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I pre-ordered my Airpods the first day they were available at the end of 2016 and have used them almost exclusively for conference calls. I use them maybe once

I pre-ordered my Airpods the first day they were available at the end of 2016 and have used them almost exclusively for conference calls. I use them maybe once every day or so, and they sit in their charging case the rest of the time (which gets recharged periodically) I had a call yesterday and the Airpods were beeping that they were dying at the 20min mark, and didn't make it to 30min on the call. I love the form factor, and I just ordered the "new" Airpods, because I am hoping the battery life has improved - the old ones are basically a disposable item after the first year, from my experience.

yourduskquibble 8y ago
Fool me once...
- metafunctor 8y ago
  Yeah, just had an amazing two years of trouble-free wireless audio conference calls. Never again!
  - yourduskquibble 8y ago
    > I had a call yesterday and the Airpods were beeping that they were dying at the 20min mark, and didn't make it to 30min on the call. > I love the form factor, and I just ordered the "new" Airpods, because I am hoping the battery life has improved - the old ones are basically a disposable item after the first year, from my experience. The OP complained about battery life and the $200 "disposable" headphones he bought a year ago, but happily bought the next iteration, hence my comment. Fool me once...
    - achompas 8y ago
      Or OP likes them so much they're willing to replace them despite the flawed battery life. Also, OP said they purchased them in 2016 - not a year ago.
    - jasongill 8y ago
      I am complaining, yes, that the battery wore out much faster than I expected, but other than the battery life I love them. The new one is supposed to have much better battery life, and it's only $160 for something that I said I use every day, so it will be worth it if they are better. Even if they aren't, and I had to buy a pair every year, that's like 50 cents a day for something that I enjoy using (until the battery dies)
arthurcolle 8y ago
Just think of it as earbuds as a service, with a three-year renewal cycle
- Daniel_sk 8y ago
  Feels hard to justify - from a price and environment perspective. Especially if other equipment can and will go this route.
mygo 8y ago
I also use them for conference calls. I think one of the super awesome but barely talked about features of the airpods is how you can use it to handle calls nonstop all day long -- you can just wear one at a time. Both airpods have a microphone. So while you're using one, the other one is in the charging case! You can even switch them out in the middle of a call. So no need to go "oh crap I need to recharge my headset", just swap them out and you're at 100% for continuous non-stop talking. Most days, however, I don't have calls all day long, and I can just wear both no problem and not run into the low battery beep.
- eadmund 8y ago
  I think one of the super awesome features of wired headsets is that one never needs to recharge them. Also, they are a lot cheaper than wireless headsets.
  - cycrutchfield 8y ago
    What about the part where your skull is physically tethered to your computer?
    - JustSomeNobody 8y ago
      I'm on a conference call, what am I going to be doing? Laps? No, I'll be taking notes and looking stuff up on my computer.
      - konschubert 8y ago
        Yes, some people like to walk.
      - mygo 8y ago
        Yesterday morning I started a conference call in my car at home and ended it sitting down in a Starbucks. This afternoon I had a call while walking my dog. It’s a new world.
asark 8y ago
Airpods dying on conference calls has become another common part of the joke that is conference calls generally. Seeing that happen constantly has turned me off buying them :-/ Well, that and the fact that I'd definitely lose one in the first month of ownership.
- wil421 8y ago
  They aren’t really designed for conference calls. It’s more for listening to music and answering a few calls when they happen. AirPods are more of a light workout or entertainment headphones. Jabra, Plantronics, and the like are for conference calls. I do use them for conference calls but I know they have limited capabilities. My 14 hour Jabra headset will do just fine and have noise cancellation.
  - williamdclt 8y ago
    > It’s more for listening to music If only. At this price, you have hundreds of options with much better sound quality
    - wil421 8y ago
      At this price point you are paying form factor and lightweight. Bose and Sony have much better headphones at a similar price point. Both are much bigger and may have cords but the quality is much better. They last longer too.
      - Yetanfou 8y ago
        At this price you're paying for recognisability and affluence signalling. Apple will be able to launch a 'limited series' of 'black airpods with gilded touch rings' - with the colour being the only differentiator from the regular product - at a 50% price increase and see considerable sales.
        seppin 8y ago
        > At this price you're paying for recognisability and affluence signalling. Give it a rest, Apple makes great hardware with great software. That's why people buy it, nothing to do with being cool.
macintux 8y ago
Why not use one AirPod at a time? That way one is charging, the other in use.

