Airpods - Apple has done it again

Airpods - Apple has done it again

Ok, I had to find out what the big deal is with these Airpods.  To be honest, I have never been a fan of Apple earphones.  From the time I got my first big original iPod, to the latest design that comes with the iPhones.  They are uncomfortable, sound quality is sub-par, and the build quality is not what you expect to get at their prices.  Of course it is not fair to compare the OEM earphones that come in the box to the other brands of headphones that I am used to like Beats, Bose, B & O, but even compared to the Samsung headphones that came with my Galaxy S9, the standard Apple headphones are not my choice.  I think that is the reason I didn't jump on the Airpods when they first came out.

While opening the Airpods, I was already impressed at the quality of the charging case and the earphones themselves.  Of course the Airpods cost 5 times as much as the standard Apple earphones, however I didn't expect this big of a quality difference.  I ended up purchasing the standard version for $159.99.  There is a wireless version for $199.99, however it is of no use unless you have a separate wireless charging mat.  Even the standard version that I got comes with just a USB cable, and not a wall plug.  

When I was through checking out this new gadget, I grabbed my iphone and voila, they started to connect already.  No bluetooth searching and pairing required.  No pass codes to input.  The phone automatically started to recognize the Airpods, and started asking me if I wanted to connect.

All I had to do was confirm, and I was connected.  Already the screen was showing me battery percentages of the Airpods and the case.  Wait what?  So the case itself charges too.  Awesome!  And also even happier that I didn't purchase the wireless version.

For the best and important part.  How well do they work?  They work great!  I was impressed by the clarity and the bass these earphones were producing.  Even cooler thing, once I took the earphones out of my ear it paused the video I was watching.  It looks the same applies to music and phone calls.  That is a cool feature.  As I just got these, I can't say how long the actual battery life is, however here is what the Apple website says about battery life

Power

AirPods with Wireless Charging Case: More than 24 hours listening time, up to 18 hours talk time

AirPods (single charge): Up to 5 hours listening time, up to 3 hours talk time

15 minutes in the case equals up to 3 hours listening time or up to 2 hours talk time

It looks like there are other functions that I need to play with and get used to like setting different tap functions, find my iphone for the Airpods, caller ID callout to the Airpods etc....but again most importantly the Airpods are a high quality build with high quality sound.  Is it worth the $159.99?  Yes it is.  With the functionality and quality of these Airpods, it is definitely worth the money for majority of people like myself who have their phone on them all the time and use their devices for business, music, and pretty much everything when they are not on a computer.  Way to go Apple!