So who's got AirPods then? Share your first impressions!!!

[StraightlineBoy]

Mine arrived a couple of hours ago so that's what my first post is based on.

Being virtually xmas mine arrived a bit late in the day to test by going out running however I don't think that's a bad thing. They're going to take a little getting used to.

First up they're as easy to get started with as all the reviews say. Open the case near your iPhone, done!

I'm not an EarPod person, I generally wear Bose QC20 in-ear noise cancellers (wired) or Bose Soundsport (wireless) so I don't do cheap earphones. No matter what people tell you, you can tell the difference. The AirPods honestly sound pretty good. My music of choice is rock and metal and they're not lacking in volume or bass. I'm happy with how they sound.

The fit is the tricky one. I wore them in the supermarket when I did my shopping and kept prodding them any time they moved at all, sometimes triggering Siri inadvertently by doing so. I also felt slightly self-conscious wearing them because they do look odd. I've figured that what I need to do is train myself to leave them alone. I've been wearing them around the house for the past hour or so, doing routine stuff like making a meal and they've not fallen out. Tomorrow I'll wear them to the gym - I think I need to build up to seeing if I can run with them in, and as I say this is as much to do with me thinking they're about to fall out.

So my first take on them is cautiously optimistic, if I can leave them alone then I think they'll be fine.

 

[bamf-hacker]

I have had mine since 9am. I hate the fit on the EarPods, but the AirPods fit and stay put in my ears. I guess the pulling of the cord really does make a difference. I won't be using them for the Gym, but I will be using them day to day for my podcasts. The reason I really like them is I can wear them in a mono configuration so I can still hear at the office. Also if I take the AirPod out of my ear the podcast pauses then resumes when I put it back. Since each one gives you 5 hours of play time I can swap them at lunch and still be good for the rest of the day. I will do a real life battery test tomorrow. Had a few meetings today and that will mess with the results.

TLR. So far I love the AirPods!

 

[anon(631408)]

I have had them in my ears since they came to the house an hour ago. I am really impressed with the sound. I was hoping they would be better than the earpods which I really didn't mind but I couldn't stand the cord. To compare these to PB3's I think the sound is very close. The difference I like with the Airpods, they don't go in my ear and block out extra sounds. If I turn the sound down I can still hear around me but if I really want to jam then just turn the volume up. The bass is present which I didn't think so with the earpods. I have been doing things around the house and have never felt they were going to fall out. I really like these Airpods.

 

[StraightlineBoy]

I decided to give mine a tougher test and they did better than I expected. I've become a big fan of the Yoga Studio app on iPad so I thought I'd see how they'd fare during a 30 minute session. First off I don't normally do these sessions with earphones in and I decided to resist the temptation to give them a nudge if they were feeling loose. When you consider these sessions involve you stood up, on all fours, bending to touch your toes, side leans with head tilted at 90 degrees, being essentially upside down etc then this test was always going to be about how often they'd fall out. Well the answer was once on each side which I actually consider to be a success for the AirPods because EarPods would have been a disaster in the same circumstances. I don't know if my Bose in-ears would have done better or not. It gives me some hope that they might stay in when I go for a run. Maybe they'll need the odd nudge but I'm more hopeful than I was.

Oh and yes, the iCloud pairing worked too as I didn't actually pair them with my iPad first.

 

[mstacheef]

After a couple of hours I'm very impressed. Pairing with each device was as easy as advertised. Sound is very good. Better than EarPods IMO but not as good as my PowerBeat3s, which are my running headphones. Surprisingly stable. Much more so than I expected. The things won't come out of my ears no matter how much I jump around. Call quality on both ends is better than my Plantronics Edge, which I considered the best up to now. I'll need to test it in. Ore environments for the call quality but so far so good.

 

[Tartarus]

I picked up mine 12 hours ago, totally unexpected. I just wanted to have a new screen protector placed, but one guy was buying them at the table for screen protector placement.

I took out my SkullCandy BT headset and asked the sales rep to be honest and tell me if the AirPods where worth buying, considering I already had a BT headset.

He told me they had a few pair AirPods available for testing and reassured me they were whiped clean after every testing. So I grabbed the last box of AirPods from the shelve to be safe and went to the table were the testing AirPods were.

I was told to have my iPhone ready. He grabbed the AirPod case, flipped it open and told me to press on the screen. "Yep, that's it, you're done, they're paired" he said, enthusiastically.

