s listening for sound and amplifying what it ‘hears’ I think the sound quality really suffers when it’s on.  No issue if you’re speaking but not great all the time.

Also, I’d not trust my AirPods not to fall out – I’d not run or cycle in them personally.  Shockz are great for that – truly transparent to background.

I only use ear buds occasionaly , but I’m more and more impressed with my sony WF-c500 every time I use them, and they are currently £40.

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/truly-wireless/wf-c500

Maybe cheaper in the black friday deals?

They are so good I honestly can’t imagine paying a hundred quid or more, and if I lose one, it’s not going to make me cry.

They don’t have active noise cancellation, hence the price I guess, but I find they cancel plenty enough noise if you try out the different size rubber tips for the best fit, it’s not realy needed as they block enough external noise anyway, without making you totally  ‘ear blind’ to your surroundings.

best with conversation awareness so you can, say, speak to someone in a shop or the street.  Conversation awareness detects when YOU speak, drops the music volume and turns on transparency so you can hear replies.  But because it’s not ‘transparent’ – it’s listening for sound and amplifying what it ‘hears’

I thought that was what it was meant to do, hence me saying it works well !   🙂

Does the transparency mode work well? In the need for some sports headphones and was looking at Shockz, but wondered if the AirPods would work with this mode?

So, yes it works well, and for that reason not a good choice for sports. Shockz have achieved that “if I lost it, I’d immediately buy more” (see also Garmin Varia) status in my life.

Small diversion – my Shockz have developed that stickiness that seems to plague a certain type of rubbery plastic finish. Have others found that? Or is it just my toxic skin that has caused it?