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AirPods are now available

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Re: AirPods are now available

#541

Post by theshrike79 »

Viper007Bond wrote: post #297
mcintyre1994 wrote: post #274

Has anybody got standard bluetooth headphones and found a way to reliably use them on multiple Apple devices? Mine are usually paired to my phone, and it's just not worth the hassle of unpairing and pairing repeatedly until the Macbook picks them up as unpaired and lets me try to pair with them, which works about half the time. Maybe my Macbook's bluetooth is just broken.. This is kinda disappointing though because I…

That's not an Apple issue -- Bluetooth doesn't support that. I've never seen any Bluetooth device that can be paired to multiple devices at one time without having some type of device switcher button.

Now you have: http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/accessories/ste...

Way under 100 monetary units, IP57 protection, aptX support. Integrates perfectly with iOS (I can see the remaining battery right in the header and dashboard).

Re: AirPods are now available

#542

Post by theshrike79 »

sooheon wrote: post #460
pwthornton wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've never used an entire product category and you want to call it stupid? The first step to building good products is to understand how people use them. Wireless headphones are about as stupid as wireless Internet. Just like wired Internet, wired headphones will continue to have a place for people who need certain capabilities or ruggedness or etc., but for most people, wireless headphones are the way to go. Let m…

I don't disagree with any of those points. But to me all of them are dwarfed by one thing: sound quality. Listening to the crap quality of apple buds is like connecting to a shitty CRT. Paying $160 for the privilege is just an added insult. If you cared about watching beautiful movies, would you downgrade to a wireless display with grainy definition, because "no wires"? That's how I feel about audio quality, and why…

None of the reviews I've read say the quality is "crap".

Or are you correlating your one experience with half a decade old BT headphones to current top of the line wireless? That's like saying all Wifi is shit because your PCMCI 802.11a Wifi card in 2005 had shit speeds and range.

Re: AirPods are now available

#543

Post by theshrike79 »

maaaats wrote: post #108
seanwilson wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Now, in the gym, I can throw my phone in my gym bag and not worry about it while working out. I'll never go back to wired. Exactly, doing anything active with wired headphones on isn't fun. They keep getting snagged in things and get pulled off your ears.

Don't think one can be too active with these ones, though. Looks like shaking your head will make them fall out. No silicon that shapes it to the ear, no over-ear stuff or anything that should make it sit.

Wired earphones fall out because the wire is pulling them out. These are wireless, so there's no added weight.

If your ears are ill-shaped for this style of earphone, then they might fall out.

Re: AirPods are now available

#544

Post by michaelmior »

Eric_WVGG wrote: post #498
amlib wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what about the possibility of losing the earpieces? They don't have a cable and don't secure into your ear like a hearing aid or even a normal bluetooth device. If they are so comfortable to the point of the user "forgetting they are there" the rate at which people will lose these things might be huge. They don't dangle from a cable when falling like normal headphones or Bluetooth headphones that have a cable bet…

That’s the genius of the tic-tac case they come in. My particular form of obsessive-compulsive behavior revolves around finding and losing things. One of my big life lessons is that things don't get lost when you have a place for them — the keys go here, the wallet goes here, the phone goes here, they never get lost. If the Airpods never needed to be charged, or could charge wirelessly by being dropped on a magnetic…

For me the concern would be one of the earpieces falling out without me noticing. Having a place for them doesn't do any good in that scenario.

Re: AirPods are now available

#545

Post by michaelmior »

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #294
pjc50 wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess this depends on your ears; I've never had a pair of in-ear phones that don't fall out after 5 minutes.

Have you ever had an earplug that fell out after 5 minutes? The main reason earphones fall out of your ears is the wires. Most existing wireless earphones have some sort of wire attached to them. They're called "wireless" but that's technically not true because they do have wires, and these wires are what pulls the earphones out of your ear. It's physics.

Significant head movement without any wire pulling can also cause problems. I could easily see these falling out when I'm running.

Re: AirPods are now available

#546

Post by pbhjpbhj »

scarecrowbob wrote: post #464
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can rest assured that there will be an aftermarket of artisinally crafted earpods, hand carved and remolded to fit into your laser scanned ear canals.

