When it unceremoniously dumped the 3.5mm headphone jack into the annals of iPhone history, part of Apple’s rationale was that quality wireless headphones were finally becoming mainstream, and with its own entry into the space – Apple AirPods – iPhone owners wouldn't mind the missing headphone jack.
Nearly four months later, Apple’s AirPods are here, but do they bring enough to the table to warrant a buy?
Pros:
- Seamless “magical” pairing process
- Brilliant carrying case
- Comfortable to wear
- Good battery life
- Decent audio quality
Cons:
- Open design lets in outside noise
- Sluggish Siri control
- Free stares included in the box!
- Pricey (Rs. 15,400)
What’s Good?
“Wireless. Effortless. Magical" is how Apple describes the AirPods on its site, and you know what? For once, this is not hyperbole and Apple’s got the “magical” bit spot on. Courtesy the new W1 chip developed, AirPods redefine the Bluetooth pairing process as we know it – just have your iPhone unlocked and ready, and flip open the lid of the charging case.
One second later, a popup on your phone asks if you want to connect to the AirPods – you tap Connect and you’re done! No fiddling around with Bluetooth settings, starting pairing mode, entering pairing keys – nothing!
This three second pairing process not only connects the AirPods to your iPhone, but to every Apple device that’s signed on to the same iCloud account – Macs, iPads, Apple Watches – you only need to select the AirPods in the device you need.
Of course, you can still use these buds with an Android/Windows device, but there’s none of that seamless pairing magic (kinda obvious!)…almost feels archaic!
Perhaps the thing I liked best about AirPods though was the carrying case. Because AirPods themselves are so small, it’s comforting that the case magnetically locks each AirPod in, so much so that you can’t shake them loose even if you want to.
Once they’re in, the case does double duty charging the AirPods, adding about 20 hours to the 5-hour AirPods battery life. Using them daily for calls and listening to music, I found myself charging the case every once a week via the Lightning cable, and each time I dropped the AirPods in, even for a time as short as 15 minutes, I’d get a full day’s worth of charge.
One of the questions I got from a lot of folks when I was trying these out (aside from the stares, more on that in a bit!) was whether they fit well, or specifically, if they fell out often and would they be a risk to keep safe. They’re small and lack any wire connecting the two AirPods, so in theory they’d be easy to lose.
In my ear, they fit rather like the standard EarPods that come with the iPhone, only since they’re slightly weightier, they sit better in the ear and are rather comfortable to wear all day. They’re absolutely tiny, weighing just 4g per earphone, so you don't even notice them when they’re on.
Despite all my attempts, which included running up and down the stairs, going for a sprightly run and even some head banging (my poor neck!), not once did the AirPods dislodge themselves and fall out. Of course, that may not be the case for everyone, so if you have trouble keeping the regular EarPods in, you may want to proceed with these with some amount of caution.
And they’re no pushovers when it comes to audio quality. I mean, sure you can find undeniably better sound for the same price, but for a wireless, lightweight pair, they offer clear vocals and satisfying treble, and deep bass is handled rather well.
They’re perfectly adequate for music and podcasts, but since they lack a silicone or foam tip, they don't seal off outside noise as well. Works great for me, since I like to have some degree of awareness of what’s going on during my commute or morning walk, but this may bother a few folks.
Finally, paired with an iPhone, you notice how well Apple takes care of the little details when you’re invested in their ecosystem. Even if you flip open the lid of the charging case, a notification pops up on your phone showing the charge level of each AirPods and the case.
I love the auto-pause feature, which pauses the music when you take any one AirPod out of your ear, resuming instantly once you pop it back in! Range is excellent too, and audio never seems to drop even while I walked around the house, which isn't something I can confidently say about a lot of Bluetooth earphones.
What’s Bad?
The design. They look like Apple’s old earphones with a slightly elongated stem to accommodate better microphones. Except, in this case, the throwback is just a bit silly and goofy.
Most women I asked thought they was a fashion faux pas, with references to candy canes and golf clubs coming thick and fast! Easy for them to say, they can easily hide AirPods behind their lustrous locks, but most guys wearing these will have to put up with some ridicule before we get used to seeing everyone with tiny stalks hanging out of their ears.
Not one of Apple’s greatest designs…maybe a special, more subtle, Black version instead? The minimalist no-button design begs the question – how do you control the AirPods? Apple’s answer is Siri, which is often times more of a hassle than simply pulling out your phone to do the same thing.
Imagine if you want to lower the volume or skip a track. With the old wired remotes, you have regular volume controls and a play/pause button that can be double-tapped to skip tracks.
With AirPods, you can double tap the outer shell of any of the earphones, wait for Siri to activate, say “decrease volume” or “skip track”, and then wait while Siri processes the instruction and finally lowers the volume. Even if you’re okay with folks thinking you’re talking to yourself, the whole experience – just to lower the volume, one click at a time, mind you – is rather sluggish.
It’s nice to have Siri in your ear for other stuff, like calling voice dialing contacts, checking on the weather, setting reminders, but for most other stuff, it isn’t a good substitute for actual buttons.
Why Buy It?
Beyond the polarizing design, the AirPods get a lot of things right, from the seamless pairing experience, the innovative carrying case and long battery life to a nicely detailed audio signature.
Sure, Siri holds them back, and the open design isnt for everyone, but by and large, the AirPods do a heck of a lot more right than wrong, and are most certainly a shoe-in if you're already in the Apple ecosystem.
(Tushar Kanwar is a technology columnist and commentator and has been contributing for the past 15 years to India’s leading newspapers and magazines. He can be reached at @2shar.)
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