Airpods - new owners views, problems and questions

[dave2010]

Doesn't look like there is a general thread for Airpod owners, seperate from orders yet, so here goes.

I collected mine this morning and am impressed so far with the comfort, audio quality, speed of charging and look of the case. in particular the comfort is impressive, though I already found EarPods comfortable because I'm lucky enough to have ear canals that suit Apple's design.

Bluetooth connection is excellent inside, however outside it seemed a bit patchy when I put my iPhone SE into my right pocket. Left pocket seems OK. Bluetooth connection was better when I re-connected my AirPods so it's possible it's my iPhone SE that is causing this issue.

Battery life is at least 5 hours so far. Charging in the case is really fast, I'm going to have no problems keeping these charged.

Switching to my MacBook 12" isn't as seamless as I thought. I still have to click the volume icon and wait a bit. I thought it would be automatic depending on whatever I press play on.

Conclusion: I'm happy to keep these. I am used to sleeping with EarPods in, so I'm going to like not being tangled up in chords tonight in bed.

 

[44267547]

Glad you're happy with them. But I would think trying sleep with these would be uncomfortable or cumbersome. But I haven't received mine yet to contest to this.

 

[dave2010]

Glad you're happy with them. But I would think trying sleep with these would be uncomfortable or cumbersome. But I haven't received mine yet to contest to this.

I currently sleep with EarPods in, so I don't think it would be less comfortable than that.

 

[44267547]

I currently sleep with EarPods in, so I don't think it would be less comfortable than that.

As long as they are comfortable for you, then that's all that matters. It wouldn't be for me.

 

[moxxham]

Yea, I love mine. Fantastic little bit of technology that Apple has made. No wires what so ever, good audio quality, great battery life with the case, extremely quick to charge.
To me, its one of those typical Apple products that just blends in with your other devices, and just seems to work.
Couldn't be happier!

 

[44267547]

Yea, I love mine. Fantastic little bit of technology that Apple has made. No wires what so ever, good audio quality, great battery life with the case, extremely quick to charge.
To me, its one of those typical Apple products that just blends in with your other devices, and just seems to work.
Couldn't be happier!

Thanks for the synopsis. I agree they will blend in. But I think Apple will release a black version of the AirPods within the next six months to year. And then I'll likely pick up a second pair alongside the white ones.

 

[moxxham]

Must say, I work for transport in NSW. We are forever finding random stuff on trains...can definitely see us finding lots of AirPods once more people start buying them!

 

[dave2010]

As long as they are comfortable for you, then that's all that matters. It wouldn't be for me.

I suppose I am swapping getting tangled up in EarPod chords with an early morning search for AirPods amongst my sheets. I will be able to leave my iPhone on my nightstand though.

 

[MH01]

Can anyone confirm if there is a sound quality difference between AirPods and new EarPods ?

 

[Sirious]

I haven't got mine yet (will hopefully deliver today!), but I really dislike the idea of "double tap to access Siri to do basic things like volume up/down/play/pause" when a similar Samsung offering has a better touch sensor implementation.

 

[Ledgem]

Any comment on microphone quality with calls? How about the ambient noise cancellation?

 

[dave2010]

Any comment on microphone quality with calls? How about the ambient noise cancellation?

I made about 1 hour of phone calls today without any noticeable difference between AirPods and EarPods. However, there was no noise in the background.
[doublepost=1482140079][/doublepost]

Can anyone confirm if there is a sound quality difference between AirPods and new EarPods ?

Sounds quality is slightly better in my opinion.

 

[The Game 161]

So far first impressions look very good

 

[eagleglen]

I suppose I am swapping getting tangled up in EarPod chords with an early morning search for AirPods amongst my sheets. I will be able to leave my iPhone on my nightstand though.

At first I thought 'but when will you charge them?' Seemed like a similar problem I have with the Apple Watch that I wish I could wear while sleeping. But I realized you can still charge the case at night. The innovation with these is really something.

 

[hobspain]

Any comment on microphone quality with calls? How about the ambient noise cancellation?

Have been using them with Facetime Audio for maybe 3 hours (until the initial charge of 65% they came with was gone). At the other end they could not identify I was using a headset or Airpods. This was in two different conversations. So I would say the quality of the microphones is indistinguishable from the one on the Phones and better than using the earpod's mic. I did speak in a quiet environment so can't asses about external noise, but the Airpods don't have active noise cancelation per se.

Really love them.