As a musician who uses in-ear-monitors weekly, I very much wish I had custom molded ones. It's not a hipster 'artisinal' thing as much as they ostensibly work better, and they aren't "hand carved"... there are refined process for this. But they are supposed to be much more comfortable and sound better. I can't comment becasue I don't play enough (or make enough playing) to justify spending $500-800 on them.

Seems like the pinna+upper ear-canal could be moulded very easily with dental alginate? The issue would probably be that you'd need to insert some form of tethered plug to stop the alginate going in too far, perhaps a bead on nylon thread. Then it's just a hack job to pair it with the earphone. (Or you could produce a mould, etc.)

Re: AirPods are now available

#547

Post by benwad »

Honest question: if these become ubiquitous (i.e. the majority of OEMs remove the headphone port on phones and everyone uses some kind of wireless headphones) wouldn't the interference make them unusable in a crowded place? How many channels are available, and is that enough for a whole bus full of people using wireless headphones?

Re: AirPods are now available

#548

Post by pbhjpbhj »

flashman wrote: post #426
amlib wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what about the possibility of losing the earpieces? They don't have a cable and don't secure into your ear like a hearing aid or even a normal bluetooth device. If they are so comfortable to the point of the user "forgetting they are there" the rate at which people will lose these things might be huge. They don't dangle from a cable when falling like normal headphones or Bluetooth headphones that have a cable bet…

It's possible we'll stop buying earbuds in pairs, and start buying them in ten packs. Some for your pocket, in your desk at work, at home, spares in the car... maybe some genius will figure out a design that fits in either ear, and uses compass measurements with the other bud to figure out whether it's in the left or right ear.

I assumed that was a large part of Apple's idea here. And as it's only an accessory the cost won't get factored in to people's phone purchasing decision.

Re: AirPods are now available

#549

Post by Terretta »

stonogo wrote: post #407
Terretta wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Hilarious' describes the claim higher up that Apple didn't do anything to see here because wireless headphones are $20. In reality, the only thing close costs markedly more, not at MSRP but at real selling price. There's a reality distortion field, but it's inverted. Not hilarious, just tedious.

Holy shit, friend. Motorola VerveOnes - $150 SmartOmi Boots Mini - $75 Rowkin Bit Stereo - $110 Rowkin Mini Plus - $60 Sol Republic Amps Air - $150 Your lack of awareness of the market does not mean that it does not exist. It is not helpful to pretend that your unwillingness to do simple research on the matter makes you an expert. I will now predict your next objections: "I don't like these companies" "These are not…

I wasn't proposing an exhaustive sampling, but you also haven't satisfied the $20 claim above.

Even Reddit finds more plausible comps:

- Samsung Gear IconX ($200) 4GB of on-board storage+, fitness tracking+ -- 1.6 Hours

- Motorola VerveOnes ($200) Can look up last connected location if lost+ -- 2-3 Hours

- Bragi Dash ($300) Fitness tracking+, gesture control+, 4GB storage+, Audio passthrough+ -- 4 Hours

- Bragi Headphone ($150) Hardware buttons+, no case charging or BLE -- 6 Hours

- Earin M-1 ($200) claims good sound quality+, no mics- -- 3 Hours

- Jabra Elite Sport ($250) Fitness tracking+, waterproof+ -- 3 Hours

- Apple Airpods ($160) W1 Chip to quickly switch devices+, Can use either headphone independently+, 24 add hrs of charge in case, only comes in one size- -- 5 Hours

I'm not sure your list is made of nice things:

- "Sol Republic Amps Air Are Truly Wireless Earbuds That Kind of Suck" http://gizmodo.com/sol-republic-amps-air-are-truly-wireless-...

- "Review: Apple AirPods Are Pretty F--king Cool" http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/review-apple-airpods-are...

Re: AirPods are now available

#550

Post by Neliquat »

vacri wrote: post #134
CPLX wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where they will be discovered conveniently ensconced 15 yards below a subway grate. For those of us that live in cities and commute via public transit, having them fall out is probably 70% as problematic as vanishing entirely.

If only they came with some sort of lanyard...

What if the lanyard connected to the phone and kept them charged?
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