Introduction
I'm not an audiophile and I don't know what "sound stage" means, or even whether it's one word or two.
I am an Apple Fanboy. A first adopter. But I'm not afraid to be critical of Apple or disappointed by their products. I do have almost everything they sell, but I have sent things back if they haven't worked out for me — like the AirPods Pro, which just wouldn't stay in my ears.
I missed the boat on the APMs originally. They caught me unawares and by the time I decided I was interested, the shipping times had bloated to 10-12 weeks. I placed an order anyway, and then obsessively checked other stores for stock. John Lewis (in the UK) got some stock and I jumped. I wanted blue, they only had black or silver. I went for black. I wanted them now.
I currently have regular AirPods and Beats Solo Pro. Oh, and some cheap noise-cancelling Phillips headphones I bought a few years ago for flights.
Set-up
The set-up process was really frustrating. I kept bringing the APMs close to my iPhone, but it showed no interest. In the end I paired them manually. But I sensed something was wrong. The iPhone was clearly treating them as just a generic pair of headphones. I got to Googling. The websites I visited all said you should make sure you have the latest software update, which obviously I had because I have my devices set to auto-update.
Except of course I didn't. None of my devices were running iOS 14.3. So I updated them all, which took what seemed like a very long time.
Once that was done, my iPhone immediately connected and paired to the APMs.
Initial impressions
The reason I'm writing this review is because I think a lot of coverage about the APMs has been hysterically positive (I'm talking about you, iJustine), or gloomily negative (oh the case! it's so awful!), or just too technical. I'm just a regular Joe.
First, the weight. I expected them to clunk down on the table like a pair of dumbbells. They're really not that heavy. I'm sure they're heavier than some other headphones, but I don't really have a frame of reference. They're not obviously, noticeably heavy.
Next, comfort. Maybe iJustine wasn't overacting. They are really quite astonishingly, surprisingly comfortable. I have a big head. My head is so big that Disney skullcap-type ears don't fit me. At all. Well, with the APMs I've felt no crushing clamping force. They really are like silken pillows on the side of your head. The beam over the top is barely noticeable. They are literally the most comfortable on-head headphones I've ever had. They are way more comfortable than my Beats Solo Pros, which are going back to Amazon (thank you Christmas returns policy). I've worn them for an hour at a single sitting so far and experienced zero discomfort. There's plenty of scope for adjusting the fit if they do become a little uncomfortable after a long time.
Onto sound. One of my use-cases for these headphones is online tutoring. Sometimes I need to use headphones for this. My AirPods are fine but get uncomfortable after a while. The Beats Solo Pros were useless. I couldn't hear myself talk, not even in transparency mode. The APMs are awesome in transparency mode. Everything everyone's written about this is true. It's like you're not wearing headphones at all. I can hear myself clearly and naturally. I called a friend of mine, who often moans about call quality if I'm using my regular AirPods. She said the call quality was brilliant. And I was able to walk to the other end of the house with the iPhone left in one room and me in another and there was no loss of quality. This has been a real issue with the regular AirPods if I wander out of the room and forget to take my iPhone with me.
So far as music and movies are concerned, I'm not sufficiently sophisticated to be blown away. If I concentrate I can definitely pick up more detail in the sound than I can with built-in speakers or the HomePod. I tried the spacial audio and didn't start screaming with delight. I guess it's kinda clever — the sound feels like it comes from your iPad no matter how you move your head. I don't feel like this is life-changing.
The case? It's slightly dumb looking. But it gets the job done. I have a couple of travel bags and each has a compartment that is a perfect fit for the APMs, which I'm delighted about. By contrast, the Beats Solo Pros are quite fat and didn't fit into where I wanted to put them. The outside material of the APM case is like the stuff they make the magic keyboard out of, and it gets greasy and smeary almost immediately. I'll have to make my peace with that.
The space grey is a boring choice, but it's also a discreet one. You're not screaming to the world, "look at my expensive headphones, please mug me for them". Not that I think I'll be wearing them outdoors. But I will wear them on public transport and I expect they'll be awesome on planes. (I shelled out the extra £35 for the cable. The fact that it's black means it matches the space grey which is vaguely pleasing). The Bose Solo Pros looked enormous on my head; the APMs are much more subtle. The curve follows my head shape more closely, and the cans are flat — they don't stick out like the BSPs.
Oh, the smell. Yeah, there's a smell. I'm sure it will fade. I'm not worried about it.
Conclusions
I love these headphones. They tick all the boxes I had for them. Nothing I worried about — principally comfort — has turned out to be an issue.
As for cost — I make reasonable money and I don't have kids. Sure, they're expensive. Very expensive. Whatever. I can afford them and they are clearly very good quality and an excellent design. They do what I want them to do in a way that no other headphones I've tried have done. They are keepers for sure.
I'll be happy to answer questions if anyone has any.
