So I was one of those who thought new AirPods could be released anytime so I never got the old generation, and I waited and waited and they never came but I still thought I would wait since I was still doing just fine with my good old lightning EarPods. Anyways, new AirPods came out and I finally made the switch to wireless. Here are my impressions.
DESIGN
I gotta say I’m still not a fan of the looks. They don’t really look like EarPods with their cable cut off. EarPods have a really slim and shorter stem. AirPods, having thicker stems makes them look like they are some Chinese knock offs. But anyways, I bought them for their convenience and not for the looks. I just wish the stem was a tiny bit shorter, and really hoped for the matte finish rumor to be true since I really like the matte finish of the new Apple Pencil. The case being white plastic also feels to me like out of date for Apple, feels like from the times of the iPod and white plastic MacBooks.
SOUND
I never got to use the 1st gen. But I gotta say the sound quality of the new AirPods compared to the wired EarPods is great! I could notice the increase in bass right away. I’m no audiophile but this audio quality is to me really good. Even though they don’t have noise cancellation I can still enjoy music outdoors while walking in the city, etc. I haven’t tested them on a noisy airplane.
HEY SIRI
Back when I had my EarPods, there were a few times while walking back home with bags full of groceries on both my hands and I wanted to skip to a different song and I couldn’t since both my hands where busy. I even thought that maaaybe I could say “hey Siri” to the built-in remote. I tried and of course didn’t work, and kept thinking how useful it would be if that worked hands-free with the AirPods. I’m happy to say that Hey-Siri works flawlessly. When I’m at home I swear I say almost to the point of whispering “Hey Siri, increase the volume” and the volume goes up instantly without the music even pausing or having Siri say something. If my iPhone is in my pocket the screen doesn’t even turn on for Siri commands (I know because I tried covering the faceID sensor area as a test). When I’m outdoors I do have to say Hey-Siri a little louder, which is a shame since I don’t want people listening to me talking to my AirPods haha. It’s also lame that it needs an internet connection even for simple commands like skipping a song or increasing volume. I tried in an elevator when I had no reception and Siri told me it couldn’t do that at the moment.
GESTURES AND SENSORS
At first I couldn’t really get the double tap to work successfully. It was pretty hit and miss. Then I read the feature depended on an accelerometer so I figured the AirPods were registering the motion and not the touch. So now that I tap a little harder it works, but doesn’t feel natural the way the double tap works on the new Apple Pencil. I also wish there was some sort of gesture for adjusting the volume from the AirPods themselves. That’s the thing I miss the most from my old EarPods. Taking an AirPod out of the ear and having the music pause is nice. But I’ve found many times that holding the AirPod in my hands can cover the sensor and resume playing the music at anytime, which is annoying if I’m ordering or paying for something at the cashier for instance.
BATTERY
I can see the percentage drops pretty quickly but so far I only used them while outdoors. At work I use a pair of big cans. So every time I reach home or get somewhere, I put them back in the case and they charge right away. So I can say that so far I’m satisfied with the battery but I still need more time to judge it. I can say though, that the battery on the case lasts a long time and can charge the AirPods a lot of times.
MORE
I don’t have the wireless case. I decided not to get it since I wanted to save some cash and charging via lighting doesn’t seem like a hassle to me. I’m especially happy now that I can see that the battery case doesn’t need to be charged that often. Switching between devices is not instant but it's not slow either. I've had a few times when the audio mutes like a fraction of a second, as it there's a connectivity issue or something. It hasn't happened too often though. The fit of both, EarPods and AirPods is good on my ears. I can tell the AirPods will not fall as often as the EarPods did since there's no wires pulling or pushing them. Overall I'm pretty pleased with them.
DESIGN
I gotta say I’m still not a fan of the looks. They don’t really look like EarPods with their cable cut off. EarPods have a really slim and shorter stem. AirPods, having thicker stems makes them look like they are some Chinese knock offs. But anyways, I bought them for their convenience and not for the looks. I just wish the stem was a tiny bit shorter, and really hoped for the matte finish rumor to be true since I really like the matte finish of the new Apple Pencil. The case being white plastic also feels to me like out of date for Apple, feels like from the times of the iPod and white plastic MacBooks.
SOUND
I never got to use the 1st gen. But I gotta say the sound quality of the new AirPods compared to the wired EarPods is great! I could notice the increase in bass right away. I’m no audiophile but this audio quality is to me really good. Even though they don’t have noise cancellation I can still enjoy music outdoors while walking in the city, etc. I haven’t tested them on a noisy airplane.
HEY SIRI
Back when I had my EarPods, there were a few times while walking back home with bags full of groceries on both my hands and I wanted to skip to a different song and I couldn’t since both my hands where busy. I even thought that maaaybe I could say “hey Siri” to the built-in remote. I tried and of course didn’t work, and kept thinking how useful it would be if that worked hands-free with the AirPods. I’m happy to say that Hey-Siri works flawlessly. When I’m at home I swear I say almost to the point of whispering “Hey Siri, increase the volume” and the volume goes up instantly without the music even pausing or having Siri say something. If my iPhone is in my pocket the screen doesn’t even turn on for Siri commands (I know because I tried covering the faceID sensor area as a test). When I’m outdoors I do have to say Hey-Siri a little louder, which is a shame since I don’t want people listening to me talking to my AirPods haha. It’s also lame that it needs an internet connection even for simple commands like skipping a song or increasing volume. I tried in an elevator when I had no reception and Siri told me it couldn’t do that at the moment.
GESTURES AND SENSORS
At first I couldn’t really get the double tap to work successfully. It was pretty hit and miss. Then I read the feature depended on an accelerometer so I figured the AirPods were registering the motion and not the touch. So now that I tap a little harder it works, but doesn’t feel natural the way the double tap works on the new Apple Pencil. I also wish there was some sort of gesture for adjusting the volume from the AirPods themselves. That’s the thing I miss the most from my old EarPods. Taking an AirPod out of the ear and having the music pause is nice. But I’ve found many times that holding the AirPod in my hands can cover the sensor and resume playing the music at anytime, which is annoying if I’m ordering or paying for something at the cashier for instance.
BATTERY
I can see the percentage drops pretty quickly but so far I only used them while outdoors. At work I use a pair of big cans. So every time I reach home or get somewhere, I put them back in the case and they charge right away. So I can say that so far I’m satisfied with the battery but I still need more time to judge it. I can say though, that the battery on the case lasts a long time and can charge the AirPods a lot of times.
MORE
I don’t have the wireless case. I decided not to get it since I wanted to save some cash and charging via lighting doesn’t seem like a hassle to me. I’m especially happy now that I can see that the battery case doesn’t need to be charged that often. Switching between devices is not instant but it's not slow either. I've had a few times when the audio mutes like a fraction of a second, as it there's a connectivity issue or something. It hasn't happened too often though. The fit of both, EarPods and AirPods is good on my ears. I can tell the AirPods will not fall as often as the EarPods did since there's no wires pulling or pushing them. Overall I'm pretty pleased with them.
