Apple AirPods Pro (1st Generation) with MagSafe Charging Case

Wow, these really exceeded my expectations. I’m usually slow to buy new Apple products because mostly I feel my needs are more than met by the iPhone and MacBook Air I own. But I also find myself frequently fumbling with ugly tangled headphone cables, attaching and detaching (and sometimes losing) the obnoxious “dongle” needed to switch from my iPhone’s lightning jack to my MacBook’s headphone jack, and I find the sound quality on the standard Apple earbuds pretty bad for anything but the most utilitarian listening, e.g. a news podcast or a call to the bank. So I’m pleased to report that my AirPods have already become *incredibly* useful in the first week of use for their ability to connect almost instantly, and with fabulous intuition about when and where to connect, to either my two primary devices, transforming my day’s patchwork of Zoom sessions (I’m a therapist and a yoga teacher), phone calls, audiobooks, podcasts, and music into something much smoother and more flowing.The features, and their usefulness, were what surprised me. When I bought these I had assumed, wrongly, that they would basically be the same as the standard Apple earbuds, but made wireless. On the contrary, the sound here is massively better, a gigantic leap from one end of the quality spectrum to the other, and the sound can be shaped in several useful ways:1) Noise-Cancelling Mode, which instantly sucks the background noise out so well for a moment you’ll think you’ve gone deaf2) Transparency Mode, my favorite, which beautifully mixes the original sound source (music, podcast, etc) with the sound of your own breath and the outside world. The levels are perfectly adjusted to give you an amazingly crisp listening experiencing while remaining aware of your surroundings. It’s ideal. If in a dystopian Total Recall scenario a microchip were implanted in my head to play music, this would represent the best possible audio mix.3) Normal Mode/“Off”, which gives the unmixed, untreated effect of standard headphones, allowing the normal amount of bleed between the sound in the ears and the slightly muffled sound of the outside world. This is the only mode I have no use for, because the other two are such big improvements to me.Turning these features on and off, pausing, or switching between music tracks works very well with the old “pinch the stem” technique that most wireless earbuds use. It’s the Morse Code style, squeeze once for this, squeeze twice for that system, and while it occasionally fails to understand what I want to do, it is much more intuitive and accurate than the few other brands I’ve tried. I’d say it following 3/4 of my commands perfectly, which for me is good enough, and again a vast improvement on other wireless earbuds I’ve tried, which usually suffer horribly in this category. I was a bit worried about this feature due to past negative experiences, but there was nothing to fear. Once again, Apple made the best.My strongest area of constructive critique is the voice quality of a AirPod user as experienced by the listener. The sound is crystal clear, and the volume is well-controlled, but it does sound slightly sterile and thin to my ears. I am a therapist and a yoga teacher and I frequently see clients through Zoom or other streaming video, so I was hopeful that these might also double as a solution for a wireless microphone. But I find the sound of a voice over AirPods in Zoom to be too thin and papery to match the sound of a good or even mid-level wireless mic. They sound best-suited to business purposes to me. Your experience may differ! That said, these are about half the price of an average studio or wireless mic, so this is not a crime, merely a point worth noting for other users.They are also a bit distracting visually for me, as their shape is a little chunky and protruding from the ears, and their milk-white color really pops against the skin. They are by no means huge or ridiculous, you’ll feel fine wearing them, but they are large enough that I am persistently aware of them when I see someone over video talking to me or giving some kind of instruction. It also throws me off slightly because I associate headphones with someone being unable to hear me, rather than as a way to connect with me. This is another reason that a wireless mic or a proper studio mic still has its place. That said, connecting a wireless or studio mic to literally any Apple device requires a bit of technical knowhow, plus a receiver and a collection of cables and connectors to get it to work, and with AirPods you just take them out of the case and that’s it, and you’re connected!Great product. These are the droids you’re looking for.

For reference I purchased the item 'Wireless Earbuds made in China' E10 $20 after coupon (left, white, smallest case), Air Pods Pro $175 (2nd left, white), Pixel Buds Pro $200 (2nd right, black), Bose SoundSport $109 (right, black, wired). All tested using a Pixel 6 to play the music.I received Google Pixel Buds for my birthday this month. I will say they had excellent touch controls, better than Apple's and Google assistant was always on point. I'd imagine best wireless battery life too, marginally better than Apple. Probably the best noise cancelling I've ever had plus transparency mode is nice and easy to switch between. Even better than my, albeit older, Bose Quiet Comfort 25 over the ear wired headphones. Just can't stand how quickly these come out of my ears, the fit is like the tip of an adult thumb to the first knuckle shoved vertically in your ear. Also noted as the best bass. Pixel buds did connect easily to a Pixel 6 phone, a littleore difficult to connect to a laptop but they did.I bought my wife AirPods Pro for her birthday earlier this year. AirPods are definitely more comfortable than the E10 knock offs, but E10 are close with minimal activity. Airpods aren't perfect, and will still fall out running or jumping for kids... I'd rather drop the E10s for the price. Sound quality is better than Google but not as good as my Bose, not as much bass as the pixel buds but Apple has far superior overall sound quality than the Pixel Buds. The touch controls do work, I do have some issues squeezing the right spot but I'm getting older and have fatter fingers than when I was in my 20s. I found Pixel Buds touch controls to be a little better. My wife uses these with her laptop (windows) at work for meetings more than her phone. They connected easier with her iPhone 13, but I did connect them to a Pixel 6 and her laptop fairly easily. AirPods charging case feels the most durable with a metal hinge, plus wireless charging works good. Noise cancelling is good and it has transparency mode, I think Google may be a tad better.Bose SoundSport have the BEST fit of any ear buds I've ever worn. So tight, I've actually pulled the cord loose from my phone instead of out of both my ears. Also the most comfortable since it's all a rubberish material touching your ear that sort of forms to your ear. Plus Bose have the best overall sound, but AirPods are very close. I will admit pixel buds have the most bass of any of these 4. Actually these 2015 released ear buds have the weakest bass of any of the 4 being reviewed. These are wired and still expensive, and now hard to find reasonably priced in 2022. I have used them hard and they keep on trucking. I will continue to use them if the battery is dead in my E10s. More and more devices are lacking an auxiliary port to connect to, I currently have an adapter for auxiliary to USB-C to use with a Pixel 6 phone, which also does work on my laptop.These E10s have better overall sound than Pixel Buds Pro. More bass than my (very old) Bose SoundSport headphones. Smallest charging case for wireless, also cheapest feel and the hinge wouldn't stay open when laid down. Touch controls also suck the most, I did get volume up to work, sometimes volume down. Non existent noise cancelling. Only says noise cancelling in the name on the manual, no where in the manual. Mic must work fine, Google assistant heard me clear. I haven't tested a call. These are the only headphones to come with a charging cord, no brick to plug into the wall, but USB-C to USB. My Pixel 6 charger with the official Google brick did charge this.Bottom line. I'm returning $200 Pixel Buds Pro for the $20 E10s... And I will settle for my wired Bose if these don't have battery. I couldn't justify buying currently priced $179 AirPods at the time of this review for my Pixel 6. Plus my wife won't let me keep her birthday gift.Time will tell if the upcoming Pixel watch is a success or a failure. I may be converting to Apple if the watch flops. I can't stand my Fitbit versa 2 compared to any apple watch (series 1 included).