Air Pods: are they worth it?

[rockymtnhigh]

I occasionally have an issue where when I put my AirPods back in the case, the left one somehow stays connected, and doesn't charge, and then I go to open the case, and the iPhone reports one AirPod mostly drained, and the other at 100%. Not sure why. But will bring it in to the Apple Store when I am there next week.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

$69 is what they charge for a replacement case now, BTW.

 

[king3pj]

Please skip to the bold part if you don't care about how I ended up with AirPods and think you can help me solve a couple issues.

I originally went with the Powerbeats 3 headphones because my primary use for wireless headphones is at the gym and those are supposed to be specifically designed to be sweatproof and they have hooks to keep them from falling out during heavy exercise. They also have the W1 bluetooth chip so they have a lot of the same benefits as the AirPods. Unfortunately I read the professional reviews where they don't use the headphones long enough to see them stop working after a month or two instead of the customer reviews where it averages 1.5 stars.
Customer Reviews: Powerbeats3 Wireless Earphones - T…

After having my third pair fail in less than 6 months I got Apple to let me return the Powerbeats 3 and replace them with AirPods. I never liked the gaudy look of bigger Beats headphones but I thought these workout style earbuds would be okay. Now that Apple owns Beats I would expect a much higher level of quality than I got from these headphones. The bottom line is that Apple may own Beats now but that doesn't mean they put the same level of quality and design into their Beats products even though they charge a premium for them.

I was skeptical that AirPods would stay in my ears during heavy exercise but I used them during a pretty intense workout for the first time this morning and it was never a problem. I was also worried about how they would stand up to sweat but all the user reviews I read said this wasn't a problem.

I've found myself using the AirPods in the office for listening to podcasts and audiobooks now too. I love the way they pause as soon as I take one out. I always used wired EarPods at work because the black and neon yellow beats seemed out of place in that setting.

I do have a couple issues with my AirPods though.

First, I can't find any way to check the battery percentage of the charging case. From what I read online it sounded like all you had to do was open the case near your iPhone to see the percentage of each AirPod and the case itself. I have tried this dozens of times and I can't make it work. The only time I have ever seen this pop up was when I paired the AirPods to my phone for the first time. I can see the AirPod percentage in the battery widget if I swipe to the left from the home screen but I only get one number instead of a number for each AirPod and the case doesn't show up at all. There has to be some way to see the remaining case battery life so I know when I need to charge it.

Second, the double tap commands don't work with Spotify. I'm not sure if this is a problem with the AirPods or the Spotify app. I have my right AirPod double tap set to skip to the next song but nothing happens when I do it. The widget that normally shows up on the lock screen when I play audio doesn't show up when I'm listening to Spotify through the AirPods either. I'm thinking these two problems may be related. The audio widget shows up properly when I'm listening to a podcast through Pocket Casts and the double tap also works with that app.

Edit: I just power cycled my phone and both of these problems are resolved. I should have known to try this first.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Yeah, amazing what reboots do! When it doesn't pop up on the screen, just swipe to the search page. And if the case is open it should show up under the list, of Battery, Watch, Smart Battery Case, and Air Pods, among other devices.

 

[king3pj]

Anyone else have an issue where the AirPods don't always turn on when you put them in your ear? Most of the time it works fine for me but I sometimes have to take my right AirPod out and put it back in 2 or 3 times before I get the tone telling me it is connected. This has never happened with the left AirPod. I'm wondering if this is normal or if I should take these back to an Apple store and get a replacement pair.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Anyone else have an issue where the AirPods don't always turn on when you put them in your ear? Most of the time it works fine for me but I sometimes have to take my right AirPod out and put it back in 2 or 3 times before I get the tone telling me it is connected. This has never happened with the left AirPod. I'm wondering if this is normal or if I should take these back to an Apple store and get a replacement pair.

I always make sure the AirPods connect on the iPhone/iPad BEFORE taking them out of the case. I have had occasional issues like that where ONE AirPod connects, and the other doesn't. Or where it sees just one. Pretty rare, but it has happened. I wonder if the case sometimes needs to be blown out with a vacuum, as if some particle is disrupting the connection.

I love my AirPods, but they are not perfect. I'll be the first to admit it.

 

[TheForce]

Just found a new use for my AirPods. I got them paired to my new Sony Xperia Xz Premium. Yeah, it an Android, but has a native 4K screen and the 4K videos are amazing quality.

Anyway, tested on You Tube and a double tap on the right airpod will pause toggle the video playback. Activating them is as easy as with an iphone. I have a T-Mobile Sim card in it but haven't activated it yet so I don't know how it works with the phone. I bought this mainly for use with wifi and video player.

You might be thinking- so what? But here is the reason why I am thrilled to have this capability- I use the Xperia as a 4K display for my 360VR goggles and one problem I have had is the time delay of starting the video, then out the phone in the goggles and and then putting the goggles on takes too much time. This way, I can load the video in pause then put the phone in my goggles and slip them on, now double tap the airpod to play from the beginning.

Pairing the airpods was pretty simple on the android phone-
I opened up the BT settings and turned on the BT radio. Next opened the airpod case with the airpods inserted. Then I pressed the little pairing button and waited for the flashing white light. Then released the button and my Airpods showed up in the list. I selected it and answered yes to pairing. That was it!

Funny, I also saw my Apple watch in the BT list but it would not let me pair the watch.

 

[king3pj]

I always make sure the AirPods connect on the iPhone/iPad BEFORE taking them out of the case. I have had occasional issues like that where ONE AirPod connects, and the other doesn't. Or where it sees just one. Pretty rare, but it has happened. I wonder if the case sometimes needs to be blown out with a vacuum, as if some particle is disrupting the connection.

