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Excuse my naivety, but are the new AirPods noise canceling? If not why are you trying to use them during a flight? I have NEVER found a pair of headphones suitable for a flight that were not noise canceling.
I think some of the confusion comes from the microphones having noise cancelling tech. That, of course, benefis the other party in phone calls only.

I think some are confusing that with noise cancelling tech that benefits the wearer.
 
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Excuse my naivety, but are the new AirPods noise canceling? If not why are you trying to use them during a flight? I have NEVER found a pair of headphones suitable for a flight that were not noise canceling.


I suggest people google noise cancelling and noise isolating.

Most earbuds are noise isolating. That means they create a seal in the ear canal and usually have silicon tips or foam tips you push into your ears. They don't cancel the outside noise they just substantially reduce it because of the seal. Noise cancelling use power and have a microphone in each ear that listens for outside sounds and emits a cancelling noise that tricks you into not hearing the outside noise. Easy rule of thumb is if you have to recharge a pair of corded headphones they're noise cancelling.

If you can carry on a conversation while listening to music with the person next to you, they're likely not noise cancelling nor noise isolation.

The Apple AirPods and EarPods are basically neither. More or less they're small speakers that just hang onto your ear. You can hear everything that's said around you and they don't limit any outside noise actively or passively from distracting you.
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My Skullcandy are neither noise cancellation OR isolation. I don't sit and read whole threads all day long. I got stuff to do. I use headphones comparable to the EarPods in design. I prefer the fit and don't listen to music, just podcasts so quality is not of upmost importance to me.

Wrong. Skull candy are all noise isolating with the silicon tips. Sorry to break it to you. And they're not comparable to EarPods for that very reason. You like the fit because of the silicon tips which is not the similar fit to AirPods. AirPods just rest in your ears. Skull candy uses silicon tips of different sizes to hold them in with a secure fit and a seal or near seal that blocks out 10x more outside noise than air pods. Try a pair you'll see what I mean. You never realize how many crying babies you don't hear until you try AirPods on a plane haha
 
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For people like me who don't use noise cancellation headphones, I'm sure they'll be better than the Skullcandy ones I usually use.
They almost certainly aren't. Your Skullcandys are most likely in-ear models that create an acoustic seal. This kind of earphone is almost as good as active noise cancellation when it comes to blocking noise on a plane. The Airpods and Earpods have an open design that doesn't block anything. This design has become rather rare these days (primarily because it makes reproducing bass much harder).

The problem with open designs like this is that you have to really crank up the volume to drown out the noise from the engine and other passengers (which is not good for your hearing), and even then things like podcasts and audio books can be difficult to understand. It may also be very annoying to the person in the seat next to you (who will feel like they have a cricket sitting on their shoulder when you listen to loud music).

Open designs are good in quiet environments. They have advantages too, but in noisy environments they are simply not good.
 
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They almost certainly aren't. Your Skullcandys are most likely in-ear models that create an acoustic seal. This kind of earphone is almost as good as active noise cancellation when it comes to blocking noise on a plane. The Airpods and Earpods have an open design that doesn't block anything. This design has become rather rare these days (primarily because it makes reproducing bass much harder).

The problem with open designs like this is that you have to really crank up the volume to drown out the noise from the engine and other passengers (which is not good for your hearing), and even then things like podcasts and audio books can be difficult to understand. It may also be very annoying to the person in the seat next to you (who will feel like they have a cricket sitting on their shoulder when you listen to loud music).

Open designs are good in quiet environments. They have advantages too, but in noisy environments they are simply not good.

This was the best summary I've ever seen anyone post on here. Absolutely spot on.
 
They almost certainly aren't. Your Skullcandys are most likely in-ear models that create an acoustic seal. This kind of earphone is almost as good as active noise cancellation when it comes to blocking noise on a plane. The Airpods and Earpods have an open design that doesn't block anything. This design has become rather rare these days (primarily because it makes reproducing bass much harder).

The problem with open designs like this is that you have to really crank up the volume to drown out the noise from the engine and other passengers (which is not good for your hearing), and even then things like podcasts and audio books can be difficult to understand. It may also be very annoying to the person in the seat next to you (who will feel like they have a cricket sitting on their shoulder when you listen to loud music).

Open designs are good in quiet environments. They have advantages too, but in noisy environments they are simply not good.

