There is no doubt that one of the best-selling products these days leading up to Christmas are the Airpods. An iconic and very functional device, perfect to use with iPhone but also purchased by those who have an Android phone. It is therefore no surprise that more or less perfect clones of AirPods have appeared on the market and also several imitators that do not copy but are inspired by Airpods.
Here at Cyberlayman we have tried all the Airpods (in particular the AirPods 2 and the AirPods Pro) and we know what they are worth but we wanted to experiment, testing two products that fall into both categories: that of the Airpods clones and that of the apostles of the Airpods.
I200 Stereo earphones
The I200 simply defined “Stereo Earphones” are representatives of the first category, perfect clones of the Airpods. How perfect? To the point of tricking an iPhone into thinking they are Airpods. This was the main surprise we had as soon as we opened the box, too this imitated (almost) to perfection of the I200. But the surprises about the features of this ultra cheap clone didn't stop there.
Appearance and design
The design is completely identical, if not for some almost invisible details, to that of the Airpods. Dimensions, type of plastics, shape, color are not presented as different in any way from those of the Airpods 2. Even the position of the LED is identical and the weight is almost the same (48 grams for the AirPods 2, 47 grams for the I200). There are a couple of details that distinguish the two earphone cases.
The first is that in the I200 the identifying writings inside the lid and on the back are missing. In practice, these Chinese-made earphones do not formally pass themselves off as Airpods . The second detail is that the writing identifying the left earphone and right earphone stamped on the rods of the earphones is slightly thicker than that of the original AirPods.
And if you wanted to try your hand further in the search for differences to receive the honorary title of “hawk eye” we should note that in the AirPods there are openings that can be glimpsed behind the front grille while in the I200 you do not see anything and that the closing of the lid of the Chinese product has a lower resistance and does not shoot with the same precision. The internal magnets that hold the earphones are also less powerful
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For the iPhone the l200 are AirPods 
When they are connected, however, they are recognized they are not AirPods, but the icon is that of the Apple product 
The case is recognized as that of the AirPods. The earbuds each have their own battery level. Almost perfect imitation
The best way to tell real and fake AirPods apart is to take a look at the box though. Although the dimensions and the design are the same, it is here that those who built the clone have devoted fewer resources: the writing AirPods is missing but also and above all, the box opens with difficulty and is built with cheap materials: poor quality cardboard and a plastic shell that is certainly not recycled, soft and thin.
How they are made and how they work
As mentioned, the materials of the I200 are completely identical to those of the Airpods. The case has an internal battery that recharges the two earphones and in turn is recharged with a Lighting cable (even this included in the package) . There are no buttons or levers to control the volume, everything works with taps.
But so far nothing surprising because we are in the wake of design cloning. Where these I200s amaze is in the fact that their operation is also surprisingly similar, but we'd better say even at the cost of being boring, identical to traditional Airpods.
In practical terms when you open the lid to pair them, the iPhone will recognize them as AirPods and ask us if we want to connect them. Although when connected they will be recognized as l200, everything else will be, once again, the same: battery level for each earphone and case in the widget, on and off when the earphones land in the ear and when they detach.
Evidently not only the components but also the firmware of the Airpods have been cloned with an operation that should erase any doubts about the legality of the entire operation. Here, too, only a couple of details distinguish the original Airpods from the cloned ones.
The first: the I200s are not seen by iCloud and therefore once connected to a device, unlike the Airpods, they are not immediately paired with the other devices Apple linked to the same account. The second: it is impossible to configure the tap controls on the earbuds .
The system has fixed controls and distinguishes between left and right button. Since it is not possible to recall Siri with Hei Siri, to adjust the volume you must operate directly on that of the phone. In any case, Siri can be activated with a long press on the right aureolar.
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The packaging is almost perfectly imitated. The AirPods are distinguished by the writings. 
