4 ms·

Add to that an excellent microphone. Pre-COVID I used a pair of Plantronics noise cancelling headphones that covered all of your requirements pretty well. Unfo

by jobu 6y ago

Add to that an excellent microphone. Pre-COVID I used a pair of Plantronics noise cancelling headphones that covered all of your requirements pretty well. Unfortunately the microphone was shit, so I decided to get Airpod Pros for all the remote meetings. Even with the short battery life they have quickly become my default headphones. I'm not typically a fanboy of anything, but Apple does make some quality electronics.

Fnoord 6y ago
Given you cannot replace battery, this is not high quality according to my standards.
- filoleg 6y ago
  >Given you cannot replace battery, this is not high quality according to my standards. Cool, just don't be surprised when the sales numbers and reviews end up not reflecting that sentiment. Mostly because I doubt that vast majority of people use that metric as a baseline measure of high quality.
  - donor20 6y ago
    Especially because airpod competitors with replaceable batteries will be singificantly heavier, significantly less waterproof and may be more costly for similar functionality. Non replaceable batteries, non upgradeable memory etc is all a tradeoff. Checkout the mac mini with M1 and soldered on memory, but memory performance seems amazing.
    - Fnoord 6y ago
      Well, look at it from this angle: I draw the line with replacable battery because it renders the device inherently useless for its purpose (mobile use case). All Apple in ear Airpods get destroyed if anyone replaces the battery. Even Apple cannot, and they claim to care about the environment. Beats got a bad name, so I just skip that. There's a reason they did not attach that brand name to their Airpods products. We just had BF and I saw great deals for Airpods. All of them. XM3, which has superb ANC, just had a successor (XM4) which has multiple device support. XM4 goes for 350. XM3 was 200 on BF. Now compare that with Airpods Max price tag and features. I bought XM4 as a successor to my Logitech G933. Logitech G933 has no ANC, not so good sound quality, it has a proprietary dongle (the dealbreaker for my use case due to USB-A and dongle requirement), it has microUSB, it has 3.5 mm, battery lasts 8 hours. Battery replacement can be bought directly from Logitech, easy to replace yourself, and costs 10 EUR. Compare to XM3/4 3.5 mm, Bluetooth, superb ANC, USB-C (in contrast to microUSB or lightning), and the battery is good... but I doubt it still is in 3 years.
      - filoleg 6y ago
        >just had a successor (XM4) which has multiple device support. As an owner of those same Sony headphones (XM3), their multi-device support is a joke compared to airpods. Not even kidding, night and day. Manual pairing, limit on devices, having to do everything through Sony's buggy app, etc. I still like them, because when I am working at my desk in an office, I would prefer over-the-ears. If Apple manages to match and/or beat Sony's sound+ANC quality, but bring all the connectivity and great multi-device pairing features of current Airpods to Airpods Max, I am sold.
        Fnoord 6y ago
        Yeah, well, that's why I wrote XM4. XM4 is mostly like XM3. One of the very few improvements is the multiple device support (but the price difference is IMO unlikely to be worth it). I use the WF-1000XM3 and WH-1000XM4 and the pairing of the WF-1000XM3 works fine for me, but the ANC of the over the ears XM4 (as well as your WH-1000XM3) is superior. At times, I don't even have listen to anything and it still works. Its terrific at work. Even works with getting less agitated by the noise of my children.
        filoleg 6y ago
        Genuine question, is XM4 ANC that much different from XM3? I always assumed, for some reason, that it was an incremental upgrade in sound+ANC, but more of a major upgrade in hardware dept. Never tried XM4 myself though, so that is purely from hearing people talking about it, not actually testing the device myself. If you confirm that ANC is actually significantly better than on XM3 (which I already liked a lot anyway), then now I know what I will be upgrading to, in case Airpods Max end up not delivering on their promise :)
        Fnoord 6y ago
        Reviews I read suggest only a marginal difference in ANC area. My entire argument has been in the previous posts that the XM4 isn't worth the price over the already excellent XM3. That multi-device feature of XM4? Never had to use it. I might've as well purchased a XM3. Ideally at BF (200 EUR is a steal).

by jobu 6y ago

Fnoord 6y ago

Given you cannot replace battery, this is not high quality according to my standards.

filoleg 6y ago
>Given you cannot replace battery, this is not high quality according to my standards. Cool, just don't be surprised when the sales numbers and reviews end up not reflecting that sentiment. Mostly because I doubt that vast majority of people use that metric as a baseline measure of high quality.
- donor20 6y ago
  Especially because airpod competitors with replaceable batteries will be singificantly heavier, significantly less waterproof and may be more costly for similar functionality. Non replaceable batteries, non upgradeable memory etc is all a tradeoff. Checkout the mac mini with M1 and soldered on memory, but memory performance seems amazing.
  - Fnoord 6y ago
    Well, look at it from this angle: I draw the line with replacable battery because it renders the device inherently useless for its purpose (mobile use case). All Apple in ear Airpods get destroyed if anyone replaces the battery. Even Apple cannot, and they claim to care about the environment. Beats got a bad name, so I just skip that. There's a reason they did not attach that brand name to their Airpods products. We just had BF and I saw great deals for Airpods. All of them. XM3, which has superb ANC, just had a successor (XM4) which has multiple device support. XM4 goes for 350. XM3 was 200 on BF. Now compare that with Airpods Max price tag and features. I bought XM4 as a successor to my Logitech G933. Logitech G933 has no ANC, not so good sound quality, it has a proprietary dongle (the dealbreaker for my use case due to USB-A and dongle requirement), it has microUSB, it has 3.5 mm, battery lasts 8 hours. Battery replacement can be bought directly from Logitech, easy to replace yourself, and costs 10 EUR. Compare to XM3/4 3.5 mm, Bluetooth, superb ANC, USB-C (in contrast to microUSB or lightning), and the battery is good... but I doubt it still is in 3 years.
    - filoleg 6y ago
      >just had a successor (XM4) which has multiple device support. As an owner of those same Sony headphones (XM3), their multi-device support is a joke compared to airpods. Not even kidding, night and day. Manual pairing, limit on devices, having to do everything through Sony's buggy app, etc. I still like them, because when I am working at my desk in an office, I would prefer over-the-ears. If Apple manages to match and/or beat Sony's sound+ANC quality, but bring all the connectivity and great multi-device pairing features of current Airpods to Airpods Max, I am sold.
      - Fnoord 6y ago
        Yeah, well, that's why I wrote XM4. XM4 is mostly like XM3. One of the very few improvements is the multiple device support (but the price difference is IMO unlikely to be worth it). I use the WF-1000XM3 and WH-1000XM4 and the pairing of the WF-1000XM3 works fine for me, but the ANC of the over the ears XM4 (as well as your WH-1000XM3) is superior. At times, I don't even have listen to anything and it still works. Its terrific at work. Even works with getting less agitated by the noise of my children.
        filoleg 6y ago
        Genuine question, is XM4 ANC that much different from XM3? I always assumed, for some reason, that it was an incremental upgrade in sound+ANC, but more of a major upgrade in hardware dept. Never tried XM4 myself though, so that is purely from hearing people talking about it, not actually testing the device myself. If you confirm that ANC is actually significantly better than on XM3 (which I already liked a lot anyway), then now I know what I will be upgrading to, in case Airpods Max end up not delivering on their promise :)
        Fnoord 6y ago
        Reviews I read suggest only a marginal difference in ANC area. My entire argument has been in the previous posts that the XM4 isn't worth the price over the already excellent XM3. That multi-device feature of XM4? Never had to use it. I might've as well purchased a XM3. Ideally at BF (200 EUR is a steal).