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AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

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Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#81

Post by dkrich »

I have airpods and a pair of Sennheiser PXC 550's. I use the Sennheiser's on long flights and when I'm working at home and the airpods everywhere else.

Both are great for their use cases, but the best feature of the Sennheiser's that I miss on my airpods every day is the ability to adjust the volume and song by swiping on the outside of the ear cup. I realize that there are trade-off's when moving from a much larger pair of headphones to ear buds, but to me voice to adjust volume or change songs is a non-starter. I wish that Apple could figure out a way to include touch or manual controls to airpods and that alone would make me seriously think about upgrading. This update is a nothingburger. There's nothing about these that are exciting compared to the first gen. If they continued to sell the first gen for $20 less I would opt for them. I'm starting to think that the Apple naysayers are right.

Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#82

Post by lambda_lover »

robohoe wrote: post #61
canuckintime wrote: post #42

This is a disappointing update. Introducing the wireless charging case at an additional charge without an accompanying release of Airpower is curious. No new color options. More importantly, no new control options. I can't change volume without resorting to my Apple Watch or phone. Hey Siri is a non feature akin to the Bixby button on Samsung phones. The battery on my first gen Airpods has deteriorated but this isn't…

Try Bose soundsports. They’re $200 as well but battery life is great and they tend to really stay in your ear canal.

It's not the battery life per charge, it's the battery lifespan. Similar to iPhones (which are rated for only 500 charge cycles because gotta pad those profit margins... so good luck using one battery for even 2 years), AirPods experience battery degradation to a point where they last < 1 hour and just shut down randomly because they can't provide enough charge to the buds. In just 2-3 years.

Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#83

Post by borkt »

lm28469 wrote: post #35
zpeti wrote: post #22

Funny how there's so much criticism everywhere for these products yet you step outside and loads of people have them. Usual reaction to Apple products I guess.

If you look at it through the status symbol / fashion statement lens it kind of make sense though. Afaik other companies make similarly priced wireless buds with better sound quality and similar battery life.

I haven't heard of others with connectivity that is even close. The fact that the airpods simply work, even long distances from my charging phone in the office, make them very valuable to me.

Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#86

Post by LeonM »

jimmy1 wrote: post #14

Has there been any research done on the safety of wireless charging?

Depends on what safety aspect you mean.

If you are concerned about wireless charging causing harm to living creatures due to radiation: yes there has been countless studies on the effects of (EM) radiation. There are also strict regulations about the use of EM radiation. [0] But since Qi wireless charging has such a weak low frequency radiation, and (mostly) magnetic coupling, I wouldn't worry about it.

If you are talking about fire/explosion safety: wireless charging will heat up the charging device slightly more than charging by cable due to a lower efficiency. The charging device usually monitors the battery temperature and may decide to stop charging if it exceeds a certain threshold. Some cheap devices (!= apple) may not implement this and overheat when charging, but this has little to do with the wireless aspect of charging.

If you are worried about electrical safety of the wireless chargers: they need to comply with safety regulations before they are allowed to be sold. [1]

[0] https://www.ices-emfsafety.org/

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resonant_inductive_coupling#Re...

Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#88

Post by Veen »

a-szekely wrote: post #59

What's going on with Apple releasing so many updates without holding a press event? (It's not like they have always announced significant updates at their keynotes.)

They have an event scheduled for the 25th March, but it's probably going to be focused on their new video streaming service. I imagine they don't want that cluttered with a load of minor product revisions (none of the recent updates are new product lines).

Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#89

Post by huehehue »

navigatesol wrote: post #65
lojack wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The airpods are the only wireless headphones I've owned where this is pretty much a nonissue in practice. It's easy to develop the habit to put the case on the charger when not on the go and to put the headphones in the case when not listening. At least for me those two things is sufficient to pretty much guarantee I'll always have charged headphones.

> It's easy to develop the habit to put the case on the charger when not on the go and to put the headphones in the case when not listening. Except the original post said to "count the time you spend untangling the cord" (which, for most good, flat-wire headphones is almost zero). Habit or not, charging takes more time than properly rolling the cord on wired buds.

That's an understatement. If your fine motor skills aren't impaired, you should spend maybe a few minutes each year rolling and unrolling your wired headphones. I'd argue it takes nearly as long to put your AirPods in their case and set them down on a charging station.

Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#90

Post by mygo »

can anyone chime in on the cancer concerns? I own a pair of airpods and use them daily, and want to buy the new ones, but recent press about this has been concerning me. Is there any merit to the concerns? Last I heard, non-ionizing radiation can't damage tissues, but I don't know too much about the subject. I want to enjoy my airpods so if it's fearmongering bs I can ignore it. I'm asking here because I searched the two posts today about airpods and nobody has discussed it
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