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Airpods - new owners views, problems and questions
- Thread starter dave2010
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Yes, unless the drain is normal. I haven't been using the AirPods much.. maybe 2 hours a day in the past 3 days. Was surprised to see that case was dead this morning.
Well, Apple has I believe, exactly 30 days from purchase (with holiday return policy) to fix any such problems before a customer loses their ability to return them.
My advice would be that if they don't function as expected within those 30 days, by all means return them and repurchase them again when the issues have been addressed.
On the phone with them now (using Airpods, iphone, via ipad....working well btw).
We're about to do some diagnostic tests, as they're of the view Siri shouldn't sound any worse than music does....
Edit...
After re-connecting the Airpods to the iPhone (& also soft-resetting the phone), I think Siri's sound quality was a little better, but a small amount of 'scratchyness' remained.
To compare, it was suggested I plug in the Earpods - Siri came across noticibly clearer without the scratchy sound of the Airpods.
I've been given an appointment at my local Apple Store to get them checked out.
This isn't a huge deal to me, but if it discovers a faulty batch then it may be worth it for others...
Here's a thread detailing the issue...
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7794112?start=0&tstart=0
& an article mentioning it also...
http://appletoolbox.com/2016/12/airpods-disconnecting-calls-sound-issues/
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I experienced this with my Sennheiser Momentum 2 around-ear BT headphones, where something inside one of the cups was pressing against a spot on my ear and causing an abrasion as my head moved. I kept the abrasion clean and let it heal before using the headphones again, then repeated this until my ear got used to it. If it hadn't, I would have sold the M2AEBT and given a second look at the alternatives I was considering prior to purchase.
So in short, disinfect and let those heal properly, try again and see if your ears get used to the AirPods over time. Don't force it.
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Looking forward to hearing what they discover. When is your appointment?
Good Morning,
I've talked to Apple Support this morning.
The topic is still very new to them (of course).
They will inform the 'engineers' and let me know next steps.
So far I've tried lots of things (resetting AirPods, resetting network preferences, restarting iPhone, unlinking/linking AirPods). Without any success.
Have a good day
Andy
Mine sound great for music. Siri sounds terrible as well. Call quality is awful as well.. they even disconnected during the call while the phone has literally 30 cm away.
What surprised me the most is that they do actually have a (quite noticeable) noise floor. I haven't read anything about this yet but it's really annoying if you play short sounds it turns on and of and there is defiantly audible static noise
Looked into the sound quality issue when input (microphone) is active. First of all, on Mac if you hold down option when you click the Bluetooth menu, you get more information about each connected device. Also you can go to Settings -> Audio and go to the last tab if you want to activate the input on your current Bluetooth headset.
When AirPods's input is disabled it uses AAC codec. When input is active it switches to SCO codec. It also changes the output's sample rate from stereo 44.1kHz@32bit to mono 8000kHz@16bit. Attempting to change the sample rate for the output using the Audio Midi Setup app (or whatever it's called in english, comes with every macOS/Mac OS X) results with the following error message in Console.app from coreaudiod:
It's not possible to change the input's sample rate, it only has that one setting. I am out of ideas how to make the AirPods use the higher sample rate when input is active.
Let's just hope Apple resolves the situation soon.
When AirPods's input is disabled it uses AAC codec. When input is active it switches to SCO codec. It also changes the output's sample rate from stereo 44.1kHz@32bit to mono 8000kHz@16bit. Attempting to change the sample rate for the output using the Audio Midi Setup app (or whatever it's called in english, comes with every macOS/Mac OS X) results with the following error message in Console.app from coreaudiod:
It's not possible to change the input's sample rate, it only has that one setting. I am out of ideas how to make the AirPods use the higher sample rate when input is active.
Let's just hope Apple resolves the situation soon.
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I doubt Tim had an awful lot to do with either the design or function of the AirPods, he'd be the first to admit that's not his forte and why Apple has some of the best design people in the world, so the businessmen keep their hands off.
As for the control of them, I'll be the first to admit I don't want Siri to be my only interface with the AirPods. No internet? No control. Somewhere you'd rather not be speaking out? No control. It's a bad idea to have that as a primary and only control method. Fortunately it's not.
We can of course use our iPhone to control everything, but that Just feels like it's a step backwards in some ways.
The Apple Watch isn't a bad option, it's always on our wrist anyway. But that requires touch for everything, bar volume depending on how you're set up, not always possible.
Me, I'd be happy with just one more addition to the AirPods. I'm happy to concede that I can stick my hand in my pocket and operate volume on my iPhone without removing it or looking at it and it works if I'm wearing gloves. I can pause the music by removing an AirPod from my ear and to be honest the vast majority of the time I'd want the music paused I'd be removing at least one anyway.
So the single thing I'd like is a track skip, maybe three taps or something. That would give me easy control of the main things I want and I've a funny feeling that it'll be added before too long.
Of course everyone's needs and wants differ, I don't want the AirPods covered in buttons, so maybe a touch surface for the next version to add the possibility of complete control? In the meantime I'm sure I'll survive with what's on offer. I mean, I managed decades without any kind of controls on my headphones and great big wires (my best headphones still have those two "issues")
The AirPods are a piece of science fiction from my youth and I'm looking forward to the day when the buggers finally arrive they'll be many times better than the set of (as yet unbranded so god knows who's they are) truly wireless buds I've been sent to test, they are seriously bad in every way but sound quality, despite offering full control.
