Question about Apple wireless EarPods? How good are they?

[bonjourx]

Would love to hear other reviews for those who have it? Thinking of purchasing one, I have beats solo 2 wireless but it hurts my ears eventually after a while of wearing them. How good are they? Do they fall out easily? I don't really run but will in the future, Can I use them for running? Checked it online and they won't be shipping until 6 weeks, not sure if I should wait or there would be new and better apple wireless EarPods coming out? Thanks guys!

 

[OcelotWreak]

I got my earpods on the first day they were available and I love using them every day. I have never had one fall out of my ear, but I am not a runner. However, leaning over to tie your shoes or leaning sideways does not seem to dislodge them. The old regular Apple white earbuds used to fall out all the time because of the cords pulling on my clothes or getting tangled on anything. EarPods are much more comfortable than, and the sound is much better than, the ordinary Apple white earphones.

One change in my behaviour is that I find myself listening to music much more often just because the sound is better and less hassle of untangling earbud cords. I use the EarPods all the time to talk on the phone, rather than holding the phone beside my ear. Again the sound is better and it's easier to have a conversation and continue working at the same time. They automagically pair very quickly and easily with your iPhone.

My only complaint about them is that, although it is very easy to magnetically snap them back into their charging case, I fumble all the time trying to extract them from the case. I've found that if you pull on them at a 45 degree angle they will consistently come out more easily but it's still sometimes like the magnets want to dearly hang on to them!

Best Apple product i've purchased since getting my old 17" Macbook Pro in 2011.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Would love to hear other reviews for those who have it? Thinking of purchasing one, I have beats solo 2 wireless but it hurts my ears eventually after a while of wearing them. How good are they? Do they fall out easily? I don't really run but will in the future, Can I use them for running? Checked it online and they won't be shipping until 6 weeks, not sure if I should wait or there would be new and better apple wireless EarPods coming out? Thanks guys!

Haven't used them, so the only observation I have is that it's very unlikely that a new model will be coming out anytime soon. This is not a case of an older product being pulled from the shelves prior to the release of a new product. They've only been available to order since December, and the order backlog has been present ever since. Feel free to speculate on whether this is due to unanticipated demand, or an artificial shortage.

 

[campyguy]

I'd offer a review, but I don't own any. Wired all the way here. I've wanted to try a pair, but…

My GF owns a pair, and she won't let them out of her sight. She runs, listens to all kinds of genres, owns nice wired cans (Beyers, Grados) like me. She hasn't touched her Grados (SR80e) or Beyers (T51i) or my Grado SR325e (I also own a pair of the same Beyers) since she landed a pair of Apple's new wireless buds. She pretty much can't deal with wires anymore…

So, writing for her here, snag a pair. I'll buy them if I can't get my hands on a pair first!

 

[David58117]

I LOVE my Airpods!

After my wife tried mine, she (surprisingly) had me order a pair for her. This is someone who hated prior Bluetooth headphones, and would use a cheap pair for everything.

We both use them at the gym, and just for casual listening. They're great for laying in bed, or just general use throughout the day. They switch to mono when only one earbud is in use, last about 5-6 hours, and the case charges them quickly and lasts quite awhile between charges.

For "serious" listening I use my HD800s, but the AirPods have become one of my favorite pair due to convenience and portability.

 

[burne]

For "serious" listening I use my HD800s,

Only while driving your zonda rx, I hope?

 

[remmealaska]

Only while driving your zonda rx, I hope?

Right? I wish I had $1400 to spare to get some HD800s. And here I thought I was spending a lot when I bought some Sennheiser Momentum 2.0s for $350.....

 

[OneMike]

Would love to hear other reviews for those who have it? Thinking of purchasing one, I have beats solo 2 wireless but it hurts my ears eventually after a while of wearing them. How good are they? Do they fall out easily? I don't really run but will in the future, Can I use them for running? Checked it online and they won't be shipping until 6 weeks, not sure if I should wait or there would be new and better apple wireless EarPods coming out? Thanks guys!

I use them daily in the gym and even when doing exercises that require you to lay down I haven't had them fall out.

I do use them when shooting around playing basketball, which involves a bit of running. I did have one pop out or begin to pop out a few times, but I managed to catch it before it fell.

I think overall they are great, but I wouldn't buy them primarily for running. Each step causes impact. Mix that with sweat and I can see them flying down the road.

