[Technology] Apple airpods

[dennis]

I recently bought some blue tooth jobbies from Tesco

£30 rechargeable and hook round the back of your ears

Might not be apple product but bloody good

 

[LlcoolJ]

I bought a pair a few years ago. I use them for running, office and home; they are fantastic imho. If you can recommend a robust, well engineered equivalent which seamlessly synchs with the rest of my Apple kit, for half the price, I’m all ears (pun intended).

Lol. As if it I'd know what syncs with Apple kit. I tried my son's mate's airpods and they sounded alright. No better than any other top end earphones which cost much less though.

The reason that you need them to sync with all your other Apple stuff is why they have you by the balls FFS. Lol.

 

[Bozza]

Lol. As if it I'd know what syncs with Apple kit. I tried my son's mate's airpods and they sounded alright. No better than any other top end earphones which cost much less though.

The reason that you need them to sync with all your other Apple stuff is why they have you by the balls FFS. Lol.

You're coming over a bit snide and unpleasant here, chap.

You don't *NEED* them to sync to Apple kit - any old Bluetooth stuff will do that, but the experience is a whole lot better with AirPods. That's all.

There's no need to be quite so snarky about it.

 

[LlcoolJ]

Say what you want about Apple.. Their products just work... That is good enough for me!

Madness. As if all other companies products don't "just work". Lol.

Oh and of course there aren't millions of posts, on thousands of sites, complaining about Apple products, software, etc.

It's a massive con. They make nice products, they charge a fortune for them. That's all.

 

[LlcoolJ]

You're coming over a bit snide and unpleasant here, chap.

You don't *NEED* them to sync to Apple kit - any old Bluetooth stuff will do that, but the experience is a whole lot better with AirPods. That's all.

There's no need to be quite so snarky about it.

Apologies. Wasn't the intention. HT was asking about syncing with Apple stuff.

It was a mild nudge about the fact that he NEEDS it to do that because he's a fellow cult member, like you.

No snarkyness intended. Just the usual Apple v the rest of the world stuff. Which is amusing, not nasty.

Incidentally, I think you've just proved my point. If your phone/watch/house is all Apple then yes, the airpods will be the only thing that works really well for you.

If you wouldn't touch an Apple product with a barge pole, you can get exactly the same quality and experience for much less money.

It's the standard story, as told by the majority of tech review sites for the past 15 years or so.

That's all.

 

[Berty23]

I have some air plus that cost about 30 quid. They connect the second I get them out of the box and I have had no problem. Sound it fine.

I was incredibly dubious of the point of them but now I have them I will never look back.

The main benefit is that you can have something on your phone and do stuff. I regularly have football on or last week the masters and do stuff. E.g. I decorated while I had the masters on and only looked at shots I wanted to see. Spoke to mum at the weekend and can put phone down and still prepare dinner and hear her etc.

It is also easier to slyly watch football while I am supposed to be watching some crap with The kids.

 

[Monkey Man]

I'm someone who's got embedded in the Apple ecosystem with home and work and I took the plunge with AirPods a while back, mainly because the headphones that came with the iPhone kept blowing out of my ears when I was running, I thought the sound quality was mediocre (does the volume really get lower over time? I was struggling to hear podcasts) and the wire was annoying when I was typing at the computer.

I have to say AirPods have solved all three of those issues. I do think Apple take the piss with their pricing, but at least these headphones work properly and are robust. I have drawers full of other headphones that have let me down.

 

[bhanutz]

Madness. As if all other companies products don't "just work". Lol.

Oh and of course there aren't millions of posts, on thousands of sites, complaining about Apple products, software, etc.

It's a massive con. They make nice products, they charge a fortune for them. That's all.

In your opinion.... In mine, Apple products work across the board for me. So much so that I have integrated an apple eco-system (that's what they call it) in my business.

I have struggled with windows and android in the past. Apple just works the way it is meant to.

Again... My opinion no con at all.

Chill man.

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

If you wouldn't touch an Apple product with a barge pole, you can get exactly the same quality and experience for much less money.

Disagree with this. The combination of quality and user experience is exactly what sets Apple apart from the rest of the big tech companies.

You can get airpod clones which sound very very similar and last as long on a charge, yes. But none of those have the W1 chip which means they connect the instant you open the case. You take one out and it pauses. You lose one, you open an app and your right airpod beeps at you from under the sofa.

Their margins are pretty insane. But all the while they make reliable products which they support for years and which work as well as they do, I am not leaving this cult, that's for sure.

Join us, LL....

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

I have a pair of Jabre Elite T65’s which are decent and cheaper than apple

The T75 is now out so the 65s are considerably cheaper than the Air pods


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Springal]

Incidentally, I think you've just proved my point. If your phone/watch/house is all Apple then yes, the airpods will be the only thing that works really well for you.

If you wouldn't touch an Apple product with a barge pole, you can get exactly the same quality and experience for much less money.

Yes - if you don't have an iphone or similar, then it is pointless getting airpods. But I assume the OPs son is in the Apple ecosystem so would benefit. And actually airpods 'won't be the only thing that works really well for you' you can use literally any bluetooth headphones with an iPhone no problem

 

[Grombleton]

I'm currently using these - https://amzn.to/3pSnnwG - which are a reasonable compromise between AirPods and unbranded copies. Anker make reasonable stuff.

I might have to look at those, i've got a few Anker products and they've always been solid and work well.

I do currently have a pair of Samsung Galaxy buds which I think are wonderful and are a godsend for walking/running. I went for those as I have a Samsung Galaxy phone - like Apple's version, it just integrates so well, they're really comfy....it just makes sense.

