$159 Apple AirPods (wireless Earbuds)

Apple AirPods w/ iPhone 7 : Image via Link

For $159 : easier to use & better wireless tech than bluetooth earbuds, but what about noise isolation, and the shape could not possibly fit everyones ear properly! 


"Magical", they magnetically sit in the little charger case! A clean travel solution vs tangled wires!

Apple AirPods in their Charger Case : Image via Link

When you pull them out they automatically connect to your new iPhone or iPad, and because they lack a wire "pulling" down on them, they can stay in your ears while you dance, jog, or just about anything else.

This is approximately what CEO of Apple Tim Cook had to say when interviewed about Apple's new wireless earbuds they call AirPods. He said they stop playing music when you pull one out of your ear, and automatically start playing music as soon as you put the one back in your ear. You can tap one to access SIRI on your iPhone, it automatically switches from music to a phone call and back again. Sounds interesting! W1 the new transceiver chip setup, it automatically pairs the AirPods to your iOS device, and you can switch between iOS devices effortlessly, and that is awesome!

I do not own these AirPods and have no plans of buying any. I was never impressed with the earbuds that Apple included with any of their other mobile products in our collection. So so, or ok, the wired EarPods do not get rave reviews from anyone for reasons that are beyond the scope of this article.

Tim Cook mentioned something that is interesting about wireless earbuds, the lack of a cord pulling down on them, something that can get caught on clothing, objects, tools, your limbs, the cord length making a difference in the use case possibilities, I have a few different wired earbuds at home that I use sporadically to listen to music. Weed whacking and pressure washing, thats right, I am a DIY kind of guy, and over the years I have used earbuds, underneath over-ear protection while doing all sorts of loud things, and those darn cords tend to get caught on things. I resorted to routing the audio cord through my shirt, so that it exits the collar near my ears, behind my neck. With shorter ear-bud cords this means you have to place the iPod, iPhone, etc, audio player close enough to your head for the short cable, otherwise the buds can get tugged out of your ears. If you route the cable outside and get busy with both hands doing yard work, get ready for a bud tugging out of your ear experience! Remarkably I have never managed to destroy earbuds like this!

I purchased a UE miniboom bluetooth speaker that sounds awesome, and was given a UE roll for Christmas, and these seems to get more use than any of the earphones or earbuds. I plug into my home AV system to listen to Pandora at times, mostly using my old cell phone (android) as the streaming source through a 3.5mm Stereo to dual RCA input cable routed to the back of my receiver on CD-R input.

When I am using one of my desktops while someone else at home is sleeping, I tend to use earbuds or headphones to listen to music, or watch youtube content.  I tend to use cheap earbuds that I got randomly at different retail shops over the years, mainly Office Depot and BestBuy. I do not own any exceptional audio equipment, just lots of different kinds. I got a set of earbuds with a fabric cord and that was a bad idea, the fabric cord causes noise in the earbuds if the cord moves across anything, which is bad for me because I tend to listen at lower volumes to minimize the risk of hearing damage, especially if I have sound isolating earbuds in.

The tech in the new AirPods is cool, but not appealing to me, especially not at that price point!   Where I live in %10 sales tax WA (no income tax for this state), that means over $175 out the door. I would never spend that much on earbuds, I am just not that kind of person! I understand why these AirPods cost this much, Apple makes a healthy margin on hardware to cover their extraordinary development costs, and they integrated a lot of cool technology into the AirPods!

Look forward to honest tech reviews of the AirPods elsewhere, I will not be providing any. If anything I will add content to this posting with summarized content from other reviews once I have digested them and thought about them!