I haven't done a review in a long while so I thought it was about time I did another. Here we go with an Apple AirPods review.
So the Apple AirPods. Lets get the preliminaries out of the way.
Specifications
Price
• £159
Weight
• AirPods (each): 4 g (0.14 ounces)
• Charging Case: 38 g (1.34 ounces)
Dimensions
• AirPods (each): 16.5x18.0x40.5 mm (0.65x0.71x1.59 inches)
• Charging Case: 44.3x21.3x53.5 mm (1.74x0.84 by 2.11 inches)
Connections
• AirPods: Bluetooth
• Charging Case: Lightning connector
AirPods Sensors (each):
• Dual beam-forming microphones
• Dual optical sensors
• Motion-detecting accelerometer
• Speech-detecting accelerometer
Power and Battery
• AirPods with Charging Case: more than 24 hours of listening time, up to 11 hours of talk time
• AirPods (single charge): up to 5 hours of listening time, Up to 2 hours of talk time
• 15 minutes in the case equals 3 hours listening time or over an hour of talk time
Product packaging
As is typical of Apple, the packaging for the AirPods is very non-descript. Inside the box you'll find the AirPods, some product information leaflets and a lightning cable. There's really nothing more to say here.
The AirPods
The first thing I noticed about the AirPods were how small they were. I can only describe them as ‘dainty.’ On reflection, I don't know what I was expecting. And in use, the case is small enough to be tucked away in the coin pocket of your jeans but the AirPods are large enough to know they are there. The Airpods live in a floss looking charging case. The Airpods are held in place with magnets so there's no fear of them falling out.
Set up
One of the things that really impressed me with the AirPods was how easy it was to connect them to my phone. Open the top of the case, and the phone recognised them almost immediately. Check out my video and you'll see that the W1 chip that Apple used in these is really impressive.
Impressions
So the reason I brought the Airpods was because I wanted something more convenient to travel with than my over ear headphones. Another reason I prefer earphones when I'm out and about is because I don't want to mess up my hair 
(Apologises to those without hair)
Every time you open the case to take the Airpods out, you are presented with with the following. As you will see, when you take the Airpods out the case, it shows a charge percentage for each Airpod.
So with the Airpods safely in my ears, I play some music. The sound quality didn't blow me away but it wasn't terrible either. You are not going to get the deep bass you would in, say, the Beats range. The volume range is impressive considering the size of them. However, you are going to hear a lot of the outside world with these. If you want noise cancelling, look elsewhere!
You control the Airpods through double taps on the Airpods. As default, Siri is assigned to both sides. I wasn't having any of that! Siri is just another woman in my life who doesn't listen to me! Fortunately, in iOS 11, the double tap can be changed in the Bluetooth settings as you can see below. I now have play/pause on one ear and skip to the next track on the other. Also, when you take the AirPods out of your ears, the music automatically stop. Clever!
The Airpods are truly wireless. This could potentially be a problem. They are a 'one size fits all' and while they fit comfortably in my ears, they may not in others and could potentially fall out. While Find my iPhone now covers Airpods, its still an inconvenience. And expensive to replace if lost!
The design is interesting. I get some odd looks when I'm out and it has nothing to do with my height. I sometimes feel like a have tusks hanging out of my ears. I'm starting to get paranoid of poachers. I'm also unimpressed that there only available in the default Apple white. Give me some black AirPods please Apple!
Conclusion
So the pro's of the Airpods are these. They are very lightweight and small enough to carry around in your pocket. The sound quality, while not excellent, is good. I also like the fact that these are always fully charged and are able to be charged. And I'm very impressed with how they connect to my phone and also, all of my iCloud devices. They are a comfortable earphone as well.
So the cons. They are expensive. But so are most truly wireless earphones. I'm not a huge fan of the colour. I know you can get skins for them but I'd prefer it if Apple made different colours to choose from. The 'tusks' are a little annoying as well. The 'one size fits all' isn't going to suit everyone. And finally, why, oh why did Apple have to put a lightning port on the charging case?! I think it'd have been a lot better if they had used USB C. But I've already ranted about Apple's proprietary port in another post so I won't do it again.
I hope you guys enjoyed this. If you have any questions, let me know. 
5 Comments
