Airpods Blog: An owner’s review!

That’s right, I had been waiting for months to get my hands on some AirPods but demand in our stores had been so high throughout Autumn and the lead-up to Christmas that I felt guilty taking them out of the hands of our clients! But in the days just before Christmas, we received a last minute shipment and I decided to grab a pair for myself.

To be honest, I expected the lack of wires to be very handy. But I had been used to that when using some cheaper bluetooth headphones. What I discovered was what can only be described as some of the most impressive technology integration that I have seen Apple come up with since the first iPad. In point form, let me give you a run-down of the features that I found so impressive:

– As soon as I opened the box (literally) I was impressed. AirPods come in their own very compact and easy-to-carry-in-your-pocket case. The AirPods slip into the case and lock-in with a magnetic ‘snap’. Then the lid of the case also shuts with it’s own magnetic ‘click’. They feel very secure in their case.

– Then I discovered that this is not just a case! It is also a charging station. You plug the case into any AC adapter using a lightning cable (YES! Not an annoying mini-USB cable!) and the AirPods charge right in their case

– But that’s not all! The AirPods case is also a battery! The AirPods themselves last about 5 hours on a charge but when you put them in their case, they recharge! The case provides about 4 to 5 charges of your AirPods!

– After pairing your AirPods with your phone, you can fiddle with the AirPods settings. This is when you’ll discover that you can set the right and left AirPods to behave differently when you tap them — you can use the ‘tap’ feature to activate Siri, you can use it to play/pause your music or several other options. The ‘tap’ takes a little practice but once you get used to it… well, let me tell you, when I went for a run in the frigid temperatures over Christmas, my wife was texting me about the inlaws or the turkey or some such thing that I had been trying my best to run away from. I was able to leave my phone safely in my pocket and use Siri to read the text to me through my AirPods and then answer her! Fantastic!

– How much charge is left on your tiny AirPods you ask? That is easy to discover — with the AirPods in their case, you just open the case near your iPhone and immediately a graphical image of your AirPods appears on screen and shows the charge of your AirPods AND the charge of the case. Very cool!

– One other cool feature: the AirPods know when they are in your ears! You remove them and they will go to sleep to save power. You put them in your ears they immediately know where they are and they will connect to your phone, ready for use. I received a phone call over the holidays (yes, people still call, not just text!) and I answered it with the phone to my ear in the usual way. Then I remembered the AirPods in my pocket so I put one in my ear. It immediately connected and the phone call streamed through the Airpod. No delay, no fussing about pairing. It just worked.

– Oh, one last minor thing: the sound is top quality!! The sound is as good as the best headphones I have ever used. Period.

 You won’t be disappointed with your AirPods! I carry mine with me all the time now and I love using them. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. And Happy New Year!