August 10, 2019
Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback! For starters, zero in-canal wireless buds work for me, so if I want to go wireless the Airpod (or knock off) form factor is the only option for me. Number two, I don't like being pushed to wireless by the trends of headphone jack elimination and dongle mania - that's bigger than Apple, but part of my complex experience with Airpods. I never used the original generation, so I'm comparing to Apple's $20 wired Earpods. Three, sound quality is fine for me, no better or worse than the Earpods, but I can see people being disappointed considering the price is 8X. Four: Noise isolation. What noise isolation? Wind noise is terrible while I'm biking. When I make phone calls people can hear me fine, but they say they hear the wind more than with Earbuds. Five, durability is meh. I dropped them first day and scratched one, though it still works. But these things are slippery and odd shaped so there's no way to "hold them right". Easy to drop. Six, once they're in my ear they stay; but it's so easy to knock them out. I have to use ear hooks or tethers, which quite subtracts the only real claim to fame any wireless earphones have. Seven, reliable connection? Wow, I'm surprised pro reviewers give positive marks here. No. Not reliable. My connection crackles at least once per outing, they are not fast to connect, I often have to double tap a few times before they start playing, and when I open the case with my phone on Home screen the pop up battery indicator works less than half the time. None of these things are the slightest issue for Earpods, so this would get a "0" if you had a slider. Eight, battery life is okay, but again compared to $20 Earpods, charging is an unnecessary hassle, and I'm not comfortable having lithium ion so near my eardrum. Overall, I have had a hard time finding a use case I prefer them over wired Earpods. After a few months, biking is the only one, as long as I use ear hooks. One use. That, along with all the other compromises, nowhere near justifies the $160 price. In fact, I feel they should cost less than $20 because the overall experience is inferior to Earpods. So I regret my purchase, and no I would not willingly buy them again. However, if the global wireless trend results in the complete elimination of wired options, then ironically I will be glad for Airpods due to the lack of any other quality option for my narrow ear canals.