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AirPods

KevinJS

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Apple's Airpods may be innovative, but they are pitched at a price that gives them some serious competition from established manufacturers of headphones.

Whether audiophiles go for them remains to be seen. They certainly look good, and time will tell if they stand up to criticism in the sonics department.

It is well proven in the audio world that you don't need to make a decent product to watch it sell. Bose is a case in point. Their marketing is second to none, while their quality is, at times, dubious. Relying on the fiction that they are the best works well for them. Beats is another example. I recently saw a tear-down of a pair of Beats headphones, on an audiophile site. The merriment was clear. The things were clearly garbage, produced for a mass market that does little research and buys what looks pretty.

It probably won't bother Apple if people go for Beats instead of AirPods. They own the company, after all, but Bose should give them some sleepless nights. Bose will be a serious competitor, and cannot be ignored.

Moving on to products that many audiophiles WOULD consider, we can find the Sennheiser HD598, presently on sale at Amazon for $151.99, Audio-Technica ATH-PRO700 Mk2 for $129.08 and over 3000 other examples of all descriptions from over-ear closed back headphones to earbuds, both wired and wireless. Included in the ~$150 region are some products that have the critics raving.

I have no doubt that the AirPods will sell, or that the build quality is up to Apple's usual standard. I hope that the audio quality is also there, and that these devices live up to what we have come to expect from Apple's design team.
 
Sound quality should be almost the same as with EarPods.

I've read a review yesterday, where a few features were mentioned that I wasn't aware of. You can use only one AirPod at a time, if necessary. The iPhone will know which one it is. It has an infrared sensor, so it detects when it's in your ear, and an accelerometer, so it knows that you double tap it. You can make and recive phone calls, use Siri and change volume settings using the AirPods. You can use them with any standard Bluetooth audio player, not only with Apple devices.
 
I think they look the business but I won't be buying them, I never listen through earphones.
 
You are correct, Johanna. It is possible to use one at a a time, meaning that AirPods are a replacement for BT hands free headsets. I picked this up from the Apple presentation, having an interest in this capability. Until a couple of years ago, we had no distracted driving law in Alberta. You could practically set up a barbecue on your passenger seat without raising eyebrows. Now, things have changed. Using a cellphone while driving can attract a fine far exceeding the price of AirPods with penalty points on your licence too. Used simply as a hands free device, they'll easily get me through my driving day. My Jabra EasyGo is not the most comfortable device so I'll find it easy to replace.

I did not pick up on the fact that they can be used as an ordinary BT device but have read it in several places.

Of course, part of the package is the charging case which extends battery life to 25 hours. That's 25 hours of use, not just stand-by time.
 
I will be buying a set when they are available. I've been wanting a set of completely wireless earbuds for my workouts for a long time. Great timing Apple!

Every bluetooth set that I have used I have ended up returning them because they lose connection too easily. In fact, I just ordered a new iPod touch 6th gen in preparation for the Airbuds since they will not be compatible with my 5th gen iPod touch.
 
I will be buying a set when they are available. I've been wanting a set of completely wireless earbuds for my workouts for a long time. Great timing Apple!

Every bluetooth set that I have used I have ended up returning them because they lose connection too easily. In fact, I just ordered a new iPod touch 6th gen in preparation for the Airbuds since they will not be compatible with my 5th gen iPod touch.
They'll also work with any device running iOS 10 and macOS Sierra.
 
Sorry team that link doesn't work for some reason oops


Gregory Isaacs r.i.p.
 
As someone who's got 4 bluetooth earbuds sitting on his desk right now, I will be trying these bluetooth headphones. I don't mind the $169 price. I've paid that for most of the "simi" wireless buds I have now. I say simi-wireless because all of my bluetooth earbuds have wires. Now they don't attach to the phone, but there's still a wire hanging on my neck.

I am excited to try these truly wireless earbuds out. Yes; when we can pre order, I'll order them. For me, these were the most exciting things I saw during the keynote. I can't wait to order some!
 
As someone who's got 4 bluetooth earbuds sitting on his desk right now, I will be trying these bluetooth headphones. I don't mind the $169 price. I've paid that for most of the "simi" wireless buds I have now. I say simi-wireless because all of my bluetooth earbuds have wires. Now they don't attach to the phone, but there's still a wire hanging on my neck.

I am excited to try these truly wireless earbuds out. Yes; when we can pre order, I'll order them. For me, these were the most exciting things I saw during the keynote. I can't wait to order some!
The most exciting thing is that they're not iPhone 7/7 Plus only.
 
The most exciting thing is that they're not iPhone 7/7 Plus only.
Thats a good point, One tends to just think iPhone and music but of course there are times when you might want to listen to something on your Mac or whatever and not disturb others.
 
Thats a good point, One tends to just think iPhone and music but of course there are times when you might want to listen to something on your Mac or whatever and not disturb others.
Or on your older iPhone while you wait for your delayed iPhone 7 to arrive.
 
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