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Powerbeats Pro Water Resistance Test: Find Out What Happens if You Drop Apple's Newest Earbuds in the Toilet
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I dunno - I haven't checked em out yet, nor did I read the article or watch the video. I came only because of the toilet test. Having said that - Apple made em, and they are Beats Yo. So I think some people will really be wanting whatever is better about them. Me included - I might go back and read the article and see
Show me where you can find a $10, $20, or even $50 pair of totally wireless Bluetooth headphones.
Darth Tulhu
macrumors 68020
What I I want to know is what is worth the up to $200 premium over wired headphones for those who choose to pay that much.
Are you implying that not having ANY wires is what is worth the cost? Or is there additional functionality not present in regular, old wired buds?
I'm looking for legit answers/opinions, not snark.
It does highlight a problem with advertising IP-ratings on consumer products, though: They give the customer some initial sense of security, but in practice the manufacturer can almost always avoid being held accountable for water damage.
And there are good reasons for not guaranteeing this - if a customer takes the 1.5m-phone down to a depth of 2m and it breaks, the manufacturer cannot tell, so instead they generally do not cover any water damage at all. And IP tests are done according to very specific conditions, and real-life situations can easily exceed some of those, even when the user may not expect this. E.g. a phone is advertised as resistant to submerging at 1.5m for 30 minutes, but that is while holding still, and moving the phone at 20cm depth for a few seconds might actually subject it to more pressure than it can handle. And then there is aging, deteriorating the seals.
In practice no phone should be brought into contact with water, ever. The fact that it survived snorkeling for three weeks does not mean it will do it again tomorrow, nor that it will survive cleaning under the tap, and if it breaks, the users are on their own. An IP-rating is rather something like an airbag, it can increase the chances in a situation one really really needs to avoid. That does not make for sexy ads, though, so instead we get pictures of phones covered in droplets, "X minutes submerged at Y meters", and fine print freeing the manufacturer from responsibility. It may not be false advertising, but I think many people misunderstand it.
Absolutely. When working out, less wires is always better. There is a huge lack of truly wireless earbuds with ear hooks. Plantronic set have touch buttons that false activate on sweat. Jlab ones are reported to have iffy Bluetooth. The rest are off brand Chinese imports that vary massively in quality.
That’s a useful test but in my experience a very plausible water accident is leaving them in a pocket that finds itself in a washing machine. I did that with an expensive wired etymotic headset and while the earbuds survived the microphone did not. Did you test the microphone after the immersion test? Also salt water to simulate sweat and seawater would be a good additional test
Well maybe someone come swim with them then. Swim test!
And a toilet really, that is dedicated to your job bro!
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I’m sure it was just yours that could not have been sealed right out of the factory. Cause we have seen many test’s where they survive!
And a toilet really, that is dedicated to your job bro!
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I’m sure it was just yours that could not have been sealed right out of the factory. Cause we have seen many test’s where they survive!
Why put them in a toilet when a bowl of water would do?
because we now know that they are toiletproof
there must be an IP rating for this somewhere ...
I commute regularly on the metro in a country where you have to put bags through an x ray machine. It's also really hot during the summer, making satchels/man bags preferable to avoid back sweat.
I can't tell you the amount of times I ripped out my headphones at the X ray machine because I'd accidentally forgotten to thread the wire underneath the strap, or likewise been uncomfortable when the strap yanked down on the headphones that were threaded between it and my body. Once I even pulled my iphone out of my pocket and it nearly fell to the ground. Since airpods, no such problems.
Are they worth a premium? Yes. Absolutely.
Are they worth that amount of premium? That's the question... but it's not like there are a multitude of cheaper options with the exact same functionality in between. Unlike, say, wired headphones. What can a $50 pair do that a $20 or $10 pair can't? Or the free ones bundled in with the phone?
Darth Tulhu
macrumors 68020
Thanks for the info.
For me, just being wireless is not enough to justify the cost, regardless of how cool they are. I guess I'm old-school: Tuck wires inside shirt, plug in, & work out, same as I've done for decades. No drop-outs, no charging, better sound, no pairing problems, no worries, and I get to pocket $130- $230.
Wires bug me too. Phone has fallen out when tugged. Cord against my sweaty skin didn’t feel too good. Even the Beatsx bothers me around the back of my neck. Can’t wait to finally get a pair of true wireless ones.
You could also clean them that way after being dropped into the toilet.
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Apple tax.
I don’t care about cool - I currently rock a pair of Anker earbuds. Anker are good but far from cool. However the cable adds a tiny bit of weight to bottom of the earbud, which pulls it down. This is fine when walking, but when running, the motion pulls on it. There are various clips and things you can mess with to try and get it steady, but it’s always going to be better without the cables. And it’s completely hit and miss - some days it’s fine, other days it’s annoying.
There’s nothing worse than a 20km run and your headphones are having one of those days where the cable is going to annoy you. 2 hours of that whilst breathing out of your arse isn’t fun.
I’ll pay for these headphones for the same reason I’ll pay for an iPhone. I want quality. A £50 android phone will technically do what I want. But I want better. The lack of cables on these are better.
My thoughts:
Most of the folks who don't care about missing headphone jacks indeed value wireless as a prime motivation for buying these things. Water proofing and decent d-to-a converters add to the price. You don't need DACs or batteries aboard wired headphones/earbuds, as the DAC and power source is internal to the phone to which the headphone jack is connected. Except for having onboard DAC(s) and batteries, headphones and earbuds can be judged in similar fashion to wired headphones for qualities like noise cancellation, comfort, and water resistance. Tit for tat, a $250 wired headphone/earbud will likely be superior to a similarly priced bluetooth device, as the price is solely based upon speaker quality sans DACs and battery costs. The main limitation for nice wired headphones is the quality of the original digital signal and the DAC to which the headphones are connected, in this case the sound engineering designed into the phone with the jack.
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I am interested but these kind of things never hold on my ears. I had similar ones from sennheiser and they were uncomfortable and always fall out. I am waiting on a truly second gen of AirPods
Then it was a manufacturing defect and Apple should have replaced the phone. Except they never will. So they're falsely advertising a feature that they will never honour.
Welcome to MacRumors...Why put them in a toilet when a bowl of water would do?
I too was pleasantly surprised after one AirPod dropped into a cup full of coffee in which it remained fully submerged while I fumbled to retrieve it. I then rinsed it under a tap, wiped it with a towel and left it to dry/die in the sunshine. To date, the pair function perfectly.