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AirPods 2 vs. AirPods 1 Buyer's Guide
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Is buying gen 1 a better idea?
Me. I stopped buying the latest and greatest Apple stuff a while back. I am perfectly fine being a cycle or two behind now on my phone, watch, airpods etc. Saves me a lot of money that way.
For those of us that don’t use Siri (and probably even those that do) this is a pretty underwhelming upgrade. Skipping.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/250-s...-AirPods-other-wireless-devices.413886.0.html
Anybody worried about this?
Anybody worried about this?
Mine don't. They might all wake up, but only one actually responds, whether it's the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or HomePods. Nine times out of ten, the HomePods are the ones who reply.
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No. And if I had children, their cribs and beds would have their own dedicated WiFi access points.
Actually having a chip in the case also would enable the case to be found if misplaced but would of course not need all the functionality of the headphones themselves. As far as interchanging them in the case shouldn’t be an issue I have 2 sets and swamp them across cases all the time. Question is what happens when you get a W1 piece mixed with an H1 piece.
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An extra hour of talk time, no touch Siri and wireless charging sounds pretty good to me. All welcomed features from a heavy gen 1 user. What would make it worth your while, Cheaper price, touch volume controls, case with GPS location, other?
I’m guessing there’s no sound improvement since it hasn’t been mentioned in anything I’ve read yet. That’s the disappointing news to me. I literally lost mine at work only last week. I’m doubtful I’ll replace them until there is an improvement in audio quality as I was underwhelmed by their performance. My wireless Beats offer much better sound quality (and I’m not a huge fan of Beats sound “signature”).
copied from another poster:
Apple AirPods H1 chip (SOCs) has the processing power of an iPhone 4—in each ear!
Class 1 Bluetooth 5.
H1 die size is ~12mm2.
Parts: H1 Cypress SoC
Maxim audio codec
Bosch BMA280 accelerometer
STM 3 axis accelerometer
STM regulator
TI data converter
Goertek MEMs microphones
The beamforming microphones in AirPods-2019 are far more optimized for Siri. There is better sensitivity with the MEMS and a generation ahead in how beamforming will work. I also suspect that LiveListen functionality will be greatly improved by this, as well as other uses!
Do we know the hardware specs of the 1st gen airpods for comparison?
Apple AirPods H1 chip (SOCs) has the processing power of an iPhone 4—in each ear!
Class 1 Bluetooth 5.
H1 die size is ~12mm2.
Parts: H1 Cypress SoC
Maxim audio codec
Bosch BMA280 accelerometer
STM 3 axis accelerometer
STM regulator
TI data converter
Goertek MEMs microphones
The beamforming microphones in AirPods-2019 are far more optimized for Siri. There is better sensitivity with the MEMS and a generation ahead in how beamforming will work. I also suspect that LiveListen functionality will be greatly improved by this, as well as other uses!
Do we know the hardware specs of the 1st gen airpods for comparison?
Does anyone happen to know if you can wirelessly charge the new AirPods outside the case by simply placing them on a charging pad? Not a deal breaker but would be a nice feature since I use foam ear covers on my current AirPods so they don’t fall out of my ears. They still fit in the charging case with foam covers on but it would be nice to be able to charge them without the case.
How soon we might see price discounts to $145 shipped as Costco had with previous model? I can use improved connectivity and range of new AirPods.
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Ok Apple. Very nice addition to the ear things lineup. Here are some of the items I heard you were working on from a friend of a friend that knows a friend who I trust with my young life.
No. 1 is a pure wireless-wireless charging pad that is the size of a large dinner plate. And it’s dishwasher safe too.
No.2 is autonomous dinosaurs. Space grey only color available I’m told.
No. 3 is a new mouse that moves on its own by just thinking about anything but porn.
No. 4 is a MacPad Air iPro Touch! Yes you want both laptop and iPad but you can’t decide on which one to alarm your bank account that your making another unwise purchase in less then 3 months?
No. 1 is a pure wireless-wireless charging pad that is the size of a large dinner plate. And it’s dishwasher safe too.
No.2 is autonomous dinosaurs. Space grey only color available I’m told.
No. 3 is a new mouse that moves on its own by just thinking about anything but porn.