yourduskquibble 8y ago

Fool me once...

metafunctor 8y ago
Yeah, just had an amazing two years of trouble-free wireless audio conference calls. Never again!
- yourduskquibble 8y ago
  > I had a call yesterday and the Airpods were beeping that they were dying at the 20min mark, and didn't make it to 30min on the call. > I love the form factor, and I just ordered the "new" Airpods, because I am hoping the battery life has improved - the old ones are basically a disposable item after the first year, from my experience. The OP complained about battery life and the $200 "disposable" headphones he bought a year ago, but happily bought the next iteration, hence my comment. Fool me once...
  - achompas 8y ago
    Or OP likes them so much they're willing to replace them despite the flawed battery life. Also, OP said they purchased them in 2016 - not a year ago.
  - jasongill 8y ago
    I am complaining, yes, that the battery wore out much faster than I expected, but other than the battery life I love them. The new one is supposed to have much better battery life, and it's only $160 for something that I said I use every day, so it will be worth it if they are better. Even if they aren't, and I had to buy a pair every year, that's like 50 cents a day for something that I enjoy using (until the battery dies)

arthurcolle 8y ago

Just think of it as earbuds as a service, with a three-year renewal cycle

Daniel_sk 8y ago
Feels hard to justify - from a price and environment perspective. Especially if other equipment can and will go this route.

mygo 8y ago

I also use them for conference calls. I think one of the super awesome but barely talked about features of the airpods is how you can use it to handle calls nonstop all day long -- you can just wear one at a time. Both airpods have a microphone. So while you're using one, the other one is in the charging case! You can even switch them out in the middle of a call. So no need to go "oh crap I need to recharge my headset", just swap them out and you're at 100% for continuous non-stop talking. Most days, however, I don't have calls all day long, and I can just wear both no problem and not run into the low battery beep.

eadmund 8y ago
I think one of the super awesome features of wired headsets is that one never needs to recharge them. Also, they are a lot cheaper than wireless headsets.
- cycrutchfield 8y ago
  What about the part where your skull is physically tethered to your computer?
  - JustSomeNobody 8y ago
    I'm on a conference call, what am I going to be doing? Laps? No, I'll be taking notes and looking stuff up on my computer.
    - konschubert 8y ago
      Yes, some people like to walk.
    - mygo 8y ago
      Yesterday morning I started a conference call in my car at home and ended it sitting down in a Starbucks. This afternoon I had a call while walking my dog. It’s a new world.

asark 8y ago

Airpods dying on conference calls has become another common part of the joke that is conference calls generally. Seeing that happen constantly has turned me off buying them :-/ Well, that and the fact that I'd definitely lose one in the first month of ownership.

wil421 8y ago
They aren’t really designed for conference calls. It’s more for listening to music and answering a few calls when they happen. AirPods are more of a light workout or entertainment headphones. Jabra, Plantronics, and the like are for conference calls. I do use them for conference calls but I know they have limited capabilities. My 14 hour Jabra headset will do just fine and have noise cancellation.
- williamdclt 8y ago
  > It’s more for listening to music If only. At this price, you have hundreds of options with much better sound quality
  - wil421 8y ago
    At this price point you are paying form factor and lightweight. Bose and Sony have much better headphones at a similar price point. Both are much bigger and may have cords but the quality is much better. They last longer too.
    - Yetanfou 8y ago
      At this price you're paying for recognisability and affluence signalling. Apple will be able to launch a 'limited series' of 'black airpods with gilded touch rings' - with the colour being the only differentiator from the regular product - at a 50% price increase and see considerable sales.
      - seppin 8y ago
        > At this price you're paying for recognisability and affluence signalling. Give it a rest, Apple makes great hardware with great software. That's why people buy it, nothing to do with being cool.

macintux 8y ago

Why not use one AirPod at a time? That way one is charging, the other in use.