It’s been over two years since the original
AirPods were released, and they’ve quickly
become the most popular pair of wireless headphones
in the world. So many people, my self included,
have been waiting patiently for a refresh.
And that’s exactly what Apple gave us on
March 20th, although the product didn’t
receive as dramatic a change as some expected.
That’s why many reviewers are calling these
the AirPods 1.5, because supposedly next year
Apple will release new AirPods again. Except
with major changes like a design overhaul,
a black option, a matte finish, and maybe
even touch controls. But for now, let’s
unbox these new AirPods, see what they can
do, and compare them to the original. This
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Now these new generation of AirPods are the
first to offer buying options. You can get
them with a wireless charging case for $200,
a standard charging case for $160, or you
can buy the wireless charging case by itself
for $80 and use it with your previous generation
AirPods. But one thing you cannot do is put
a first and second generation AirPod in the
same case. I bought the $200 model with a
wireless charging case from my local Apple
Store the day they went on sale, and I didn’t
run into any issues with limited stock like
I did back in 2016 with the original AirPods.
So let’s start with the packaging. You’ll
probably notice not much has changed with
the AirPods 2, except that if you purchased
the model with a wireless charging case, it’ll
have that listed right on the top. Also, the
lightning cable that was featured on the back
of the original AirPods box has been removed,
likely to suggest to customers that you don’t
need a cable to charge this model. Although
it does still feature a lightning connector
and cable in case there isn’t a wireless
charging pad nearby.
Now after we lift the lid we’re greeted
by the familiar sleeve of Apple literature
which by the way features text in a darker
shade of gray than the previous generation
and even has a touch of color inside the manual.
But unfortunately these AirPods still don’t
come with any Apple stickers.
Underneath that is where you’ll find the
main event. The AirPods themselves tucked
away inside of their charging case, which
is beautifully cradled in a cardboard insert.
And lastly we have the lightning cable which,
like I said before, is still included despite
this model featuring wireless charging. Although
I should mention none of the AirPods being
sold today include a wall adapter.
Now let’s move on and explore these new
AirPods in more detail. It’s design is virtually
unchanged except for a few small tweaks. First,
the LED indicator has been moved from the
inside of the case to the outside. That way
you can quickly peak at the AirPods charging
level without having to open the case. It
still uses the same color indicators: If the
AirPods are inside, orange means the earbuds
are charging, while green means they’re
fully charged. Once the AirPods are removed,
the LED indicates the battery level of the
charging case. Green means it has enough battery
for at least one full charge of your AirPods,
while orange means it doesn’t have enough
power for even one charge of your AirPods.
And when the charging case battery is at 100%,
it will deliver four full recharges to your
AirPods, which means you can use the earbuds
on and off for about 24 hours without having
to connect the charging case to power. And
it takes just 15 minutes of charging to provide
three hours of audio playback to the AirPods.
Now there are a few other minor design changes
that you might find interesting. If you owned
the original AirPods you might remember the
lid making a clicking noise when moving it
side to side, as you can see here [demo] And
this wasn’t a flaw effecting just a small
percentage of users, it was normal behavior
for every unit. Not obviously this isn’t
a big issue since it didn’t effect the products
functionality in any way, but it sure was
annoying for many people. Well I’m glad
to announce that the new AirPods 2 charging
case no longer clicks.
Another small design change has to do with
the magnets. You see, pulling the original
AirPods out of their case was a point of frustration
for many users, especially those with larger
fingers. Mainly because the earbuds were slippery
and hard to grip, and also because the magnets
that held them in were pretty strong and required
a good yank to remove. But these new AirPods
have magnets that are a bit weaker so removing
them is much easier than before. Lastly, the
thumb scoop on the charging case has been
made steeper, so it’s easier to catch your
thumb on the lid, rather than missing and
sliding off.
So those are all the external changes made
to these new AirPods, now let’s talk about
the internal changes. Apple has equip these
earbuds with a new H1 chip which replaces
the W1 chip featured in the original AirPods.