No. 4 is a MacPad Air iPro Touch! Yes you want both laptop and iPad but you can’t decide on which one to alarm your bank account that your making another unwise purchase in less then 3 months?
It is good that you have the option to buy just the wireless charging case if you're into wireless charging. Apart from that, it's not much of a change.
As a gen 1 user, I don't think these are worth upgrading. They wouldn't change my experience enough to buy them again. I might buy the wireless charging case.
On the other hand, I lost my gen 1 AirPods at Thanksgiving (case and all) while traveling, and I have been waiting to repurchase them until there was a refresh. I put my order in and I'm expecting delivery March 27-29.
Seems to me like Apple are selling every AirPod they make. In what way are they loosing out on sales?
I’m gonna wait till my first gens die before upgrading. I was curious about my battery life so I have been using them to listen to music nonstop for an hour now. They started at 100% and now they’re at 60%.
That’s still pretty good right? I pre-ordered mine when they were first released.
That’s still pretty good right? I pre-ordered mine when they were first released.
My money is on the H series relating to always-listening Hey Siri. The W series was just for WiFi. So, a new W chip might be issued for the Watch to improve it’s WiFi capability, but Siri is handled by the S chip, there. The H chip does WiFi + Siri.
Whilst I don’t know I seriously doubt it. It is the case which does the Qi charging.
With the old ones I can switch between both AirPods to prolong the call time "eternally". So that seems not that much of an argument....
I bought a pair of Anker Soudcore True Wireless headphones because: 1) They were half the price 2)They were black 3)They were in-ear sealed. Those are the commonly cited criticisms. Maybe I bought the wrong pair, but these are pretty terrible compared to AirPods.
From research it seems like you can solve some of these by spending $130+ but then that really cuts into the criticism that AirPods are overprice. If you have to pay close too or the same as AirPods to get comparable features - then AirPods aren't overpriced.
I'll tell you what. I'll stop "buying them" if you can solve or point me to true wireless headphones that address the following issues:
The ability to effortlessly swap AirPods between all your other Apple devices can not be stated enough. Pick up the device you want and pick your AirPods from the list and done. They just swap over moments later, no repairing, no need to disconnect them first from the other device, be out of range of the other device, or have to turn off Bluetooth on the other device first. Please enlighten me: Show me any others that can that effortlessly be swapped between your phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, TV, or Watch devices. Sure, you can pair other Bluetooth devices to multiple other devices, but unless the last one they were used with isn't around or isn't powered off - its been a huge hassle for me to swap.
Then you have the ability to use the Airpods independently of each other. On the Anker Soundcore only the right can be used independently. The left will not function with out the right.
No auto-pause when either the left or right or taken out of the ear.
The useable range away from your device is way smaller.
When you step too far away, loose connection, and then step back. They Anker Soundcore don't reconnect well, if at all. And you lose the left earpiece. To reconnect the left, you have to either redock both earpiece or on the connected device entirely disconnect and reconnect them (but it didn't always work, necessitating redocking both).
No effective usable on earpiece operation. The instructions for the Anker soundcore say I can tap or touch or swipe or something to pause music, skip track, or raise and lower volume it doesn't work. Maybe mine are defective.
Sound wise they're great since they're in-ear sealed vs Airpods on-ear open design but everyone else tells me how much worse I sound and how much background noise can be heard.
I've never liked in-ear sealed for speaking anyway because of how it makes me sound to me when I'm talking or when someone comes up to me to speak.
For the above reasons: They're no competitor. They're half the price, but a far inferior product. Maybe if your interest is only in sound presentation, period, nothing else. They're viable at their price point. But as a whole - The AirPods blow them out of the water. And if they won't stay in then get some silicone shark fin covers.
I do the same, but still it sometimes can get annoying. So I appreciate the improvement.
.
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The new AirPods themselves are hardly any improvement. Let’s do this:
New AirPods, old case = same price $159
So Apple themselves are offering you new tech on AirPods alone for same price (minus charging case option)
Old case sold for $69 alone. New wireless is $79. That’s about 15% increase of cost. That right there tells you it’s not much more that the original.
Now , AirPods W wireless charging case is $199. That’s 25% markup!
