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AirPods don't “just work”

philip.design

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Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#701

Post by dont__panic »

falcolas wrote: post #584
dont__panic wrote: post #496

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, there's something comforting about a physical connection I can inspect for defects or just unplug, then plug back in if audio isn't working right. Even when I used AirPods/Pro for a while, I never really trusted the headphones. Sometimes I would take them out of the case and they just didn't connect to my phone. Sometimes they didn't seat quite right in the case and didn't charge overnight, and would be totally…

Logitech has had a competing standard for years (I have decade-old wireless G series headphones which work flawlessly). I'm not sure why their low-latency/high quality system hasn't been more broadly adopted. Probably requires too much power.

Is it the same tech their wireless mice use, or some variation? I've had really great experiences with that on my MX Master 2.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#702

Post by r00fus »

Reviewer didn't say which ones he has nor which phone.

My view of "AirPods" has changed over the years - had them since the OG launch with my iPhone7. A lot of the gripes make sense with the older models. Then I upgraded my iPhone to latest, and got the AirPods3.

With the v3 I finally feel it's a great product. I turn off the "automatic connection" BT settings for all but one device (iPhone) and it works as I expect. The spatial audio is great.

I tried a non-Apple AirPods equivalent for a while (cheap now, $30) and really missed the "find my" feature, plus the sizing was off.

My favorite new feature is the Find My where you can play MarcoPolo with your missing AirPod. THAT was much better than with my OG pods. Of course, the "your AirPods have been left behind" is often spurious so that needs improvement but better a false negative than a missed positive.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#703

Post by grp000 »

strogonoff wrote: post #663
greedo wrote: post #532

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's been awhile since I used Shure's in ear monitors, but they once sent me a kit with one of everything in that part of their product line. Nice stuff, and if you can tolerate in-ear stuff, incredible sound. But all the cables failed over time. Not heavily used either. They were great about sending replacements, but they were very aware of the reliability issues. And these were monitors that had MSRPs over $800.

Cables (as well as sleeves) are certainly the disposable part of IEMs like these. Earbuds themselves proved incredibly reliable to me (compared to AirPods Pro at least, which I had to exchange once and which still had problems after that). Also, SE215 cost much, much less than US$800. More like $100.

Yeah, I have two pairs of SE215s for convenience. But, replacement OEM cables cost 20-30$, and maybe it's the geometry of my ears, but I've had to replace 3-4 cables by now, since the cables, OEM or not, kept failing at the same section, at that metal wire you bend over your ear.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#704

Post by indemnity »

TrainedMonkey wrote: post #671
Nextgrid wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, the annoyances actually get worse over time. I got my AirPods back when the original ones were released and the experience probably was as good as physically possible (short of including multiple radios so they can maintain connections to multiple devices in parallel and simply mix the audio client-side). They then (2 years ago?) released this new feature where AirPods could automatically switch bet…

Whoa I thought that was just me. It used to be pretty easy to switch the device AirPods are connected to. Now, AirPods connect to the right device in 50% of the cases, 30% of cases they do not, but I can click connect on the new device and it works, remaining 20% the only way to get things working is either manually disconnecting on the device they attach to or putting them in the case and trying to get happy scenari…

It’s not just the AirPods, the experience is as crappy on the AirPods Pro and Max.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#705

Post by nneonneo »

jcpst wrote: post #685

Sounds like a lot to deal with, for the price. I’ve never had to replace the pair of wired earbuds that come with an iPhone.

I've had to replace...a lot of wired earbuds. I have an entire shelf full of dead wired earbuds, from all sorts of manufacturers (Apple, RIM, cheapo $5 earbuds, Sony, Shure, ...), which almost uniformly failed in the same weird way: the right earbud becomes intermittently staticky after a few months. I checked with multiple devices (phones, computers), so it's probably not the socket, but more likely something to do with the way I tug on the cord when I run or walk?

Anyway, after burning through a lot of wired headphones, I've had the current AirPods Pro for over a year with no trouble, and the sound quality is the same to me (plus, noise cancellation is useful).

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#706

Post by [deleted] »

ho_schi wrote: post #564

3.5 mm jack Nasty. Yes ;) I'm sorry but it solves these problems and I think most of us have more prominent issues. Bluetooth - and even overpriced Apple products - are usually working well with one connection only. And the headset profile needs to sacrifice quality for voice input. This is to large degrees a question about priority of the user. If you need good or even excellent quality - opt for a good headset and…

[deleted]

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#707

Post by arthurmorgan »

I regret getting my AirPods Pro. I have them for two years now and went through 2 cases and 4 earbuds. The quality just does not match the expectation and price tag. My Sony headphones work like on the first day after 3 years, however they don't share the same form factor. :) I wonder how the WF-1000XM4 perform especially in combination with iOS.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#708

Post by keltor »

saiya-jin wrote: post #692
tobyjsullivan wrote: post #681

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've similarly found AirPods both "just work" from a user experience, especially compared to alternative bluetooth audio devices, and also are quirky from a reliability standpoint. There have been fixes pushed out in past, particularly with the earlier models, where fixes could be done via OTA firmware updates. The remaining quirks all feel related to Bluetooth tech and, specifically, the low-power available to AirPo…

Man, you sure are overly optimistic. That part about bluetooth doesn't make sense, tons of products work reliably with similar dimension/weight restrictions as airpods. If Apple with its army of engineers can't make their products work reliably, how could have much smaller companies succeeded? Btw one of biggest disappointments for me with airpods (pro) is weak bettery life compared to competition. I am currently sho…

I've used 100+ Bluetooth devices and ever single one of them had weird connection quirks. Hell every wireless protocol I've ever seen has been similar excluding some actual industrial stuff.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#709

Post by KerrAvon »

saiya-jin wrote: post #692
tobyjsullivan wrote: post #681

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've similarly found AirPods both "just work" from a user experience, especially compared to alternative bluetooth audio devices, and also are quirky from a reliability standpoint. There have been fixes pushed out in past, particularly with the earlier models, where fixes could be done via OTA firmware updates. The remaining quirks all feel related to Bluetooth tech and, specifically, the low-power available to AirPo…

Man, you sure are overly optimistic. That part about bluetooth doesn't make sense, tons of products work reliably with similar dimension/weight restrictions as airpods. If Apple with its army of engineers can't make their products work reliably, how could have much smaller companies succeeded? Btw one of biggest disappointments for me with airpods (pro) is weak bettery life compared to competition. I am currently sho…

Would love to know which BT products are actually reliable. Seems like the best are only "reliable" relative to others which are "downright unusable".

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#710

Post by hughrr »

indemnity wrote: post #704
TrainedMonkey wrote: post #671

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whoa I thought that was just me. It used to be pretty easy to switch the device AirPods are connected to. Now, AirPods connect to the right device in 50% of the cases, 30% of cases they do not, but I can click connect on the new device and it works, remaining 20% the only way to get things working is either manually disconnecting on the device they attach to or putting them in the case and trying to get happy scenari…

It’s not just the AirPods, the experience is as crappy on the AirPods Pro and Max.

The experience is mostly crappy when you involve macOS. No problems moving around iOS here with my Pro's.
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