Airpods - new owners views, problems and questions

[andy.ringwood]

Wow! Look at you smarty pants! What an incredibly obvious idea that 250 headphone engineers surely never even thought of doing! Ya just add a swipe gesture ya numnuts engineers!

Do you have any understanding of the battery constraints/goals they had set forth? Do you even look at the AirPod and wonder "how in the #@$#ing hell did they literally remove the wires and not change a thing, yet give these things 5 hours battery EACH???". I'll tell you how. They used an accelerometer instead of an always on skin detecting sensor. Do you have ANY idea how small the batteries are inside each AirPod? Do you have ANY idea how insanely difficult it is to hit 5 hours battery life in that form factor with ZERO controls whatsoever? I agree there should be more options within the toggleable settings using the accelerometers (left earphone double tap volume down, right volume up, etc), but there had to be ONE sacrifice to get them to a worthy state.

Hopefully soon we see battery improvements in the entire industry because we are all limited by the forces of nature right now. It doesn't matter what year you put in bold. These people are ten times smarter than any of you complaining are, and you should try being a little thankful for the first big step towards TRUE functional wireless headphones before crapping all over what they created. I guess it's just the way humans are -- ego comes first, if there's something to critique we attack it and give no objective reasoning to the hard decisions OTHER human beings have made to create it in the first place. So sick of these forums, I wish they'd round up all the technology prophets in here and throw them into a design studio for 6 months to see how they handle things. Cheers 🙂

Best post on this thread.

 

[Phil A.]

And iOS also - it's not just macOS.

I did wonder if it does the same on iOS, but couldn't think of a way to activate the mic while listening to music 🙂

 

[ulinerg]

Sure. I'll monitor the batteries.

My firmware is 3.3.1.
You can also check via iOS if AirPods are connected. In the german version it's in 'Einstellungen/Allgemein/Info/AirPods'.
So it should be something like 'Settings/Common/Info/AirPods'.

"Settings/General/About/AirPods"
Mine is also 3.3.1 and I find Siri is Ok.

 

[Puonti]

I did wonder if it does the same on iOS, but couldn't think of a way to activate the mic while listening to music 🙂

I'm unable to test that, too - I'm just going by the fact that testing Siri under Settings sounds great, while asking Siri for anything results in her sounding low-quality.

 

[janezblond]

I'm unable to test that, too - I'm just going by the fact that testing Siri under Settings sounds great, while asking Siri for anything results in her sounding low-quality.

It probably has to do with the fact that Siri in the settings requires no mic input. If you start navigation and listen to the instructions, you will again see that the voice sounds crisp, since there is no mic involvement.

 

[dbknightx]

A bit late to the party, but mine arrived yesterday. I originally was waiting for the Beats X as I've never been a big fan of EarPods, but when I saw the thread about them being available from AT&T I bit the bullet and ordered.

I've gotta say that I absolutely LOVE these things. Truly the first Apple product in about 3 or 4 years that feels revolutionary. The battery life is fantastic (no case battery issues in mine), love the form factor and fit. Clearly the EarPod wires do interfere with those as these just stay put, despite being almost identical in size.

Biggest surprise is the audio and microphone quality. I've had lots of cheap bluetooth headsets in the past, and the achilles heel always seems to be the poor mic. I've made several phone calls with the AirPods and people can hear me as well as if I were talking into the phone directly.

I don't think I'd try to use these on a plane without some sort of skin (looking forward to what EarSkinz has planned), but for 99% of my use (around house, working out, at work) these are absolutely perfect.

Wife wants a pair now after trying them - her first comment was "those look stupid" but she changed her tune quickly 🙂

P.S. Wanted to add my vote to the poll but it appears it closed on Monday. Can it be extended?

 

[kave]

Using my iPhone 7 withe Airpods I sometimes have no sound when calling. I get the pairing sound when I put them in my ears and they are selected as audio device in the phone. When I select Phone as audio in/out I get audio, switchong back wont resolve it either.

 

[eroslws]

It was a pain in the ass configuring to my MacBook; took about 3 restarts and messing with my iCloud account. No such issues on my iDevices, however. Works great now though!

 

[Traverse]

Well, I've used my AirPods extensively for two days and have some observations:

• Sometimes play/pause using the Podcast app is a bit finicky. I may have to hit play 2/3 times to resume a podcast after a 5 minute break. Music doesn't have this issue.
• Battery life has been what APple's promised. I've used my AirPods extensively for 2 days. The Pods have lost about 55% of battery from 3-ish hours of use (not constantly on, but close to it). My case went from 100% to 98% over night. I just put my AirPods in the case to get ready to go and the case had gone from 98% to 93% over 4 hours without the AirPods in it. Not insanely great, but very good for an immature product category. I'm very pleased.

 

[Type4O]

Got mine today and took them to the gym. I did some core work (mat work) with lots of fairly quick moving around, touching toes (head almost updated down), on my side, etc., and then the rowing machine. The AirPods stayed put. So, I didn't have to constantly adjust them like my old bluetooth headphones, and no rubbery strap to stick to my neck and yank them out when I turn my head.

