If you're like me and you absolutely love fidgeting with an AirPods case in your hand I recommend picking up in store when ordering launch day AirPods so you can unbox them in the store and make sure they're up to your standard. My past two AirPods purchases (AirPods 4 & APP 2) were both launch day deliveries and both had poor tolerances on the case lid compared to my APP 1 which was absolutely rock solid. The poor tolerance on the hinge caused some seriously irritating creaking and wiggle, I had to get my AirPods 4 exchanged twice in succession before I could find one that was ok (but still not as good as APP 1).
I know it's anecdotal and many people have either never had this problem or don't mind a loose hinge but if it's important to you like it is to me I recommend picking up in store.
When I purchased a replacement APP 2 unit a while ago the hinge was completely fine. Maybe it's just bad luck on my part but my experience suggests Apple take a couple months to perfect tolerances when there's a new AirPods case SKU.
I know it's anecdotal and many people have either never had this problem or don't mind a loose hinge but if it's important to you like it is to me I recommend picking up in store.
When I purchased a replacement APP 2 unit a while ago the hinge was completely fine. Maybe it's just bad luck on my part but my experience suggests Apple take a couple months to perfect tolerances when there's a new AirPods case SKU.
