AirPods microphone for video calls?

[Christopher11]

Hey guys, longtime Mac user here, but I've never owned AirPods. I'm not super concerned about sound of music quality right now; I have a settlement conference coming up for an auto accident in which I was hit by a reckless driver. I don't know yet if it will be in person or via Zoom, but if it's via Zoom I prefer to be able to hear and be heard better than my iPhone's mic. It would be in my apartment, generally a quiet place so noise cancellation is not an issue. I like the more professional look of AirPords (discreet little pods in ears) over a headset and microphone... but can bend on that if you're totally against trying AirPods. Was hoping to get some opinions on how effective they will be. I don't need to record voice over for a feature film here, just be heard well by the participants.

Thanks so much for any help.

 

[Howard2k]

I use them for hours a day on conference/video calls.

The only downside is that using them as a microphone is a heavy power drain. I tend to use one in ear and leave the other in case charging.

Other than that, superb. I would not go back to a regular headset.

 

[Christopher11]

I use them for hours a day on conference/video calls.

The only downside is that using them as a microphone is a heavy power drain. I tend to use one in ear and leave the other in case charging.

Other than that, superb. I would not go back to a regular headset.

Awesome! Very useful, thank you. And they should integrate with my iPhone for Zoom no problem right?

Good point, thanks on the battery life but not a big worry in my case for this conference. I'll just make sure to have them charged.

Ah! Good strategy on only using one. However, what about the microphone when you switch to only one EarPod? They must both have one? Since you're able to leave one charging and would have to rotate them.

 

[Howard2k]

Awesome! Very useful, thank you. And they should integrate with my iPhone for Zoom no problem right?

Good point, thanks on the battery life but not a big worry in my case for this conference. I'll just make sure to have them charged.

Ah! Good strategy on only using one. However, what about the microphone when you switch to only one EarPod? They must both have one? Since you're able to leave one charging and would have to rotate them.

Yep exactly, they both have one and by default it will just switch. I don't wait for the one to go flat, but after 45-60 minutes I'll put in the second, wait for them both to be online (you'll hear audio in both ears) and then pull the other one out and put it in the case. The whole things works super seamlessly.

 

[Christopher11]

Yep exactly, they both have one and by default it will just switch. I don't wait for the one to go flat, but after 45-60 minutes I'll put in the second, wait for them both to be online (you'll hear audio in both ears) and then pull the other one out and put it in the case. The whole things works super seamlessly.

Very interesting. So do the AirPods somehow know when you're using two of them to only activate one microphone? Or do you think they're both working all the time? Thanks again man.

 

[Howard2k]

Very interesting. So do the AirPods somehow know when you're using two of them to only activate one microphone? Or do you think they're both working all the time? Thanks again man.

When there are two AirPods active I'm not 100% sure if it uses both microphones. I think that it does to try to improve voice quality (wind mitigation for example) but I'm not 100% sure.

In the bluetooth configuration you can control it to some extent but by default it will auto detect switch when needed.

 

[Böhme417]

They will work fine. While the AirPods might be the more “sleek” option, they definitely don’t provide the best audio regarding the mic. Wired EarPods or even a cheap headset sound better.

 

[Betty Green]

I use AirPods as well, and they're great for clear audio during calls and meetings.

 

[Christopher11]

When there are two AirPods active I'm not 100% sure if it uses both microphones. I think that it does to try to improve voice quality (wind mitigation for example) but I'm not 100% sure.

In the bluetooth configuration you can control it to some extent but by default it will auto detect switch when needed.



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That's super helpful, thank you

 

[Christopher11]

Thank you guys, very helpful. By the way, have you tried the inexpensive knock-offs on Ebay? I suppose they're Chinese made, typically for about $30-50 for AirPods.