Do you remember back in September, when Apple announced the new iPhone 7, sans headphone jack? Do you remember that they also introduced us to what they believed to be the future of headphones, and the solution to headphone problems: Airpods. Due to my high caliber dorkiness, I put in an order for the $160 headphones, and after spending some time with one of the first production pairs, I’m here to tell you what they're like.
So what are AirPods? Well for those of you who don't know, AirPods (not airbuds, that's a movie about a dog) are truly wireless earbuds. That means that there are no wires connecting the earbuds to your device, or to each other, so each one of the buds is its own separate little piece. There are no cords flopping about, and no wires to get tangled in your pocket. It’s fantastic. The lack of wires is my absolute favorite thing about these headphones, as it should be, because that’s really what you’re paying for. It’s great to just pop the AirPods out of their little dental floss case, put them in your ears, and roll, instead of trying to untangle wires while you're walking.
So, being that AirPods are first and foremost headphones, how do they sound? Not half bad to my admittedly untrained ear. The first thing you notice is that they have a much stronger bass than Apple’s standard earpods (the ones that come with your iPhone), as well as better volume and sound insulation. This fixes my biggest issue with the regular headphones: that they were so poorly insulated you had to crank the volume to hear anything, and that, in turn, made it so everyone could hear your music. Not the case with the AirPods - not only are they louder, but no longer will you have to worry about the person sitting next to you in the library hearing your tunes. However, like the regular Apple headphones, AirPods do not have any rubber tips to form a seal with your ear, so you do get some ambient noise coming in. I, personally, never found this to be an issue, even in louder environments, but you certainly won’t get the isolation here that you would with better sealed headphones.
Even though the AirPods, due to their design, don’t form a tight seal in your ear, I still never had any issues keeping them in their place. I walked everywhere in them, ran in them, and, at one point, slept in them, and they always stayed firmly in my earholes. The lack of wires hanging off the bottom of the buds makes them much lighter as well, helping them to stay in place. I found them extremely comfortable as well, so much so to the point that it was easy to forget that they were on.
Speaking of the design of these suckers, I do have some complaints to voice. First of which being that I can’t say I’m totally in love the way that these look. I don’t feel as stupid walking around in these like I have in other bluetooth headphones, but I did have one friend said that she thought I had cigarettes sticking out of my ears, and my sister mentioned that they look like weird earrings.
My biggest issue however, is with the controls. Most wired headphones, including the ones Apple includes in the box, have inline music controls. Those are the buttons on the wire that you press to control volume and playback. Airpods don’t give you this option for your $160, instead you have to double tap either of the buds to call up Siri, and ask her to do your bidding. This, in a word, sucks. Not only does it take so much longer for you to ask Siri then wait for her to respond, but you are definitely going to look stupid walking around shouting “volume up!” to yourself.
All that being said, I do love these headphones. For $160, the convenience totally outweighs the hiccups, and now wearing wired headphones just feels clunky and cumbersome. If you’re in the market for new headphones, AirPods are certainly worth a look.
The Rotunda reviewed Apple's latest AirPods.
