Are they really worth their hefty price tag or are they just a gimmick?
Originally I started to look for a pair of wireless headphones specifically for the gym and working out but after watching countless reviews and reading peoples experience on Reddit I settled on the apple air pods which were coming up as the best all-rounder, so as they seemed to be so versatile I thought the high price tag might justify itself and it did!
Connecting the air pods to your devices through Bluetooth is really easy and they sync seamlessly with apple devices taking seconds to switch between devices. Connecting the pods to an IOS device is as simple as opening the air pods case next to the device and clicking connect when it pops up on the screen, once this is done they automatically connect when you take them out of the case each time.
The battery life is great and in most situations you will not need to worry about this aspect as the case can be used to charge the air pods up to 5 times, because of this I usually get around a full week of use before having to charge the case and the pods back up fully. Apple states you can get more than 24 hours of listening time using the case and the pods themselves will last for up to 5 hours on each charge.
Using the air pods has been a treat and they are comfortable in the ear, being so small and having no wires they are incredibly easy to use and are really convenient, gone are the days of having to untangle a nest of wires when you want to use your earphones every time. I listen to a lot of podcasts and with no wires you have the freedom to move around and do other tasks.
In terms of truly wireless headphones they are probably the best I have come across as an unobtrusive all-rounder but it depends on your priorities being sound quality or convenience, obviously it’s hard to compare them to the likes of some of the Bose or bang and Olsen over the ear headphones which are a lot less discreet. Taking this into consideration I think the sound quality is great maybe on a par with the standard wired ear buds or even slightly better, so they should be more than good enough for most people unless you’re a die-hard audiophile, I tried out a cheaper pair beforehand and although the size and shape was very similar the sound quality was nowhere near as good.
The air pods are not noise cancelling so if sound from elsewhere gets too loud they can be overpowered which sometimes happens in the gym if the music is really loud or on a busy train where there is a lot of external noise. They have been great for everyday use with my phone or laptop and have held their own when using them in the gym, the only issue I had was when lying down on a bench they tend to fall out but everything else was fine, even running. Officially apple have not claimed that the pods are water proof or water resistant and so far I have had no issue using them for intense workouts, so they seem to be at least sweat resistant. I once saw someone using them in the sauna but I won’t be trying that anytime soon!
Another handy feature I found out recently when I couldn’t find my pods is that they connect to your iCloud and register under the devices in find my iPhone. Assuming your pods have battery and are in range of your mobile device then they will record in iCloud and show the exact location. If they are out of range or have lost charge you can still see the last known location. As they are so small and susceptible to be lost, having this feature could put your mind at rest although I’m always conscious of putting them back into the case when I’m done to avoid losing them in the first place.
Overall I have been very impressed with the air pods ease of use and performance and cannot emphasise how convenient they are enough. I was surprised how different the experience of not being tied down with wires which makes you feel free. Despite the price I would recommend them to someone who is after a pair of wireless earphones for everyday use, especially if you are in the apple ecosystem.
Handy tips
- Siri
You can use Siri by double tapping on one of the pods. You can also change the double tap command under settings > Bluetooth.
2. Battery life
Quickly check the battery life on your device by opening the case near your iOS and it will show you the battery level of the case and each of the pods or you can ask Siri.
3. Turn off automatic ear detection
When you take a pod out of your ear it will automatically stop the music you can disable this under Bluetooth > settings
4. Live listen
I can’t say I have ever used this feature and not sure when I would need to but you can turn your iPhone into listening device.
To turn this feature on, go to Settings -> Control Centre -> Customise Controls and add the Hearing control. So now in the control panel you should see the live listen icon which looks like a small ear, just tap to turn it on. Handy if you want to spy on someone’s conversation and pretend you are James bond!
Vice wrote an interesting article regarding the air pods which brings up a point about the battery degrading overtime and effectively loosing 50% of the overall battery life across 18 months and some other controversial points. I have left the link below if you would like to check that out-
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/neaz3d/airpods-are-a-tragedy
LJTECH 