The 2nd generation of Apple’s AirPods is a refinement of the bestselling pair of wireless
earbuds on the market.
The earbuds feature Apple’s new H1 chip and wireless charging – if you’re willing
to spend extra.
If you’re familiar with the previous generation of AirPods, the new ones are identical – aside
from the charging case which has its indicator LED on the exterior of the case if you opt
for wireless charging.
I decided to go without wireless charging, so my charging case shares the same design
as the previous generation.
Everything is made from a glossy white plastic which helps hide fingerprints and grease,
but I have found the earbuds to be a little slippery when taking them out of my ears,
which can feel a little disconcerting as I don’t want to drop them!
I’ve found the AirPods comfortable to wear and they fit in my ears perfectly and they
are lightweight.
I think the comfort of Apple’s earbuds is a heavily debated topic, but ultimately it
comes down to personal preference.
The AirPods fit exactly the same as their wired EarPods earbuds – so if they fit well
for you, the AirPods will fit just as well.
The earbuds have a few vents so air can get to the speaker drivers which are covered by
a metal grill which helps stop debris from getting inside the earbuds.
There are also optical sensors and accelerometers which allow you to interact with the earbuds.
The bottom of each AirPod has a chrome finish, and this is where the earbuds make contact
with the charging case to charge them back up.
The charging case is small and pocket-sized, so it is easy to take with you on the go.
The case opens at the top which reveals the earbuds which you drop in the case to charge.
As I have the non-wireless charging case, the indicator LED is on the inside which will
tell you the charging status of both the AirPods and the case itself.
When the AirPods are in the case, it will show the status of the AirPods.
When there is nothing in the case, the battery status for the case is shown.
On the bottom of the case is the Lightning charging port for keeping the case charged.
You can also have the case personalised, so I decided to put my name on the case.
On the back is a pairing button, so you could pair the AirPods with a non-Apple device – but
really, you should probably only use these with an Apple device for the best experience.
The AirPods provide a balanced and clear listening experience for listening to both music and
talking.
There’s a good balance between bass, mid and treble frequencies without any being overwhelming
or lacking.
If you’re looking for loads of bass, these probably aren’t the earbuds for you – but
there’s enough to keep me happy.
Instruments such as kick drums sound punchy and bass instruments also sound clear.
Part of this is likely due to the design of the earbuds, as they do not have a rubber
seal to enclose your ear from the outside world, unlike the SoundPeats TrueFree earbuds
that I reviewed back in April which do.
This does mean that you can hear some the ambient noise around you as the sound isn’t
as isolated.
The microphone on the AirPods is fantastic, it’s clear and picks up my voice very well
as both AirPods contain microphones.
If you need to make or take phone calls, these make a great Bluetooth headset.
Here’s a microphone sample that I’ve recorded.
This is a sample of the microphone on the Apple AirPods.
The AirPods connect between your Apple devices seamlessly without needing to repair them,
which is extremely handy and convenient.
You can easily check the battery status of them by opening the case lid near your device.
I do wish that I could receive a notification when the battery is getting low as I have
found myself with a flat pair of AirPods and receiving a notification on my device is more
likely to be noticed than the battery indicator light in the charging case.
As I mentioned earlier in the review, there are a few ways to interact with the earbuds.
An example of this would be tapping on an AirPod to perform a function that you can
set in the Bluetooth settings such as skipping a track.
The optical sensors are handy as they will automatically pause the music if you take
out an AirPod or sleep the AirPods if you take them both out.
You can also use Siri with the AirPods to control things such as your volume, which
you’ll need to do as there is no option to adjust the volume by tapping the AirPods
– which I think is a little bit annoying.
Battery life with AirPods is great, you can expect around 5 hours of listening time on
a single charge.
If you begin to run low on charge, you can get another 3 hours listening time after 15
minutes of charging in the case.
When you add the additional listening time that the charging case will offer, you can
expect over 24 hours listening time which is great for such a small package.
When you want to charge the charging case, you’ll need to use a Lightning cable to
charge it back up.
I think the AirPods offer one of the most convenient and unobtrusive ways to listen
to music with Bluetooth earbuds – they just work.
Yes, there are many other cheaper truly wireless earbuds out there, but the AirPods have set
a standard for the experience that truly wireless earbuds should offer.
I love my pair.
They sound good, last for a long time when taking the charging case into account and
they’re small enough to carry around with you anywhere.
That’s been it for this video, I’ll leave a link to the AirPods in the description if
you’re interested in getting a pair for yourself.
Thanks for watching and I shall see you in the next one.