Xiaomi Unveils Its Own AirPods Clones

[JosephAW]

Me, I'm using the TWS i7 earbuds with 3 hr battery life and disposable ~ $20 price point.

 

[Iconoclysm]

This was going to happen

$60 - damn

I do like the MR question how the saving impacts sound quality . Well the AirPods sound quality is the same as the $29 EarPods.

Love my AirPods , still one of the best apple products recently.

The sound quality on AirPods is not the same as EarPods, really.
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To be honest, I don't think i'd be "hard pressed" to tell the difference. Ok they are white and a similar size, but look completely different.

Look at the case, for one. How many wire free headphones did you see with stems before the airpods? The only change is the cubic look where the electronics are.

 

[bartvk]

The case looks so clunky too me. 1:0 for design for AirPods.

Design, yes. But according to this site, the case charges over USB-C. That's a big plus in my book.

 

[Iconoclysm]

And what happens when you change the company direction to chase shareholders profits ? Run by a non product individual? If we are looking at history , I’d recommend you look at around 1997, 10 years prior . Took sculley about 10 years to almost make apple a long forgotten Company.

This is complete nonsense. Making comparisons like that is ludicrous.

 

[TwoBytes]

active noise cancellation? I bet these sound better but the lack of w1 chip will make these more cumbersome to work with.
If only the w1 chip was opened up to give consumers choice..

 

[iZac]

As much as I hate Xiaomi's shameless copying, this is really not the same design as AirPods outside of having a stalk.... more like an AirPod that someone described over the phone.

Having said that, the carry case is more like the dental floss design that Apple uses and would surely be the biggest thing that someone should refuse to mimic.

 

[Shiro_Simba]

Good job shoehorning in your Apple hate on a Xiaomi thread, but I'll bite.

There are almost 0 companies where the CEO is a "product guy" who is actively involved in developing products. Steve was the exception to the rule. That isn't the problem with Apple. And yes there's a lot Apple need to improve, but there's a lot that's good as well.

If you're genuinely struggling to make a distinction between Xiaomi's business practices and Apple's, you're not qualified to give an opinion on either.

Hang on - you went off topic about those who copy Apple will not exist , I gave you a history lesson to what happened to Apple know the product guy left.

Apple hate ? Ha ha ha owww you don’t get to label me mate, shows how’s off the mark you, my first apple product was 1980. Try more analysis .

Qualified to make an opinion? On a forum , for rumours ? Owwww dear. Less policing mate..... hand in that badge

Please do explain how Apple was almost bankrupt in 1997 as those around that copied them crumbled , your missing the point I’m making ...... research the sculley years !
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This is complete nonsense. Making comparisons like that is ludicrous.

Sculley years were fact . Where am I wrong ? Feel free to point that out, saying nonsense..... is nonsense without rebuttal
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The sound quality on AirPods is not the same as EarPods, really.

Let me rephrase- for me they found the same . On a blind test, I’d be suprised if others could tell.
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Not even close.

You think there is a big difference? Okay , good .

 

[Toby_95]

Let’s hope apple take a leaf out off Xiaomi’s books and gets some decent active noise cancellation in the next gen AirPods

 

[Shiro_Simba]

I’ve had both and the sound quality of the AirPods and the EarPods is NOT the same.

As do I. Though it’s personal preference in the end . For me , they are so close , might as well be the same . Though for music I use proper in ears , so I never did too much testing. AirPods are my best gym headphones ever. I really really like them .

 

[iRutherford]

China is always the first to criticize and boycott, yet always the first one to copy and steal. Pathetic.

 

[bchreng]

If you can’t innovate, imitate. Xiaomi will always be one step behind as they’re waiting for Apple to release the product they’ll be copying.

But then there’ll be another company that comes along which does the same for even cheaper. We’ve seen it time and again over the last few decades in technology. It’s not a viable long-term business model and within a decade they’ll be a long-forgotten company.

The companies there are always imitating each other while introducing small incremental changes with each new iteration. Sometimes ideas work and sometimes they don’t. The result are surprisingly capable smartphones that fill a void that Apple are trying to go after with the XR.

 

[pixelelated]

If you can’t innovate, imitate. Xiaomi will always be one step behind as they’re waiting for Apple to release the product they’ll be copying.

But then there’ll be another company that comes along which does the same for even cheaper. We’ve seen it time and again over the last few decades in technology. It’s not a viable long-term business model and within a decade they’ll be a long-forgotten company.

I think you will find that Xiaomi is doing quite well even with just the products that aren't copies, since that company (including their many subsidiaries) covers a much broader product range. Their products are of high quality at an always affordable price range, so it will be a while until a competitor manages to topple that business model.

 

[sammich]

complete with the signature "arm" that houses the Bluetooth receiver and beamforming microphone

What? Who on earth calls it an 'arm'? It's not even remotely close to being 'arm'-like.

The word you're looking for is 'stem'.

