Joanne sturgeon

15 de junio de 2026

Seamless, affordable and intuitive.

I never knew Airbuds could be this good! The sound quality is superior. The fit potential is excellent, noise cancelation is amazingly effective, the way they auto adjust when I speak is mind blowing. The best thing of all (for us elders) is setting them up happened automatically when I charged my earbuds and held them close to my iPhone. Written directions with videos walked me through step-by-step with little room for error. For an older person looking for a great set of Bluetooth earbuds which function well with TV, their cell phone and other devices stop searching. Buy these.Ver más

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RICH D

Excellent all around earbuds

Received my AirPods Pro a couple of days ago and have been using them day and night since. I also have the new Bose 700's, which I've been using daily for a couple of months so I'll compare to them.I commute each day on a noisy city bus. Sometimes there are people talking and sometimes there's nothing but the loud noises of the bus. The Bose headphones are not sweat or weatherproof, and so are not useful outside unless the skies are clear. With winter coming, the Bose also prevent wearing a winter hat, so I decided to buy the Air Pods for use in commuting and then use the Bose once I get to my desk at work.I have never owned AirPods before. A friend at work has regular AirPods (not Pro), and the photo attached to my review shows the difference in size. These were easy to set up -- you just hold your unlocked iPhone a couple inches away from the AirPods in their charging case (with the case open). It's all seamless. They automatically showed up in my Macbook bluetooth menu once connected with the iPhone, so all I had to do was click "connect" in the bluetooth menu.Interestingly, the play/pause squeeze of the stem doesn't seem to work for controlling the laptop -- maybe it only works for Apple Music, which I don't use so I didn't test. And the other thing different -- and worse -- than the Bose is that if I pause on the laptop and then play again on the phone, the AirPods are not automatically connected and the music came out of the phone directly. The Bose connects to two devices at once so it will play whichever one is playing sounds (which can be annoying if the phone is playing and the computer gives a notification sound or vice versa). But in order to play again on the phone, I had to go into the phone Bluetooth menu and reconnect (not re-pair, just reconnect). So my conclusion is you have to manually reconnect for device switching. You get a little alert sound when connected -- no voice, no battery status, no "connected to xxx" like the Bose does -- nothing else.For music quality, the Bose quality is a fair amount better -- which would be expected since they are full size over the ear headphones. The AirPods Pro are still very good though, and unless you are an audiophile, you won't be disappointed.Charging the AirPods case uses a standard iPhone/iPad lightning charger. It comes with a cable that will connect to a later model Macbook USB C port -- so USB C to lightning. If you want to use an outlet, you will need to have an existing lightning charger, which most of us have plenty of anyway. It's hard to tell when the case is completely charged. The orange light comes on but goes off after just a few seconds, instead of just staying on and changing to green once they're fully charged. The first night I got them, I charged them in the case overnight before using them. When I connected them, they said the AirPods were only 58% charged, so I'm not sure why they weren't 100% if left in there overnight.There is a nice new longpress feature on the volume of the iPhone that appears when the AirPods are connected to the iPhone. You can control the volume (you can't control the volume right on the AirPods, which is a slight bummer but it's okay) and noise cancelling from this new interface.There's no tapping on these AirPods -- you slightly squeeze the little stem. There is a soft click when it registers, almost like pressing a touch pad. It took a few seconds to figure out how to do it, but it's been fine since. A longer squeeze toggles between the noise cancellation modes. There's a slightly different sound for going into transparency mode and going into noise cancellation mode, but in a quiet room it's hard to tell which mode you're in, as opposed to the Bose, which literally tells you in a voice.Transparency mode uses microphones to let in the sound around you, so that you can keep them in while still talking to people. This is how they differ from noise isolating earbuds, which block your ear from hearing anything but don't have active noise canceling. These have noise canceling I'll talk about in a minute. But there is also an "off" mode available only (that I've found) through the volume long press described above. These just put them in basic noise isolation mode -- I'm guessing similar to previous AirPods.For noise cancellation, they are surprisingly very effective. More effective than I thought they would be. They are best at blocking out white noise -- bus engines, office sounds, fans, etc. They are good at voices if it's just people talking in a group at a normal volume. But when I walked through the busy office cafeteria at lunch time, they did not do as good of a job as the Bose at blocking out the loud talking and other uneven cafeteria noises. Interestingly, they do a great job at blocking one-off noises like a door slamming or someone dropping something. The Bose have a hard time with sounds like that for some reason. I would say they are 80-90% as effective as the full size over ear Bose overall, which is very impressive.For comfort, obviously the Bose are better (and sound better) for hours of desk usage, and also given that the battery on the Bose is about 19 hours and these are about 4, the Bose will be what I use all day at my desk. But for moving around, walking the dogs, commuting, and portability, the AirPods are terrific and don't hurt at all or cause my ears to sweat like the Bose do after a while.Would definitely recommend.Ver más