They do not. If they have any available for sale, they'll just exchange it for a brand new unit. They took down my email and phone number and are going to put one aside for me when a shipment comes in for an exchange.
I remember when the Apple first started with the white head phones - many folks HATED THEM and still do, but apple never went black with them ... I'd be very surprised if they ever offered them in black.
Haven't experienced this. I've jogged with them multiple times with an Under Armour winter hat on and they have not cut out once. Been connected to AW for music or iPhone for music and they don't cut out.
I think that a firmware upgrade in the future will enable more tapping gestures. It seems Apple puts out base functionality on new products and uses the anonymized real world data (using scale) to help develop better algorithms to add or fix functions as time and data analysis allows.
To me it's better to add a feature correctly after the fact then it is to release something that doesn't work reliably.
Yup I totally agree. It's like I said earlier I fully expect the simple things like track skipping to be added first and fairly soon. I'm not optimistic about volume control, certainly in the near future. But basic track controls will be added in shortly I think.
Of course I could be wrong, I often am
I think we'll see a touch sensitive "strip" along the stem in get 2 for fine volume control....and then will never hear the end of "it won't work with my gloves".Yup I totally agree. It's like I said earlier I fully expect the simple things like track skipping to be added first and fairly soon. I'm not optimistic about volume control, certainly in the near future. But basic track controls will be added in shortly I think.
Of course I could be wrong, I often am
I had this very same problem with constant sound cutting out as soon as I went outside. I had no problems using them around the house but as soon as I hit the street the sound/connection fell apart. After a long online chat session with Apple and no resolution I made a Genius Bar appointment yesterday. They ran diagnostics on my phone (iPhone 7+) and said everything was normal. They deduced that the AirPods were the problem. As others have mentioned they have no replacement inventory and cannot even order replacements. The only option I had was for them to keep the case open for when they did have replacement inventory (said could be weeks or longer) or return them for a refund and re-purchase when available. I opted for a return as I bought a second pair for a gift and decided to keep and use the second pair.
I have yet to fully test the new pair but did go out last night with them and when in a taxi was experiencing the cutting out briefly. Wondering if the issue is my phone as it's unlikely that I would have two bad pairs in row however I suppose it's possible.
Interesting to see if others have this same problem (apparently some already do) and what the fix may be.
I've had them since Friday and love them.
I only have about 20-30% hearing in one ear so I tend to just put in the left AirPod in my good ear - works perfectly and means I can leave my hearing aid in the other (or flip it off if I don't want ambient sounds). One benefit of this is that I have a spare - when the wife and I walk the dogs now we have one in each of our ears and can hear the music (on low) and have the other ear for chatting to each other. Also great when our daughter called me whilst walking - we both could chat hands free. I can see this being really useful on holiday by the pool, we can both listen to the same music without having a wire between us
I have changed the double tap to pause, as if someone talks to me I want to pause without removing my only pod.
Impressed with the sound quality so far. They fit well, though ironically the one in my 'deaf' ear feels more secure than the other, though it hasn't fallen out yet
They are not perfect, but (to me) worth the money due to what I have said above about being partially deaf. In the past, having the earbuds in one ear and the other dangling usually meant that they fell out - also the microphone on the earbuds was on the deaf side so dangling around.
I only have about 20-30% hearing in one ear so I tend to just put in the left AirPod in my good ear - works perfectly and means I can leave my hearing aid in the other (or flip it off if I don't want ambient sounds). One benefit of this is that I have a spare - when the wife and I walk the dogs now we have one in each of our ears and can hear the music (on low) and have the other ear for chatting to each other. Also great when our daughter called me whilst walking - we both could chat hands free. I can see this being really useful on holiday by the pool, we can both listen to the same music without having a wire between us
I have changed the double tap to pause, as if someone talks to me I want to pause without removing my only pod.
Impressed with the sound quality so far. They fit well, though ironically the one in my 'deaf' ear feels more secure than the other, though it hasn't fallen out yet
They are not perfect, but (to me) worth the money due to what I have said above about being partially deaf. In the past, having the earbuds in one ear and the other dangling usually meant that they fell out - also the microphone on the earbuds was on the deaf side so dangling around.
Ain't that the truth, no matter what Apple does or will do, there's always going to be people finding fault with it.
After all, we on the forum are much better at designing a product than anyone at Apple has ever been aren't we?
Very easily. Well designed buttons are easily discernible. I have no issues with gloves with PB2's, X2's, and QC30's.
You're right, black Airpods are not coming. Soon.
I put black adhesive thin paper on the stems of the Airpods. It minimizes the white & provides a different look.
More importantly, they will differentiate from other Airpods, especially when my wife gets hers.
They don't impede any of the functions.
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I'm not a fan of physical buttons on these things, well not on the outward surface at least, the sides would be fine.
The pair that I'm currently testing have a button on the front surface (as well as buttons on the sides, or top and bottom depending how you look at it, and those are perfectly fine in use if a little fugly to look at) and I really don't like how hard I have to press for it to register, it pushes the buds further into my ear and is quite uncomfortable. I think the accelerometer detection of the AirPods is a better option in that respect for a replacement button in that position.
I'm really glad Apple didn't go down the route of buds that fit in the ear canal. Obviously thats a very personal preference and we won't all be the same, but the ones I'm testing are really uncomfortable after a while, I prefer the sit in the ear style of the AirPods.