Special thanks to Apple at Royal Hawaiian Center for sponsoring this Apple Airpods review. All copy, creativity and thoughts are mine alone.
I have a confession to make — I’m not the greatest at staying on top of trends. Apple Airpods are a terrific example of this. Dane has been wearing wireless headphones for more than a year and I was always like “What’s wrong with the headphones Apple gave me with my phone?” I just didn’t understand since my corded Apple headphones worked great, even though he RAVED about wireless gear. Earlier this summer, I finally dove head first into the world of Apple wireless headphones, wore them long enough to get a good opinion and today I’m sharing a full Apple Airpods review. If you’ve been wondering about them, or are considering gifting them this holiday, this post is for you!
My Thoughts On Apple Airpods + A Full Airpods Review
We are lucky to have an Apple store very close by at the Royal Hawaiian Center, so I was able to head into the store and get all the details for this purchase in person, including what associates recommend based on how you’re going to use the product. If you don’t have an Apple store near you, you can just as easily use my review as a guide and purchase online.
Apple Airpods retail for $159 and Apple Airpods Pro retail for $249. I have the Apple Airpods without the wireless charging case, and not the Pro version. There is actually another model of Airpods that retails for $199 and come with a wireless charging case, but to be honest, I didn’t see the value in that for me personally, so I stuck to the basic model.
There are so many different options at the Apple store to upgrade your Airpods case, but again, I just stuck to the basic white case that comes standard. #boring
My Airpods box came with the pods themselves, the case and charge cord. Once I got them home and charged, I was SHOCKED by how easily my new Airpods were to set up with my iPhone. One tap and it was all connected. I honestly don’t understand how it works, but rest assured it does. They stay connected to your iPhone and can even sense when you take one out of your ear, so your music stops playing. That part is kind of thrilling to me — technology…so smart!
The associate told me that with one full charge, my Airpods would last for around 24 hours worth of listening time and I have to be frank — I think that’s wrong. IT IS WAY MORE! The first charge of my Airpods lasted me more than 3 weeks, which included daily walks and workouts, plus calls from my desk. I didn’t actually time it, but I was really impressed by this, since I was pretty much banking on charging them much more frequently.
Questions I Had About Airpods + How It Has Worked Out
I was worried about was the headphones pairing with another iPhone that was in the vicinity since so many people have them these days. I’m not sure why I was worried about this, but I’ve never had a problem!
I use my headphones during many phone calls, so without the speaker piece that is on the cord of my normal headphones, I was worried about sound quality for the person on the other end of the phone. The Airpods work great (clear sound), but I have found that any sort of feedback (like wind) is much more apparent on the Airpods for the call recipient, so it does limit any phone calls I can make while out walking.
Will the Airpods stay in? Apparently I’m not alone in this question, since “Do Airpods stay in your ears?” is one of the first things that pops up in Google. The answer is yes and no. I will be honest and say that they don’t fit as securely in my ear as I had hoped, or as securely as the Apple headphones that come on a cord. That said, they do fit snugly in there and it’s not like they are falling out constantly, but lots of bumping around or pounding (think treadmill running) causes them to bounce out from time to time.
I am not the only person who reports this issue (it’s one of the biggest Airpod complaints), so when the Apple team made the Airpods Pro, they took design flaws into consideration to make them a better fit for more people. Hopefully it’s helpful!
The final say? I like my Apple Airpods and I can see why others do, too. I noticed the most difference in using them (as opposed to corded headphones) when I was at the gym lifting weights or using machines and didn’t have to worry about a cord tripping me up. I also really love that there is no such thing as untangling the mess of standard headphone cords after it has lived in your purse for a few days.
The sound quality is great, setup/charging is easy and I’ve never had a pairing issue (Dane has struggled with this with other brands). Would I recommend these? Yes, especially since the fit issue is being addressed!