On the right, the decidedly cheap interior of the box of l200 
AirPods a left, right l200. No difference 
With the case open it is ours that inside the case of the AirPods there are writings 
On the right no difference from the top 
The rods of the earphones are also identical 
Materials, shape and design are identical 
The “R” of the AirPods is more intense 
Here one of the very few constructive differences. Behind the retina of the AirPods there are two holes towards the driver. Nothing is seen in the l200
How they ring and how they phone
The absolute weakest point of the I200 is the sound quality. We will not be doing a detailed analysis of highs, lows, mids, resolution because it is impossible and useless. The audio is so flat and muffled, mixed on all frequencies that defining it as mediocre would be euphemistic.
We can use it to listen to some podcasts or for an unassuming soundtrack, but the comparison with the already not entirely musically exciting Airpods is impossible. The Apple product in comparison sounds like $ 1,000 esoteric headphones.
The speech is only slightly less drastic when it comes to the sound level of phone calls, but even here we are at the minimum wage. The audio level of our interlocutor , as expected given the quality of the music, we will hear it with low pitch , to the point that in some occasions with a minimum of noise around us it will be almost inaudible.
Worse will go to whoever is on the other end of the phone because we will have to scream to make ourselves heard. We are faced with an effect of the distance of the mouth from the microphone and the absence of all technologies (including the cancellation of ambient noise) that are inside the Airpods but above all probably the consequences of a low level internal components.
Battery
We did not find any indications on the estimated duration of the batteries, nor on the charging system. However, there is specific information on the battery capacity of the case (350 mAh) and the individual earphones (60 mAh). These are inferior components (in the case of the case) and largely inferior (for the earphones) compared to the Airpods 2 which “Cuban” respectively 398 and 93 mAh.
This determines on paper an autonomy almost halved for the earphones . In reality, from a couple of tests we have carried out the autonomy which in the Airpods is about 4 hours and the call time of a couple of hours and a half, here is more than halved. The music does not reach two hours and a call of about twenty minutes devastates the battery .
According to the Widget indicator (which is impossible to say how accurate it is) it goes from 92% to 10%. Here too we are probably faced with the combined effect of poorly engineered software, reduced battery capacity and poor implementation of Bluetooth technology.
Conclusions
If you are looking for something aesthetically identical to Airpods for “shoot the poses” , as they say in some corner of Italy, spending what a empty box of the AirPods, these I200 are the right choice . They can deceive all those who see them and also many of those who take them in hand, even if used they would not deceive anyone among those who have tried the AirPods even just once.
Buying them, legal and moral aspects aside, however, can be a choice in some respects understandable by a certain segment of the public. The most disturbing aspect, however, is that the I200s seem built not only to deceive those who see them but also those who buy them and end up thinking that they are gods. real Airpods opening the door to scams and deceptions by unscrupulous merchants.
Availability
The I200 are on sale on Gearbest at the price of 20 euros by clicking on this direct link .
Xiaomi Mi Air 2
Xiaomi is not one of those companies that shines for innovation in design, but certainly it cannot be accused of not being able to offer products that, while taking a cue from market leaders, combine build quality and an excellent relationship between costs, functions and technologies .
This is the case of the Mi Air 2 (also known as Airdots Pro 2), full wireless headphones that make no secret of being inspired by Airpods but are also proposed as a low-cost but good quality alternative. Do they succeed?
The inside of the Mi Air 2 package 
the charging box has a similar shape but not to be confused with that of the AirPods 
The button is also completely different
Appearance and design
The Mi Air 2 have the same setting and same form factor as the Airpods . These are semi-in ear headphones with a box that takes care of recharging them. The white color of the whole set and the shape of the earphones make an explicit reference to the Apple product, but certainly you can't get confused .
The case is larger and has a truncated oval shape at the top and bottom, rather original. The actual earphones have dimensions similar to those of the Airpods, but a less continuous and linear profile; the element that contains the driver seems to have been applied to the auction, for a precise stylistic choice. The construction precision and of the various elements that couple to form the Mi Air 2 is not at the level of that of the Airpods, but still the material is good .