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Countrymouse

27 de enero de 2026

Apple quality

I wish they have all the features of the AirPods 4, but still great quality. I enjoy the sound cancelling feature as well as the ability to use Siri w them. I need to be hands free at work while making calls and sending msgs. The sound is great and always clear. I like that I can turn volume up or down by swiping the arm. They connected to my phone immediately and I nvr lose connection. I cannot use the AirPods 4 because they hurt my ears and do not fit, so after a couple uses I gave them to my daughter. But the Pros fit very comfortably. They also charge quickly and the battery can easily last me three to four 10 hr shifts.Ver más

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Rodney

17 de noviembre de 2020

I’m so glad I bought these! There’s some tips to spot fake AirPods at the end of my review

If you’re on the fence about spending this much on ear buds like I was and are reading reviews for that reassurance about some feature and wonder if it’s worth it, believe me it is! I tried the good knockoffs with good sound, unintentionally I might add and there’s no comparison. If you want more freedom from reaching for your phone or tapping your earbuds to change a song or pause and want to be completely hands free then you’re going to be in heaven. For me these are exactly what I what I need for work and at home because I can control my music hands free, make calls and all the other great things Siri does for you completely hands free. I’m in love with these things! This is my first pair of AirPods so I can’t give you a comparison from the previous generation but, they sound amazing! Crystal clear, deep bass and I could not ask for more. They sound better than I thought they would to be be honest. I wore them for a few hours straight today working outside and I was surprised at how well they stayed in place and how comfortable they were. Also the distance! I had my phone on a table in the back yard and walked to the front to my car and they didn’t cut out a bit. There was brick house was between me and my iphone so it wasn’t line of sight. I’m not sure the exact distance but, it was further than apple claims. As for the transparency mode all I can say is wow! It’s so much better than I thought it would be. You really do have to hear it to believe how great it is. I can pause music and keep them in and watch tv, carry on a conversation or anything I would normally do. They are that clear. I can barely tell a difference when taking them out. As for being able to use them as hearing aids like people wonder; uh, no not quite there yet. You can use your live listen on your iPhone and probably cheat and use it that way. It’s pretty clear in that mode and doesn’t echo but, it’s no replacement for hearing by far. Kind of distant sounding but, it would better than nothing. I’m sure live listen will sound about the same as it does on previous AirPods. What I found shocking was even in high wind in transparency mode there was no distortion of sound at all. I was worried since it has an external mic that it might but, nope it sounded great and just like normal. Noise cancellation is pretty good too. It doesn’t cut out 100% of noise but, enough to make a huge huge difference. Probably be good if someone in your house blaire’s the tv where it’s tolerable. For being little earbuds and having both noise cancellation and transparency you can’t ask for more. On call the mic seems to be clear on the other end as well and on dictation. Much better than other brands I’ve had for sure. In short, if you’re an apple lover and want some great sounding, super comfortable Apple earbuds or just want to go hands free with your iPhone and music you’ll be glad you got these!On a side note...To Help people from getting scammed by other stores like I did; here’s one simple way to tell if you’re AirPods are real or not; each AirPods Pro earbud weighs 5.4grams. Most knockoffs weigh around 3.1 to 3.8g If you buy them from anywhere besides Amazon or an authentic trusted Apple retailer and wonder if they’re real or not, then throw them on the scale. That’s the one thing they haven’t mastered is the weight and Siri. Siri should work out of the box by voice and if you’re having problems, hear static in transparency mode or can’t find your AirPods in general> about settings then you might want to check them out on the scale because there’s some good clones out there right down to the packaging, print on the earbuds that look authentic with serial numbers and all but, none I know of have voice control with Siri or sound half as good as these. I apologize for the long review but, I’m hoping to help someone and save them hours of researching and looking like I did and from getting scammed. Have a wonderful day!