They are certainly are not in-ear. I used Skullcandy fix buds and the AirPods are much much better sounding.
 
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I live in Los Angeles; I don't have the luxury of not running or biking in traffic. AirPods were advertised as Bluetooth EarPods. They are not some magical device that works in every situation and for all individuals. If EarPods did not work for you for whatever you were doing, these will not work either.

What are you talking about? I ride the beach bike path all the time! No cars! But otherwise yes I know what you mean.
 
I suggest people google noise cancelling and noise isolating.

Most earbuds are noise isolating. That means they create a seal in the ear canal and usually have silicon tips or foam tips you push into your ears. They don't cancel the outside noise they just substantially reduce it because of the seal. Noise cancelling use power and have a microphone in each ear that listens for outside sounds and emits a cancelling noise that tricks you into not hearing the outside noise. Easy rule of thumb is if you have to recharge a pair of corded headphones they're noise cancelling.

If you can carry on a conversation while listening to music with the person next to you, they're likely not noise cancelling nor noise isolation.

I googled it as you suggested and found most sites call them noise canceling. Here is an example...

https://www.cnet.com/topics/headphones/best-headphones/noise-canceling/
 
Unfortunately Apple removed my choice when they removed the headphone jack. Apple promised I'd be able to buy the problem-solving Beats X in November and now I'll be waiting until at least February it seems.
That's strange when I got my iPhone it came with an adapter with a headphone jack. Oh wait you spend all your time traveling on a plane and don't have room for the adapter.

Be patient and your Beat X will be available soon. When you get them I am expecting a full review.
 
I flew with mine twice this weekend. Sadly it was very tough to hear. My earpods with silicone tips were much better because the sealed out the background noise. Still like my airpods. Good for other situations and running.
 
I googled it as you suggested and found most sites call them noise canceling. Here is an example...

https://www.cnet.com/topics/headphones/best-headphones/noise-canceling/

Yes, those are noise cancelling. That is, there's a computer chip in the headset that produces white noise to mask out ambient noise. Noise isolating headsets/earphones create a seal around your ears or inside your ear canal so ambient noise gets shut out. All noise cancelling headsets are also noise isolating, because producing white noise wouldn't do much good if the ambient noise just leaks in. But there are many headsets out there that are noise isolating but don't produce white noise.
 
I love my AirPods... but I'll continue using my Beats Studio Wireless on flights... different headphones for different purposes.

As for walking in the city: I'm preferring the AirPods. I like to be able to hear some of the city around me... makes me feel safer.
I've used my AirPods all the time walking in the street. I'll be able to test the plane tomorrow as I'm flying out to California to visit my parents. Hopefully they won't be as bad as OP stated. I made sure I got them before my trip for this purpose.
 
How much of this is down to the fit in an individual's ear? Whilst not being noise cancelling or even isolating, the original Airpods do an OK job for me of blocking out some of the background noise for me, but only if they're properly fitted in my ear. Anything less and I struggle to hear anything and its as if I don't have them in to be honest. I found those third party earhoox really helped.

Totally agree with the OP though about different headphones for different situations. I have PowerBeats3 wireless for running, a cheap pair of wired ones for really long runs and use my Earpods for when I'm working - particularly for audio calls and the like. I'm really interested in trying the Airpods out, but I suspect i'll use them to replace Earpods and possibly also for when listening to stuff on the iPad or laptop at night when I don't want to disturb anyone. And I'm planning on picking up a pair of Beats Solo for long flights, train travel etc.

If Apple did a pair of Airpods which were in-ear, they may have a chance of replacing my wireless beats for exercise, but as things stand, no chance.

But I get that not everybody can afford to, or even wants to have multiple pairs.
 
WRONG. Noise cancelling and noise isolation are two different things.

I'm going to sum it up for you: https://www.beatsbydre.com/support/info/noise-canceling-isolating

I never said they were the same.

I assume noise canceling and noise isolating try to accomplish the same thing. They block or restrict background noise in order for you to hear your music better. Obviously the way they go about it is different.

Airpods appear to be neither. To me they would be a poor choice to use during a flight. I have used both isolating and noise canceling phones during a flight. Both work well.

Thanks for you patience with my ignorance.

On another note it's taking me a while to get used to this dongle thing. Was in a garage and was going to plug in my iPhone 7 into a iHome radio to listen to Amazon music while working, but dough! No dongle with me.
 
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