Hey everybody! Welcome to a new, or should I say old, review of the AirPods Gen 1 True Wireless Earbuds. Nowadays, when walking outside, you can see many people with these in their ears. Since these have been out for a while, the price of the AirPods has dropped. Is it a good idea to buy these for Christmas or the New Year? Without Further Ado, let's get into the review!
One of the most important things when showing a pair of True Wireless Earbuds are the Design and Build/Comfort. The AirPods Design and Build are very functional, although the case does look similar to a flossing kit, it serves it's purpose very well. It's small enough to put in your pocket walk with it with no problem. The case is very light, but can easily carry both earbuds well and secure with its magnets. I can assure you that even with the case open, the earbuds won't fall out. On the back, you'll see some plating, a pairing button, and some Apple Branding. And on the front, you can see a slight edge where you can open the case and see the earbuds. The earbuds are made out of hard plastic, and although don't sit as deep as other earbuds in your ear, they are very comfortable to wear and don't fall out of your ears. These barely weigh anything as the earbuds are 4g and the case is only 38g. What I love about this design is that I can feel comfortable with it when doing anything, like when playing sports, when idle, or when moderately walking. The AirPods though do have a long stem, which doesn't look so good in your ear compared to other True Wireless Earbuds. This is not really that bad of an issue, it's just aesthetically unpleasant and can draw some strange looks. The Build Quality does feel premium and it doesn't look like these will deteriorate. They also have a clean finish to them which I admire. Overall the Design is very satisfactory, and the Build Quality and Comfort look and feel tremendous. There are some small issues, like the long stem and the similarity to dental floss. And there's also the fact that we've seen designs like this before, but still, I'd rate this category as a 90/100, especially for the declining price.
Moving on, there's the Battery Life, Features, and Sound Quality. Although the AirPods and their case are small and compact. The battery life is terrific, each earbud has 5 hours of battery life, and the case can charge the AirPods many times for approximately 24 hours before you have to charge the case. This is excellent, I usually only have to charge the case once every 2-3 weeks. You can tell the battery by seeing it on your device widgets, or by seeing the lights in the case, if the lights are orange, it's still charging, if the light is green, it means that the battery life is full. Charging the AirPods is also convenient, to charge the case to it's fullest from zero percent it only takes 1 hour, considering the case has 24 hours of juice, this is remarkable with and without considering in addition to the fact that these were made 5 years ago. The Earbuds also charge fast, you only have to pop them in the case for 20 minutes for them to fully charge up. Sadly, it requires a lightning cable to charge these instead of a USB-C charger, which is inconsiderate of Apple taking note that these used to cost 160$, it's not unexpected but still is a small con. This Battery life is stupendous, but not as much as my favorite part of these earbuds:
The Features
The only and biggest downside to this part is that these features are only enabled on Apple Devices, which is sad but again expected as a marketing plan from Apple. Although these features lack in compatibility, they make up for in it quality. One thing that you'll notice whenever you pair these earbuds are, is in-ear detection, what happens is that whatever you're listening to, stops after you take out one Airpod and resumes when you put it back in. I think that from now on, more earbuds should put this in, as I find it very useful whenever I need to talk to someone, it saves time and effort. One more thing I love is the Touch Controls, double-tapping on either earbud gives you commands for each one. You can customize what you want these commands to be in the settings as well! With the built-in find my app, you can see and ring you're AirPods if you ever lose them. In addition, you can also change the EQ for your musical preference in the default setting app on your device.
Speaking of sound, the AirPods come in with some well-balanced audio. If you have a personal favor for Sound, these might disappoint you. Although the sound quality has no signature, and you can find better sound for this money, there isn't anything distraught about the sound and an average consumer won't really find any issues. These AirPods are decently loud but don't have a noise-isolating build. So this won't cancel out any noise behind you, if you're in a loud environment and are planning to put these on to zone-out, it wouldn't be the best idea. Overall, the sound here is the AirPods weakest link. It's not terrible, but there is still a lot to be desired. I'd rate this category as a 79/100
On the last category, Value, the price of these used to be 160$ but now you can find them for 90-120$ this is really good with the features the AirPods provide. For the Value category, I'd give this an 82/100. The AirPods do give a convenient and satisfying experience, but mostly when using an iOS device, so if you use an Android or a Windows mostly, try another pair of Wireless Earbuds. If you're aren't that big of an audiophile, then I'd recommend these to you. This is perfect for listeners who want a practical and useful experience and don't care too much about sound. Overall, the AirPods are a great pair of earbuds with some small setbacks. I hope this review helped and I'll see you, next time!