Had a little trouble initially connecting them to my iPhone 6, but after restarting the phone, they connected right away showed as an option on my Watch, iPad, and iMac. I switched from music on my phone to my AW2 for the rowing machine, just to try it out, and switching was easy (though later on after showering and then reusing the AirPods, switching from Phone to Watch wasn't so smooth: I had to switch output device on the phone back to phone before they would connect to the watch.

Sound is great and they are very comfy. Nothing battery wise to report at this point.

So far, so good.

 

[dangeng]

Bought mine yesterday after I saw kinda by accident that there were some available in an Apple store in Germany (Frankfurt). Thus canceled my order for expected delivery Feb. 8th.

Anyway, my first impression is mostly great so far! Really like the sound. Mine seem not to have any battery issues.

It is amazing not to have to deal with a freaking cable hanging around.
Since I was sometimes using my standard EarPods while falling asleep I was always
somewhat pissed when I woke up in the middle of the night feeling kinda strangled...
Now after the first night testing the AirPods in bed another obvious problem appeared. It took me a while
this morning to find one of the AirPods... LOL. Now at home thats not a big issue, in hotel rooms though
I am not sure yet how do deal with this. I don't wanna crawl underneath a freakin' yucky hotel bed looking
for the AirPods... Any suggestions?

Also took them today on a two hour wonderful winter bicycle ride by around 2 degrees celsius (35F for you Americans ;-))
Batteries seem to be just fine in the cold. Had 65% battery left after 2 hours and it was the very first charge cycle after draining them over night.
Well again, being not tied to a cable is amazing. Missed the inline controls a lot though.
Using Siri while riding my bike was impossible due to the airstream probably... Most of the time
the double tap didn't even work probably because the accelerometers were confused by all the movement
going on. When it worked Siri didn't understand what I said (airstream?).
Luckily I wore cargo pants today on my bike and had the phone in a side pocket, hence I was able
to control volume from there...
Having my phone in a knapsack while on my bike would have pissed me off.
Apple Watch: Well, it's winter and I was wearing thick gloves, so the watch wasn't an option here...
In summer and without gloves the watch would probably be perfect for volume control etc..
Although if I am tracking my exercise with the watch I'd always have to change to the music control
app first in order to be able to change volume and/or tracks...

I really, really hope that at some point (soon) we will be able to change volume and tracks just by tapping the ear plugs!
And hopefully this will also work while riding a bike...

Cheers, Daniel

 

[MTW]

The usb-c to usb-a cable is $9. I have one and I don't even have a even have a MacBook that uses USB-c yet.
[doublepost=1482850414][/doublepost]Does anyone know what the button on the back of the charging case exactly does? Seems like it resets.

Stop apologizing for Apple. Nothing you said refuted anything I said.

 

[rockyromero]

Also took them today on a two hour wonderful winter bicycle ride by around 2 degrees celsius (35F for you Americans ;-))

I'm also eager to go bike riding soon with an AirPod in one ear.

I've done it with other BT earphones and have had good experiences for music and phone calls.

I expect the AirPods to improve on this.

➰

 

[Night Spring]

It is amazing not to have to deal with a freaking cable hanging around.
Since I was sometimes using my standard EarPods while falling asleep I was always
somewhat pissed when I woke up in the middle of the night feeling kinda strangled...
Now after the first night testing the AirPods in bed another obvious problem appeared. It took me a while
this morning to find one of the AirPods... LOL. Now at home thats not a big issue, in hotel rooms though
I am not sure yet how do deal with this. I don't wanna crawl underneath a freakin' yucky hotel bed looking
for the AirPods... Any suggestions?

https://smile.amazon.com/Spigen-Air...8&qid=1483057562&sr=8-1&keywords=AirPod+strap

 

[Sonmi451]

BAD: For general walking around they aren't good for me. The left AirPods doesn't stay I have to use EarBuddyz. The sound is not great. The double tap doesn't seem to work well for me. They barely fit but aren't that snug. Of course they look a little funny but not too bad.

GOOD: For the gym however (which is what I bought them for) they are awesome. Poor sound doesn't bug me as much, and they stay in my ear and I don't have to deal with wires.

I'm on the fence if I'm going to keep them.

 

[whsbuss]

Strange occurrence today. Noticed when putting AirPods in ear after being in their case, they would not auto connect to my IP7+ and would not pause when pulling out on of the AirPods so I had to forget/delete from my BT settings. I did get a warning about being deleted from all my devices, and I confirmed. So when I tried a new pairing it said "Not xxx's AirPods" and told me to use the pairing button on the rear of the case. It worked and they are working as before. But I found that odd they somehow it knew I connected AirPods before.

 

[Iceage]

Anybody else having a problem with the AirPod case losing some of its charge?