I love my AirPods, but they are not perfect. I'll be the first to admit it.

The problem with that for me is that the card that shows the battery life of the AirPods and charging case still doesn’t come up most of the time on my iPhone 6. I have found that I can get it to come up reliably if I open the case an inch or two above the phone’s screen but anything else is hit or miss. Both AirPods do connect almost every time when I put them in my ears whether the pop up happens on my phone screen or not. Since the headphones themselves are working reliably I don’t feel the need to return them.

Overall I’m very happy with the AirPods and I think the issues I’m seeing might improve when I upgrade from my iPhone 6 to the iPhone X. The reason I say that is because I also have a current gen iPad and the battery card pops up every single time I open the charging case even when it is a foot or two away from the iPad. It’s not hit or miss like it is with my iPhone 6.

 

[Gentleman]

One issue I am having is that if I am listening to music from my iPhone and have a timer set, when the timer expires and you get the ding letting you know time is up, I hear the ding on the AirPods, but after the music does not continue, I have been having to remove the pods, put them back in the case and start over.

 

[king3pj]

One issue I am having is that if I am listening to music from my iPhone and have a timer set, when the timer expires and you get the ding letting you know time is up, I hear the ding on the AirPods, but after the music does not continue, I have been having to remove the pods, put them back in the case and start over.

You could set one of your AirPods to play/pause on double tap. That is what I have my left AirPod set to and my right is set to skip to the next track. Siri on the AirPods is great and all but I would never talk to Siri in the places where I use my AirPods most often (crowded gym and office).

At first I didn't think I needed play/pause taking up one of my AirPods' double tap abilities because the way it pauses when you take one AirPod out and resumes when you put it back in works so well. Then I found myself removing both AirPods pretty often when I'm at work and need to get up from my desk and walk around the office. Audio doesn't automatically resume if you take both of them out and put both of them back in. My new settings are working very well for me.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

You could set one of your AirPods to play/pause on double tap. That is what I have my left AirPod set to and my right is set to skip to the next track. Siri on the AirPods is great and all but I would never talk to Siri in the places where I use my AirPods most often (crowded gym and office).

At first I didn't think I needed play/pause taking up one of my AirPods' double tap abilities because the way it pauses when you take one AirPod out and resumes when you put it back in works so well. Then I found myself removing both AirPods pretty often when I'm at work and need to get up from my desk and walk around the office. Audio doesn't automatically resume if you take both of them out and put both of them back in. My new settings are working very well for me.

I use the left pod to tun on and off, and the right one for Siri, but I only use that to say Siri increase volume. Works pretty well.

 

[king3pj]

I use the left pod to tun on and off, and the right one for Siri, but I only use that to say Siri increase volume. Works pretty well.

I just use the volume buttons on the side of my iPhone. It's not as convenient as having volume buttons built into the cable like I was used to but at least you still don't have to unlock the phone and focus on the screen.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I just use the volume buttons on the side of my iPhone. It's not as convenient as having volume buttons built into the cable like I was used to but at least you still don't have to unlock the phone and focus on the screen.

I have siri setup for when I am on my bike, and my phone is not easily accessible!

 

[king3pj]

Anyone else have battery issues with their Airpods? The last two times I've tried to use mine the right Airpod won't connect. I put the Airpods back in the case and opened it and the battery percentage of the right one was only 3% the first time and 1% the second time. The left pod and the case are both fully charged. I have tried to wipe off the metal contacts since seeing this problem but the right pod won't seem to charge past 5% no matter what I do.

I suppose the issue could be with the charging case but I'm pretty sure the battery in the right pod has just gone bad. Everything was working fine earlier this week and I have only owned these since October. After initially being very impressed with the Airpods after apple let me replace the PowerBeats 3 that had failed on me 3 times with Airpods I am now back in the same situation I was in over the summer.

 

[Foxbat]

Should be a one year warranty on the Air Pods and Apple will replace them during that period. Hopefully you have an Apple store close by.

 

[king3pj]

Should be a one year warranty on the Air Pods and Apple will replace them during that period. Hopefully you have an Apple store close by.

Unfortunately it's about an hour drive but I'll have to make the trip. Will they still honor the warranty if I bought them at a local Best Buy and don't have a receipt to show when the purchase was made?

 

[Foxbat]

Before driving an hour, I would first check your serial number and see what Apple reports: Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support
Or, you could contact Apple Support for your AirPods (AirPods Support - Official Apple Support) and click on the "Help me with AirPods" link at the bottom of the screen. I've had good results with the Apple Chat.

 

[king3pj]

Before driving an hour, I would first check your serial number and see what Apple reports: Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support
Or, you could contact Apple Support for your AirPods (AirPods Support - Official Apple Support) and click on the "Help me with AirPods" link at the bottom of the screen. I've had good results with the Apple Chat.

Thanks. This seems like a much better way to go.

 

[king3pj]

To follow up with this, I just got off Apple's online support chat and they are mailing me a replacement right AirPod. It was a very simple process and with the only hiccup being me mistaking two 8s in my serial number for Bs since the text on the inside of the charging case is so small.

They did put a $75 hold on my credit card in case I don't send back the defective AirPod when I receive my replacement and the return box. All in all it was a pretty smooth process and it beats making the drive to Apple Store.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

The only issue I have with the airpods is that occasionally the left one won't charge. It's like it isn't set into the charger properly, or there is lint or something interrupting the connection. But it's pretty rare.