So, yes, doesn’t make sense for Apple to price it at $10 dollars more as nobody would buy the non wireless charging when you just pay $10 and you get it. But $20 dollars should have been the difference. $159 and $179. That’s still about a 12.5% increase.
It’s the same type of thing that they do when they sell you an iPhone and charge you a premium of $200 to double your size of HD. When in reality, the difference is less than $100.
But yeah, you keep telling yourself Apple is not taking you for money. Listen, I like Apple products but it’s the truth.
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Not at 25%!!!
The new AirPods themselves are hardly any improvement. Let’s do this:
New AirPods, old case = same price $159
So Apple themselves are offering you new tech on AirPods alone for same price (minus charging case option)
Old case sold for $69 alone. New wireless is $79. That’s about 15% increase of cost. That right there tells you it’s not much more that the original.
Now , AirPods W wireless charging case is $199. That’s 25% markup!
So, yes, doesn’t make sense for Apple to price it at $10 dollars more as nobody would buy the non wireless charging when you just pay $10 and you get it. But $20 dollars should have been the difference. $159 and $179. That’s still about a 12.5% increase.
It’s the same type of thing that they do when they sell you an iPhone and charge you a premium of $200 to double your size of HD. When in reality, the difference is less than $100.
But yeah, you keep telling yourself Apple is not taking you for money. Listen, I like Apple products but it’s the truth.
[doublepost=1553199438][/doublepost]
The new AirPods themselves are hardly any improvement. Let’s do this:
New AirPods, old case = same price $159
So Apple themselves are offering you new tech on AirPods alone for same price (minus charging case option)
Old case sold for $69 alone. New wireless is $79. That’s about 15% increase of cost. That right there tells you it’s not much more that the original.
Now , AirPods W wireless charging case is $199. That’s 25% markup!
So, yes, doesn’t make sense for Apple to price it at $10 dollars more as nobody would buy the non wireless charging when you just pay $10 and you get it. But $20 dollars should have been the difference. $159 and $179. That’s still about a 12.5% increase.
It’s the same type of thing that they do when they sell you an iPhone and charge you a premium of $200 to double your size of HD. When in reality, the difference is less than $100.
But yeah, you keep telling yourself Apple is not taking you for money. Listen, I like Apple products but it’s the truth.
[doublepost=1553199498][/doublepost]
Not at 25%!!!
The new AirPods themselves are hardly any improvement. Let’s do this:
New AirPods, old case = same price $159
So Apple themselves are offering you new tech on AirPods alone for same price (minus charging case option)
Old case sold for $69 alone. New wireless is $79. That’s about 15% increase of cost. That right there tells you it’s not much more that the original.
Now , AirPods W wireless charging case is $199. That’s 25% markup!
So, yes, doesn’t make sense for Apple to price it at $10 dollars more as nobody would buy the non wireless charging when you just pay $10 and you get it. But $20 dollars should have been the difference. $159 and $179. That’s still about a 12.5% increase.
It’s the same type of thing that they do when they sell you an iPhone and charge you a premium of $200 to double your size of HD. When in reality, the difference is less than $100.
But yeah, you keep telling yourself Apple is not taking you for money. Listen, I like Apple products but it’s the truth.
Yes, but it is an expensive "improvement" (here in Germany 229 €. Lots of money for a "headset". Cost nearly the same than the Bose QC 35 II). Have to think about it. Maybe when the battery is down....
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You're looking at the case separately but not the airpods. So none of this really applies. If you knew the exact cost of the airpods minus the case you could come up with more accurate numbers. It's not as simple as starting at the $159 price and subtracting the $69 case. It may be that on the airpods with the wired charging case that the cost of the case in that bundle is almost nothing. You essentially get it at a discount because you're purchasing the airpods with. Which is different than purchasing cases separately. This applies to just about anything really.
If I were to buy a car it would be one price. But if I were to buy all the same exact parts that make up that car I would end up spending significantly more.
I'm sorry, but qi wireless charging is nothing but a gimmick to get people to spend money on something that is wholely unnecessary and significantly less efficient as wired charging.
If you feel that you must spend the extra $40 for wireless charging, that's on you, not Apple.