It's been a little over two years since Apple unveiled the AirPods,
which marked the company's foray into the personal wireless audio space
(not counting the Beats products). The AirPods design felt totally weird
at the time, as if someone had snipped the wires of Apple's EarPods and
left them to dangle from your ears, like two spoons without the
handles.
The Internet of course showed no mercy and the inevitable jokes and memes came flooding in. To make matters worst, Apple's shiny white ear hooks faced production delays and they finally went on sale in the US only in December 2016, three months after they were announced.
Fast forward to 2018 and it's very clear that Apple is having the last laugh as the AirPods have been a huge hit, despite their relatively high price tag of $159 in the US and Rs. 12,900 in India. In a recent earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook — echoing his earlier comments — said that the AirPods have been a “runaway hit”. That's no surprise given it's now commonplace to see people trotting around the city with AirPods in their ears in the US, and this trend is catching up in India too.
AirPods have become an integral part of our lives here are Gadgets 360, so much so that after our smartphones, this is the next piece of tech many of us don't leave our homes without. We've been using them for a long time now and we feel it's a good time to take a closer look at what makes them so special.
First, is the form factor. AirPods are incredibly light thanks to the all-plastic construction, but this doesn't make them any less durable. Our AirPods have survived multiple drops over the years and surprisingly, they haven't picked up many noticeable scratches or scuffs marks either. The capsule-like charging case they ship with is also minuscule and easily fits into your pockets without creating an unsightly bulge.
The plastic case is equally durable and has survived many drops too, though it does pick up scratches rather easily. To avoid this, you can dress up you AirPods case with a skin or a little rubber jacket to keep it shiny and scuff-free, though it's definitely not something you need to do.
If you have multiple Apple devices — iPads, iPhones, Macs, or Apple Watches — associated with the same iCloud ID, the AirPods would be automatically added under Bluetooth devices on them as well, eliminating the need of manually pairing with each one individually. This in itself is a major win.
Once paired, the AirPods really begin to shine. Both earbuds have a touch sensitive area along the base of the neck, which can be programmed to do different functions. By default, a double tap will summon Siri but you can change this to play/ pause, previous track, next track track, or simply not do anything at all. What we really miss is physical controls for adjusting the volume. Technically, you can ask Siri to do this, but it's not the quickest solution especially when there's ambient noise around.
However, the really cool bit is having the ability to assign different functions for the touch gestures based on the Apple device you're connected to. For instance, we typically use gestures for controlling music playback when connected to the iPhone, and have Siri summoned when we're connected to the MacBook. That's because these settings are remembered on individual devices and not on the AirPods themselves.
The music or video playback stops when you take off one of the earbuds, which is also super useful, and something we find ourselves using a lot whenever someone walks up to us to have a quick conversation. If you take off both the earbuds at the same time while connected to a MacBook though, the audio stops playing from the AirPods and switches over to the built-in speakers of the laptop.
You can set a different touch gesture for the AirPods for every Apple device you use them with
The AirPods work just like any other Bluetooth headphones on other devices too. We've been using them on and off with plenty of Android phones that we've tested and haven't had any issues. Some of the touch gestures that you set on the iPhone work with Android phones too, which is great. You can skip tracks and use the play/ pause gesture, but if you've assigned one of them to wake up Siri, don't expect it to bring up Google Assistant. Other features like music automatically pausing when you take one of the earphones out does not work with non-Apple devices either.
All these fancy gestures are fun but what about audio quality? We're just going to come out and say it — the AirPods are not the best sounding pair of Bluetooth earphones at this price, but that's fine because they are about more than pure audio quality.
The weakest part of the sound is the lack of good bass. They don't sound completely flat but if you're looking for that thump in your movies or EDM tracks, you're not going to find it here. Having said that, they do deliver excellent detail in the mid-range and instrument separation is handled with great aplomb. Treble is generally crisp and detailed, although at times we've found it to get a little too sharp and sibilant.
Coming back to the lower frequencies, the AirPods can handle gentle bass notes well, which is often enough. Due to the lack of any sort of ambient sound isolation though, we've often had to bump up the volume higher than usual. The AirPods can get really loud, but at higher volumes the highs begin to sound a little shrill and can get fatiguing.
The AirPods might lack any official IP rating for sweat resistance but none of us have had any problems on that front despite using them during workouts and in the rain. The white colour of the AirPods and the case has also aged very well, with no noticeable yellowing or discolouration. You will need to clean the insides of the case — near where the top of the AirPods rest while being charged —as it somehow manages to pick up dirt very easily. If you're not regular with this, it will likely leave a permanent mark.
The AirPods handles voice calls very well too, where we and the callers are able to hear each other quite clearly. We haven't noticed any audio-video sync issues either when watching videos and playing games.
The AirPods also have excellent wireless range when paired with some of the newer Apple hardware. We are able to use them across rooms without any issues. With our ageing MacBook Air and non-Apple devices though, we noticed that the range is about the same as other Bluetooth earphones. This is likely down to the latest Apple devices being optimised to work better with the W1 chip inside the AirPods.
Pros
Cons
Ratings (out of 5)
The Internet of course showed no mercy and the inevitable jokes and memes came flooding in. To make matters worst, Apple's shiny white ear hooks faced production delays and they finally went on sale in the US only in December 2016, three months after they were announced.