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

Love my Airpods. I've spent probably $600 in bluetooth headphones – including the Beats Solo 2, which, like you, I didn't like because they hurt my ears – and have finally found the right ones. I feel like the Airpods are ever so slightly larger than EarPods which coupled with the lack of cord, mean they stay in my ears great. I run with mine all the time and they stay in without any problems. I've never run the battery down to zero because the case they come with is great. Just charge that every few days/once a week, and I'm good to go.

I read the other day that you can use one of the inventory stock sites to notify you when they are available in stores (I think someone found a pair at Target) and be able to get them long before the 6 weeks.

 

[David58117]

Only while driving your zonda rx, I hope?

Right? I wish I had $1400 to spare to get some HD800s. And here I thought I was spending a lot when I bought some Sennheiser Momentum 2.0s for $350.....

Haha no. I'd feel sick spending over $20,000 or so on a vehicle. It's just such a waste of money, to me.

However, headphones have been a hobby of mine for over 10 years. $1400 for the "I found what I'm looking for" pair is a pretty good deal.

BTW - they're spectacular is you listen to classical or acoustic driven music.

 

[davybe]

Bonjour bonjourx,

I got them before Christmas as I ordered them minutes after the 'Buy' button appeared on apple.com

I love them to bits and use them constantly. They are almost perfect: great sound (yes), so easy & quick to recharge multiple times in case, great battery life, switches device to device effortlessly, also works for calls, etc. They are not even fragile as they bounce when dropped, and the case is very sturdy. For me they fit and do not fall at all, except if something were to bump up into their stem, which lifts them from my ear. Oh and, they are really small, fit in the small pocket of jeans, etc.

A few remarks: you need to get used to getting them out of the case (that said it's a pleasure to pop the case open/shut or pop the AirPods back in, they have satisfying snaps due to magnets and springs used). The status 'sheet' popping at the bottom of the iPhone's screen to show your AirPods and their battery levels sometimes takes too long to display. When pulling the 'choose audio device' sheet on another iOS device it sometimes takes seconds for the AirPods to be visible. A few times one ear resyncs for a second or two, but with that said it's rare and they are much better isolated than expensive Sennheisers (less interference when I approach my microwave in operatio), and they do have enough range for me to walk room to room in the house without the phone!

Honnestly the above is just to fairly mention what I noticed. Those are really minor and not 10% of the annoyance the cord was!!! The cord (before I got those) is why I dropped my 7+ on tile...

For a very first version of a product, and for the price (compared to both value and competition) I say Bravo to Apple.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

I can't remember when I've last seen such a unanimously enthusiastic response (at Mac Rumors) to a new Apple product - in this, and every other AirPods thread. Biggest complaint has been availability. That won't be a problem by fall 2017, when the next iPhone arrives. (While Watch gets plenty of rave reviews, there's still no escaping the chorus of "Smart watches are stupid.")

(Pretending to be a Wall St. analyst) Altogether, this kind of word of mouth lays the groundwork for an even more outstanding Fall 2017. Had they been released in 2016 alongside those new iPhones, the public would have been skeptical (as many were following the product announcement. The current, successful "preview" period will make these much easier to up-sell in the fall, when, naturally, there will be plenty of supply on hand. The value pricing (when compared to other Bluetooth headsets) will help cement the deal. Based on an estimate that 10% of iPhone buyers will get these, we're talking about a $16 increase in the average selling price of an iPhone.

 

[mkelly]

Would love to hear other reviews for those who have it? Thinking of purchasing one, I have beats solo 2 wireless but it hurts my ears eventually after a while of wearing them. How good are they? Do they fall out easily? I don't really run but will in the future, Can I use them for running? Checked it online and they won't be shipping until 6 weeks, not sure if I should wait or there would be new and better apple wireless EarPods coming out? Thanks guys!

My wife uses her pair for running every day and they do not fall out. Now of course this might vary by ear type, but she's had issues with other earbuds falling out in the past. Not so with the AirPods. It seems the biggest cause of (wired) earbuds falling out actually the weight of the cable/wire *pulling* them out of your ears as you run. That isn't an issue with the AirPods.

Best product that Apple has released in many, many years. We liked them so much we bought a second pair.