24 de junio de 2021

1st Impressions and then some

Brutally honest edits1. They’ve been great in every way, but they fall out when I try to stuff an entire slice of pizza into my greedy mouth.______After owning them for about a month:Yeah... I’d give five stars, but this is really more of a 4.5 star review because of volume control. This is as close to “doing it right” as wireless earbuds currently are. Four stars because having volume control on the buds themselves would be great.But they’re really low-profile, which I need them to be in my main setting, so I don’t mind the trade.______Two weeks of ownership.I’m noticing some hiccups when playing music, but I’m also in a warehouse setting that’s like a saturated signal trap inside a faraday cage. It’s likely my internet connection.Second note, the ultimate test: they’re comfy enough that I’ve fallen asleep in them, when my upstairs neighbors have had their tv off. It’s on now, at a low to medium disturbance (low enough to sleep unless you get anxious easily like me, but even if you don’t, you wouldn’t sleep like a baby at my neighbors’ volume). Well, noise Cancellation is flawless!_______Day 1I just got these today, and my rule was that they had to be better than JBL Tune 120s in every way (which shouldn't be hard to do). Addressing the problems of my JBL's, the AirPods gave me trouble finding a good seal at first. So I just tried playing music anyway. The quality was really good, and then I toggled to find out that Noise Cancellation wasn't on. When it turned on, wow. I had to test it a few times by snapping my fingers with it on/off, and then I wasn’t sure if I was actually hearing my snap or just the AirPods’ sound of it with Passthrough. I’m also hearing elements in music that I had previously not heard, even in songs I’ve loved and listened to deeply for more than a decade!Not only are those great features, but each AirPod can function exactly the same, whether I have only the left in or the right. Two squeezes, three, hold, on either of them. They didn't split controls so that the right does some, and the left does others.I've not tested voice control in my usual setting with these yet, but I doubt they'll be as garbage as the JBL Tunes. EDIT: voice control under a beanie in a loud warehouse setting is mostly flawless. And “mostly” means Siri didn’t hear me very well at the moment I had some metal (objects, not music) clanking near me, so I forgive her.Highs and mids are nice, bass is lacking just a little bit (but not at all to a disappointing degree), and I suppose the seal is good. It doesn't feel like the seal is good, and I’ve settled on medium tips, but they feel sturdy in-place, and the sound quality suggests that I do have a good seal even if I don't feel what I'm used to with silicone tips.This product may change in a few weeks or months, and I'll put the brutally honest edits at the top of this initial review, and the good edits will be added near their initial notes. But so far, these work, and I know Apple isn't as loose with the quality behind their name as JBL is.I don’t think your lifestyle is as regularly loud and disruptive as my daily life, so I think it’s safe to say that if they work well for me in my rough setting, they’re friggin awesome when I’m off the clock, even and especially when I’m falling asleep!