I opened my favorites playlist, played a song I liked the most (Lush Life - Zara Larsson). And, I was sold immediately. It sounded as good as my BT headset and it's much much more compact than them. It even sounds much better than the EarPods. Bass and treble are amazingly balanced from my perspective so that's another win for the AirPods.

So, I took out my card, paid for the screen protector and the AirPods and walked out the store.

In the bus to work, when I can normally hear the engine, the AirPods surprisingly blocked that sound, simply by their form.

They were sitting amazingly comfortable in my ear and I only had once the feeling I had to press them a bit further in, but that was simply a figment of my imagination. At the train station I had to make a short sprint up the stairs to catch my train and I did so without even worrying about the AirPods falling out. They endured. I was sold, this was not an impulse buy I'd regret anytime soon.

While sitting in the train I decided to charge the case -which was at 0%- with my power bank. In almost 45 minutes the case was at 96%. Enough for me to disconnect it from my power bank.

While at work I took them out during two coffee breaks of 15 minutes and one half-hour break. On my way back home I had them in for 15 minutes during the walk from the station to my house and the case was at 69% while the AirPods were at 95%. This all only with a total use of 75 minutes. That's far more than I ever use BT headsets on an average day.

Especially the fact that music pauses every time you take out one AirPod is a welcome feature for me, because with conventional headsets you also have to press the pause button manually, which is inconvenient in itself.

TL;DR:

 

[nikkisharif]

I decided to give mine a tougher test and they did better than I expected. I've become a big fan of the Yoga Studio app on iPad so I thought I'd see how they'd fare during a 30 minute session. First off I don't normally do these sessions with earphones in and I decided to resist the temptation to give them a nudge if they were feeling loose. When you consider these sessions involve you stood up, on all fours, bending to touch your toes, side leans with head tilted at 90 degrees, being essentially upside down etc then this test was always going to be about how often they'd fall out. Well the answer was once on each side which I actually consider to be a success for the AirPods because EarPods would have been a disaster in the same circumstances. I don't know if my Bose in-ears would have done better or not. It gives me some hope that they might stay in when I go for a run. Maybe they'll need the odd nudge but I'm more hopeful than I was.

Oh and yes, the iCloud pairing worked too as I didn't actually pair them with my iPad first.

I do lots of strength training & Bose never fall out of my ear when I'm on the incline ab bench. That was the reason I got them in the first place. I didn't always want to use my over the ear headphones. I doubt if I ever purchase the AirPods but it's good to see they're not horrible.

 

[anon(631408)]

Ok, here is my review after working out this morning.
1. Warming up on the Elliptical - no issues at all, very comfortable, didn't even feel them.
2. Weight lifting - mostly shoulder work today and again no issues at all. Didn't even feel them.
3. Jumping rope - 30 second increments - thought the right was was thinking about moving but when I checked it was still very solid in the ear.
4. Stationary bike - like the others no issues at all.

Battery:
It looks like 20% for every hour in use which leads to the advertised 5 hours of usage before needing charged.

Overall Impression:
I was impressed and will continue to use them. The no cords is amazing because there are no getting tugged around. Also, I guess I should note the location of my phone during my workout - it is in a central location with my towel and drink. I do not carry it around with me and I never lost connection. Even took a pit stop in the restroom and still had connection.

 

[StraightlineBoy]

I tried running on the treadmill for a few minutes earlier today and it wasn't a good experience. They just felt loose to me...I don't know if they were actually going to fall out or not (as I kept touching them) but loose earbuds when running is a distraction I don't need. I'll stick with my Bose ones for running.
That said, there's enough that I do like about them that I'm not planning on returning them. I'm just going to be using different earphones in different circumstances because I'm yet to find a pair that does everything without some compromise, be that by having a wire, a poor fit or unreliable connection.

 

[applefan4515]

I love these headphones. Not the best sounding out there, but good enough for me, I'm no audiophile nor do I pretend to be. They stay put I my ears. The cord is what always dislodged the EarPods for me. Call quality is great. I have been told that I sound clearer and better than with the phone itself. Only issue I had is a coat I had on today seemed to block the Bluetooth a little bit, either that or it was the area I was in for whatever reason, as the sound was cutting in and out when I put my phone in my coat pocket, just a matter of a foot away from the AirPods. I did have a funny thing happen today, leaving Walmart, I had them in and some guy stopped me to ask if I knew that my headphones were broken.