Of the Xiaomi earphones we particularly liked the choice of using a opaque plastic which provides a good feeling to the touch, even better, to our taste, than what returns handle the Airpdos. The container, devoid of negligible wireless charging, is larger, but not dramatically and therefore can easily fit in a pocket.
The ergonomic shape of the earphones makes them and apparently more stable than Apple earphones . The reason is probably in the attitude determined by the design used to integrate the element that enters the ear and the shaft that is pressed more firmly against the part under the ear. Part of the merit is perhaps also from the fact that even the temples of the Mi Air 2 are always made as the case in an opaque plastic and less slippery than that of the Airpods.
How they are made and how they work
From the construction point of view, as mentioned the Mi Air 2 are well made using good quality materials . Being Bluetooth 5 earphones after being paired with the iPhone using the classic button that puts them in communication with the phone, they will be recognized by the smartphone when the cover of the case is opened. They are also turned on and off when worn, just like Airpods.
The controls via “tap” are quite sparse; double tap on the right earphone plays a track, double tap on the left one calls Siri and nothing else … We couldn't find a way to switch between tracks and the full Chinese manual didn't help much.
The Xiaomi Mi Air 2 case 
The earphones here too show similarity, but they are certainly not identical
How they sound and how they phone
The Mi Air 2 from the musical point of view they sound discreetly , in some respects even well. Nothing out of the ordinary, mind you, but the separation is good, the bass is passable, the ones that a semi-in ear earphone can produce, the human voice, highs and mids make listening enjoyable.
There is also a good sense of spatiality; among the defects a perceptible distortion at maximum volume. Ultimately the musical quality is not very different from that of the Airpods as the level of soundproofing from ambient noise is similar, therefore modest. After all, the lack of ear plugs and the particular shape allow external sound to easily enter the ear cable.
The telephone call is passable but not perfect. In particular, our voice reaches the interlocutor quite clear but the volume is lower than that of the Airpods , it is probably an effect of the cancellation system of the ambient noise. Those who speak to us and are listened to in the Mi Air 2 will have no problems because the receiving volume is good.
Battery
We could not find reliable information on the mAh capacity of the Mi Air 2 batteries. Xiaomi simply let us know that the autonomy is 4 hours and that the case is capable of charging the earbuds three times. In the test we carried out we actually struggled to get to three hours, without any phone calls, keeping the volume at around 60%. As for recharging, we were able to restore the batteries in fact three times.
Conclusions
The Mi Air 2 are more than enough earphones globally in our opinion better than many other Chinese of the same price. In some respects, such as for audio reproduction in relation to the type of accessory, they are also very good. They are inspired by but do not imitate the Airpods and this is definitely a merit, offering itself as a alternative inspired by the market leading product .
They cannot compete in any way for integration with iPhones but if you aim to spend as little as possible and it is this form factor, the semi in ear, that interests you, the Mi Air 2 are to be taken into consideration with respect to a whole series of Chinese competitors presenting similar products in price and functions but not capable of sounding as good.
Availability
The MI Air 2 can be purchased on Gearbest for about 50 euros by clicking on this direct link .
Conclusions of the conclusions
The two products we tested, as we mentioned, are clearly the result of Airpods' dominance in the world of full wireless earphones, the domain they try to affect in two different ways: the I200 Stereo earphones , openly challenging the limits of legality, slavishly imitating the reference they look to , i Mi Air 2 trying to propose something that has more or less the same functions and that winks at the iconicity of the Apple product, at a price largely inferior.
Going one way or the other depends on what you are looking for. If appearance is everything and quality is a negligible aspect, assuming that we believe it is worthwhile to reward those who imitate a product that is patented and registered in all respects, then take the I200. If you prefer substance and the best relationship between expense and function, there is no doubt that the Mi Air 2 are the choice to make. We, it will be understood, would definitely favor the second option.