Now what do these chips even do? Well actually
quite a bit. The original W1 chip allowed
for easy pairing with Apple devices, maintained
the connection between both earbuds to ensure
audio stayed in sync, established a strong
bluetooth connection with its paired device,
and worked with built-in sensors like the
accelerometer and optical sensor to know when
they were inserted or removed from your ears.
And the new H1 chip does all of those things
and more, and does them faster. For example
the new AirPods will switch between your devices
twice as fast as you can see here [demo] they’ll
also pair with your Apple devices twice as
fast [demo] and they’ll have 30% lower latency
while playing games. The H1 chip is also more
power efficient, so you’ll enjoy three hours
of talk time instead of the previous two.
But these AirPods deliver the same 5 hours
of audio playback since Apple decided to include
a new feature called “hey Siri” which
eats up that extra power efficiency. You can
activate the voice assistant hands-free, which
used to require a couple taps on an earbud,
but there is one catch with this feature that
I should mention. And that is, if you tend
to use “Hey Siri” with an iPhone, iPad,
Apple Watch, or HomePod, then you may find
the feature quite a bit slower on the new
AirPods. As you can see here, there is a delay
that doesn’t exist when using the feature
with other Apple products. [demo]
Now that doesn’t mean Hey Siri is useless
on the AirPods, I love being able to make
voice commands when my hands are full. But
the delay is something I had to get used to.
And if you’re someone who just doesn’t
use Hey Siri on any of your devices and you
still don’t use it after buying these new
AirPods, then I’d recommend disabling the
feature altogether in the settings of your
device, that way your AirPods will get a couple
hours of extra battery life. Just like the
previous generation, you can still activate
functions like Siri, play/pause, next track,
or previous track by double tapping on the
designated earbud.
Now when it comes to audio quality there has
been some confusion since Apple put this on
their website: “So whether you’re playing
games, listening to music, or enjoying podcasts,
you’ll experience higher-quality sound.”
Now many people took that to mean the new
AirPods had better sound quality than the
previous generation. But Marques Brownlee
actually reached out to Apple and received
clarification that there was no changes to
the AirPods sound quality.
Now let’s discuss one of features I’m
most excited about and that is wireless charging.
All it takes is a wireless charging pad to
set the case on, and the orange LED lights
up indicating that it’s charging. And while
I was disappointed that Apple cancelled their
AirPower wireless charging mat which would’ve
gone so well with these AirPods, there are
still nice alternatives like the Nomad Base
Station which allows you to charge your AirPods,
iPhone, and Apple Watch simultaneously.
Setting up these new AirPods can be done even
faster than before. If you have an Apple device,
simply turn it on and open the charging case.
A window will appear, then all you have to
do is tap connect and you’re done. And thanks
to iCloud, your AirPods will automatically
appear on every Apple product you own. But
if you want to use them with a non-Apple product,
you’ll have to hold down the pairing button
on the back of the charging case and locate
the AirPods in your device’s bluetooth settings.
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Now there’s one last point I want to make
that applies to all wireless earbuds. The
batteries they run on are very small. Each
AirPod contains a 93 milliwatt hour battery
in its stem, and the benefit of this is a
quick charging time, but the drawback is that
their capacity begins to degrade noticeably
after a year or two of heavy use. Today, my
old AirPods that I purchased in December 2016
only deliver about two hours of audio playback
before losing battery. Which is a significant
amount of lost capacity in just two years.
But the nice thing about these new AirPods
are that they are more power efficient, so
I plan on turning off Hey Siri after a year
or so once the batteries start to degrade
in order to try and offset the lost capacity.
So considering everything we’ve covered
in this video, what are my final thoughts
about Apple’s second generation AirPods?
Well if you’ve never owned them before now
would be a great time to buy. And if you already
have a wireless charging setup for your smartphone,
I think it’s worth purchasing the wireless
charging AirPods just for the extra convenience.
If not, the $160 model would probably suit
you best.
And what if you already own the previous generation
AirPods? Well, if you recently purchased them
I would recommend waiting to upgrade until
next year, since that’s when Apple’s rumored
to be delivering an update with some pretty
dramatic improvements. But if you were an
early adopter of AirPods and you’re experiencing
major battery degradation, it might be worth
upgrading to this new generation in order
to enjoy a full five hours of battery life
again.
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