Apple AirPods Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

I was one of the world’s first normal people to be photographed wearing Apple’s AirPods. Shortly thereafter, I became a meme. Or rather, Apple’s weird-looking earbuds did — I was just the ear model.

These little buds have become poster children for the awkwardness of wearable tech design. Noooope, the internet said. Instagram, Reddit and Twitter comments ranged from comparing them to cigarette butts to tampons. Consensus: People think they’re ugly.

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But let’s back up a bit. As everyone already knows, the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus don’t have a standard headphone jack. You need to use the Lightning headphones, or the Lightning-to-minijack dongle, both of which Apple mercifully throws in the box. (But still, hey, no headphone jack.)

Of course, what Apple is really trying to do is condition you for an all-wireless world. Wireless Bluetooth headphones have been around for years, and they’ve gotten quite good. Beats, Apple’s own fully-owned subsidiary and the largest headphone brand on the planet, already sells plenty of wireless headphones, including three all-new models that debuted alongside the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

Apple AirPods are nowhere near as ridiculous…
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Apple’s AirPods, the company’s own, first-ever Bluetooth headphones, come with an Apple logo to set them apart. AirPods look exactly like the ubiquitous white EarPods that have come shipped with iPhones for years, albeit with the wires clipped, and they’re “true wireless” headphones, meaning they don’t even have a cable connecting the left and right earbud. They come with a charging case that doubles as a pocketable storage unit and a battery booster that can top off the 5-hour battery life for another 3 hours in just 15 minutes.

The new headphones cost $159, £159 or AU$229, but they won’t be available until October.

I’ve been wearing a pair for the better part of a week. And you know what? They look dorky as hell, but I still like these AirPods. I know you think I’m crazy, but read on to find out why.

Editors’ note: We’re continuing to test the AirPods, and will update this to a full rated review — with comparisons to competing models — in the near future.

How dumb did I feel?

AirPods feel like regular EarPods, but wireless. So, since I can’t see them while I’m wearing them unless I look in the mirror, I generally feel fine (until the internet uses a photo of me to demonstrate how silly they look. Details, details).

Then I look in the mirror. One AirPod looks like a futuristic Bluetooth headset. With two in place, they look like hipster earrings. Or tiny vape pipes. Or sci-fi jewelry. Or worse.

OK, AirPods look ridiculous. I don’t know why Apple put that weird tail on them, except maybe for an antenna, or to make the microphones better. (More on that later.)

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How do they sound?

But here’s the thing: mostly, they’re good. I liked listening to music with AirPods. I started finding myself preferring them to plug-in headphones, thanks to the freedom of movement they provided.

Until, of course, they produced some of the same little pops and interruptions I always get from Bluetooth earphones when I’m walking. I didn’t seem to get quite as many with the AirPods, but they sometimes happened…and skipping interruptions made me wish for something wired.

The 5-hour battery life for the earphones isn’t great, but it’s good for earbuds this tiny. And the little dental-floss-box-looking charger not only packs enough total charge for 24 hours, but quick-charges them fast enough that I never worried about running out of juice in a day. Or even two. Or three. You just need to accustom yourself to swapping the buds back into the case when you’re not using them. And don’t expect to listen straight through on, say, an intercontinental flight without an extra boost from the case.

Will AirPods work with other Bluetooth devices?

Yeah, they’re Bluetooth headphones. They’ll work with any Bluetooth-enabled smartphone, tablet, computer or other wireless device. I paired them with the Galaxy S7 Edge, and they worked fine for music and calls. But when you use them with Apple devices, you get some extra special features such as auto-pairing (see below). In Bluetooth mode with non-Apple devices, the AirPods won’t turn on or off when removing them from your ears, either.

How does auto-pairing work?

The AirPods include a secret sauce that most other wireless Bluetooth headphones (except those three aforementioned new Beats models) don’t: simplified automatic pairing across all Apple devices running iOS 10 or MacOS Sierra.

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That pairing process had hits and misses in my everyday use. To connect them the first time, just flip up the AirPod case’s lid and the iPhone asks if you want to connect. On the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus I tested with (running a build of iOS 10 software with AirPod compatibility added), AirPod pairing was mostly automatic.

Many Android phones have a similar “tap to pair” function that uses near-field communication (NFC) on compatible handsets and headphones. We’ve rarely seen that work as well as the Apple auto-pairing on these AirPods, but it’s something similar in concept.

Once paired, the headphones now work with all the compatible Apple devices you own via iCloud. But to use those devices, you need to find a sometimes-hidden button in iOS to pick your audio source, and tap “AirPods.” So, while not completely automatic, it saves you a trip to re-pair the earphones via Bluetooth…and more importantly, you won’t need to pair them again when you go back to your other device.

Having one setup process for multiple devices seems helpful, but where it really pays off is if you have an Apple Watch.

Apple Watch and AirPods: Why are these the best buds?

These are the Bluetooth earbuds Apple should have always had for the Apple Watch in the first place. AirPods, because they auto-pair to both iPhone and Apple Watch, act as conduits to both. The watch acts as extension of the phone. The AirPods to the watch. There’s a seamless feel as I wander around now. Especially with just Apple Watch and AirPods on; suddenly I feel like I’ve put on my wearable astronaut suit and left my phone-world behind.

It’s particularly nice because it fixes a problem I always had with Bluetooth headphones and making phone calls while wearing Apple Watch: call handoffs.