BTW: While they are indeed backordered, stock does arrive at Apple Stores from time to time. If you live anywhere near an Apple Store, just do what we did and set an alert up via iStockNow - when a local store gets them in stock, you can pop online and reserve a pair for pickup. It took something like 3 days from the time I set the alert up to my wife getting her AirPods.

http://www.istocknow.com

 

[scir91]

unbelievable.

funny how i pegged their value at $300 a few months back and soon enough macrumors had an article saying how apple has underpriced them. they are absolutely underpriced.

side to side by ariana grande.

the "sweet" bass that comes out of those earphones is incredible. this is the song that sounded so good on these that i bought them right away. they are worth every penny. especially if you hate ANY kind of wires. i use them at the gym and no wires are ever annoying my neck or getting into a barbell.

 

[OcelotWreak]

Is anyone using them with an Android or Windows computer? Just curious about compatibility.

 

[Mikael H]

Is anyone using them with an Android or Windows computer? Just curious about compatibility.

With non-apple systems they should work just like any bluetooth sound device, without the magic provided by the W1 chip. I have no personal experience with that use case, though.

 

[Fishrrman]

I guess I'm just an old codger (I am!), but I see the concept of high priced "wireless" earpods as a foolish design and waste of money.

The things are so small, it's easy to lose one.
With wired headphones -- or even earpods -- at least they're attached to something, easy to grab if they fall out.

I've never liked "in the ear" devices in any case, and won't use one.

That said, the pricing is ridiculous. One can pay $20-25 for a decent set of "against the ear" headphones and get equivalent sound quality.

As the saying goes... "fools and their money"...
... keep Tim Cook smilin' all the way to the stockholders' meeting!

 

[Mikael H]

I guess I'm just an old codger (I am!), but I see the concept of high priced "wireless" earpods as a foolish design and waste of money.

The things are so small, it's easy to lose one.
With wired headphones -- or even earpods -- at least they're attached to something, easy to grab if they fall out.

I've never liked "in the ear" devices in any case, and won't use one.

That said, the pricing is ridiculous. One can pay $20-25 for a decent set of "against the ear" headphones and get equivalent sound quality.

As the saying goes... "fools and their money"...
... keep Tim Cook smilin' all the way to the stockholders' meeting!

Well, most consumer goods is luxury items that makes life slightly more comfortable at some expense. As long as people can actually afford what they purchase I'm really OK with that. Any company I would be likely to start would sell exactly that: Stuff (or services) that isn't necessary for one's survival, but which makes life slightly nicer.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

I guess I'm just an old codger (I am!), but I see the concept of high priced "wireless" earpods as a foolish design and waste of money.

The things are so small, it's easy to lose one.
With wired headphones -- or even earpods -- at least they're attached to something, easy to grab if they fall out.

I've never liked "in the ear" devices in any case, and won't use one.

That said, the pricing is ridiculous. One can pay $20-25 for a decent set of "against the ear" headphones and get equivalent sound quality.

As the saying goes... "fools and their money"...
... keep Tim Cook smilin' all the way to the stockholders' meeting!

I'm not about to go out and buy a set, either. I barely use my wired EarPods, so spending on a wireless solution is below the bottom of my priority list.

However, I have many decades of professional, wired headphone usage behind me (radio, TV, music recording/production). In brief, cables suck. Cable-as-tether not only prevents loss, it has to absorb the stress induced when a user "reaches the end of his rope." The studios where I worked had dozens of headsets in active service. We had to check each pair deployed when setting up for a session. Air talent would press "Play" and pop up to dash to the bathroom... We were constantly swapping/replacing intermittent headsets, and repairing cables and connectors.

Now, wires are always the simpler solution. The list of challenges that must be overcome for a system like AirPods to work well (which, reportedly, it does), is long. So yes, you can consider it an over-engineered solution. The only question is whether the problem to be solved is inconsequential. My feeling is, if the AirPods can out-live several wired headsets, they've paid for themselves. That will depend upon the individual - some people are much harder on their gear than others, and some are more prone to loss than others.

(And while in-ear headphones aren't your cup of tea, would you feel quite as strongly about a set of over-the-ear wireless headphones?)

My father recently got a new set of Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids. He'd lost his previous, older-tech hearing aids on numerous occasions, and we weren't always able to find them (hence, the need for the new ones). The new set has an iOS app - so long as the lost device is within Bluetooth range, it can be located. And so far, Dad has been able to locate them on his own, which was rarely the case previously.

 

[David58117]

I guess I'm just an old codger (I am!), but I see the concept of high priced "wireless" earpods as a foolish design and waste of money.