Well, after a couple of days of use, my case has stopped losing its charge. Works perfectly now. I tried the Bose Soundsport and the Jaybirds Freedom but I I love these headphones. The charging case is absolutely great and the fact of no wires sticking to your neck or pulling your headphones out of your ears while working out is just great! There's still place for improvement but Apple has got a winner here.

What I'd like to see added to the AirPods:

1- tapping to skip forward/backward
2- a sensor in the case to be able to have an app similar to find iPhone (Find AirPods)

 

[jk73]

Well, after a couple of days of use, my case has stopped losing its charge. Works perfectly now. ...

This is a good reminder that one shouldn't assume a battery problem until after at least two or three charge cycles.

 

[ianrip]

As I’m soon to be a 1st time Airpod user, should I

use them until the battery dies, and the case also or
charge them fully for the 1st time

 

[mehdijobs]

Got the airpods.
They fit perfectly in my ear and they would (almost) never fall.
But I have a big issue, it seems like the left airpod frequently emits no sound at all. I remove from my ear, pause, play back, put it back in the case, disconnect and reconnect. After 5 to 10min I manage to have it work, but if I go on a run without the charging box, I need to listen to music on 1 ear only...
When it works, I also sometimes feel like the left airpod is not as loud as the right one, but this might be just my ear..
Anybody having this issue of 1 airpod working only?
Also, it is not a connection problem, as the iphone does recognize both airpods. Just no sound coming from one of them.

 

[rstark18]

As an update to Post 175
I had ordered these by mistake a few years ago when I was looking for higher quality covers. It turns out these work even better than the regular foam covers I mentioned. The full covers sometimes block both IR sensors (at least one needs to be uncovered to auto detect) and need to be adjusted so that the outside sensor is uncovered. With these that is not an issue and you still get the added bass and overall better/more comfortable fit (at least for me).

On Amazon (make sure to order the HG-01) HieGi Middle Empty Foam Cushions

 

[4451]

Thanks for this update rstark18!
I'm in the same unfortunate minority as you in that I love them but they do not fit securely in my ears. So just want to confirm that with these covers on they also still fit into the charging case without issue?

As an update to Post 175
I had ordered these by mistake a few years ago when I was looking for higher quality covers. It turns out these work even better than the regular foam covers I mentioned. The full covers sometimes block both IR sensors (at least one needs to be uncovered to auto detect) and need to be adjusted so that the outside sensor is uncovered. With these that is not an issue and you still get the added bass and overall better/more comfortable fit (at least for me).

On Amazon (make sure to order the HG-01) HieGi Middle Empty Foam Cushions

 

[rstark18]

Thanks for this update rstark18!
I'm in the same unfortunate minority as you in that I love them but they do not fit securely in my ears. So just want to confirm that with these covers on they also still fit into the charging case without issue?

Yes they still fit in the case and the kid closes.

 

[wlossw]

Bought mine yesterday after I saw kinda by accident that there were some available in an Apple store in Germany (Frankfurt). Thus canceled my order for expected delivery Feb. 8th.

Anyway, my first impression is mostly great so far! Really like the sound. Mine seem not to have any battery issues.

It is amazing not to have to deal with a freaking cable hanging around.
Since I was sometimes using my standard EarPods while falling asleep I was always
somewhat pissed when I woke up in the middle of the night feeling kinda strangled...
Now after the first night testing the AirPods in bed another obvious problem appeared. It took me a while
this morning to find one of the AirPods... LOL. Now at home thats not a big issue, in hotel rooms though
I am not sure yet how do deal with this. I don't wanna crawl underneath a freakin' yucky hotel bed looking
for the AirPods... Any suggestions?

Also took them today on a two hour wonderful winter bicycle ride by around 2 degrees celsius (35F for you Americans ;-))
Batteries seem to be just fine in the cold. Had 65% battery left after 2 hours and it was the very first charge cycle after draining them over night.
Well again, being not tied to a cable is amazing. Missed the inline controls a lot though.
Using Siri while riding my bike was impossible due to the airstream probably... Most of the time
the double tap didn't even work probably because the accelerometers were confused by all the movement
going on. When it worked Siri didn't understand what I said (airstream?).
Luckily I wore cargo pants today on my bike and had the phone in a side pocket, hence I was able
to control volume from there...
Having my phone in a knapsack while on my bike would have pissed me off.
Apple Watch: Well, it's winter and I was wearing thick gloves, so the watch wasn't an option here...
In summer and without gloves the watch would probably be perfect for volume control etc..
Although if I am tracking my exercise with the watch I'd always have to change to the music control
app first in order to be able to change volume and/or tracks...

I really, really hope that at some point (soon) we will be able to change volume and tracks just by tapping the ear plugs!
And hopefully this will also work while riding a bike...

Cheers, Daniel

wear a headband around your ears when you sleep with them on...

 

[RyCan3]

I am having issues with the music cutting in and out. I think it might be a bluetooth issue.