 

[Chemy JMHT]

Ok, here is my review after working out this morning.
1. Warming up on the Elliptical - no issues at all, very comfortable, didn't even feel them.
2. Weight lifting - mostly shoulder work today and again no issues at all. Didn't even feel them.
3. Jumping rope - 30 second increments - thought the right was was thinking about moving but when I checked it was still very solid in the ear.
4. Stationary bike - like the others no issues at all.

Battery:
It looks like 20% for every hour in use which leads to the advertised 5 hours of usage before needing charged.

Overall Impression:
I was impressed and will continue to use them. The no cords is amazing because there are no getting tugged around. Also, I guess I should note the location of my phone during my workout - it is in a central location with my towel and drink. I do not carry it around with me and I never lost connection. Even took a pit stop in the restroom and still had connection.

This was the kind of review I was waiting, thanks for sharing.

 

[Garz]

They are amazing. I did a 30 minute work out today and they stay snug in yours ears. I love them.

 

[Garz]

I do lots of strength training & Bose never fall out of my ear when I'm on the incline ab bench. That was the reason I got them in the first place. I didn't always want to use my over the ear headphones. I doubt if I ever purchase the AirPods but it's good to see they're not horrible.

Definitely not horrible. These things are stunning. I rate them 10 out of 10.

 

[StraightlineBoy]

Definitely not horrible. These things are stunning. I rate them 10 out of 10.

There's no way these are a 10 out of 10 product. There is a lot to like about them but because there's no custom ends (unlike with Bose) it limits the number of people they'll fit well and the lack of physical controls is also an issue, particularly the lack of a readily available volume control.

 

[Garz]

There's no way these are a 10 out of 10 product. There is a lot to like about them but because there's no custom ends (unlike with Bose) it limits the number of people they'll fit well and the lack of physical controls is also an issue, particularly the lack of a readily available volume control.

Your welcome to your opinion. For me, I say it's a 10.

 

[nikkisharif]

There's no way these are a 10 out of 10 product. There is a lot to like about them but because there's no custom ends (unlike with Bose) it limits the number of people they'll fit well and the lack of physical controls is also an issue, particularly the lack of a readily available volume control.

It's his opinion of them. Everyone will have a different point of view. For me, they're just not practical. Plus my phone stays in my armband during workouts so the fact that I can't forward a song or turn up the volume from the headphones makes them a definite no go. To each their own.

 

[msm0511]

I'm definitely interested in trying them. I honestly don't use headphones enough to drop $160 on them though. I had a pair of Grain Audio in ears that were $100. They sounded great, but broke. My $30 HTC Hi Res suit me just fine. I did see someone wearing the AirPods recently and he was really impressed with them.He said the sound was better than he expected and they were comfortable. I didn't think they looked as odd as the entire internet seems to think. If I didn't already buy a MBP, iPhone, and Apple Watch this year I'd probably think more seriously about picking them up. For now I'll try and make my way to an Apple Store to listen to them at some point.

 

[StraightlineBoy]

It's his opinion of them. Everyone will have a different point of view. For me, they're just not practical. Plus my phone stays in my armband during workouts so the fact that I can't forward a song or turn up the volume from the headphones makes them a definite no go. To each their own.

It's a typical internet opinion of them, either the best thing ever or complete junk with no middle ground. Not a helpful system at all. A review that acknowledges shortcomings such as the inconvenience of adjusting volume is much more realistic and more useful to people who are undecided whether to drop a load of cash on them.

 

[D-Rock]

Got mine last night and so far I really like them. They fit really well and the sound seems better than the EarPods. The only issue I've run into so far is that I can't keep 'em paired with my work Mac (which is still on El Cap) and my iPhone at the same time. Maybe I need Sierra for that? Anyway, glad I pulled the trigger and purchased them.

 

[Quis89]

It's a typical internet opinion of them, either the best thing ever or complete junk with no middle ground. Not a helpful system at all. A review that acknowledges shortcomings such as the inconvenience of adjusting volume is much more realistic and more useful to people who are undecided whether to drop a load of cash on them.

Although I agree with you, I'm not sure if he was giving his review. I think he was giving his opinion on this product as it relates to him. I've never in my entire life had a flawless product that I would rate 10/10. But my uses may differ from others. For him, this product does everything he needs it to do and more. And that's ok. I think it's best if we all listen to all opinions and then form our buying decision on a collective rather than basing our decisions on one opinion. Opinions vary and that's ok.