> Conversational user interfaces are now mainstream.
I really like my AirPods, but... this is a strange comment to make about them. The Siri integration / audio controls is the most awkward part of using AirPods. Honestly really hoping they revisit in v2.
Not sure if my AirPods are defective, but I'm getting a successful detection from a tap on the AirPod sensor maybe 1/3 of the time.
I don't think it's capacitive, I think it's based on the little chip's gyro sensor.
And yet I still reach for my phone and hold the home button to do any siri-related task...
Apple AirPods are the real deal. Best new Apple product in years.
The best camera is the one you have on you right? Same thing.
[1] - BT just isn't great tech and there's odd interference/cutout, often around cars; open-case-near-phone-for-battery-level is clunky and inefficient; double-tap to play/pause (voice control for audio control is just non-sensical to me) often doesn't work if it's been more than a few minutes, and seems to prefer opening the Apple Music app which I never use
I would love to be able to buy better-sounding AirPods under an Apple/B&O label.
Instead, Apple bought the headphone maker whose products make money through a combination of visually-distinct brand-recognition and a high level of "fit and finish"—the same way their own hardware does. Beats slots into Apple's product-design paradigm as naturally as if they had created the brand themselves.
Audio quality simply doesn't matter that much to me. Really small/no cords/relatively minimal bluetooth nonsense is amazing.
... right until I dropped one onto the subway tracks.
Check out the Sennheiser HD 202! they're around 30 bucks last time I checked and great fidelity and durability for the price.
edit: ok ok sorry you're right, $15 > $30 "heck, it's even twice as much!" i guess my point is that there are things that won't break the bank that sound way better than you'd expect, that's all. :)
edit2: Oh, and i _ALSO_ frequently break or lose mine, that's why I don't like spending more than the 30 bucks. ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZbCWaY2KXo
I have a $400 pair of headphones, but I like these earbuds as well.
For music quality, I use Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 2. But for VoIP and podcasts, I usually grab the Airpods.
Especially since you can buy a set of wired earpods that actually sound really good for $5.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZbCWaY2KXo
I bought a pair for myself and my girlfriend. I think they sound better than my Grados on certain material, and almost as good as my Portapros. (I suspect my pair of Grados SR60e is below average, because my dad's pair of the same model sounds better.)
Another pair of headphones that punches way above its price point: http://a.co/cRC61XE (Though, be prepared to eventually replace the plug or buy a new pair, but it will be awhile before that happens.)
Apple needs to step up its audio game.
Either way they're back ordered six weeks. Even if Apple were to improve the sound quality my guess is they couldn't produce them any faster so why bother?
Because cachet is a vital part of Apple's marketing strategy. If they could capture some of that kind of attention for doing something respectable, they would benefit.
Plus they have additional constraints on them because they're using Bluetooth.
That is significant. However, Bluetooth is improving. Other forms of technology are improving as well. We're getting to the point where very linear drivers combined with digital processing are starting to make a difference. Soon, we'll be able to make such devices cheaply, with sensors that are fast enough to make regular consumer devices perform like today's high end headphones.
Apple has traditionally cared about aesthetics enabling technology. Their screens are good, and while not high end with sound, they have sold decent sound hardware in their laptops. They were early with Toslink. Steve Jobs cared about decent sound as well.
Source: met a guy at airport who tried to convince me buy a pair. I explained they were not loud enough for the noisy plane environment. Had a long eye-opening discussion about gadgets all the way to the taxi.
[1] http://featherforge.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Ear-diagr...
That said, the friction that they add by being too bulky to fit in the case makes any of these half-baked at best. The case is such a core part of what differentiates AirPods. Having to keep track of and put on / take off covers all the time sort of kills the magic.
IMO it's really a problem Apple should solve, or at least accommodate as opposed to leaving up to a hacky third party solution.
The sad thing is, we have the technology to make Real Wireless Earbuds that DONT suck! It's a totally doable engineering project! That don't have horribly lossy encodings and the like. That feature neat things like symmetric pairing, graceful degrading of signal quality with bitrate, and that actually would fit in our ears! But no, fashion too often wins over substance...
The worker at the store said he'd seen a fair number of returns citing similar issues. Not sure if he was just trying to make me feel better...
Perhaps the market is self-selecting and thus only those with the proper ear shape actually opt for them?
The wired ones more or less fit in my ears, but I found that when I was walking or doing any kind of exercise they fall out in less I use the little plastic thing to cinch them up.
I was worried I have the same problem with the AirPods but they work just fine for me. I guess not having that cable tugging on them makes the difference.
