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Any Bluetooth earphones will pair easy enough. Once you’ve paired reconnecting is automatic and you only need to pair the once for the entire lifetime of any pa

Any Bluetooth earphones will pair easy enough. Once you’ve paired reconnecting is automatic and you only need to pair the once for the entire lifetime of any particular Bluetooth device. I run a 3rd party Bluetooth earphones (not headphones) and honestly I find them nicer to use than AirPods because they’re comfier, stay in the ear better, have equivalent battery life and I prefer the sound “colour” too - though that’s in part because they fit better so the sound is better channeled down the ear canal. My point being that there are a lot of great earphones (and headphones) on the market. In fact it was already quite a saturated market even before Apple entered into it. So people shouldn’t be so quick to assume that Apple are the best in class nor even the only high end audio manufacturer worth looking at.

Matthias247 7y ago
I think pairing is decent on Bluetooth audio devices. However connecting still leaves some things to be desired. Most speakers/headphones can only connect to a single source at a time. Even the top of the line and extremely well rated Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones will only connect (not pair) to a single bluetooth device at a time. If you want to switch audio from your laptop to your phone you got to manually disable the connection on one device, and connect again on the other. That is quite clunky if you have like 3 PCs (work/home) and a phone and would love to use your headphones with any of them. As far as I understand the Airpods might at least not require to manually disable the connection when switching to a different device. But I can't say for sure, since I don't own a set.
- pushpop 7y ago
  My earphones are two years old and can be paired to dozens (I’ve not yet hit a hard limit) of devices and can be connected to two sources concurrently with the ability to swap connections between any of the other active devices on the fly using the earphones iPhone app (so you’re not manually disconnecting devices). As an audiophile I also don’t think Sony are the greatest example because in my experience Sony haven’t been making the best audio equipment for several decades (despite their price point and cult following).
- zuppy 7y ago
  unfortunately they (airpods pro) seem to stay connected to only a single device, which is a shame. my other daily use headphones (qc35) can be connected to 2 devices in the same time and it helps as when someone calls me on the phone it pauses the laptop music and switches to the call.
pushpop 7y ago
I’m getting heavily downvoted for that comment and I do understand the appeal of Apple hardware (I happen to be bought into the Apple ecosystem as well) but as an audiophile who’s always shopped around for equipment over the last 3 decades I can assure you there are plenty of other companies out there releasing good products. Some, in fact, are even out innovating Apple. But you often have to shop around to find them. For example last week I was playing around with some cans which literally mapped the inside of your ear then created a unique sound profile for the wearer (they also did all the same features as AirPods too).
- zuppy 7y ago
  people that aren’t as passionate as you are aren’t willing to invest the time to find _the best_ headphones. these are good enough and much better than average, convenience matters a lot. so, yes, you’re right, they’re not the best overall, but they are best for me now with the time i am willing to invest into the purchase decision.
  - pushpop 7y ago
    It doesn’t take that much time to look into and if your spending a few hundred bucks on new hardware wouldn’t you rather invest a few minutes before hand rather than impulse buying the first thing that came to your mind? Also I don’t think that’s a good enough argument for downvoting comments that are quite literally factually accurate.
    - saagarjha 7y ago
      You’re an audiophile. Not everyone is.
      - pushpop 7y ago
        Indeed but I’ve got my own theories about what’s happening here and I think it’s less to do with people being open to alternative suggestions and more about protectionism of the Apple brand.

Matthias247 7y ago

I think pairing is decent on Bluetooth audio devices. However connecting still leaves some things to be desired. Most speakers/headphones can only connect to a single source at a time. Even the top of the line and extremely well rated Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones will only connect (not pair) to a single bluetooth device at a time. If you want to switch audio from your laptop to your phone you got to manually disable the connection on one device, and connect again on the other. That is quite clunky if you have like 3 PCs (work/home) and a phone and would love to use your headphones with any of them. As far as I understand the Airpods might at least not require to manually disable the connection when switching to a different device. But I can't say for sure, since I don't own a set.

pushpop 7y ago
My earphones are two years old and can be paired to dozens (I’ve not yet hit a hard limit) of devices and can be connected to two sources concurrently with the ability to swap connections between any of the other active devices on the fly using the earphones iPhone app (so you’re not manually disconnecting devices). As an audiophile I also don’t think Sony are the greatest example because in my experience Sony haven’t been making the best audio equipment for several decades (despite their price point and cult following).
zuppy 7y ago
unfortunately they (airpods pro) seem to stay connected to only a single device, which is a shame. my other daily use headphones (qc35) can be connected to 2 devices in the same time and it helps as when someone calls me on the phone it pauses the laptop music and switches to the call.

pushpop 7y ago

I’m getting heavily downvoted for that comment and I do understand the appeal of Apple hardware (I happen to be bought into the Apple ecosystem as well) but as an audiophile who’s always shopped around for equipment over the last 3 decades I can assure you there are plenty of other companies out there releasing good products. Some, in fact, are even out innovating Apple. But you often have to shop around to find them. For example last week I was playing around with some cans which literally mapped the inside of your ear then created a unique sound profile for the wearer (they also did all the same features as AirPods too).

zuppy 7y ago
people that aren’t as passionate as you are aren’t willing to invest the time to find _the best_ headphones. these are good enough and much better than average, convenience matters a lot. so, yes, you’re right, they’re not the best overall, but they are best for me now with the time i am willing to invest into the purchase decision.
- pushpop 7y ago
  It doesn’t take that much time to look into and if your spending a few hundred bucks on new hardware wouldn’t you rather invest a few minutes before hand rather than impulse buying the first thing that came to your mind? Also I don’t think that’s a good enough argument for downvoting comments that are quite literally factually accurate.
  - saagarjha 7y ago
    You’re an audiophile. Not everyone is.
    - pushpop 7y ago
      Indeed but I’ve got my own theories about what’s happening here and I think it’s less to do with people being open to alternative suggestions and more about protectionism of the Apple brand.