I'm not an audiophile and I don't know what "sound stage" means, or even whether it's one word or two.
I am an Apple Fanboy. A first adopter. But I'm not afraid to be critical of Apple or disappointed by their products. I do have almost everything they sell, but I have sent things back if they haven't worked out for me — like the AirPods Pro, which just wouldn't stay in my ears.
I missed the boat on the APMs originally. They caught me unawares and by the time I decided I was interested, the shipping times had bloated to 10-12 weeks. I placed an order anyway, and then obsessively checked other stores for stock. John Lewis (in the UK) got some stock and I jumped. I wanted blue, they only had black or silver. I went for black. I wanted them now.
I currently have regular AirPods and Beats Solo Pro. Oh, and some cheap noise-cancelling Phillips headphones I bought a few years ago for flights.
Set-up
The set-up process was really frustrating. I kept bringing the APMs close to my iPhone, but it showed no interest. In the end I paired them manually. But I sensed something was wrong. The iPhone was clearly treating them as just a generic pair of headphones. I got to Googling. The websites I visited all said you should make sure you have the latest software update, which obviously I had because I have my devices set to auto-update.
Except of course I didn't. None of my devices were running iOS 14.3. So I updated them all, which took what seemed like a very long time.
Once that was done, my iPhone immediately connected and paired to the APMs.
Initial impressions
The reason I'm writing this review is because I think a lot of coverage about the APMs has been hysterically positive (I'm talking about you, iJustine), or gloomily negative (oh the case! it's so awful!), or just too technical. I'm just a regular Joe.
First, the weight. I expected them to clunk down on the table like a pair of dumbbells. They're really not that heavy. I'm sure they're heavier than some other headphones, but I don't really have a frame of reference. They're not obviously, noticeably heavy.
Next, comfort. Maybe iJustine wasn't overacting. They are really quite astonishingly, surprisingly comfortable. I have a big head. My head is so big that Disney skullcap-type ears don't fit me. At all. Well, with the APMs I've felt no crushing clamping force. They really are like silken pillows on the side of your head. The beam over the top is barely noticeable. They are literally the most comfortable on-head headphones I've ever had. They are way more comfortable than my Beats Solo Pros, which are going back to Amazon (thank you Christmas returns policy). I've worn them for an hour at a single sitting so far and experienced zero discomfort. There's plenty of scope for adjusting the fit if they do become a little uncomfortable after a long time.
Onto sound. One of my use-cases for these headphones is online tutoring. Sometimes I need to use headphones for this. My AirPods are fine but get uncomfortable after a while. The Beats Solo Pros were useless. I couldn't hear myself talk, not even in transparency mode. The APMs are awesome in transparency mode. Everything everyone's written about this is true. It's like you're not wearing headphones at all. I can hear myself clearly and naturally. I called a friend of mine, who often moans about call quality if I'm using my regular AirPods. She said the call quality was brilliant. And I was able to walk to the other end of the house with the iPhone left in one room and me in another and there was no loss of quality. This has been a real issue with the regular AirPods if I wander out of the room and forget to take my iPhone with me.
So far as music and movies are concerned, I'm not sufficiently sophisticated to be blown away. If I concentrate I can definitely pick up more detail in the sound than I can with built-in speakers or the HomePod. I tried the spacial audio and didn't start screaming with delight. I guess it's kinda clever — the sound feels like it comes from your iPad no matter how you move your head. I don't feel like this is life-changing.
The case? It's slightly dumb looking. But it gets the job done. I have a couple of travel bags and each has a compartment that is a perfect fit for the APMs, which I'm delighted about. By contrast, the Beats Solo Pros are quite fat and didn't fit into where I wanted to put them. The outside material of the APM case is like the stuff they make the magic keyboard out of, and it gets greasy and smeary almost immediately. I'll have to make my peace with that.
The space grey is a boring choice, but it's also a discreet one. You're not screaming to the world, "look at my expensive headphones, please mug me for them". Not that I think I'll be wearing them outdoors. But I will wear them on public transport and I expect they'll be awesome on planes. (I shelled out the extra £35 for the cable. The fact that it's black means it matches the space grey which is vaguely pleasing). The Bose Solo Pros looked enormous on my head; the APMs are much more subtle. The curve follows my head shape more closely, and the cans are flat — they don't stick out like the BSPs.
Oh, the smell. Yeah, there's a smell. I'm sure it will fade. I'm not worried about it.
Conclusions
I love these headphones. They tick all the boxes I had for them. Nothing I worried about — principally comfort — has turned out to be an issue.
As for cost — I make reasonable money and I don't have kids. Sure, they're expensive. Very expensive. Whatever. I can afford them and they are clearly very good quality and an excellent design. They do what I want them to do in a way that no other headphones I've tried have done. They are keepers for sure.
I'll be happy to answer questions if anyone has any.
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