Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
AirPods Impressions: Potential 'Game-Changer' With Good Design, but Will They Stay in the Ear?
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I like the design. It is similar to one of my all-time favorite Apple products: The Apple Bluetooth Headset for the original iPhone.
That is one thing I can't stand about earbud devices. They can fall out to easily considering the shape of your outer ear canal. There are many third party wireless earphones with a volume / pairing control along a connecting chord between the earpieces. These work just fine. I'm really surprised that Apple did not offer such an option, I'm sure there are prototypes of this in Ive's studio that will never see the light of day.
I have the Bose QC20 as well. They use a standard microUSB charger, nothing custom about it. Also, I think you mean Lightning cable, right? Thunderbolt cables are something else, used to connect monitors and hard drives to Mac computers.
I agree. This was a very disappointing reveal for me. If Apple is going to remove the headphone jack to push wireless, then offer an actual "game changer" in the form of improving BT audio quality. It's unlikely Apple is offering more than BT 4.1 audio quality here, or they would have gone into great detail about how "gorgeous" the sound is. As it is, Phil seriously looked like he was trying to get through the presentation as quickly as possible to avoid someone booing him, or throwing a tomato at him.
Courage indeed.
With Apple benign the BT SIG board, I was hoping that there would be a BT 5 implementation, even if in draft form. I predicted their custom chip, but that appears geared solely toward ease of use, and improved connection reliability which now needs to be 3 way instead of 2. But in terms of audio quality they've seemingly done nothing. For those who already don't like BT headphones for quality issues, this isn't going to change anything, and now they have to use an adapter to get the same quality they previously had.
Overall, not what I expected from this "game changing" move.
Do both offer ear bud products for that price? I would say that would also qualify has too expensive.
Completely different style of headphone. Look at all that room for a battery. I would seriously hope they last longer.
I have a pair of over the head sony bluethooth headphones for over a year now and they have been working flawlessly. So I really don't see the need to buy this headset. Plus, I see these coming out of my ear a lot anyway which would be a severe issue as that is the reason the over the head ones work so well for me. I jog a lot so I need the headphones to stay put. Maybe my wife will try these if they work but I think it will be the same for her.
I agree that the Airpods aren't overly expensive compared to the competition, but to be fair the Bragi Dash does a lot more than the Airpods (fitness tracking, onboard music playback etc.). The proper comparison would be the new Bragi "The Headphone", which will be $150 (and can currently be preordered for $120).
"even though it's the same construction and material, but this fits sooo much better than the same one from before.. MUST BE APPLE MAGIC"
The molds made by Earsound are removable so no worries.
[doublepost=1473361887][/doublepost]
Have you seen the size of the PB3? It's way larger
"We started with the idea of an applicator that is unapologetically plastic..."
Wish they came in black
They will.
[doublepost=1473362947][/doublepost]
Well, you don't HAVE to buy these. You can buy the Beats one that have the wires connecting the two. I believe they're priced similarly.
Me either. However, with the Sprng clips Apple ear buds stay in my ears.
http://www.sprngclip.com
They say the current models don't fit AirPods but I imagine they make new versions quickly.
I think the earbuds should be a lot smaller without the long extension it has on it. I'm thinking they should've went with a hearing aid type size. It should really fit flush in the ear without even noticing that its there by others.
I understand what you mean... snow sports comes to mind -- pull your hat off on the lift or something without thinking and boom, gone. At the same time, I'm sure the intent is to use your discretion as to what will and won't work for you... as you say....
...so there you go. You kind of proved my point. If the wired ones don't always work for you (to stay in your ears), these may not either...
My money is still on single wire ones like the Jaybird X2/freedoms. You get a LOT more security that way. You can hang them off your ears when not using them, and you don't have to worry about them falling out. I bike a lot, and can see one of these popping off and getting lost VERY easily. With my X2's if one pops off then the wire behind my ear holds it, but then again in 2 years of owning them they have literally never popped off. I think sometimes aesthetics should not trump functionality, as in this case. At the very least they should have had some kind of retaining system like the fins on the x2's.
And what's with the freakin white? Come on Apple, give me a black set to match my iPhone and so I can at least slightly make believe I don't have those tubes sticking out of my ears.
Lastly I'm quite surprised these don't have HR sensors in them, seeing Apple's big push towards fitness. Some of the other wireless ones have HR sensors, saving me the trouble of wearing a watch, and from what I understand much more accurate.
And what's with the freakin white? Come on Apple, give me a black set to match my iPhone and so I can at least slightly make believe I don't have those tubes sticking out of my ears.
Lastly I'm quite surprised these don't have HR sensors in them, seeing Apple's big push towards fitness. Some of the other wireless ones have HR sensors, saving me the trouble of wearing a watch, and from what I understand much more accurate.
I would actually add to this and say that it may be possible that Apple INTENTIONALLY made the AirPods the same shape because then consumers would better know what to expect. As another commenter somewhere mentioned, these aren't the kinds of things you can typically just "try on" since they go in your ear. It's very possible that the form factor of these was the same as the wired ones on purpose.
Also with that said, I kind of actually LIKE the current wired ones because I sometimes need to be able to hear background noise also. Most of the earbuds these days are noise cancelling type earbuds that are great for cutting grass or something like that but horrible for navigating a busy trail where people holler out before they pass you (for example).
Based on my experience with the wired ones -- how they stay in my ears, and how I will use them, I can see me using them a lot so I will probably pick some up.
Sounds just like the original iPhone, costs too much and battery life too short, and we know what kind of a game changer that turned out to be.
I agree but I know of so many people that have issues with traditional (including apple) headphones that are design to sit on the groove of your ear. They just don't work well, sound quality isn't good because there's no seal. In ear silicon headphones are the future. And let's not talk about the "cigarette stalk" which looks like early 2000s bluetooth handsfree headsets.
http://red-dot.de/pd/wp-content/uploads/onex_2008/big/2008-15-1926-a.jpg
Apple should include the Airpods with the iPhones eventually when they recoup their R&D or at least offer bundle pricing. If they aren't a huge cost for Apple to make, that could significantly improve iPhone sales.