Early Reviews of Apple AirPods are Mostly Positive
After a long delay, Apple’s AirPods have begun to arrive to customers around the world. There is also a very limited stock at Apple Stores.
And now that the general public has had some time with the wireless earbuds, early reviews of Apple AirPods are beginning to stream in. For the most part they’re generally positive.
Some first impressions
At 9to5Mac, Benjamin Mayo said the sound quality is much better than the standard EarPods included with every iPhone. He also said switching between an iPhone and Apple Watch was instant.
These are better than EarPods for sound quality. The music is fuller, bass is recognisable (rather than non-existent), and the audio seems ‘closer’ to my ear than EarPods. Sound clarity is superior at higher volumes too. If you want raw audio quality, then AirPods are never going to be for you — consider instead Apple’s other W1 headphones or go upmarket to prosumer gear. I am pleasantly surprised with their performance though; they may look like EarPods but they do sound substantially improved.
MacRumors also has a roundup of early reviews from Reddit and the site’s own forums.
One user, The Game 161, chimed in on MacRumors complimenting the Bluetooth connection on the AirPods saying he left his iPhone in the house and walked up his driveway and the AirPods were still connected.
Others were pleased with the battery life and charging time of the earbuds while also praising the light weight of each earbud. One Redditor reported that he used the AirPods for 20 minutes on a stationary bike and didn’t encounter any issues with the buds falling out of his ears.
Prepare for a long wait
The AirPods will automatically connect to Apple products like the Apple Watch, iPhone, and Mac.
You can purchase the AirPods now directly from Apple for $159. But you’ll need to be patient as any order placed today will take up to six weeks to arrive, meaning sometime in late January.
Apple Stores should continue to have a very limited supply as well. If you’re interested in going that route, there’s a great site to check if your local store has any in stock.
AirPods feature Apple’s new custom Apple W1 chip, which uses optical sensors and a motion accelerometer to detect when the earbuds are in your ears. The wireless earbuds deliver up to five hours of music playback on a single charge.
The included charging case holds additional charges for more than 24 hours of listening time. A quick 15 minutes in the case can give you up to three hours of listening time.