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Airpods - new owners views, problems and questions
- Thread starter dave2010
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This pretty much sums them up for me too. Using them with my iP7 is a joy, less so with other Apple devices (although they get there in the end). The lack of any wires is the real breakthrough along with decent sound and a strong Bluetooth connection. Now if there was just a gesture to adjust the sound and skip tracks they would be just about perfect
Your iPad on iOS 10? Probably the issue as my iPhone wasn't when I got the Airpods and I wonders why I didn't get th fancy pairing or battery levels when opening the case.
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Mine is even worse. I had used them around three hours and the case is at about 51%. Gonna have to investigate or take them back to Apple.
Single tap is a bad idea because it would be too easy to accidentally activate it. Having separate tap gestures on left and right Pod would be bad as well because the Pods have three use scenarios: both, only left, only right. If left and right have different double tap gestures, which of them will be active when you are using only one? Do you lose volume up or down? Or do you lose volume control or playback control? That's why they both must have the same tap gestures. Of course Apple could give the user about a dozen or so settings to manage the various use scenarios, but sometimes less is more. The Pods are easy to use and you always know what happens when you double tap either the left or right Pod.
I've been using the AirPods for four days now with both an iPhone 7 Plus and an iPad Pro 12,9". Mostly I've been listening to music, with some video playback, some Siri usage and very little calling mixed in. I still need to try these with a PS4, too. Here are my thoughts so far:
- The AirPods can get really, really loud; 40-50% is plenty out on town where you have traffic around you. 10-20% is good in a quiet room. Your mileage may vary - my hearing is neither bad nor superhuman, and how well the AirPods sit in your ears has a big impact
- The AirPods sit snuggly in my ears. That's meaningless for others, though, so I'll note that for me the EarPods' fit was ok but the AirPods' is better. I can listen for hours and it's easy to forget they're in
- Regardless of fit, the AirPods do not block ambient noise. This is good for awareness but bad for isolation, which means you might need to increase the volume level to combat loud noises (not recommended). On the flipside you can play music softly in the background while puttering about your home and still hold a conversation with someone (how socially acceptable that is varies)
- The AirPods look much better than wearing electric toothbrush heads in your ears
- Walking on coarse sand / gravel spread on an icy sidewalk makes it impossible for Siri to understand anything I'm saying through the AirPods
- I feel like Siri's sound quality through the AirPods is worse (lower bitrate, slight hiss) than the sound quality of music or videos. It could be that Siri / calls use the SBC codec instead of AAC for lower latency
- I haven't experienced loss of connection, cutouts or crackling (that couldn't be attributed to a bad cell network connection in the case of a Facetime call), except when intentionally testing the AirPods' wireless range (which is good)
- I have had music playback mysteriously pause once. Unsure why it happened. This is only notable because I've never had music pause on its own on my iPhone or iPad, without clear reason (incoming call, loss of connectivity while streaming, etc)
- Getting the double-tap strength, direction and rhythm right takes some getting used to (especially with gloves and a woolen cap) and after four days I still make mistakes
- Pausing and resuming music and video playback by taking an AirPod out and plugging it back in is a very well thought-out and natural gesture with some very specific caveats. Namely you need to use both AirPods for it to work, and if your hands are full it can be tricky to pull off (but that's the same for a wired remote)
- The charging case is a very nice piece of engineering and user experience, from function to feel (including how the AirPods slip into place)
- For whatever reason my brain wants to believe the left AirPod sits on the right side in the case when I flip the top open and away from me
To sum it up I think the AirPods and their case are an elegant product. My experience has been very positive, no doubt because the AirPods fit me and the use cases I intended them for very well. That's highly personal. I also have use cases they don't fit and were not designed for, though, and for those I have a different pair of headphones with fuller sound and active noise cancellation, but lacking the pick-up-and-go ease of use the AirPods offer.
