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AirPods don't “just work”

philip.design

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Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#81

Post by Graffur »

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

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#82

Post by justinator »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #70
justinator wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's an accessibility problem, especially for people (like me) who have astigmatism. But y'all don't look away from white text on black background to a bright light source (like a page of black text on a white background) and get a "burned in" impression of the previous page in your vision? Lucky you. Dark mode is fine, please let the user choose to have dark mode when she wants to.

I wish HN had a dark mode option.

Whip up some css to your liking and inject it into hn's HTML - there's lots of examples of people doing things like that.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#83

Post by IggleSniggle »

StevePerkins wrote: post #55

I have a $200-250 pair of AirPod Pros, and a $40 pair of Tozo NC7's that I bought for a backup. The Tozo's get way more use, to the point where I regret buying the AirPods. Your ears may vary, but "dot" style earbuds are WAY more comfortable (and likely to stay put in my ears) than the "stem" style buds. The spatial audio thing turned out to be a pointless novelty that wore off quickly, and isn't even supported on ha…

My counter point is that I have my AirPods paired with 4 different (Apple) devices, and I’m constantly amazed that they always seem to be connected to “the right one” every single time. The handoff is seamless and hasn’t made a mistake about guessing which device I want to be driving them in the two years I’ve owned them.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#84

Post by throwaway22032 »

I barely ever use my headphones with my laptop, but my Sony headphones on an Android phone work 100% perfectly all of the time.

I've never had a hiccup.

Okay, I mean, if I'm in an area with thousands of others using headphones, I might get some interference. That's it. Otherwise, totally fine.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#85

Post by pnutjam »

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 have 2 sets from Monoprice, both pretty inexpensive. The cheapest ones don't have a very good microphone and they are tinny, but fine for podcasts. They also switch ears and pair easily like a champ. I can Pair either one, pull out the other one and let it pair, then put the first away, or leave them both in. I've been really impressed. The slightly more expensive pair will only pair the right one unless I create a specific profile for the left one. Switching from one to two is hit or miss and forget about switching from right to left (or vice-versa) without pausing everything for a minute or so.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#87

Post by rodelrod »

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…

Maybe that audio jack wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#88

Post by deltarholamda »

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…

As much as people hate wires, I have to say that I much appreciate the "just works" aspect of it. Even wifi, while it has improved an awful lot over the years, is not nearly as reliable as the (albeit annoying) ethernet cable.

I have the same issue with wireless keyboards and mice. The idea that I have to charge or put batteries into my mouse is infuriating.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#89

Post by ascagnel_ »

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…

> 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.

I don't even necessarily think these are problems. I almost always want whatever I'm playing to stop when I disconnect my headphones, and there are times I don't want the headphones to connect to the last device (ie: I've been listening to something on my laptop, left the laptop behind somewhere, and want to start listening from my phone).

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#90

Post by kop316 »

lowercased wrote: post #71
kop316 wrote: post #29

Heh, I got my spouse a pair of AirPods, and long ago she went back to a pair of wired earbuds due to various issues with them. IIRC, noiuse cancelling didn't work well and causes a lot of sudio issues, there were connection issues all the time. The cheap wired heaphones work much better for her. Out of curiousity, does anyone have a good recommendation for a good pair of 3.5mm wired headphones with a microphone? I st…

I generally like the QC20, but I think those were recently discontinued. The mic wasn't the best , but for regular conversations generally didn't have problems if I clipped the mic to a shirt. If it bounced around and rustled on a shirt that wasn't good, but that's going to be a problem with any mic on a wire, I'd think.

Yeah it seems that all of the (in-ear) Bose wired headphones were discontinued.
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