Airpods are very, very expensive compared to competitors with 90% of the same features. I've been using a $30 set for several years and the main drawback is it's difficult to switch devices—because apple doesn't allow third parties to use access the proprietary comms that allows this for airpods.

Also, I think the white is ugly. But kids seem to love it.

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oliyoung 14 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I'll happily pay the premium for "it just works", especially device switching iPhone to iPad to MacBook to Apple TV, it works first time, every time. I have a pair of Sony XM5s, and even at that price point, pairing and device switching can be a crapshoot some of the time.

Bluetooth honestly feels like a non-deterministic stack sometimes, it even took Apple 4 years to support it on the iPhone, how they have the AirPods working is close to magic.

	▲	mschuster91 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> how they have the AirPods working is close to magic They control the entire ecosystem and keep the variants and with it, the testing complexity, down as far as possible. That's how Apple stuff works so damn seamlessly. Meanwhile, the rest of the world has to contend with dozens if not hundreds of Bluetooth chipsets, driver combinations, OS stacks... and each of these has their own quirks, and even if a bug gets fixed in a Bluetooth driver or controller firmware, good luck getting that distributed to users...

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hedora 15 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

AirPods (and Bose QuietComfort) make me dizzy/nauseous.

Also, they don’t have decent passive noise cancellation, so they’re not appropriate for mowing the lawn, etc.

My Sennheiser ear buds solve all these problems for a much lower price, and their sound quality is much better than the last pair of AirPods I tried.

To each their own, I guess.

	▲	kjkjadksj 11 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		It should be stated that noise cancellation is not hearing protection, if you were using it for that while mowing. An old groundskeepers trick for having music and ear protection is to get those big over ear protectors and put your buds on with that over them, just being mindful of volume of course.
	▲	lurking_swe 12 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		well to be fair, some people simply don’t tolerate ANC well. Likely due to a more sensitive vestibular system. I believe this group often (not always) also struggles with motion sickness.

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bombcar 14 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You absolutely know they have tanks and tanks of colored plastic ready to hit those molds the moment sales slow down a tiny bit ...

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raw_anon_1111 13 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I doubt very seriously your $30 headphones sound as good as AirPods Pro or have the ANC.

But you can buy much cheaper headphones with the H1 chip for fast switching between devices by buying one of the Beats headphones. I love my $60 Beats Fiex with the double flange ear tips for traveling.

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BeetleB 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I bought my Soundcore A40 for about $60 (occasionally goes on sale for $40).

I don't doubt the Airpods Pro is better. But not "pay an extra $200 better".[1] My ANC is pretty decent. Sound quality's quite good. Adjusts to my hearing frequencies. Etc.

(The A40 has a much better battery life).

[1] Unless you need a hearing aid. Then it's a steal.

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MangoToupe 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I have proper over-ear headphones for when I want to listen to music. I'm not sure what ANC is or why it's worth hundreds of dollars—hence why I said 90%.

I don't know what the h1 chip has to do with the fast switching—surely this is a bluetooth protocol detail, yea?

	▲	9 hours ago \| parent [-]
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