These are AirPods, Apple's $159 wireless headphones
and these are AirDots, Xiaomi's $30 wireless headphones.
Xiaomi has long been referred to as the Apple of China.
So we wanted to know, how do the headphones compare?
Are AirPods worth the cost?
Or can AirDots provide the same quality
for one-fifth the price?
Let's start with looks.
AirPods weigh approximately 46 grams or 1.6 ounces.
And the AirDots weigh 4.2 grams, about .15 ounces,
which is one-tenth of what the AirPods weigh.
Both come in a container about the size of a pack of floss.
As for design, AirPods basically look like your normal
Apple EarPods without the wire.
They're long, sleek, and are generally molded
to the shape of an ear.
The AirDots look more like hearing aids.
They're in-ear headphones that have an oval shape exterior
which makes the earbuds bulky and a little bit heavy
despite being a fraction of the weight of the AirPods.
Both the AirPods and the AirDots will automatically
connect to your Bluetooth device
when you put them in your ear.
The AirPods do connect a little faster to your iPhone
because it's an Apple product,
but the AirDots still connect pretty quickly.
Bluetooth in general is still an issue.
I've had my AirPods glitch on me one or two times before.
The sound would go in and out and there was one instance
where only one of my AirDots was connected.
The AirPods are pretty comfortable
and require very little effort to place in your ear.
AirDots on the other hand require a bit more effort
to stick them in your ear.
Since they're in-ear headphones, the silicone rubber earbuds
can be uncomfortable to wear.
You might feel like your ears are clogged,
as if you're in an airplane or underwater
and they might take some time to fit
and adjust in your ears.
However, once they are in there, they rarely fall out
no matter how hard you shake your head.
Moving on to the most important part, the sound quality.
AirPods don't have a noise-canceling feature
but music still sounds crisp and there's a decent bass.
AirDots have a really good noise-canceling feature,
a powerful bass, and clear sound.
Unlike the headphones that sit in the outer ear,
these earbuds extend into your ear canal,
blocking out most sound from your surroundings.
While this can provide you with some high-quality music,
it might not be good if you like
hearing everything around you.
I wore them while walking down the busy streets
of New York City and I couldn't hear
any honking cars or the loud crowd.
You can also make phone calls on both devices.
AirPods filter out the background noise pretty well
and are able to emphasize the person's voice,
but AirDots have limitations.
You can hear a lot of background noise,
like ruffling sounds from your clothes
and your footsteps, which is distracting
when you have to take a call on the go.
If you use earbuds a lot for phone calls,
you might wanna stay away from AirDots,
despite them being good at blocking background noise
while listening to music.
To end a phone call, you have to double tap your AirPods.
For AirDots, you can single tap.
You can also single tap either side of your AirDots
to play a song, pause a song,
or double tap to open voice assistant.
While single tapping sounds like a more simple gesture
it can actually be an issue.
You could be adjusting your AirDots in your ear
but it would register it as a tapping motion
on the headphones.
AirPods, on the other hand, offer a double tap feature
that you can customize for each bud.
You can set one AirPod to play the next
or the previous track and the other pair to pause a song,
open Siri, or turn the feature off completely.
Taking one AirPod out of your ear
also stops the music from playing.
These headphones also offer similar ranges.
Apple claims the AirPods have a range of about 12 meters
or 40 feet while Xiaomi says the AirDots can reach
about 10 meters, or 32 feet.
As for battery life, AirPods can last up to 5 hours
of constant listening while AirDots can last up to 4 hours.
Both devices come with a case that charges them.
However the AirPods will show you the battery percentage
for both the case and the headphone on your phone
while the AirDots will only show you the battery icon
on your connected mobile device.
There are lights on both headphones that indicate
when they're charging.
The AirPods use the same lightning cable as your iPhone
so you don't have to worry about carrying another cable
to charge them, whereas the AirDots use a micro USB cable.
Overall, for $30, I say the AirDots are a great deal.
They're a solid set of wireless headphones
that have most of the features of the AirPods
at a fraction of the price.
But if you don't mind the high price tag,
want the customization of AirPods,
and are already in Apple's ecosystem,
the AirPods may be the way to go.
I can't hear you!
I really, I don't know if you're talking to me,
but I can't hear you. - I'm not, but oh wow!