Brandon Watkins

16 de marzo de 2021

Good Sound, Noise Cancellation, Battery Life, Comfortable, Quick Recharge, Not A Secure Fit

I'll be comparing three different pairs of headphones, as any one of them would have top marks by themselves, and my review would be meaningless; With this price point they had better be decent headphones.The headphones I'll be comparing are:Apple AirPods Pro (referred to as "Air" from here on),Sennheiser CX 400BT (referred to as "CX" from here on), andSennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 (referred to as "MO" from here on).Moving on.*Sound*All 3 sound great, but the MO was the clear winner, giving the most true-to-life sound, including all of the subtle highs and lows.The Air was a not-too-far-off second; it lacked some depth in the high notes.The CX wasn’t too far behind the Air; it had better sound, however, it had significant issues stemming from noise cancellation, see below.*Noise Cancellation*The Air definitely has the best noise cancellation, for me; it isn’t especially awesome, but it’s adequate for most situations. It’s probably about as good as you can expect in this price range, but cannot compare to over-ear headphones.The MO wasn’t too terribly far behind, and may even have better noise cancellation, but due to fitment issues, below, the seal wasn’t good enough to cancel out most of the noises around me.The CX has no noise cancellation. I didn’t realize how big of an issue this would be, but when I actually manage a decent seal on the ear buds, I can hear my own breathing (not a mouth-breather, by the way!) almost as loud as my music. This was the deal-killer for me. Otherwise the CX would be on par with the others, and at half the price.*Fitment*Both of the Sennheisers fit identically, and are a better fit, in that they actually stay in my ears. However, as stated above, the actual buds don’t fit my ears; I seem to be right between the small and medium buds. The Sennheisers kind of twist into your ear, and hold similar to a sport headphone, which is nice, but also a nuisance.The Air’s buds are a much better fit, but they don’t stay in my ears at all; The slightest movement and they fall out. I bought some “ear hooks” for them, and they stay in my ears perfectly, now. However, the ear hooks add just a hair of silicone to the exterior of the headphones, which caused me discomfort after a few hours (Note: this has nothing to do with the actual headphones).*Battery*I want to say the Sennheisers’ battery lasted way longer than the Airs (a full work day). That said, I did not pay attention to how long it took them to recharge in their case. The Airs seem to only last 6-8 hours (I should mention I have long work days, haha), but I watched their battery level for a couple minutes the first time I charged them, and they were charging about 1% per 10-15 seconds. Assuming it actually keeps that pace, that’s a full charge within 16-24 minutes, which seems pretty good to me. One charge drained the Air’s case by 20%, so you get 5 charges out of it. Unfortunately, I don’t recall most of this stuff with the Sennheisers.*Technology*I’d say that none of them stand out as being better here, just different. The Sennheisers might have a slight upper hand, as they have more controls available to them, but some of them make no sense to me, and there’s no way to reprogram them (as far as I can tell. It may be possible via their app, but I imagine this is specific to the device, and I want them to work the same on all devices. Also, both Sennheisers have issues with the fact that all controls are right on the face of the headphone, and it’s almost impossible to put them in your ears without touching the face.The Airs CAN’T CONTROL VOLUME! For real?! You have to control it from your phone/listening device. This absolutely drives me nuts (at least 20 times a day). The Airs actually has a button on the stem that you have to push for all of the controls. I was under the impression it felt seamless, similar to a touchscreen; Not the case. Lastly, based on their product description and reviews, it seemed that the Airs can only connect to Apple products, but based on their incredibly short manual, it would appear that it can indeed connect to any bluetooth device (unfortunately all I own are Apple products, so I can’t verify this).All 3 headphones pause your music when you take them out, which is nice. I sure wish I could turn them off (without putting them in their case), but none of them allow this.*Summary*For myself, I opted to return the Sennheisers, and plan to stick with the Air. The Sennheisers had more significant issues involving fit and noise cancellation, and the Air has more significant issues with the interface (no volume control), and don’t stay in your ears without outside assistance via ear hooks.