 

[pixelelated]

active noise cancellation? I bet these sound better but the lack of w1 chip will make these more cumbersome to work with.
If only the w1 chip was opened up to give consumers choice..

Don't know why ANC has been ignored in the comments, that is one hell of the feature. Unfortunately, just like the AirPods, the design is a big no for me, both look utterly ridiculous. I will wait for the black pair to launch but I doubt that the colour is going to sway me.

 

[RightMACatU]

I wonder if Bloomberg thinks that these are augmented with unwanted hardware to spy on people?

 

[GaryMumford]

The sound quality on AirPods is not the same as EarPods, really.
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Look at the case, for one. How many wire free headphones did you see with stems before the airpods? The only change is the cubic look where the electronics are.

Yeah, the case is similar. But if someone is walking down the street listening to music on these I'm not going to ask to see the case before I decide if I think there genuine Apple AirPods or not! I'm going to look at whats in the ear and think There not Apple AirPods, they look different!

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I kinda wish Apple would build something similar. Hell, I'd be happy with just silicon-tipped Airpods (that I don't have to assemble to use and disassemble to put away, like I do with AirPods with ear hooks).

 

[adamjackson]

My nephew got "airpods" for Christmas. He was stoked. It was a look-a-like unit for $39 from eBay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Blueto...h=item443280809c:g:z68AAOSwAQVcI93j:rk:1:pf:0

There are thousands of these on eBay from different companies.

 

[Kanyay]

The ease of use and seamless integration is why people buy the AirPods. These don't have that.

Next.

 

[gnipgnop]

"To their credit, the AirDots Pro have silicone tips for improved sound isolation"

LOL...I was really glad when Apple ditched the bulb style tips and designed something different. Those types of ear buds have always been overrated in terms of their sound quality and are not as comfortable as Apple's design.

 

[Jeremyl007]

As much as I hate Xiaomi's shameless copying, this is really not the same design as AirPods outside of having a stalk.

More like an AirPod that someone described over the phone.

Having said that, the carry case is more like the dental floss design that Apple uses and would surely be the biggest thing that someone should refuse to mimic.

How different could wireless headphones be. Its almost like saying everyone copied everyone else's phone because its could a touch screen on the front, a camera back panel on the back, and a front facing camera, and it has four sides in the shape of a rectangle
[doublepost=1546955678][/doublepost]less than half the price of those pricey head phones... damn.. gotta buy it and see if its any good

 

[69Mustang]

"To their credit, the AirDots Pro have silicone tips for improved sound isolation"

LOL...I was really glad when Apple ditched the bulb style tips and designed something different. Those types of ear buds have always been overrated in terms of their sound quality and are not as comfortable as Apple's design.

What do you mean? Apple never ditched silicone bulb style tips. You can still buy in-ear silicone tipped EarPods. Apple should offer AirPods with silicone tips as an option so fans of both styles have something to choose. The standard AirPods/Earpod style simply fall out of my ears. Whether or not the sound quality is overrated is subjective. The level of isolation definitely makes the sound better than the current design of the AirPods. To be fair, that's also subjective... but it's true.

And for the love of Mike, a damn black color option.

 

[bbednarz]

To be honest, I don't think i'd be "hard pressed" to tell the difference. Ok they are white and a similar size, but look completely different.

Anyone with IQ above 0 can tell the difference.

Sure people may be able to see some differences, everyone is still going to refer to them as AirPods or EarPods.
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If you’re buying into Apple’s marketing BS, then yes. I’ve had no issues taking calls and whatnot with other Bluetooth buds. I like my AirPods, but they look ridiculous.

To be honest, all headphones look goofy if you think about it. People walking around with big cans on their head dont look good either. These are just EarPods without wires. The more people start wearing them the less ridiculous they will seem.
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These are what the Airpods should be.
In ear buds, Waterproof and wireless charging.

Maybe in addition to what they currently have, but in ear buds are not nearly as comfortable as these for extended use. The AirPods are essentially waterproof already. Wireless charging would be nice, but they werent about to release a wireless charging AirPods case when nothing else they sold had that capability.

 

[vicviper789]

Honestly I wish they would copy the AirPods and improve upon them. Black color would be a great start and I definitely like the rubber ear tip.

 

[bobreck]

Anker also has a version of these. They’re called Anker Soundcore Liberty Air Earbuds. They seem to only be sold at Walmart.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Anker-So...ng-IPX5-Liquid-resistant-Protection/966992057

I own AirPods and loved them in all aspects but fit. They continuously fell out of my ears. I found that quite a few people have this problem. When I saw the Liberty Airs with the silicone tips, I bought them and haven’t had the problem with them falling out. Really wish Apple would release a version of the AirPods like this.

I’m sure the sound of the Ankers is inferior to the AirPods, so I’m not debating that. But for my everyday use, they’re pretty darned good and completely acceptable to me. And as a bonus my son was very happy to inherit a barely used set of AirPods. He does not have the problem with them coming out of his ears (must be the mailman’s kid ).