Airbuds and BT Headphones

Hey everyone! Just wanted to take a second to introduce myself. My name is Ryan Goldstein and I have been a Apple user for 10 years now. My most recent Apple product is the AirPods (which I absolutely love!) My main reason for joining is to talk with people about AirPods and their pros/cons about the product.
Looking forward to some good discussions! Thanks!
Ryan

Welcome to the forums Ryan.
Enjoy your stay ... members here are very keen to help out when needed.

Cheers ... McBie

A warm welcome, Ryan.

For AirPods, I guess your best area on the Forums is iPhone Hardware & Accessories.

But look around the other areas as well, lots to learn - and contribute.

Ian

Welcome Ryan. Post away with those thoughts.

- Nick

ryangoldstein said:

Hey everyone! Just wanted to take a second to introduce myself. My name is Ryan Goldstein and I have been a Apple user for 10 years now. My most recent Apple product is the AirPods (which I absolutely love!) My main reason for joining is to talk with people about AirPods and their pros/cons about the product..........

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Hi Ryan - welcome to the forum! You've already received some great responses, but I'm in the market for some new portable BT headphones or earbuds, and the AirPods are certainly a consideration (despite their price!) - please start a thread in an appropriate forum (several already recommended) and I'll 'chime in' w/ some questions - thanks. Dave

@rytangoldstein Hope you don't mind I moved your post to this area since it seems to have sparked some interest in BT headphones.

I'm curious to see how this discussion goes. I bought a cheap pair recently that are a pain to power up. It should be as simple as holding a particular button for a certain number of seconds but that doesn't always work. Should have kept my $20.00 - $30.00.

Some of you might find this article helpful if you are on a budget. Best headphones under $100.00

Hey everyone! @slydude thanks for moving the post!

I have owned the AirPods for about 1.5 months and absolutely love them! They are the first BT headphones I've owned, but I have played around with some other that my coworkers have (mainly JayBirds). Some of the things I really like about them:
- Battery life - surprisingly long and being able to charge up a good amount in just 15 seconds is great
- Fit - I have yet to have them fall out even once even while hiking, walking, at the gym, cooking, etc. My brother took them to hit ball at a driving range and said he cant imagine going back to wired.
- Charging Case - super convenient and slim way to take them around! I actually recently even started a business making minimalist decal sets for the AirPods case (called Air Vinyl Design). Hopefully that goes well!

Some Cons:
- A lot of people keep telling me that they wouldnt get them because they look nerdy (I dont really think so).
- Ability to lose 1 or the case - I havent had any issue so far, but I get the concern
- Audio (occasionally) - I've experienced some minor issues with a phone call crackling every once in a while, but nothing too bad. Still, this is definitely an area that can be improved.

Anyone else have some good insights from their experience with the product?

Slydude said:

@rytangoldstein Hope you don't mind I moved your post to this area since it seems to have sparked some interest in BT headphones.

I'm curious to see how this discussion goes. I bought a cheap pair recently that are a pain to power up. It should be as simple as holding a particular button for a certain number of seconds but that doesn't always work. Should have kept my $20.00 - $30.00.

Some of you might find this article helpful if you are on a budget. Best headphones under $100.00

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Hi Sly - thanks for creating this new thread - you're on the ball as usual - the link is not working for me - maybe This One - Dave

P.S. I'll return w/ some questions - I have some Rockfish BT headphones (pushing 3 year or so), just $60 @ BestBuy but falling apart and bulky to take on trips - the Apple buds are of interest -

Lots of discussion going on in some other forums about which wireless headphones are best to go with the new iPhone 7 or 7+ that no longer has a headphone jack. Seems there's a lot of mixed feelings between the Apple AirPods and BeatsX wireless earphones - both sold by Apple. I checked out the AirPods and there is no way I would buy a pair. I see younger folks at the Starbucks where we have our weekly meetings wearing them. To me they look like some robotic pendage sticking out of someone's ears.

The BeatsX on the other hand have a wire holder that goes around your neck to which the headphones are attached. Looks more normal to me and much safer from loss. ;D

Apple AirPods = $159.00

BeatsX = $149.00

Oh, and by the way.... you need to talk to Siri to increase or decrease the volume on the AirPods. Not so with the BeatsX.

That's the link Dave. I edited my previous post and fixed the link also.

I would love to be able to try the AirBuds before buying.I have a horrible time finding earbuds that fit and stay in.

BTW Just to throw one more thing into the confusion. There are devices that "convert" wired headphones into BT ones. See these for example Essentially, you pair these gizmos with your device and plug the wired headphones into the gizmo.

In theory this is a good idea because it lets you make use of very good wired headsets semi-wirelessly. I can't in good conscience recommend that device though. The built in mic in the device can't be turned off apparently. The result is the mic picks up other sounds and the music sounds kind of "hollow". Almost like it is boom played through a bad PA system. I normally like Griffin's stuff but not this one.

@chscag - great point about the volume control. Using Siri is for the volume is pretty useless in my opinion. I usually just use my phone and click the buttons through my pocket. However, I wouldn't like an actual control knob on the pods them-self.

ryangoldstein said:

@chscag - great point about the volume control. Using Siri is for the volume is pretty useless in my opinion. I usually just use my phone and click the buttons through my pocket. However, I wouldn't like an actual control knob on the pods them-self.

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I agree that at first sight, the Siri thing looks to be a disadvantage; but if the demonstration videos are anything to go by (and I don't own AirBuds), a soft whisper is apparently all that is needed because the microphone is very sensitive. No requirement to notify all the people in a 30 yard radius that you want to turn the volume down

Ian

@IWT - the mic is exceptional for sure. One of the main reasons I wanted AirPods was because I use them all the time for calls. I hate actually holding the phone up to my ear. Walking around the busy (and windy) streets of San Francisco, people on the other line have said the audio quality is great. The mic is very directional, so it hears you, but not anything else.

For myself, I would use 'ear buds' for music (wife has the iPhone and I a 'dumb phone' but cheap) - another link Best BT Earbuds from this month - the Bose SoundSport @ $150 was the top rated set but a lot of 1* reviews on the Amazon link. I've never liked 'ear buds' and prefer 'on ear' or 'over the ear' but the latter are rather bulky when 'on the road' - still interested in either type, so looking forward to other suggestions; BTW, not sold on the Apple AirPods, mainly based on some of the negative comments made. Dave