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It’s annoying to use Bluetooth headphones and smartwatches. You have to pick where you pair, which was especially awkward when answering incoming calls if you “accepted” them on the Apple Watch. If you have Bluetooth headphones paired to your phone, Apple Watch calls get answered on the Apple Watch speakerphone…not on the headphones.

With AirPods and iOS 10, if a call comes through, you can answer on either device and just start talking. You can use them for running and listen to music. Whatever you need. They’re seamless, or, almost seamless.

Sometimes there would be a bit of a click sound, and I realized the AirPods were now paired to my other device. A few times, the handoff happened too slowly, and I missed the call. Early days for the AirPod, perhaps. But the ability to answer calls in-ear makes the Apple Watch feel more like a true communication tool.

Occasionally, I sometimes had to swipe up and pick AirPods like you would select Apple TV in AirPlay. So, not always magical and seamless. I was running a pre-release version of iOS 10.0.1 that worked with AirPods, versus 10.0, provided by Apple to test the devices.

How do you control them?

There aren’t many remote controls. You can double-tap on an AirPod to activate Siri, or turn that control into play/pause in AirPod’s settings. But you can’t adjust volume, or do the variety of things you can do with the basic in-line Apple EarPod remote. I kept reaching for my phantom remote all day long, but it wasn’t there to help me.

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Can you share AirPods?

Yes, you can. I put one in my ear and one in someone else’s and we listened to music. The earbuds turn on via proximity sensors. They turn off when you take them out.

But you can’t share a pair for phone calls. I tried, and it always defaulted to just one AirPod: whichever was put in someone’s ear first.

Can you just use one by yourself?

Yes, to take phone calls. Either bud will work the same, and it’ll switch seamlessly if you change earbuds. It’s pretty clever. But you can’t play music this way: both buds need to be in.

What if you lose one?

See above. With one bud — either one — you still have a perfectly functional monaural wireless headset for making calls. But that’s about it.

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Are they sweat-proof or water-resistant?

Apple doesn’t make any water resistance claims on these AirPods. They should be fine for workouts, but if it starts to rain I’d pop them out in a hurry.

Did they stay connected?

Mostly, but I still heard audio pops from time to time. Not as many as I usually get with Bluetooth headphones, but they were still there.

Did they stay in my ears?

Mostly, yes. I jumped around, hopped, tried jogging in place, and they stayed on.

But they fit just like Apple’s free-in-box $30 white earphones. It’s one size fits all, and tough luck if they don’t. So if those standard Apple earphones fit, these will fit. And if they don’t, these won’t. Unlike most other in-ear headphones, there are no extra tips included for different sized ears.

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Can they be used as wireless microphones for video shoots?

No. Not yet, at least. The microphones in the AirPods don’t connect to all apps. I was able to record a voice memo, but I couldn’t wear one and shoot a video of myself. And recording quality sounded digitized, like a phone call — not nearly as smooth as a normal audio recording. Right now, AirPods have limited microphone uses beyond phone calls and chats. That might change when AirPods arrive in late October.

What’s it like using Siri?

It was fine. Double-tapping either bud brings up Siri. She heard me just fine, and I heard her.

Why not get Beats?

Besides the AirPods, Apple is making three other headphones equipped with the W1 chip — the hardware that enables that cool auto-pairing, and also helps with low-power battery use. Those three Beats models Apple announced are larger and the earbuds aren’t independently wireless. But the BeatsX (which haven’t arrived yet) are almost the same price, with double the battery life: 10 hours versus 5. Those could be the better choice for workouts.

Are there other true wireless headphones?

Yes. This has been an emerging market over the past year, with at least a dozen announced or available options from large manufacturers such as Onkyo and Samsung to smaller startups such as Doppler Labs and Bragi.

So, why get Apple’s wireless headphones?

There are plenty of other options on the market. Bluetooth headphones are everywhere, obviously.

Apple’s sound nice. I can’t yet say they’re the best because we’re still comparing them with rivals. But they’re priced competitively, almost identical to the better “wired wireless” headphones like the aforementioned BeatsX and Bose SoundSport Wireless. And the EarPod-style plastic earpiece, while it fits me fine, won’t appeal to a lot of people. It feels looser in-ear than any normal sport-type earphones.

Best wireless Bluetooth headphones for iPhone…
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But, they’re convenient for making phone calls thanks to embedded noise-canceling microphones in both ears. They work, and people could hear me, but sometimes I was told I sounded a little digitized or fuzzy.

At least they’re tiny, and interchangeable. Each bud is separately wireless. And if you like that idea, and having Bluetooth headphones that can become a hands-free headset in a pinch, you might like these. If you can get over how they look.

But seriously: Will I look dumb if I wear them?

I don’t know. They’re headphones. They’re not Google Glass.

What they could really portend is more wireless devices

The W1 chip Apple unveiled in the AirPods could easily be used in something else. Devices that easily auto-pair and sync across other devices you own could mean HomeKit-enabled smart home accessories, or VR headsets, or other wearables. Maybe even an Amazon Echo-like product. It suggests a landscape of connected things, and Apple striving to push chips into specialized devices in its ecosystem. Are you ready for that? It could be yet another platform in a sea of connected-device platforms.

As proof of how more connected devices could glom onto your iCloud device world, AirPods show interesting promise. And they could be the type of always-in wearables that extend beyond the Apple Watch. But for now, they’re mostly just small, nice wireless earphones.