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replacing my Airpods 2: should I buy 2 again or airpods 4?

H

heycal

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 25, 2013
873
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I've been happily using my airpods 2 for several years now, but they no longer hold a charge and need to replace them. I love the way they feel in the ear and I often forget I have them on. I use them for listening to podcasts while I walk and for phone calls either out walking or around the house. Sometimes listen to music. I put them on my wireless charging pads when I need to juice them. Occcaionally I've lost one bud or the whole case, but have found them with find my iphone app.

Now that I need new ones, which should I get? Seems for about the same price I can a new pair of the tried and true airpods 2, or get Airpods 4, which I guess has all sorts of new features. (I don't think I need the noise cancelling version, and I actually don't want that while I'm out walking anyway.)

Thoughts?
 
Also, I'm seeing allegedly brand new airpods 2 or 4 versions for sometimes a third of the price on E.bay. Too good to be true or legit?
 
The Airpods 4 without the active noise cancellation feature don't have wireless charging? Ugh. I just ordered one and it doens't appear to have it. I would have just gotten another airpods 2 if I'd realized that, and may send this one back.
 
I tried the airpod 4's, but immediately sent them back because I couldn't get tap to play or fast forward to work, and the squeezing methods seems nuts. You folks with airpod 4's are okay with this change?
 
heycal said:
I tried the airpod 4's, but immediately sent them back because I couldn't get tap to play or fast forward to work, and the squeezing methods seems nuts. You folks with airpod 4's are okay with this change?
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yep, but it took me reading the manual
 
heycal said:
Also, I'm seeing allegedly brand new airpods 2 or 4 versions for sometimes a third of the price on E.bay. Too good to be true or legit?
Click to expand...

Only buy through Apple or their authorized retailers. OP, where you located?

nvm you already made your purchase :)
 
TokyoKiller said:
Only buy through Apple or their authorized retailers. OP, where you located?

nvm you already made your purchase :)
Click to expand...
The airpods 4 were succesfully returned to Amazon. I then bought airpods 2 from ebay against your advice (Apple doesn't seem to sell them), and they don't work properly. However, Apple support seem to recognize the serial number as legit and says to bring them in for repair or replacment since they are still under warranty.
 
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This is a quick guide on how to use AirPods 4 (double tap center to put in pairing mode)
1741630619624.png
 
heycal said:
The airpods 4 were succesfully returned to Amazon. I then bought airpods 2 from ebay against your advice (Apple doesn't seem to sell them), and they don't work properly. However, Apple support seem to recognize the serial number as legit and says to bring them in for repair or replacment since they are still under warranty.
Click to expand...

I mean that's not great but good thing the serial number is recognized, hopefully they aren't fake.

Did you take your AirPods 2 to the store and they said they don't have replacements at the Genius Bar? They should still have replacements.
 
The active noise cancellation helps. Loud envrionments, it turns it up, but in quieter envrionments, it sounds like transparency mode.
 
TokyoKiller said:
I mean that's not great but good thing the serial number is recognized, hopefully they aren't fake.

Did you take your AirPods 2 to the store and they said they don't have replacements at the Genius Bar? They should still have replacements.
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I was planning to return them on eBay, but when Apple phone support recognized the serial number and said they were still under warranty, I decided to send them in for repair. Haven't been to an Apple store. If these are fake, they should be given a nobel prize for design forgery since the airpods and case look exactly alike in every conceivable way to my previous Apple bought ones.
 
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Applewatch42 said:
You press with one and hold the AirPod in place with another finger
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Is it me, is this literally an insane design move on Apple's part? (Not for the first time, either!) "Hey, instead of activating this feature with one quick tap of a finger, let's change it to require the use of two fingers on the model. This will make it both more cumbersome and much slower to skip songs, back up, pause, etc. Isn't that a great idea??"
 
heycal said:
Is it me, is this literally an insane design move on Apple's part? (Not for the first time, either!) "Hey, instead of activating this feature with one quick tap of a finger, let's change it to require the use of two fingers on the model. This will make it both more cumbersome and much slower to skip songs, back up, pause, etc. Isn't that a great idea??"
Click to expand...
It is not slower, and it is more reliable than before (and easier to know if you did so), and this has been a feature since the original AirPods pro, and you hold it like this
1741801987839.png
 
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Applewatch42 said:
It is not slower, and it is more reliable than before (and easier to know if you did so), and this has been a feature since the original AirPods pro, and you hold it like this
View attachment 2491458
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Easier to know if I successfully fast forwarded a song or stopped a podcast? That's self evident.

And of course it's slower. There is simply no way you can skip past 4 songs to get to one you like faster by squeezing with two fingers instead of tapping with one. And that's to say nothing of how much harder it would be to do so while jogging.
 
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heycal said:
Is it me, is this literally an insane design move on Apple's part? (Not for the first time, either!) "Hey, instead of activating this feature with one quick tap of a finger, let's change it to require the use of two fingers on the model. This will make it both more cumbersome and much slower to skip songs, back up, pause, etc. Isn't that a great idea??"
Click to expand...
That's why I like my Beats Fit Pro best. I own both,4's (poor controls) and the BFP controls are fantastic with buttons that can be programmed. I have push and hold on the buttons set to increase or reduce volume. It is a super nice feature.
 
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