 

[LlcoolJ]

Disagree with this. The combination of quality and user experience is exactly what sets Apple apart from the rest of the big tech companies.

You can get airpod clones which sound very very similar and last as long on a charge, yes. But none of those have the W1 chip which means they connect the instant you open the case. You take one out and it pauses. You lose one, you open an app and your right airpod beeps at you from under the sofa.

Their margins are pretty insane. But all the while they make reliable products which they support for years and which work as well as they do, I am not leaving this cult, that's for sure.

Join us, LL....

I've used Apple products and software (because I had to in a work environment). Never again. Oh and iTunes?! Just horrible.

To each their own mate.

 

[mwrpoole]

I’ve always struggled to get the Apple headphones to stay in not sure if I have strange shaped ears but there you go. So I avoided the Apple AirPods but got these instead at £80. They are the nuts and fit perfectly, various size buds included so should fit anyone. Someone once told me to judge headphones you need to listen to The Sound of Silence by Art & Garfunkel which was odd advice but my god very good advice.

https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/gbr/en/products/headphones/melomania-1

 

[Change at Barnham]

I'm nervous at losing an airbud.
I regularly fly long haul and often fall asleep with regular wired earplugs on that have usually fallen out by the time I wake up.

I have a vision of me on my hands and knees searching for a missing airbud under peoples seats.

Do many people lose them?

 

[mikeyjh]

Disagree with this. The combination of quality and user experience is exactly what sets Apple apart from the rest of the big tech companies.

You can get airpod clones which sound very very similar and last as long on a charge, yes. But none of those have the W1 chip which means they connect the instant you open the case. You take one out and it pauses. You lose one, you open an app and your right airpod beeps at you from under the sofa.

Their margins are pretty insane. But all the while they make reliable products which they support for years and which work as well as they do, I am not leaving this cult, that's for sure.

Join us, LL....

Thing is, some people are a little evangelical about Apple and I find that a bit strange! Some of their stuff is great, I type this from an iMac, I have a Macbook - They're not perfect and I prefer Windows for many things but overall I prefer a Mac for home (but not work or more teccy stuff) use. Where I find it odd is that the said evangelists will buy Apple anything, it's an incredible feat of branding and of eco system development. In my experience (as a very little bit of an audiophile), Apple earphones have been absolute crap and having just looked, the pro versions are £250 ffs, with 4.5 hours of listening time!!

 

[Change at Barnham]

Youngest Potting wishes to buy some of these for big sister for Christmas. Both are racking up lots of extra shifts in their "key worker" roles (sounds more impressive than "working in a supermarket"), both are very careful with their money, a trait that has carried on down the Potting generations.

Cheapest Apple ones I can find on line comes out at around £175. A couple of weeks ago whilst on a break in Cornwall I purchased, from the semi legendary Trago Mills, a pair of Bluetooth ear pieces that look and behave in the same way as the Apple ones - the price was £14.99! They might not last as long but at that price I could change them every 6 months for five years and still be ahead1

Is it me or does this seem bonkers, can the Apple lovers convince me !

Apple AirPods £124.49 on Amazon

https://amzn.to/3nMtxwo

 

[Sheebo]

£89.99 at Aldi Black Friday site apparently. Online only and not available yet. Not sure which version.

Where did you hear this? Only I’m waitin on a black friday x box one a deal to pop up and if I had the heads up before Friday it would help me a lot and I can be ready!

 

[Bozza]

Apologies. Wasn't the intention. HT was asking about syncing with Apple stuff.

It was a mild nudge about the fact that he NEEDS it to do that because he's a fellow cult member, like you.

No snarkyness intended. Just the usual Apple v the rest of the world stuff. Which is amusing, not nasty.

Incidentally, I think you've just proved my point. If your phone/watch/house is all Apple then yes, the airpods will be the only thing that works really well for you.

If you wouldn't touch an Apple product with a barge pole, you can get exactly the same quality and experience for much less money.

It's the standard story, as told by the majority of tech review sites for the past 15 years or so.

That's all.

I don't use AirPods right now though - I'm using Anker Soundcore because I couldn't justify the expense on another set when my launch day pair started getting a bit flaky.

I strongly disagree with much of what you've said though, but there's little point me wasting much time. You think Apple kit is a con and that people who buy it are stupid. You won't spent a penny (or the many pounds) to discover the utter delight the closely-coupled ecosystem provides. Many of the things are small and quite insignificant by themselves, but it all compounds.

For example I open the lid of my MacBook Pro and it immediately unlocks itself because it knows it's me by virtue of my Watch.

We go to someone's house we've not been to before and their iDevice senses mine and shares the WiFi code with me - no typing in long strings of numbers and letters, and probably getting it wrong.

I can set my phone up on a wall and take a photo using my watch as a viewfinder and shutter release.

I can type something here, copy it, open my phone and paste it there immediately.

And then there's the ridiculously excellent customer service. I dropped my iPhone onto the concrete floor of a bar in New York and cracked the screen. Picking it up, I was able to open the Apple app and book an appointment at the Grand Central Station Apple store at 8am the next morning. Whilst I had breakfast in a lovely nearby New York diner that the Apple chap recommended to me, they sorted my phone out with a new screen, for no charge, and well before 9am I was off to enjoy the day with a phone that was as good as new.

The whole experience is just exceptional and, for me, worth paying more for, and that ignores the fact that the resale value of my kit, when I upgrade, is far higher than anything else out there.

 

[Bozza]

I've used Apple products and software (because I had to in a work environment). Never again. Oh and iTunes?! Just horrible.

To each their own mate.

Don't think I've used iTunes in five years, possibly a lot longer.

We get it though - you're superior and those who buy Apple kit are stupid and are being conned. You can move on now.