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AirPods don't “just work”

philip.design

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Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#731

Post by willchis »

CTmystery wrote: post #723

I'm only an indirect user of AirPods and I really do not like them: Every time my team does a google meet / hangout the folks using AirPods sound terrible to the point that it's distracting. I don't know if it's in the microphone, the bluetooth connection, or the interaction with a google product, but it is much worse than (a) wired earbuds and (b) the folks using Bose QC 35s (which the company gave out a while back)

I was about to post this. People with AirPods really should know this - you sound like you're talking on a 1980s radio when you're on a Slack/Zoom/Teams call.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#732

Post by Me1000 »

glxxyz wrote: post #587

I've given up with AirPods Pro. I had to replace them several times during the warranty period (once was a recall). Even when working correctly they would have annoying connection problems, for several conference calls I had to switch back to an old school wired pair, which just always works. My attempt to have the case (which only showed life while connected to power) resulted in Apple throwing away my working AirPo…

I usually dont buy AppleCare for my products, but I figured since this was a 1st gen AirPods Pro and they were so small AppleCare was justified this time. And boy am I glad I did, I've had my AirPods Pro replaced like five or six times now.

Issues I've experienced:

- Loud random static noise (usually for about .25 seconds). It's like someone screaming in your ear. I've experienced this now with TWO pairs.

- Noise canceling/transparency mode just stopping working when you touch them.

- "Hey Siri" just stopped responding (not usually a big deal, but that's usually how I make calls)

- One pair just stopped working entirely. Wouldn't charge or anything.

- Each ear would get out of sync until you took them out of your ears.

AirPods Pro are by far the worst Apple product that I purchased. I regret buying them. I suspect the regular AirPods don't have most of these issues since I think the issues were mostly related to feature specific to the Pros.

I can't imagine how angry I would be if I hadn't purchased AppleCare with them, so many defects.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#733

Post by nsxwolf »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #47

I generally enjoy my AirPods. They are occasionally quirky, but most of the time they really do “just work” for me. The annoyances are annoying when they happen, though. The strangest part is that the annoyances aren’t getting any better over time. At first I assumed that they were growing pains of an early product launch. Yet now we’re years into the AirPods experience and they continue to be just as quirky as when…

I like "workarounds become a reflex". This is a very succinct way of describing one of the causes of why people often claim to have no issues using something that universally has issues.

A great example is the gaming PC vs gaming console war. PC gamers often seem to refuse to admit there's untold little quirks you have to deal with when using a general-purpose operating system and modular hardware to play games. They don't notice the workarounds they are continuously employing, because it's become a reflex.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#734

Post by frosted-flakes »

wruza wrote: post #566
frosted-flakes wrote: post #547

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The iPhone SE2 has a fingerprint reader. It's a lower quality device though.

Looking at my SE2 right now. What you mean lower quality? (Btw it has no minijack)

Not flagship. Non-OLED screen, single rear camera, no face recognition, smaller battery, etc.

GP's requirements were either a fingerprint sensor or headphone jack before switching.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#735

Post by AlotOfReading »

guntars wrote: post #700
saiya-jin wrote: post #692

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

If you know any bluetooth headsets that don't have similar quirks to what the post talks about, let me know, because otherwise I'm thinking this is Bluetooth and it wont get better until we ditch it. Quirks of Bose AE2 that I'm dealing with: 1) Switching to the low fidelity Bluetooth headset mode when the mic is activated. Why does this still exist? I'd be happier if they just didn't add a mic if they can't support b…

re #1: This is basically because it's written into the standard that everyone implements. There are non-standardized extensions to get around this that nobody implements because they're non-standard and a perpetual "This will be fixed by the next standard!". There are also codecs that mitigate the issue by solving the underlying bandwidth problem, but nobody implements those because there's licensing and thus it's not universal. All of this is made worse by the fact that there's really only a few vendors out there. Almost everyone buys the same stuff, which makes the same tradeoffs and the result is that everything sucks in basically the same ways.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#737

Post by j2bax »

surfsvammel wrote: post #680

Wow. I do agree with some of the annoyances, now that I read them. But, to me, my feeling about my AirPods where the exact opposite. I only got them recently, because I didn't quiet see the point of yet another pair of earphones. But man, They Just Work, has been my feeling about them so far and I have not regretted getting them. Maybe I have not had them long enough to actually start having them annoy me...

I've been using Airpods since day 1 and although they didn't quite deliver on the promise of "it just works" when it comes to connecting between multiple devices they have been my favorite new technology since the iPhone released. They feel like the closest thing to a fully realized "wearable" computing device to me. I bought the Airpod Pro's the first day they came out and haven't ever looked back to my wired headphone past. They are the perfect balance of comfort and features for me. Of course I'd like to see them improve and work out the general bluetooth issues, but I can't imagine living/working without them.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#738

Post by pjerem »

krferriter wrote: post #689
BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #465

It's weird to me how many people are like "yeah but every other bluetooth is worse". I have Airpod Pros and experienced every one of these issues and many more on the regular with them, but my several years old now Bose QC 35II never have any of these problems, still last like 5 times as long on battery after years of recharge cycles, interact better with two simultaneously connected devices, have better signal range…

I think part of the problems you describe is the failings of the bluetooth stack in MacOS, not the Airpods themselves. I have had bluetooth device issues in MacOS on a brand new Macbook, and of course MacOS offers no advanced control options or access to underlying defaults it plugs into device and connection configurations, and there are forum posts about issues going back many years with no acknowledgement by Apple…

I have to reassure you, the Windows BT stack is actually a pile of garbage. And I’m talking about things like the whole audio system crashing when trying to use my XM4 on any videoconférence software, my Xbox controller randomly disconnecting for several seconds while in game (I play at a At this point I’m starting to believe that even Linux has a better Bluetooth stack than windows and OS X.

iOS is okayish but I have random issues with my AirPods. Generally they just stop being recognized and I have to reset them and to setup then again. Boring.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#739

Post by frosted-flakes »

CTmystery wrote: post #723

I'm only an indirect user of AirPods and I really do not like them: Every time my team does a google meet / hangout the folks using AirPods sound terrible to the point that it's distracting. I don't know if it's in the microphone, the bluetooth connection, or the interaction with a google product, but it is much worse than (a) wired earbuds and (b) the folks using Bose QC 35s (which the company gave out a while back)

Wired headphones have the mic on the wire beside your mouth. Wireless headphones have them around the corner on the side of your head, which is an objectively terrible location for a microphone.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#740

Post by dnadler »

guntars wrote: post #700
saiya-jin wrote: post #692

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

If you know any bluetooth headsets that don't have similar quirks to what the post talks about, let me know, because otherwise I'm thinking this is Bluetooth and it wont get better until we ditch it. Quirks of Bose AE2 that I'm dealing with: 1) Switching to the low fidelity Bluetooth headset mode when the mic is activated. Why does this still exist? I'd be happier if they just didn't add a mic if they can't support b…

So, I just switched from Android to iOS, and I've noticed that the bluetooth reliability is significantly worse than what I've become used to.

I switch from a Pixel 4a to an iPhone 11, and both my Bose QC 35 headphones and Sony wireless earbuds are having lots of issue that I never head on the pixel.

So, my takeaway is that iOS is behind here, though I don't know enough about the underlying tech to say anything for sure. Just my anecdotal experience...

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