Quick Takes: Audiophile Calls AirPods Best Truly Wireless Earbuds He's Ever Heard in Year-Later Review

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In addition to our standalone articles covering the latest Apple news and rumors at MacRumors, this Quick Takes column provides a bite-sized recap of other headlines about Apple and its competitors on weekdays.

Monday, March 19

Highlights

airpods
1. AirPods: the audiophile review: The Verge's Vlad Savov finally got around to testing a pair of AirPods, over a year after they launched, and now understands why so many people are fans of Apple's wireless earphones. Once dismissive of them, he now thinks AirPods are the best truly wireless earbuds he's heard.

I say the AirPods aren't technically amazing, but that's only when comparing against existing standards for sound quality. In the category of truly wireless earbuds, the AirPods are the best I've yet heard. Bragi's The Headphone and Dash Pro left me underwhelmed, with the latter being especially bloated and disfigured by an overabundance of bass.

Commentary: AirPods are easily one of Apple's best new products in the past few years. They're easy to set up, easy to use, easy to carry around, and more than likely sound "good enough" for the majority of customers.

2. The case for an ePad: Drawing inspiration from the education-only eMac, released in 2002, 512 Pixels' Stephen Hackett envisions what an education-only iPad or so-called "ePad" could be. His suggestions include a more rugged design, Apple Pencil and external keyboard support, and more competitive pricing.

ipad smart keyboard
3. HQ Trivia had a weird night: The smartphone-based live trivia show offered a winner-takes-all $25,000 prize on Sunday night, but the would-be winner was ejected from the game for violating the rules, according to HQ. The company hasn't explained what the rule-breaking behavior was.

Then, on early Monday, HQ Trivia was briefly removed from the App Store. TechCrunch confirmed that the game was briefly unavailable due to an unrelated clerical error. More specifically, someone forgot to update HQ Trivia's expired credit card info in Apple's developer portal, according to the report.


Commentary: It sounds like HQ Trivia caught a cheater on its hands, but we may never know for sure. The good news is that the amount now rolls over, meaning next Sunday's winner-takes-all prize will be $50,000, its largest jackpot ever. The game is scheduled to begin at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

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For more Apple news and rumors coverage, visit our Front Page, Mac Blog, and iOS Blog. Also visit our forums to join in the discussion.

Related Roundup: AirPods 4
Tag: Quick Takes
Buyer's Guide: AirPods (Neutral)
Related Forum: AirPods

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Top Rated Comments

djcerla Avatar
djcerla
101 months ago
But they sound like trash.
No, they don't.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
keysofanxiety
101 months ago
Just asking a question, If I like the sound of some headphones, but an audiophile says they sound terrible, who is correct?
Audiophiles will frequently scoff that no headphone could possibly meet their insurmountable standards — unless of course it’s their own custom 3 grand hand-crafted over-ear stereo experience with an external analogue pre-amp — and therefore anything released by anybody sounds like trash.

However most people wouldn’t cart around all that equipment. A lot of audiophiles don’t have the pride to admit that for convenience and for the additional functionality, the sound of Airpods aren’t bad.

It’s like these insufferable pro photographers, gloating that an iPhone’s picture could never match up to their DLSR which boasts a lens the size of a fold-up bed. They can’t accept that you get the convenience and a damned lot of quality with a phone you carry in your pocket.

These people want to be better than everybody else and refuse to let themselves appreciate that people are able to enjoy music in their own way, or enjoy photography in their own way, without going through all the money and effort that they did.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
krause734 Avatar
krause734
101 months ago
Bluetooth is not audiophile by definition.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chenhan Avatar
Chenhan
101 months ago
But they sound like trash. I don’t expect audio quality from wireless earbuds, but AirPods are way below acceptable bar.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
44267547
101 months ago
AirPods seem overpriced till you check out the competition.
Disagree. Compared to the competition, the AirPods are actually price comparably lower. When you factor in the battery life where 15 minutes of charging is equivalent to three hours of usage, simplicity of features, there’s a reason AirPods are a success and its been apparent for quite some time.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mavis Avatar
mavis
101 months ago
This review very accurately reflected my own experience with the AirPods over the past 1yr+ ... I bought them mainly to handle long phone calls for work, but I now grab them 90% of the time when I want to listen to music, even when I'm at home. My $1200 custom molded IEMs are sitting in an OtterBox case in my closet - it's the AirPods that are with me literally every time I leave the house.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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