PS: one nice touch: in a very long conversation when the battery of one of the Airpods was gone (after two sound notifications), I could keep one charging while using the reamining battery from the other. After 10 minutes, I could do the opposite with plenty of battery in the semicharged one. Call was never dropped and the other end didn't notice about these changes. Neat.

 

[sammy2066]

They don't stay in my ear, the sound quality is sub-par at best (coming from Shure SE535s that was expected), and the reception is terrible from my Late 2012 rMBP (constant lag and stuttering) - so no, I am not a happy camper.

 

[oftheheavens]

Can anyone confirm if there is a sound quality difference between AirPods and new EarPods ?

not with mathematical numbers but my ears say yes and I like my music.

I have had a few small hiccups where there was a split second of music glitch? I am in spotify though so don't know whom to place the blame iPhone, AirPods, spotify, wifi? Anyway, the sound is great. I did just pull it out of my ear after about an hour of forgetting it was there and still get the slight soreness I would get from prolonged earbud use, which is why I prefer of the ear cans but I have a feeling the tech world is moving away from that and gotta move with it I suppose.

As far as pairing, it took about 5 seconds and I did it while I was walking in the parking lot right after buying them. So my hands were full and holding my iPhone and new tech which neither I want to drop. So, it is super simple to pair, I don't think I even had to unlock the phone.

Are these some magical pair of thousand dollar cans turned into bluetooth wireless pods. No. But they are great and in my opinion they are worth the 150 just in convenience factor alone if you need to wear them for work a good part of the day for phone calls.

 

[xthine]

Any response issues with winter gloves?

 

[retrospek]

Not sure if I'm just not hitting the correct bit - but I find it difficult to activate Siri.. Anyone else with this issue ?

 

[The Game 161]

Not sure if I'm just not hitting the correct bit - but I find it difficult to activate Siri.. Anyone else with this issue ?

it won't work with a slight tap so it needs to be bit harder to activate it.

 

[oftheheavens]

Any response issues with winter gloves?

since there is no touch sensors involving touch from your fingers I doubt gloves matter at all. The only thing that is touch, if not all accelerometer, is the inner ear portion so that it knows it is in your ear.

Not sure if I'm just not hitting the correct bit - but I find it difficult to activate Siri.. Anyone else with this issue ?

double tap the actual pod part not the stem.

 

[SidBoggle]

Am in two minds whether to keep them so far. They do slip out of my ears and I need to keep pushing them in every few minutes. In fact I nearly lost one after only about 20 minutes of ownership. I had to play music at full volume to track it and then found it in my hood.... I will try different angles/positions etc. but maybe I just have funny ears and these will not work for me.

I have Siri set to "not allowed" from the lock screen on my phone and I see that this means you then cannot use Siri with the airpods unless your phone is unlocked. So that makes it useless. I have just changed the double tap to pause/play. Seems crazy I cannot do basic play/pause/volume without allowing Siri interaction from my lock screen. At least I can do all the control from Apple Watch so not the end of the world I guess.

Beautiful little devices though and it's an incredible piece of technology.

 

[Contra1971]

No pictures of antenna stick out of your ears?

 

[canyonblue737]

Am in two minds whether to keep them so far. They do slip out of my ears and I need to keep pushing them in every few minutes. In fact I nearly lost one after only about 20 minutes of ownership. I had to play music at full volume to track it and then found it in my hood.... I will try different angles/positions etc. but maybe I just have funny ears and these will not work for me.

I have Siri set to "not allowed" from the lock screen on my phone and I see that this means you then cannot use Siri with the airpods unless your phone is unlocked. So that makes it useless. I have just changed the double tap to pause/play. Seems crazy I cannot do basic play/pause/volume without allowing Siri interaction from my lock screen. At least I can do all the control from Apple Watch so not the end of the world I guess.

Beautiful little devices though and it's an incredible piece of technology.

if they fall out you should return them, you'll never enjoy the product if the fit makes you constantly worry about them being lost. EarPods *never* fit me and would fall out with the slightest movement but I took an old pair and cut the wires off last month to "try" to see if it made a difference and like some form of magic suddenly they would NEVER fall out even shaking my head like an idiot. It gave me enough confidence to order the AirPods which are being delivered today but if for some reason they don't stay in my ears I will have to return them.

 

[gobluejd]

Mine are coming today. Curious, can you be in car, phone playing music/podcast via BT, can you take calls into headset?