Are AirPods (wireless earphones) worth the money?

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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?

Fab - think I might indulge myself

I think there's better sound quality for the price. I have the Galaxy buds which have a really nice rich sound.

I have a cheap pair from amazon and I bloody love them. You can get so much more done while chatting and dont disturb others with music or tv.

I could not be without them.

Dd and DH have apple ones but I couldn't justify the cost for myself. Plus I prefer mine. They are more discreet.

Yeah it's the ease of swapping between multiple apple devices that I'm wanting the airpods for in specific terms really. I have some generic ones and they drive me mad switching on randomly and the connection on them's not great. Plus when I factor in getting a USB C hub to use my existing headset on my macbook etc - I'm halfway to tenuously justifying the purchase to myself anyway!

They hurt my ears.

My DH tried about 4 or 5 different types of wireless headphones before am going for the AirPods. The rest were rubbish. AirPods have been the best across all the functions.
Thankfully he was able to get refunds for 2 rubbish pairs but he still spent a lot of money before buying the Apple design.

The other versions tended to be worse for the mic for phone calls. If that's important to him it's worth it.

I take it he has an iPhone? They do pair with Android devices.

I’d go for beats

It's funny reading threads like this. You can see there's such a variety of experience. For example I can't wear the in-ear type with the silicone tips, they really hurt my ears. So the fact that the original AirPods are a traditional shape suits me better than the Pros. Plus having wires go round the back of my head on the linked wireless headphones gave me the heebee jeebies! Depends on his preference.

I bought DH a cheap pair from Amazon a few years ago and they were okay. I then bought him a pair of AirPods for Christmas (after he had said for a long time that they were too expensive and a waste of money) and he's now totally converted. They are so clear, the battery life is excellent, a very comfortable fit and so convenient for working.

I like mine, they're the normal not pro ones (I don't like noise cancelling). I found them uncomfy first but they're fine now. They do get caught in my hair and fall out sometimes though, especially if moving a lot eg gardening. I'm not bothered about sound quality as I mainly listen to podcasts, radio etc rather than music.

DH has the pros. They sometimes get a bid muddled up between devices as we both have our phones on the same Itunes account but its not generally a problem. I use mine with a Windows laptop easily too.

They won’t stay in my ears but family swears by them.

The battery life and charging case are huge pluses after several cheap pairs of bluetooth earphones that only last a couple of hours.

I have anchor sound core and they’re far better than the airpods for about 20% of the price - actually about £39 iirc.

Mike quality is excellent, battery life is about eighteen hours, the case needs charging about once every three weeks or so.

Most people I know who have had airpods love them but the battery tends to die and refuse to charge after about eighteen months to two years.

I'll have had mine about 18 months now so I'll bear that in mind on recharging- thank you.

I have Anker Soundbuds, £25 or thereabouts. They're the one linked by cable. The independent ones are another 20. Fantastic kit.

DS bought the AirPod pros a few months ago. At the time I thought they were just a gimmick and a waste of money but I stand corrected. The sound quality is great and the different modes (noise cancelling and the one that picks out your voice) are impressive.

I surprise myself to say he has had value for money out of them as he has used them so much and no doubt will for a long time.

I got genuine AirPods as a present last year and I love them. They fit my ears perfectly and the sound is great. My ordinary iPhone earphones always fit well too though.

Be cautious with any fake AirPods. There was a programme on them where they bought knock off ones cheaply and compared them to Apple. They said over time the cheap ones will damage your hearing. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

I have the Samsung version and I love them. Especially the noise cancelling.

I have JBL wireless headphones and they're excellent. I got mine for €30 in TK MAXX but you can get them full price from currys etc €50. I especially like them because you're less likely to lose them. Great sound & battery life.

Having said that, they don't have the vibe of the Apple ones. If your DH has his heart set on them, he's probably not going to be delighted with anything else.