4 months with Apple AirPods: A picky sound person review

Four months ago I purchased AirPods, and they immediately became something I kept with me at all times. If they’re not stuck in my ears or stowed in a pocket of my pants — I panic until I locate them. Before AirPods, there were only three objects that held this level of importance: my wallet, my keys, and my phone. AirPods are so good that they instantly became unquestionably essential.  

Before I continue with rapid-fire, glowing praise of these tiny $159 earphones, let me say this: when I put them on, I look like an idiot. I spend half the day with plastic cigarette butts sticking out of my ears. It’s dystopian. It’s obnoxious. It’s stupid.

I resume heaping praise on AirPods in the next paragraph, but I have more negative slime to sling later in the review.

Where AirPods win

There’s a lot to like about AirPods, but their best quality is speed. You can put them put on and take them off incredibly quickly. One moment they’re hidden in your pocket, the next you’re wearing them and listening to stuff. Then they’re out of your ears and neatly put away just as quickly. I’ve owned many kinds of headphones over the years, but I’ve never experienced anything like this. It’s absolutely wonderful.

Another great quality AirPods have are their intelligent features, like automatically pausing when you pull one out of your ear. You can play or pause by double tapping on them. It works surprisingly well. It’s drastically more reliable than the in-line play/pause/volume module on wired Apple EarPods. I wish there was an easier way to adjust the volume on AirPods, but I’m satisfied with just having rock-solid play/pause control.

My left AirPod is configured to invoke Siri by double tapping it. In my four months of non-stop usage, I have yet to do this.

I’ve read many AirPod reviews, and while some are better than others, a major part of the story is the way they make you look. The majority of reviewers fail to show this. The jarring visual presence of these things is so central to the experience that it feels necessary to show it:

Writers never show themselves wearing AirPods in their reviews because no matter how you approach it, you look like an ass.

When AirPods first came out, I thought they looked incredibly odd on people. They still do, but I must say, I’m getting used to seeing them. I work in an office that houses 250 tech startups, and I started seeing people walking around with AirPods shortly after they shipped. They don’t look odd when I see other people wearing them now, but every time I catch my own reflection in a mirror I wonder why fishing lures are jutting out of my head.

What they sound like

I’m picky about sound quality. If a speaker or a pair of headphones sound kind of lousy, I notice. I want music to sound huge. I want to be enveloped in it. If a radio producer or podcaster put effort into making their show sound good, I want it to sound nice and clear when I listen. AirPods fully deliver in these areas.

When I listen to music on AirPods, I often lose myself. I put music on to transport myself to another realm, and the sound quality of AirPods skillfully carry me there.

Are they the best sounding headphones I’ve ever used? Certainly not. Have I used headphones that cost less than $159 that sound better than AirPods? Yes, I have. Do those better-sounding headphones have any of the convenient features of AirPods? No, they have none.

I don’t think Apple has reinvented headphones with AirPods, they have just created a new category: ultra-compact wireless earbuds with great sound quality that are incredibly convenient. Maybe this category existed before, but it wasn’t life-altering until AirPods arrived.

The unimpressive aspects of AirPods

Most tech reviewers use the latest iPhones to test AirPods, and they all say positive things about the seamless integration between them. My iPhone 6S is two and a half years old, and I can tell you with confidence that the integration is spotty, slow, and not always functional. Important tasks like connecting to the phone and tapping to play always work reliably, but trying to get my iPhone to display the battery level of the AirPods is usually frustrating.

Remember the scandal in December of 2017 where Apple decided to lower the price of battery replacements because older iPhones running iOS 11 software were prone to crash? I am one of the people impacted by this, and let me tell you, it is real, and it is utterly terrible. I haven’t gotten around to visiting an Apple Store to have my $29 battery replacement done yet, but I need to. One day I woke up and my formerly wonderful iPhone 6S was suddenly the worst iPhone I’d ever owned.

Seriously. Apple’s latest iOS software turned my iPhone into a piece of shit over night, and this shift into “user experience hell” took some of the magic of AirPods with it.

Do you know that joyous moment when you flip open the AirPods case beside your iPhone, and the phone instantly displays the AirPods’ screen? This often doesn’t work with my iPhone 6S. There have been many occasions where I found myself digging through settings screens on my iPhone, tapping on Bluetooth things, trying and failing to determine the status of my AirPods.

To be fair, it does work about 65% of the time. But that 45% always burns. When this fails, you quickly realize how inadequately AirPods are integrated into the traditional iPhone control screens.

Closing thoughts…

I could sit here and nitpick the AirPods more. Occasionally one of them will lose connection with the phone and go silent, and it’s annoying. But, that’s just the nature of wireless audio, so I don’t count this as a strike against AirPods. When this happens (and it’s somewhat rare), they usually figure out the problem and rectify it on their own, and usually rather quickly.

With all of my complaints out of the way, I can sincerely tell you that I am deeply attached to my AirPods. I think they’re wonderful and I love them dearly. However, much like the Apple Watch, AirPods are not for everyone. They don’t properly fit into some people’s ears and instantly crash to the ground. They’re little tiny things, so you need to be constantly mindful of them.

I rarely buy first generation tech products, but I made an exception with the AirPods. I knew they would fit perfectly into my life, and they have. The case and the overall design and execution are pure genius. I get to hold and use a brilliant work of industrial design everyday. They look amazing sitting on a table, and abhorrent sticking out of my head. Not ideal, but somehow strangely compelling. I am fully on board with this expensive fashion nightmare.

Thanks for reading all 1200 words of my review! If it was helpful, you can help me by clicking on the following links before you buy something on Amazon, eBay, or B&H. I get a tiny commission when you do, even if you’re just buying an AirPods case case. (It’s a case for a case).