Home Cyber Layman Opinions ,,,,,The new wireless headphones from Apple, the AirPods, have finally arrived and Cyber Layman is trying two pairs, in order to offer two different perspectives on this device which turned out, also due to the delay with which the deliveries began, one of the objects of desire of 2016.
After the unpacking with gallery of photos and videos we are experimenting with them and, waiting to elaborate a more technical review, which will deepen the various moments of operation and the characteristics of the product, we can already immediately say something more about the impressions they arouse. .
Airpods under test
Easy pairing
The writer had had, many years ago, the opportunity to briefly test the first pair of wireless Bluetooth headphones – but we should say headset because it was a mono device for only one ear – for the first iPhone. An interesting device, with generous autonomy and with a pairing system “out of series” compared to Bluetooth and rather simple: the special iPhone base supplied with the headset also had a housing for the Bluetooth device so that it could be charged but also for do the quick pairing with the phone.
The idea now of pairing Apple products simply by opening the box is certainly excellent. It opens easily, you understand immediately, allows you to check the autonomy of the headphones (both of the box and of the individual earphones) and in any case offers a really simple operating mode. We liked it very much. Too bad, however, every now and then the passage is jammed especially towards the MacBook Pro 13 Touch Bar. You have to select the headphones in the Bluetooth menu and these do not always lock on the first try but the Mac seems to “think about it” for a while. It could be a tick of our Mac rather than a corner to be smoothed in future macOS updates.
Aesthetics
The headphones protrude from the ear because they are aesthetically identical to the “old” EarPods but without the wire. The “stick” is necessary to better balance the single earpiece and to have a design that would allow to maintain the geometry of the pavilion, introduced a few years ago with great emphasis by Jony Ive, who explained how the current headphones are the result of a study on many different ear types to suit virtually everyone.
The writer has them firmly in the pavilion and has never felt the risk of them falling, not even by removing the woolen hat that covers most of them. A different, more button-like approach with no parts protruding outwardly, would have made them aesthetically similar to a hearing aid and still have (more) trouble picking up the voice when talking on the phone.
The box that contains the headphones, on the other hand, has been ingeniously defined “dental floss box” also because the rounded shape and dimensions are more reminiscent of a mechanism for dental hygiene than a hi-tech container. As far as the writer is concerned, the box is perfect: heavy to the point of not disappearing in the pocket, it fits in the small pocket of the jeans and there is no problem if there are also coins around. It allows you to say goodbye to old headphones with tangled wire.
In the opinion of the writer, you pay a substantial price especially for this privilege: to eliminate the threads. In fact, the headphones have neither an active system for reducing ambient noise when listening to music nor an advantage in the quality of the sound that can be heard. Instead, it is more complex to describe the quality of the audio that is picked up by the microphones for phone calls, but let's see it in a moment.
Listening
These days the writer has tried the headphones trying to see if the listening is comparable to that of the EarPods and certainly not to that of more expensive headphones to cover the auricle. If you were looking for a pair of Bose or Senneiser this is not the direction: the sound pressure that the membrane of these two small speakers can exert is not substantially different from that of the EarPods, the standard headphones with the wire and the new Lightning attack.
They are as good as a pair of PowerBeats3 Wireless (which cost slightly more) even if the latter are designed for sports use and have a cable that connects the two earphones. The writer took the AirPods and went for a run in the morning, without major problems and never having the feeling that the headphones could fall. Maybe it's a coincidence, maybe it's the shape of your reporter's ears, the fact is that all the hype about losing them by walking or running or hopping doesn't seem justified.
The feeling of the writer is also that the range of the Bluetooth is more than good (well beyond the size of a room: empirically tested up to 23 long steps of distance in a straight line before losing the signal). Some less positive notes: the volume adjustment of the headphones does not show the “red” part of high volume like the other headphones connected to the iPhone. Maybe this will be corrected with an update.
As mentioned then the passage from one device to another for the connection (iPhone, iPad and Mac with macOS Sierra) is not always fluid but especially with the Mac it sometimes “jams” and takes a few seconds. Let's say once every five to six, for a delay of five to six seconds in pairing.
The voice: they are also used for making calls!
And finally, we come to the writer's opinion on the quality of our voice when we call someone else. This depends on a lot of factors, of course, not all attributable to headphones: where we are, where our interlocutor is and which phone he is using and which operators are involved. We may have little signal for us, little signal for him or a phone / headphones with bad audio quality. For example, the yield between iPhones or phoning Samsung Galaxy or the latest models of LG and Huawei is great because they are all 4G phones that support broadband for voice.
However, something can be said in the opinion of the writer. Headphones under normal conditions – indoors, at the bar with normal ambient noise – perform very well. Whoever receives the call has no problems, except for the entry of spurious noises from below: if you are washing the dishes and using headphones, the sound of water will probably enter because the “cannons” of the earphones point downwards . The quality is instead impacted by background noises present in an important way, such as in the subway.
Since the microphone is physically far from your mouth, you have to speak loudly because it is not possible to put the microphone closer. This approach works well as an audio technique (the listener hears us well) but is a bit awkward at least for the writer. Furthermore, the noise filter that recognizes voices and isolates and amplifies them, has a tendency to catch the voices of passers-by when we walk and pass someone who is talking, with rather abrupt entries of the voice of strangers in the phone call.
Siri and voice commands
Instead, let's see two other things. The first is the commands for Siri. The writer has used them but rarely. Because he prefers to put his hand in his pocket and turn the volume up / down with the physical button rather than giving orders to Siri on the subway or at the bar. On the other hand, the double tap function, which can be programmed, is limiting. At least two options should be available (double tap for Siri and triple tap for pause / start music).
Conclusion
In conclusion, in these first days of use the headphones have also shown to have excellent battery autonomy, the performance of the fast charge system is fantastic, and the feeling is that they can be used safely and with satisfaction, without expecting miracles. They stay firmly in the ears and offer the same sound experience as the EarPods but without wires.
The Airpods cost 179 euros and can be bought, stocks permitting, in Apple stores from next week, on the Internet they can be purchased on the Apple Store with shipping in six weeks.
It is possible to periodically find them on offer on various online platforms. Follow the Cyber Layman Hardware Offers page to find out the most interesting prices.
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