Apple Air Pods review

Apple's AirPods are a very interesting product, that I was quite fascinated with, but I always felt the price was too high, but most of all, I found the design a bit of goofy and therefore embarrassing to wear, which was a bit off-putting. Then I got mine as a gift, started using them, and totally changed my opinion about that. Apple announced the AirPods in September 2016 along with the iPhone 7 and started shipping them in December 2017. It's a product that is widely praised for its seamless integration with the iPhone, but is it really that good? Let me share my experience with you.

The AirPods surprised me
The first thing that took me by surprise is the sheer size of the AirPods and the case: They're really small. They're easy to throw into any pants pocket or bag, you barely notice them. That's a big plus in my opinion. The case is very nice to hold in your hand, and very easy to open. They were obviously designed with the utter care for the perfect usability and user satisfaction, it's Apple at its best. Another great thing is pairing with the iPhone, which is seamless: You just open the case near an iPhone and it will automatically try to connect with it. Now I do have to admit, it does not work 100% of the time, I'd same something around 90-95%. Sometimes it does fail, but that's because the Bluetooth connectivity has its kinks, that will hopefully be ironed out by Apple in the future.

The battery life was great so far, I never used them up til zero, but that's probably because I'm not such a heavy music listener. It's mainly for podcasts and YouTube, to be honest, and that's something I do once or twice per day. I did notice that the case drains quicker than the iPods. Now this is a relatively new product, still (it was purchased in March), so it's no surprise that the battery is still as it should be. Let's see what happens after a year of use.

The sound is decent. It's as good as the wired Apple EarPods, which are already pretty good. The issue here in Taipei is that it's a very noisy city, so if I walk around with these, I still have some disturbance. That's not Apple's fault, though. I do have to say that if I turn the volume up to the fullest, it does cancel some 80% of the noise that surrounds me, so that is quite good.



I still don't like how they look, and sometimes feel shy, especially if I am passing by some cute girl. I also sometimes feel people are gossiping about me, or secretly taking pictures of me, especially in the Taipei Metro, so I sometimes take them out. Other than that I don't really give a damn how I look, because they're so awesome to wear. In fact, they fit perfectly into my ears, feel firm and snug at the same time. I'm jogging with them almost every day, they've never fallen out. That's really a big plus.



Conclusion
I'd definitely recommend the AirPods to anyone who's an Apple user, probably also to non-Apple users as well. Since I'm also an iPad Pro and Mac user, I find them very convenient, when I am switching devices. I would only hope Apple would make the switching easier (possibly automatic), so that less time would be spent on manually connecting via Bluetooth. The AirPods cost $159 in the US and 5490 NTD in Taiwan, which is not cheap, but somewhat OK, because the user experience is really great. They're also not priced much higher than similar wireless headphones from other brands.

Related: Apple AirPods product page