Convenience driven review: Apple AirPods Pro
How I fell in love with Apple’s latest dental floss
I’ve been in the market for headphones for over a year now. My attention was mostly aimed towards over-ear closed-back headphones, with Audio-Technica ATH-M50x leading the pack. According to many youtube tech reviewers, and my peers, they are all around the best headphones you can buy in that price range. How did I end up buying, and enjoying Apple’s latest “professional” product?
Me being me, the first thing I’ve done when I started looking for headphones was searching “the best headphones” on Google. To my surprise, Sennheiser offers headphones at the price of a premium German saloon car. I guess the end-game is out of the question.
Moving down the range I’ve noticed that my all-time favorite tech Youtuber MKBHD has been using ATH-M50x, paired with DAC, for his video editing.
Alright Google, “what is DAC”. “These are quite expensive”, I thought to myself, “but I don’t want my laptop output to be the bottleneck for my studio headphones.”
This is about the time I’ve started looking at forums and other audiophile youtube channels. With all the training I needed, I’ve started looking at graphs displaying the frequency response of individual headphones. I was looking for that perfect, untainted sound that is played into the eardrums of only the greatest music producers. All the while, I was playing media content on my laptop speakers, yuck.
Discussing this matter with my friends, it became apparent that my enthusiasm for the best sounding headphones makes no sense given that any non-generic pair would suit my needs. I don’t need that kind of negativity in my life, my ears are going to listen to the best or nothing. Armed with nothing more than stubbornness and lack of buying power, I’ve prolonged this purchase for a very long time.
Enter, the original Apple AirPods. They seemed interesting but the price tag was unreasonable for what it offered. I’ve tried them a couple of times but I couldn’t get the earbud to stay in my ear even if taped it. My ears just wouldn’t cooperate. “They are pretentious and ugly anyway”, I told to myself, “it doesn’t matter that I can’t use them.”
It’s incredible how public opinion can shift. AirPods quickly rose from laughing stock to arguably one of the most recognizable piece of audio equipment. Like all things with Apple, people adopted its flaws and converted their organs into cash to acquire it.
Walking around Schiphol airport pointed out this phenomenon to me. White toothbrushes were hanging from 2 out of 5 ears. That realization was incredible and a bit bizarre at the same time. “Look at those sheeps”, I mumbled, “I bet they ask Siri whether it’s raining while they are indoors.”
Fast-forward to late October Apple event and AirPors Pro get announced. In a typical Apple fashion, the “Pro” tag increased the price substantially. We’ve been conditioned for the past 10 years so we didn’t even bat an eye. A couple of new features were added, a far cry from innovative magnate Apple once was. We’ve been conditioned for that as well.
Reviews started pouring in shortly. The press got their pre-release units and typewriters were on fire for at least a week. The motive across all of these reviews was more or less the same. If you are willing to trade sub-par sound quality and a bit less autonomy, for ANC (Active noise cancellation) and industry-leading convenience, this is a product for you.
My curiosity was sparked when I saw that they’ve finally switched to silicone tips. My ear canals were no longer discriminated against. At first, I scoffed at ANC. The audiophiles usually don’t prefer ANC because it creates an unnatural feeling while listening to Britney in your workplace. That sensation is most often described as having your head in a fishbowl.
In addition to this, even the most hardcore Apple hecklers had nothing to say about the capabilities of this new product. Compared to its peers, Apple AirPods seemed adequately competent and reasonably priced (at least within 100% of its peers’ price, you’ve got to give Apple credit for this).
I’ll admit that my decision to buy this product was greatly influenced by the widespread societal approval of this product. If an Android user said that Apple product isn’t utter garbage, that must mean that it’s at least okay.
I decided to let go of my beliefs and try earbuds instead of over-head headphones. I was looking forward to the 250$ price tag my American friends have. Europeans are not that lucky bearing the 279€ price tag. Things are even worse in my hometown with retail stores commanding the price of about 370$. I managed to get a better deal at about 280$, a sting to be sure.
I was a bit disappointed with the case quality, however, the overall presentation is still class-leading. An unpacking experience is a part of the product itself.
The pairing process was not as magical as most of the people described it. I ended up having to update to the beta iOS version on my phone. Once that was done I was able to enjoy AirPods the way they were meant to be enjoyed.
After about a week of usage, I noticed that I kept finding an excuse to use them. The pocketable form factor made this a breeze. I was blown away by noise cancellation without music playing. When I’ve got to concentrate on some challenging task I like my surroundings to be as quiet as possible. The tangled web of thoughts gets easily broken by urban sounds and inconsiderate people you’re often surrounded with. I found myself using earbuds as +250$ earplugs. What a time to be alive!
One thing did not change. I couldn’t make myself use Siri. From a development perspective, it makes sense for a company to push for personal assistants. Tech-savvy people have been dreaming about sentient computers for decades now. In my opinion, none of the assistants available on the market, are of any real use. I’ll admit that it can be helpful to ask Siri to call someone, however, naming that a personal assistant is a long-shot at best.
Unsurprisingly, I’m a bit offended that I have to use Siri to increase or decrease the volume of my tunes. Naturally, this is another mechanism Apple and the rest apply to make us use their features, just as the aux removal made us consider wireless earbuds.
All things considered, I’d call this the best commodity investment I’ve made in a very long time. The convenience that the AirPods bring to the table has a profound effect on usage. I believe that ubiquity is what makes this product great. You never feel like using it is a chore, rather you feel excited when you hear the case make a click.
I settled for mediocrity and I’m fine with that. I’m not a professional even though I’m using a “professional” product. I don’t need to spend absurd sums of money for the sound that I ultimately wouldn’t be able to appreciate. What I do need is a joyful feeling when using the technology we all love.
All that’s left now is to see how these stand against the test of time. Given that we live in an upgrade era, I suspect that they won’t stand a chance in two years' time.
Please do not drive with active noise cancellation turned on as this can be really dangerous.