- The AirPods can get really, really loud; 40-50% is plenty out on town where you have traffic around you. 10-20% is good in a quiet room. Your mileage may vary - my hearing is neither bad nor superhuman, and how well the AirPods sit in your ears has a big impact
- The AirPods sit snuggly in my ears. That's meaningless for others, though, so I'll note that for me the EarPods' fit was ok but the AirPods' is better. I can listen for hours and it's easy to forget they're in
- Regardless of fit, the AirPods do not block ambient noise. This is good for awareness but bad for isolation, which means you might need to increase the volume level to combat loud noises (not recommended). On the flipside you can play music softly in the background while puttering about your home and still hold a conversation with someone (how socially acceptable that is varies)
- The AirPods look much better than wearing electric toothbrush heads in your ears
- Walking on coarse sand / gravel spread on an icy sidewalk makes it impossible for Siri to understand anything I'm saying through the AirPods
- I feel like Siri's sound quality through the AirPods is worse (lower bitrate, slight hiss) than the sound quality of music or videos. It could be that Siri / calls use the SBC codec instead of AAC for lower latency
- I haven't experienced loss of connection, cutouts or crackling (that couldn't be attributed to a bad cell network connection in the case of a Facetime call), except when intentionally testing the AirPods' wireless range (which is good)
- I have had music playback mysteriously pause once. Unsure why it happened. This is only notable because I've never had music pause on its own on my iPhone or iPad, without clear reason (incoming call, loss of connectivity while streaming, etc)
- Getting the double-tap strength, direction and rhythm right takes some getting used to (especially with gloves and a woolen cap) and after four days I still make mistakes
- Pausing and resuming music and video playback by taking an AirPod out and plugging it back in is a very well thought-out and natural gesture with some very specific caveats. Namely you need to use both AirPods for it to work, and if your hands are full it can be tricky to pull off (but that's the same for a wired remote)
- The charging case is a very nice piece of engineering and user experience, from function to feel (including how the AirPods slip into place)
- For whatever reason my brain wants to believe the left AirPod sits on the right side in the case when I flip the top open and away from me
To sum it up I think the AirPods and their case are an elegant product. My experience has been very positive, no doubt because the AirPods fit me and the use cases I intended them for very well. That's highly personal. I also have use cases they don't fit and were not designed for, though, and for those I have a different pair of headphones with fuller sound and active noise cancellation, but lacking the pick-up-and-go ease of use the AirPods offer.
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Using a sudo command I found about the issue occurring previously on macs made it sound awesome (for now, I suppose) but using Siri still sounds awful with crazy pops and static. Most of the time it can't hear me.
It's only 4 years old and I just popped in a SSD so it's still going strong but I believe a new iMac is in my future. Far in my future
Using a sudo command I found about the issue occurring previously on macs made it sound awesome (for now, I suppose) but using Siri still sounds awful with crazy pops and static. Most of the time it can't hear me.
It's only 4 years old and I just popped in a SSD so it's still going strong but I believe a new iMac is in my future. Far in my future
Awesome. Did this also resolve the dropped connections between the iPhone and AirPods when sitting near the Mini?
that is purely a subjective opinion.. nobody has said "$160 is a fair price." but with the best alternative being the $250 Jabra that has less battery life $160 is on par with what is on the market. The $40 headphones I got are great... but they do lack a lot of the finesse that the Airpods have.
Calling people "dumb" is both immature and ignorant... while the Airpods aren't "worth it" for my personal uses it might be invaluable for someone else's.
So I might see the battery status of both pods and case on an old 3Gs (or even on Android) after I've paired manually?
My rMB is on the latest macOS Sierra so that should be ok.
Wow! Look at you smarty pants! What an incredibly obvious idea that 250 headphone engineers surely never even thought of doing! Ya just add a swipe gesture ya numnuts engineers!
Do you have any understanding of the battery constraints/goals they had set forth? Do you even look at the AirPod and wonder "how in the #@$#ing hell did they literally remove the wires and not change a thing, yet give these things 5 hours battery EACH???". I'll tell you how. They used an accelerometer instead of an always on skin detecting sensor. Do you have ANY idea how small the batteries are inside each AirPod? Do you have ANY idea how insanely difficult it is to hit 5 hours battery life in that form factor with ZERO controls whatsoever? I agree there should be more options within the toggleable settings using the accelerometers (left earphone double tap volume down, right volume up, etc), but there had to be ONE sacrifice to get them to a worthy state.
Hopefully soon we see battery improvements in the entire industry because we are all limited by the forces of nature right now. It doesn't matter what year you put in bold. These people are ten times smarter than any of you complaining are, and you should try being a little thankful for the first big step towards TRUE functional wireless headphones before crapping all over what they created. I guess it's just the way humans are -- ego comes first, if there's something to critique we attack it and give no objective reasoning to the hard decisions OTHER human beings have made to create it in the first place. So sick of these forums, I wish they'd round up all the technology prophets in here and throw them into a design studio for 6 months to see how they handle things. Cheers
I understand completely that it was a design decision/compromise. I'm sure they had a design for that concept as well.
Mine work absolutely perfect. Ear pain is my biggest and only issue. I've never used the EarPods. I'm hoping my ears will adapt.
This has been interesting reading. I don't plan on buying any but feel this would give some insight into these devices.
I don't use Siri and prefer to use headphones that can be used across my devices - sticking predominately to 3.5 for now.
For BT I have a couple of sets and sorry, but these Airpots look seriously overpriced and far too limiting even for an iDevice user. MO-YMMV.
I don't use Siri and prefer to use headphones that can be used across my devices - sticking predominately to 3.5 for now.
For BT I have a couple of sets and sorry, but these Airpots look seriously overpriced and far too limiting even for an iDevice user. MO-YMMV.
I would like to suggest this for a test case please since you feel that way about the volume, I am finding just the opposite. My android smartphones have the Airpods outputting volume so much better.
Try Paul Desmond's East Of The Sun album on YouTube by Rare JAZZ Records. One of my favorite things to listen to. Darn album volume output through my iPhone 7 is way low.
Agreed.
This is a winner for Apple, ecosystem and us.
I feel that it's a beginning of something else coming up next year.
