Pod almighty! Get an earful of this...
Apple’s earphones were once mocked... now they are bestsellers
THEY SOUND BETTER THAN THEIR PREDECESSOR
When Apple released the AirPods, their wireless headphones they were mocked mercilessly across social media. Undeniably, the AirPods looked like replacement brushes for an electric toothbrush, and Twitter and Facebook were littered with mock-up photos to illustrate it.
Three years on, the AirPods are a bestseller and another Apple-branded status symbol. Last month the tech giant released a new version, and added an optional wireless charging case.
Opening the box reveals the stark, sleek AirPods, a Lightning-to-USB cable and a charging case. The case is nicely designed, and has a magnetic lid that’s both easy to flip up but also closes firmly. When ordering you have the option to choose wired or wireless charging. The wireless option costs €50 more, but if you want to add a wireless case later, it will cost €89.
The AirPods are light at just 4 grams each. I’m still not sold on their design though, as they do extend to over 1.5 inches, and protrude downwards from your ear.
Setting up the AirPods if you’re an iPhone user is probably the most flawless pairing experience. That sounds like a small, one-off benefit, but Apple’s laser guided focus on making the experience better for its customers is what has made it the company it is.
A little bit of tech magic happens when you open the AirPods case for the first time. Your iPhone or iPad will detect the headphones and using your iCloud account the headphones will instantly be available on all your Apple devices.
The new AirPods are powered by the new H1 chip, an upgrade from the old W1. One of the benefits Apple cite is that the connection speed to your devices is improved. However, the biggest improvement is perhaps the Siri integration. Instead of tapping a headphone to talk to Siri, you can just say: ‘Hey Siri’, and then use the iPhone’s built-in assistant.
The most important job of a pair of headphones though, is sound, and the new AirPods certainly sound better than their predecessor. One notable change is they really do sound louder. The audio quality is what could best be described as decent, and neutral.
Call quality is excellent and listening to audiobooks or radio is within the optimal range for these headphones. If you’re a Hi-Fi buff, look elsewhere but if you’re an iPhone user AirPods are a good choice for everyday music and phone calls.