Your new best buds
NOW YOU CAN JUST TELL YOUR AIRPODS WHAT TO DO AND LEAVE YOUR HANDS FREE FOR OTHER APPLE DEVICES
THIS week we have a first – a glowing review for something you definitely should buy, but which is almost unusable for me personally.
The new Apple AirPods are bluetooth earphones which are absolutely essential for anybody who has an iPhone and likes to listen to music.
I can’t use them, though – and it’s not them, it’s me.
When I was at primary school, one day we did a science experiment that involved everybody in class measuring the circumference of their heads. Mine was bigger than the teacher’s. And I was only seven.
This amusing story explains in part why the AirPods just don’t work for me – big head, big ears. They just fall out.
So this review comes courtesy of me sitting very still to test out the new features of these tiny miracles, and asking my wife (whose head is about half the size of mine if photographs of us are to be believed) to test them on the go.
And this is what we discovered.
DESIGN: When AirPods hit the shops in 2016 people thought they looked a bit weird, like Apple EarPods with the wires cut off. And they thought people might lose them a lot.
While the latter might be true, people have come round to the idea that they actually look quite cool.
They are quite noticeable, though, which means people are a bit less inclined to wear them, unless a lot of people are wearing them… which is slowly happening.
The design of the new AirPods 2 has not changed. Apple did extensive research prior to making the EarPods, to find a design that would fit most people.
It is, as I know only too well, possible that they won’t work for you, though – so make sure you check before you shell out.
NEW FEATURES: Typical for Apple, the AirPods have no buttons – they are sleek, white, and shiny. The first iteration required you to double-tap on them to invoke Siri, skip tracks or pause audio. And you can still do that, but now you can also say “Hey, Siri”… which is mighty useful if you’ve got your hands full.
Another change is to the internals – there’s a new chip, replacing the W1 chip with an all-new processor called the H1. This supports the hands-free Siri integration, but is also considerably more powerefficient. So you now get, Apple says, 50% more talk time, lower latency (so when you’re watching video the audio is more closely synced to what you see on screen), and faster device connection.
The other change this time around is not to the AirPods themselves, but to the case they come in. It’s a charging case, so when you put the AirPods in them they recharge – the case allows you to keep the AirPods topped up and gives 24 hours of battery life until it needs recharging itself.
New for version two is the option to upgrade to a case that allows wireless charging – so if you have a QI charging mat for your iPhone, you can lay your AirPods case down on it and it will charge that up, too.
SOUND: The audio these little beauties produce is still crystal clear and with solid bass. They won’t satisfy the most demanding of audiophiles, but they are a considerable upgrade on the in-box EarPods you get with every iPhone.
Call quality is exceptional – Apple has outdone itself with the new Bluetooth chip it’s made, and the reliability of the connection is reason alone to choose these over most other Bluetooth headsets.
OTHER FEATURES: Of course, the second generation of the AirPods does everything else that the first generation did – there are two mics in each pod, to allow great talk quality, but also to filter out background nose, and a sensor in each side also allows music to pause when one is taken out, and restart when you put it back in.
Set up is very simple, and once paired with your iPhone, they will be usable across all your Apple devices, a feature that is synced across your iCloud account. The AirPods can also be used as Bluetooth earphones with other devices.
Apple AirPods 2 are available now and cost £159 with charging case, or £199 with the wireless charging case. The wireless charging case can be bought separately for £79. See apple.com for more.