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AirPods don't “just work”

philip.design

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Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#161

Post by soheil »

I never found AirPods convenient, there are just so many moving parts. There are just so many pieces you need to be mentally aware of, the left/right pods, the case and the charging cable. You need to then think about how this is going to connect to your device, you can't just physically plug them in and be assured they will just work. They run out of battery. The case will separately run out of battery. The BT quality isn't great and degrades depending on the conditions. You can't use one motion with your hands to take them out of their case and plug them in your ears like you can with wired headphones. You are more prone to losing the case or one of the disparate ear pieces since there are three different pieces. There is a bulge in your pocket if you keep them there, which is kind of even more visible and annoying if you wear something other than jeans.

I'm not saying there is a better solution it's just that this product is a massive failure in my eyes.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#162

Post by wdb »

dt2m wrote: post #63

All valid annoyances, but I really think OP should try using another brand of Bluetooth headphones for a week just to get some perspective of how well AirPods "just work" compared to the competition. Manually having to re-pair once in every blue moon, one earbud playing while the other isn't, no automatic device switching without having to go through the Settings app everytime, A/V desync, dodgy mic quality, earbuds…

Yes, I am daily struggling to connect my Sony MX4 headphones in a way the microphone also works so I can use it with Google Meetings. I have re-paired them already more often than my AirPods.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#163

Post by stephc_int13 »

I've only had bad experiences with Bluetooth devices so far, especially audio.

Speakers, headphones, keyboards or mice.

Drivers issues, spurious disconnect, hard reboot needed for no apparent reason, delays when connecting, sometimes even noise on the line, difficult to believe given that this is a purely digital channel AFAIK.

Lately I am relying on good old analog electronics for audio, and wires for keyboards/mice.

Not only those are more reliable and serviceable (I especially like dumb headphones in that regard) but without batteries, software update or even drivers, they'll probably last much longer.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#164

Post by Nextgrid »

ninkendo wrote: post #120
jdavis703 wrote: post #64

Some of these problems are because of Bluetooth (see complaints in this thread about Sony headphones — a company that many consider to have a similar product design ethos as Apple). Others are due to bad configuration defaults from Apple. Forcing AirPods to connect to the last device and turning off “pause music on removal” fixes two of the author’s problems. This isn’t a defense of Apple or AirPods. They obviously d…

> Forcing AirPods to connect to the last device If only it were that simple. Unfortunately this config option is not a property of the AirPods themselves, but to each individual device you own, so you can’t just set it once. You have to go to each device you have on your iCloud account and set “connect only when last connected to this device”. But it’s even worse than that, because the option is only available to be…

In my case I seem to just not be able to disable this option at all. Rather, disabling it prevents the AirPods from switching but they'll still pause the currently-playing audio every time they get in range of another device.

Every time I walk home with music playing it will pause because they're suddenly in range of my Macbook.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#165

Post by xg15 »

> I get that Apple is trying to be clever and anticipate your moves, which I genuinely appreciate, but when it gets in the way it's annoying.

I wonder how long until devices regularly do eye tracking to figure out which device we're currently paying attention to. I think that could both be useful and extremely scary...

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#166

Post by Causality1 »

Graffur wrote: post #81
dt2m wrote: post #63

All valid annoyances, but I really think OP should try using another brand of Bluetooth headphones for a week just to get some perspective of how well AirPods "just work" compared to the competition. Manually having to re-pair once in every blue moon, one earbud playing while the other isn't, no automatic device switching without having to go through the Settings app everytime, A/V desync, dodgy mic quality, earbuds…

I use Android and bought the cheapest wireless/bluetooth earphones I could find. They "just work". When I open the charging case, they connect to my phone. The bad points are the sound quality and the lack of noise cancellation

No noise cancellation is better than bad noise cancellation. The ANC on every set of earbuds and headphones under $200 I've tried is just a blast of white noise that makes it feel like someone is ramming cotton balls into my ears with a jackhammer.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#167

Post by xg15 »

chii wrote: post #156
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Y’know what headphones really did “just work” though? Wired headphones, circa 2017. Their battery life was infinite. You could “pair” them in seconds to any device with a headphone jack, aka any device, because we’re in 2017. Oh, and they were cheaper and better for the environment. Courage, indeed. And this is why I’m currently typing my comment on an iPhone 6S...

I used to be like you. Then i tried, for real, a pair of bluetooth headphones. The disadvantages of the bluetooth is by far outweighed by the wireless advantage. The mobility, flexibility and convenience of no tangles and accidental wire pulling and causing phone to drop - all worth it. And wireless UX is only going to get better. Wired is dead.

The mobility, flexibility snd convenience of me still sitting on front of the same PC for eight hours?

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#168

Post by Nextgrid »

drewg123 wrote: post #136

For me, the most annoying "feature" of airpods vs other BT audio was that Siri started announcing incoming calls, and reading the contact name in full, or the full phone number, both of which take forever. I finally found a recipe to shut that off. I don't recall siri being this invasive with my Bose BT headphones. I wonder why airpods got this special (annoying to me, likely wonderful to others) treatment.

> I don't recall siri being this invasive with my Bose BT headphones

I think it's just because Apple is intentionally gatekeeping the feature to AirPods even though it can technically work with any headphones, so in this case your Bose headphones were spared the annoyance because of Apple's anti-competitive practices, whereas AirPods have it on by default. Fortunately it's easy to disable in Settings -> Phone -> Announce calls.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#169

Post by soared »

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #52

I would add to the list that it is environmentally negligent to allow for such a complex device to be near irreparable (specifically on battery replacement). Unless you are selling medical devices your electronics should never be thrown away because after-sales cannot swap a battery. Then again Google just dropped the Pixel 3 after just 3 years so this is clearly an issue with the consumer electronics business model.…

Airpods are insanely small and the outside casing is pretty much a single piece of plastic. I am all for right to repair, but it does not seem feasible or reasonable for AirPods - they’d have to be bulkier.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#170

Post by bamboozled »

Raed667 wrote: post #129

For anyone who wants something very close to "just works" checkout the Jabra Elite 85t or 75t.

I have the 65t, absolutely love them, insanely solid, always seem to have charge, pair to everything instantly. I wear them during workouts and they get covered in sweat and chalk still sound beautiful.

Love them a lot and agree. Check out Jabra!

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