Fast forward to 2018 and it's very clear that Apple is having the last laugh as the AirPods have been a huge hit, despite their relatively high price tag of $159 in the US and Rs. 12,900 in India. In a recent earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook — echoing his earlier comments — said that the AirPods have been a “runaway hit”. That's no surprise given it's now commonplace to see people trotting around the city with AirPods in their ears in the US, and this trend is catching up in India too.
AirPods have become an integral part of our lives here are Gadgets 360, so much so that after our smartphones, this is the next piece of tech many of us don't leave our homes without. We've been using them for a long time now and we feel it's a good time to take a closer look at what makes them so special.
AirPods design and features
The design of the AirPods might have been the butt of many jokes when they debuted, but it's safe to say now that they are easily one of the best — if not the best — designed truly wireless earphones around. The fact that the world's second largest smartphone manufacturer only recently announced a blatant copy of the AirPods — with another Chinese company following as well — is testament to the design's success. This success hinges on a couple of things.First, is the form factor. AirPods are incredibly light thanks to the all-plastic construction, but this doesn't make them any less durable. Our AirPods have survived multiple drops over the years and surprisingly, they haven't picked up many noticeable scratches or scuffs marks either. The capsule-like charging case they ship with is also minuscule and easily fits into your pockets without creating an unsightly bulge.
The plastic case is equally durable and has survived many drops too, though it does pick up scratches rather easily. To avoid this, you can dress up you AirPods case with a skin or a little rubber jacket to keep it shiny and scuff-free, though it's definitely not something you need to do.
AirPods performance and battery life
Pairing the AirPods with an iPhone or iPad is a simple process. Simply bring the AirPods (in the case) near your device and open the lid. Almost instantly, you'll see an image of the AirPods pop up on your screen. Simply follow the on-screen instructions and you're all set.If you have multiple Apple devices — iPads, iPhones, Macs, or Apple Watches — associated with the same iCloud ID, the AirPods would be automatically added under Bluetooth devices on them as well, eliminating the need of manually pairing with each one individually. This in itself is a major win.
Once paired, the AirPods really begin to shine. Both earbuds have a touch sensitive area along the base of the neck, which can be programmed to do different functions. By default, a double tap will summon Siri but you can change this to play/ pause, previous track, next track track, or simply not do anything at all. What we really miss is physical controls for adjusting the volume. Technically, you can ask Siri to do this, but it's not the quickest solution especially when there's ambient noise around.
However, the really cool bit is having the ability to assign different functions for the touch gestures based on the Apple device you're connected to. For instance, we typically use gestures for controlling music playback when connected to the iPhone, and have Siri summoned when we're connected to the MacBook. That's because these settings are remembered on individual devices and not on the AirPods themselves.
The music or video playback stops when you take off one of the earbuds, which is also super useful, and something we find ourselves using a lot whenever someone walks up to us to have a quick conversation. If you take off both the earbuds at the same time while connected to a MacBook though, the audio stops playing from the AirPods and switches over to the built-in speakers of the laptop.
You can set a different touch gesture for the AirPods for every Apple device you use them withThe AirPods work just like any other Bluetooth headphones on other devices too. We've been using them on and off with plenty of Android phones that we've tested and haven't had any issues. Some of the touch gestures that you set on the iPhone work with Android phones too, which is great. You can skip tracks and use the play/ pause gesture, but if you've assigned one of them to wake up Siri, don't expect it to bring up Google Assistant. Other features like music automatically pausing when you take one of the earphones out does not work with non-Apple devices either.
All these fancy gestures are fun but what about audio quality? We're just going to come out and say it — the AirPods are not the best sounding pair of Bluetooth earphones at this price, but that's fine because they are about more than pure audio quality.
The weakest part of the sound is the lack of good bass. They don't sound completely flat but if you're looking for that thump in your movies or EDM tracks, you're not going to find it here. Having said that, they do deliver excellent detail in the mid-range and instrument separation is handled with great aplomb. Treble is generally crisp and detailed, although at times we've found it to get a little too sharp and sibilant.
Coming back to the lower frequencies, the AirPods can handle gentle bass notes well, which is often enough. Due to the lack of any sort of ambient sound isolation though, we've often had to bump up the volume higher than usual. The AirPods can get really loud, but at higher volumes the highs begin to sound a little shrill and can get fatiguing.
The AirPods might lack any official IP rating for sweat resistance but none of us have had any problems on that front despite using them during workouts and in the rain. The white colour of the AirPods and the case has also aged very well, with no noticeable yellowing or discolouration. You will need to clean the insides of the case — near where the top of the AirPods rest while being charged —as it somehow manages to pick up dirt very easily. If you're not regular with this, it will likely leave a permanent mark.
The AirPods handles voice calls very well too, where we and the callers are able to hear each other quite clearly. We haven't noticed any audio-video sync issues either when watching videos and playing games.
The AirPods also have excellent wireless range when paired with some of the newer Apple hardware. We are able to use them across rooms without any issues. With our ageing MacBook Air and non-Apple devices though, we noticed that the range is about the same as other Bluetooth earphones. This is likely down to the latest Apple devices being optimised to work better with the W1 chip inside the AirPods.
Pros
- Light and comfortable
- Pleasing audio quality
- Useful gestures and other features
- Compact charging case
Cons
- Weak bass
- No passive isolation
- Mixed battery life in the long term
Ratings (out of 5)
- Design/ comfort: 4.5
- Audio quality: 3.5
- Battery life: 3.5
- Value for money: 4
- Overall: 4
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment