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AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

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Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#361

Post by veidr »

brucemoose wrote: post #227
pwthornton wrote: post #200

If Apple does in fact release AirPower, and it works well, I'll probably upgrade to these. A better charging situation is one of the things that could improve the AirPods. Just today my AirPods case wasn't charging because lint got into my lightning port. I didn't realize the case wasn't charging until I realized my AirPods were low on power despite me charging the case a lot the last few days. Inductive charging is…

I honestly can't say I understand the draw to drop significant money on a new set of headphones that need to be charged at least as often as a my phone, and can't be charged while being used. I've had the same set of high quality in-ear wired headphones for the last 5 years or longer and have zero issues with them (I just replace the foam every so often for about $5). What is the improvement I am missing here?

Literally the only significant attraction is not having the wire. Ever since wireless headphones started to actually work reliably, I've used them exclusively (big over-the-ear ones for music, airpods for things like calls or online meetings).

For me it was all about the fucking tangle. I don't care much about having the cable on while I am using them. But having to do that stupid devil-horns-figure-eight winding technique to avoid the cable getting tangled into a knot, every single time I want to put the headphones into my pocket, which I do several times a day... ugh.

For me, going back to wired headphones would be like going back to getting on the train by going up to a vending machine, putting coins into it, pushing buttons, waiting for it to emit a paper ticket, and then getting on the train.

It's only a difference of a few seconds, usually, but it something I do over and over and over and over, so that's why it's worth it to me.

(I dropped significant money on a new iphone as soon as it finally got train-pass functionality here in Japan, too.)

Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#362

Post by closetohome »

nxc18 wrote: post #173
dgritsko wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it possible that the people criticizing them are not the people buying them?

Possible, although I know I thought they were nonsense before I got mine.

This was my experience with Apple products from like 2003-2010 when I finally decided I should just accept that regardless of my first impression, I was going to like most Apple stuff once I tried it out.

I'm always surprised how many people haven't come to that conclusion.

Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#363

Post by toyg »

exergy wrote: post #330
sosborn wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What is the improvement I am missing here? I think what you are missing is that different people value things differently. These don't make sense for you? That's fine, don't buy them. They don't make sense for me either, so I don't buy them. However, I can understand how it would make sense for someone else. Arguing the money aspect doesn't make sense because we never know a person's income, expenses and savings. $…

How about arguing for the environmental cost of our throwaway culture? Airpods have a MUCH higher environmental impact than ordinary earphones. A lot of tech is crammed into these things, all of which uses energy, resources, distilled water and so on to produce. I have a pair of Shure earphones that have "just worked" for going onto three years now. I had to change NOTHING on them, and they've never complained. I've…

Following the same line of argument, why are we even discussing this stuff on the internet, using devices that consume electricity, going through servers that likely consume tons of power... when we could all meet in a field and talk?

Honestly, this sort of attitude is why I just struggle to trust any “green” activism, despite fundamentally being a leftie. You are happy to live in a cave, fine, do that; but myself, I like my tech and I want to keep going forward.

Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#364

Post by xhruso00 »

mwfunk wrote: post #199
xhruso00 wrote: post #189

What makes the wireless case $50 more to produce? It must use same communication chip and extra coil + wireless controller. Or it is just a way how to prepare people for the next/future price hike?

Oh sweet summer child. How dare they try to figure out what the market will bear.

Nope. I still believe in the Steve Jobs vision. "We make the best product for the lowest possible price". This doesn't look like 1 best product. And clearly all Apple pro-customers can see they are being milked.

Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#365

Post by rickycook »

exergy wrote: post #338
stouset wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have a pair of Shure earphones that have "just worked" for going onto three years now. I had to change NOTHING on them, and they've never complained. I've worn them for 2+ hours Every. Single. Day. during that time period. And I have a pair of Airpods that have "just worked" for I guess about two and a half years now. I've had to change NOTHING on them, and they've never complained. I've worn them for 2+ hours (a…

Let's come back to this thread in two more years and continue this chat. Are you in good faith arguing that airpods and quality earphones will last the same amount of time and have the same environmental impact? It's one thing to have wanton disregard for the environment and say "Fuck climate change, convenience rulez", but a whole another thing to try to convince yourself that there IS no difference between the two…

i would wager that your argument is a rounding error compared to laptops, phones, and tvs... are airpods less environmentally friendly than regular headphones? sure, but let’s tackle things that actually matter before nitpicking. my airpods are devices that i’ve had longer than many of my other electronics purchases, and they’re certainly a quality of life improvement

Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#366

Post by seppin »

Yetanfou wrote: post #163
wil421 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At this price point you are paying form factor and lightweight. Bose and Sony have much better headphones at a similar price point. Both are much bigger and may have cords but the quality is much better. They last longer too.

At this price you're paying for recognisability and affluence signalling. Apple will be able to launch a 'limited series' of 'black airpods with gilded touch rings' - with the colour being the only differentiator from the regular product - at a 50% price increase and see considerable sales.

> At this price you're paying for recognisability and affluence signalling.

Give it a rest, Apple makes great hardware with great software. That's why people buy it, nothing to do with being cool.

Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#367

Post by _cerv »

What a fascinating product, and probably the most desirable from a consumer standpoint since the 2007 debut of the iPhone. My high school aged sister-in-law tells me that these have been the "it" item for the past two years.

For me, it has been impressive to see how durable these have been. I bought a pair, accidently had it go through a washer and dryer cycle, thought they were dead to the world, bought another pair, did the same thing again, and found that the first pair worked.

They take a beating, but just work. I can't say the same for my PowerBeats.

Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#368

Post by debug-desperado »

leevlad wrote: post #218
paultopia wrote: post #127

I actually bought these. Yes, it's a pile of money, wireless charging for AirPods probably isn't all that useful (though I may grab a new wireless charger for the desk where my AirPods usually sit anyway), etc. But, reality is: AirPods are by far the most convenient way to casually do anything with apple products and headphones. Stick 'em in a pocket, and if you want to listen to music or be on a conference call, pul…

I've been wearing my AirPods at the gym since I bought them (~1.5 years) and haven't had a single issue. And I sweat a lot during my workouts.

I haven't had any issues after sweaty runs either. Occasionally they won't sit right in the case and won't be charged though, likely due to being upside down in the gym bag.

Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#369

Post by tunesmith »

lylo wrote: post #305
Bahamut wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly, I seem to be one of the few people the AirPods don't work for when it comes to exercising - they don't fit well in my ears, so they'd fall out if I tried to exercise in them :( . Love them in general though, they are good enough for the price & what they do.

I have the same problem, clearly I have weird ears. They're a little cumbersome but I bought some EarSkinz and the problem is 100% solved. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0741CXH71/ref=oh_aui_se... The audio quality is also massively improved because of the better fit. The downside is you have to take the skins off before putting the AirPods back in the case. I also bought one of these pouches to keep the AirPod…

If you get the old foam slip-on covers that used to come with all Apple headphones, they might stay in your ears a little better, and you can close the case over them.

Re: AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

#370

Post by swozey »

katbyte wrote: post #264
jclardy wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the confusion on charging comes in with the case - you "charge" the airpods by keeping them together in the case. You charge the case by plugging it in. The case has about 24 hours of battery, so I charge the case about once every two weeks with around 2 hours a day of conference calls/podcast listening. I generally hate having a wire attached from my laptop to my ears because it inevitably will get snagged a…

> I generally hate having a wire attached from my laptop to my ears because it inevitably will get snagged at least once a week. I actually finally understand why some people may want wireless now, thank you. Personally somehow I never get my earbud cable snagged, even when snowboarding or climbing. However that tangled mess of wires when i take it out of my pocket...

What about having to have your phone in your pocket and a wire coming out of it into your ears? I've always found that annoying and usually wind up running the wire up inside my shirt so that it's not moving around or getting caught on things. I've never liked having phone holder armbands.

I absolutely loathe working out with wired headphones. Even with them inside my shirt occasionally I'd wind up with enough slack to get them caught on something. Usually when I'm bench pressing or working with free weights.

On the flip side, before BT5 and my S10 I had nothing but problems with all of my wireless headphones constantly skipping. I've actually posted here before that my $200 Jabra 65ts on my S8 would skip just walking to work to the point I'd run wired on my "commute." My S10 solved that, thankfully.

With that said I still refuse to buy a phone without a headphone jack (I'm on an S10 now). I have 2 sets of great (Jabra 65t Elites and Galaxy s10 buds) wireless but if I'm just taking the dogs for a quick walk I throw in whatever wired buds are laying around nearby. Or I'm at someones house/pool and just want a quick way to plug into their speakers.

It really is genius that you charge the holder which charges the buds, though, as opposed to charging the headphones. I can run them (not airpods) down and toss them in the charger for 20 minutes and get a few more hours of listening. Helps battery anxiety quite a bit.

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