But the old ones worked if I was just sitting still. That didn't even work well for my brother and he wasn't able to use AirPods either.
Hoping that the future iterations are more promising.
Seems like the only possibilities are some sort of part shortage (maybe it's really hard to get those tiny batteries) or a very high defect rate (there were rumors of that around launch).
I wonder how long this will last.
If you want a "true wireless" headphone (and, from personal experience with these, I find it quite compelling), you're not going to pay much less than Apple's price. I think the cheapest I've seen is $150, and that's lacking the Apple polish.
It is interesting that the product is well-received, but obviously the post is light on details and could be a lot better.
Price it high enough that nobody who has to care about money would buy it, and make it crappy enough that nobody who cares about quality would buy it.
And, apparently, it seems the people who aren't filtered by that will say anything is the second coming of christ as long as it comes in a shiny enough box.
Anyway, I know shitting on Apple is the cool thing to do on tech forums, so great job going for the easy upvote with such a cynical comment - I'm sure you'll reap that sweet karma.
But, you're overlooking what makes AirPods such a satisfying product to use: they are incredibly convenient. They're small enough to carry in your watch pocket, and using them is as simple as popping them out of the case and into your ears. Nothing on the market so thoroughly considers the experience of using headphones, and that obviously counts for something.
This is a remarkably bizarre thing to say in response to a 98% customer satisfaction rating.
Also, if your theory was true, then why does any product anywhere have a less than near-perfect satisfaction rating? If consumers can have magical knowledge about AirPods, why can't they have the same knowledge about all the other products they purchase?
And finally, the sound quality isn't bad. It's better than earbuds. If you're comparing it to a high-end pair of headphones, sure, it's not going to be as good, but if you're comparing it to products in the same category as AirPods then it holds up pretty well.
Price it high enough that nobody who has to care about money would buy it, and make it crappy enough that nobody who cares about quality would buy it.
Turns out that the Beats acquisition was the right move!
Any experience with my number one reason not for buying them which is the fear of losing them?
Also I've heard bad things about the microphone.
Is it because the battery life is good and they connect super easily and stay connected? Or is there some other feature that pushes people over the top?
First, there's that Apple "it just works" whole-package experience. If you're bought into the Apple ecosystem, using macOS and iOS, it's really incredibly seamless and gets rid of all those bluetooth hassles. Plus, as you say, battery life is good enough that I've never personally run up against it.
Second, and the part which surprised me to discover after I got mine, it turns out that headphone wires had been subconsciously bothering me. Experiencing earbuds without them is genuinely better in feel, and I find I use earbuds so much more as a result.
I did try some experimental jumping around and shaking my head wildly after I got them, and they didn't slip out from that.
I suspect a lot of this comes down to your ear shape. The fit of the wired EarPods are a decent proxy for how the AirPods will fit. The AirPods are less likely than the EarPods to fall out, because the wires aren't there tugging on them as you move your head, which turns out to be a useful difference.
Yep, that's pretty much it. That and it's so easy to use: Insert into ear, music starts playing on headphones. Remove them, perhaps to talk to someone, and it stops playing. Put back into ear and it starts playing again. No buttons, no bluetooth settings, no setup screen; it just plain works.
I'm worried I would lose the AirPods though.
On Android or Windows... they're bluetooth headphones. Experience is like any other.
Samsung has a similar product for Android, check it out.
I've used my AirPods with a Mac that didn't have the latest software (so they were just treated like any other Bluetooth headphones) and something else and they work just fine. You don't get the double tap control (I think) or the auto pause? (not sure) but they sound just as good. If you want really tiny headphones that are easy to charge they'd be a good candidate.
But the experience on updated Apple products is amazing.
Some days it feels like the "Next "Great" Apple product will be ... a place where you can work for free, to benefit Apple. And then we'll hear the usual suspects extolling the benefits of that.
(warning, audio geek, also wireless protocol geek, and also their damned overpriced P.O.S. don't even fit in my ears >.>)
Consider the new MBP with the touchpad. It cost a lot. People—people who own the thing—routinely call it garbage, just because they lost their Fn keys.
I doubt a pair of earbuds is immune from that.
Having owned Jaybirds Bluebuds and Airpods - I can say that without a doubt the number one selling feature is the convenience.
The pairing is seamless. Switching between phone and computer is fast. Most days I forget they're still there until the battery dies and I have to charge them. If it weren't for the price, I would get a second pair.
Airpods are just "well done." The audio quality is not exceptional, but everything else marks the definition of the new standard for bluetooth headphones.
