Review: Apple's new wireless AirPods put a smile on 2016

AppleInsider ^ | Wednesday, December 21, 2016, 08:31 am PT (11:31 am ET) | By Daniel Eran Dilger

[Swordmaker]

Delivering hours of enveloping, untethered sound and Siri assistance, Apple's new wireless AirPods elegantly perform in a way that promises to put a smile on your face no matter how terrible of a day you're having--a beautiful thing given how many ugly days 2016 has thrown at us so far.

AirPods, captured with iPhone 7 Plus 2x lens

AirPods are a bicycle for your ears

Walking down the street with AirPods in, a smile consistently crept across my face. Not having wires is a bigger deal than I'd imagined. It's the same feeling I got from an iPod back in the day: having a personal soundtrack that begs you to dance at least a little bit while you're walking.

Without wires, the small, light AirPods don't have anything to tug or tangle, allowing you to forget you're even wearing them. They feel like a plugged-in enhancement that becomes part of your body itself, like effortlessly riding down a mountain on a snowboard or flying down a newly paved highway on a motorcycle, where you only occasionally need to make an intuitive gesture to maintain your superhuman experience.

[The Antiyuppie]

The author is a fanboi; I, and countless others have seen these as the most idiotic, expensive geek crap ever, solving a problem that they themselves created at 50x the price. It will sell a lot of Androids.

[The Antiyuppie]

“I would lose them in about 10 seconds...”

Maybe someone could figure out a way to tether them together. Better still, how about tethering them both to the phone? Oh, wait...

[Garth Tater]

You can get hearing aids

But then I'd have to listen to the wife.

These applepops do look promising though. Anytime she looks like she's going to talk to me I could just hold up my hand and tell her I'm on the phone. And these things gotta be chick magnets. I mean, what lady wouldn't find an old guy stumbling around muttering to himself sexy?

[lefty-lie-spy]

Without foam pads the earbuds are useless. With foam pads over them, they are just fine. I looked around for other reasonable earbuds that had an inline microphone, but couldn’t find anything likeable under several hundred dollars. The Apple wired earbuds are awesome in my opinion for price/performance. I’ve already blown out some of my hearing due to rock n roll and I like my heavy metal loud, so it’s nice to just be able to replace the Apple earbuds every 6-18 months when I blow them out. I think the bluetooth market is really going to take off with some nice earpods that don’t fetch prices up to $800.00 for wired earbuds like some “high-end audiophile” lines have now.

[HonkyTonkMan]

This is an ad for apple products and has nothing to do with conservatism or repealing government largess.

[GOP Poet]

bookmark

[Swordmaker]

Apple fanatics are delusional it is just how they are. In the end of the day, it is just over priced electronic junk stamped out in the slums of Beijing.

Not a single word of truth in your entire delusional post. Fact: the competition' similar Bluetooth stereo earbuds with less battery life cost $229 to $249 a pair. Apple's are only $159 a pair. So sorry to so easily sink your toy boat again.

By-the-way, they aren't manufactured anywhere near Beijing. Another set of lies.

[9422WMR]

I’m with you on apple iPhone speakers. They don’t fit my ear, and always fall out. No way I would buy wireless iPhone buds.
Plus they look stupidly similar to ear gauge/ear ring jewelry.
NO SALE

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

how many ugly days 2016 has thrown at us so far.

he must be talking about November 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th . . .

Heh heh . . .

[AFreeBird]

Something like these?

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

I’d like to see a real review of these.

I’ve been wireless for a couple of years due to the fact that wired earphones ALWAYS short out at the plug.

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

I’ve had good luck with these for running and mountain biking:

https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Alpatronix-HX200-Noise-Isolation-Smartphones/dp/B00WAA5ZBC/ref=sr_1_2?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1482422555&sr=1-2&keywords=Alpatronix+wireless+earphones

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

Should note: Mine are black which seem to be soldout right now.

[Swordmaker]

I’d like to see a real review of these.

I’ve been wireless for a couple of years due to the fact that wired earphones ALWAYS short out at the plug.

Here you go:

Apple AirPods review: Why Apple's weird headphones are better than you think — CNet

Apple AirPods Review: Is It Worth The Hype? — MobileMag

Apple AirPods Review — Tech Radar

Apple AirPods Review — PCMag

Review: Apple’s AirPod Wireless Earbuds Are Almost Perfect — Telegraph Media UK

[ConsCA]

“I’m with you on apple iPhone speakers. They don’t fit my ear, and always fall out. No way I would buy wireless iPhone buds.
Plus they look stupidly similar to ear gauge/ear ring jewelry.
NO SALE”

We got 2 pair in for eval purposes. As noted earlier, it is loose for my right ear. The sound is very good. Not great but better than the ear buds. But, because of my distorted right ear - I give them a pass. Personally, I think they look dorky.

Our designers are meh on the design. I think most will continue to use what they use now - buds or good quality headphones when in the office.