The things are so small, it's easy to lose one.
With wired headphones -- or even earpods -- at least they're attached to something, easy to grab if they fall out.

I've never liked "in the ear" devices in any case, and won't use one.

That said, the pricing is ridiculous. One can pay $20-25 for a decent set of "against the ear" headphones and get equivalent sound quality.

As the saying goes... "fools and their money"...
... keep Tim Cook smilin' all the way to the stockholders' meeting!

Er - I don't think you realize how cheap (price wise) the Airpods actually are. They're certainly not anywhere close to being "high priced," in the headphone/iem world. Sound quality of course doesn't compare to something with bigger drivers, and yeah my $50 PortaPros sound much better - but you don't get bluetooth sets for soundquality.

I've had so many Bluetooth sets over the years (really since 2012ish, for gym use), and $160 for wireless and a hardshell charging case is pretty amazing. I mean, you were paying $300+ just before the Airpods came out for anything close to what you get with them. And the battery life of those and the case was terrible in comparison to the Airpods.

Anyway, my wife and I use them at the gym, and neither of us have had them fall out. That's with sweaty cardio on the treatmill for a few miles of running.

If you've paid attention to the headphone world the past few years, you would see that Apple some done something really spectacular with them.

 

[shaunp]

With a product like Air Pods, sound quality should be like 100th on the list of characteristics that you would look for in this product. I they are only headphones, so obviously they must look cool and not make you look like an idiot wearing them. And if they happen to have mediocre sound, well that's okay too.

** yes this is intended to be a sarcastic post if anyone is in any doubt. Sorry couldn't resist **

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

With a product like Air Pods, sound quality should be like 100th on the list of characteristics that you would look for in this product. I they are only headphones, so obviously they must look cool and not make you look like an idiot wearing them. And if they happen to have mediocre sound, well that's okay too.

** yes this is intended to be a sarcastic post if anyone is in any doubt. Sorry couldn't resist **

I once ordered a $60 kobe beef steak (that was the price without sides) while out celebrating with friends. I couldn't tell the difference between that piece of meat and a filet mignon at half the price. I just don't have the palette. The same is true of sound. How it sounds is not my top priority. I've spent hundreds of dollars on bluetooth headphones and it wasn't until the Airpods that I found a pair I loved. The in-ears I bought didn't fit, and the on-ears hurt my ears. The Airpods fit my ears perfectly. They don't fall out, they are truly wireless, they last a long time. All of these things are more important to me than sound quality.

 

[shaunp]

I once ordered a $60 kobe beef steak (that was the price without sides) while out celebrating with friends. I couldn't tell the difference between that piece of meat and a filet mignon at half the price. I just don't have the palette. The same is true of sound. How it sounds is not my top priority. I've spent hundreds of dollars on bluetooth headphones and it wasn't until the Airpods that I found a pair I loved. The in-ears I bought didn't fit, and the on-ears hurt my ears. The Airpods fit my ears perfectly. They don't fall out, they are truly wireless, they last a long time. All of these things are more important to me than sound quality.

If they work for you that's great. I just can't get over the look of them. Personal preference sure, but they just don't work for me and I know what the average British guy would say to me if I wore a pair of these. Actually they wouldn't say anything, they'd more likely just punch me in the face. And it would be for my own good.

 

[LatestOne]

it would be better if they better explain what the W2 chip actually doing as far as transmission. I know that you simply will take individual headphones out and it'll sense that, however once it involves transmission all I hear is that it's alleged to be as if by magic higher. Given a scarcity of testable claims, i'm skeptical that it's primarily a proprietary wrapper for Bluetooth with some asthetic tweaks very like iPhone lightening ports area unit a proprietary wrapper on usb with some fascinating asthetic tweaks.

Is anyone using them with an Android or Windows computer? Just curious about compatibility.

As far As I concerned there is no Isolation, Non stable or less stable when they connected to other than apple devices.

 

[FrisbeeK9]

Anyway, my wife and I use them at the gym, and neither of us have had them fall out. That's with sweaty cardio on the treatmill for a few miles of running.

All the previous ear bud type of devices from  would fall out. So I tried them out at the Apple Store and they seemed to stay in well. I received my pair of Air Pods yesterday and this morning I tripped and fell on my driveway and the air pods stayed in as I hit the ground. Pretty amazing. The sound is pretty good not sure what the EQ setting helps them sound the best yet.