Are AirPods (wireless earphones) worth the money?

[GlitterToast]

My partner wants a pair of AirPods for his birthday. I will probably buy him them, but I'm shocked at the high prize! The cheapest I can find is £130!

Are they worth the money?

My husband has a knock off pair, they cost £10 in the corner shop. They work very well and he loves them. Of course he'd love a proper pair but they're out of our price range (especially at the moment).
I tried them but they were too big for my ears. The normal earphones that come with an iPhone fit perfectly for me. Plus I don't have music on my phone, only my iPod which is a very old iPod nano which doesn't have Bluetooth, so they'd be no use to me anyway.

I believe so

I've got wireless beats and they are one of the best purchases I've made, brilliant

No, for the price of them, the sound quality is nowhere close to Bose for example. Mine drive me mad - I didn't pay for them fortunately. They are so easy to knock out of my ears when wiping my face down at the gym, they get caught in my hair and the hurt dislodged wearing a hat in winter. If I'd be paying, I'd go for something that had a band that they are fixed to instead

I've got both. They're excellent for practicality, pop them in and click to go. Nothing else comes close.

The originals are exactly the same shape as wired ones, but the don't work their way out of your ears and are much more solid. Their sound is a bit better, though leakage is a problem (ew).

The Pros are excellent for sound quality - check independent reviews, they happily rival even more expensive studio-monitor type earphones - and the noise cancelling is very good, and the noise-allowing mode is really impressive and useful.

I had three pairs of other bluetooth in-ears before these, and they were all a bit rubbish. Lousy connections with dropouts or poor battery life. The best ones were Fireflies, but they cost nearly the same as the Apple ones, came out just before, and still suffered from occasional dropout to the one your phone is on the other side of your body from. Infuriating.

The Apple ones I can leave my phone and go to the loo on a different floor and come back without dropping. If I lost one today, I'd order another one immediately no question.

I bought the cheapest wireless ones from Argos to go with my Garmin watch (about £20) and they’re great

Mine were £20 from Amazon and are great. Love them for the gym, no faffing with wires which can be pulled out from the phone when running! 😠

100% worth the money. Didn't think they would be before but treated myself as an add-on to my phone plan last Christmas.

Would definitely replace them again if the unthinkable happened.

I bought DH the Pros for Xmas and I steal them all the time. They’re slightly cheaper in Costco, they have the Pros and the original version.

I absolutely love mine, great for running but also for just generally having in while doing housework and stuff. Definitely worth the money.

I had mine for about 45 minutes when I realised I had dropped it in the gym car park. It dawned on me that you can use FindMyFriends and you AirPods are there and they beep. Thankfully I managed to get it back. Lesson learnt but I'm grateful that if you drop one (or tw) you can still find them.

I like how it connects to your phone so easily as well. Much less of a faff than other bluetooth speakers ive had. I'm not much of an audiophile so wouldn't rate quality but they are so convenient.

I'd save up for the AirPods pro. The noise cancelling is amazing. I love mine!

I bought by daughter the pros and they are expensive but very worth it, she loves them.

Just ordered the Pros for dd’s birthday

I was thinking about getting a pair of AirPod Pros for the noise cancelling feature and different size earbuds but am going to look into the wireless beats mentioned upthread as well.

Do other brands connect well with iPhones and Ipads?

Following - how well do they swap between different Apple devices for those who’ve got them? I want something that works for zoom calls but between a MacBook, iPad and iPhone - do AirPods do that easily?

@DominaShantotto

Yep, I use mine with my MacBook too. You can also temporarily hook them up to someone else’s phone - DH and I linked both pairs up to his phone on holiday so we could listen to the same podcast/watch something together by the pool.

Easy peasy. They stay on your Bluetooth list so just connect them to whichever device you want to use at that time.

Yes! I have the original Apple ones. They are still going strong. Love them.

This thread has sold me. I'm going to order some.

My husband wears his constantly.

I think they’re very expensive.

Galaxy Buds have really good sound quality and comfortable too.

I've been looking at these for ages so thank you for making this thread OP! The reviews mostly look very good. I've been using the same pair of wired ones for years and have wanted some without wires for a long time.

@DominaShantotto my AirPods are connected to my phone, iPad and Apple Watch. Also I connect them to my Garmin watch.

DS is convinced they are. He bought his with his first wage packet and loves them. I don't have an iPhone so not sure they are worth it, but may see if I can find some compatible with my phone.