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I found the album and sure enough, that's a quieter-than-expected mix when played through the Youtube app and AirPods.
I tested a couple of different songs through both Youtube and Google Play Music, and in all cases Google Play Music played the songs at a louder volume. Not only that, but trying some of the songs I've recently thumbed up on Google Play, all of them were louder than East of the Sun. It could be that I simply have not listened to such "soft" music this week, with the AirPods.
As an example, this video is pretty close to the volume level I get from the same song in GPM (GPM is still louder, though), and I would not listen to this at past 50% through the AirPods (Teminite - Spider):
Thank you for your feedback, no matter which android smartphone I utilize it plays East Of The Sun on YouTube much louder than my iPhone 7.
I would encourage anyone curious to just pair an android at a carrier store if they don't own one to see a difference. Pretty dramatic IMHO so it isn't a limitation within the Airpods.
Highly unlikely that people will forget those because they are little expensive but most people at this moment. Regarding in ear fitting it snugs in beautifully so dropping from ear is not an issue with that. If people would keep in their side pockets with or without case then it's possible. By the way what do you guys do with the lost items?
After reading your post i am trying to answer your concern but i am on iOS 10.2 instead of 9.3.3. I got them yesterday paired them with iphone 7 running iOS 10.2, pairing was same like as many mentioned like opening the case near iphone while the AirPods are inside the case, flawless process. Then i paired them with iPad Pro running iOS 10.2 as well. Pairing was not similar to iphone 7 i kept the AirPods inside the case and there is a small button behind the case which i pressed according to instructions and went to the ipad Bluetooth settings and the AirPods paired easily. Then used it with ipad once i need them to used with iphone i goto bluetooth settings and tap connect which is written next to the device name for instance "AirPods" connected easily. If you need to use them with ipad again then simply goto ipad bluetooth settings and tap connect. You dont need to go through press small button process with ipad or put the AirPods in the charging case and open the case near the iphone to use with iphone thats just one time setup.
The more I read, the more I feel Apple wasn't quite ready to remove the headphone jack. We know localized Siri is coming, which would address most of the major complaints with Siri, which in of itself isn't a bad idea. So at a minimum, the AirPods should have access to localized Siri commands.
All the delays with the wireless solutions (for many over 6 months since the launch of the iPhone 7), inefficient control solutions, combined with an almost total lack of support for Lightning as a replacement for 3.5mm headphones, including no support for it on their own Mac, just seems unprecedented for a company that knew this was the direction they were headed with mobile audio. It's almost as if they didn't know they were going to commit to this decision and therefore weren't prepared with the development of support peripherals. Could the AirPods have been a Beats project Apple appropriated at the last minute?
Whatever the case, I went from Apple's biggest supporter for the removal of the headphone jack, to a disappointed critic in their handling of the transition. I still think they're moving in the right direction, but I wish they had done more to quell their critics. I have no doubt they will get there, but it's going to be a very bumpy ride.
Like I said, Siri is a great concept, but given the lag time, and complete unavailability without the internet, it's basically impractical for volume control. And I still have no idea what they were thinking for phone calls, other than they assume you will have the phone in your hands? But that completely misses the point of the wireless nature of them. Maybe if there were a way to touch and hold the buds to mute them during a call to allow any voice commands to go automatically to Siri only (including a mute command), but that would require touch sensitive controls or a physical button. I mean I don't have a problem telling Siri to lower the volume as long as my caller can't hear me doing it. but that still doesn't address situations where it's inappropriate to speak out loud to adjust music volumes. Maybe Apple didn't intend for them to be as independent as other wireless headphones, in much the same way the watch is tied to the iPhone for some functions. But in the absence of any real world use demonstrations by Apple we're left to discover these limitations, and experience the related disappointment on our own.
You're making things too complicated. Once paired with your iPhone running iOS 10, you can just swipe up on the iPad's screen (any screen), and pick the AirPods from the list of devices you can play to. Done. No messing with Bluetooth menus etc. That's the whole point here!
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I feel the opposite. It's clear to me that the AirPods are THE solution. For all those complaining about lack of volume controls when listening to music except for Siri, just use the Apple Watch or... *gasp* your phone! After all, what were you doing before with your WIRED earphones? That's right - you were using that ghastly dangling cord, or the phone itself!
When Apple revealed the 3.5mm-jack-less iPhone 7 line and the AirPods, it all made perfect sense. The delay of the AirPods sucked A LOT, and really - is inexcusable, but now that they're out I'm very, VERY happy.
Now, if you were to ask me why we can't adjust phone-call volume from the Watch, that's a VERY good question...
I forgot some Bose noise cancelling headphones on a plane a couple years ago. Unfortunately expensive toys don't cure forgetfulness.
Damn I've had them longer than I thought. They are CX400's last bought in 2009.
I've never cared for the included EarPods and always left them untouched in the box. IIRC they never fit my ears really well and I always thought the sound from a pair of free earbuds would suck.
But I'm glad I tried these out. They fit great in my ears and I'm really surprised with how good they sound.