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It's weird to me how many people are like "yeah but every other bluetooth is worse". I have Airpod Pros and experienced every one of these issues and many more

It's weird to me how many people are like "yeah but every other bluetooth is worse". I have Airpod Pros and experienced every one of these issues and many more on the regular with them, but my several years old now Bose QC 35II never have any of these problems, still last like 5 times as long on battery after years of recharge cycles, interact better with two simultaneously connected devices, have better signal range before dropping out, and I can control the damned volume without trying a dozen times to get Siri to wake the fuck up because airpods have no built-in volume controls and Siri's voice activation is worse than terrible. The Airpods are set to connect automatically to my macbook when I wear them AND THEY DON'T. EVER. And then calls on my iPhone will stupidly decide to connect and route audio to airpods that I'm not even wearing while they are just sitting on my desk when the phone was literally moments before using the handset speaker for a video. Know what bluetooth device does not have these problems? You guessed it, the one not made by Apple. Like...come on. I really want to like airpods, but they're just not good.

hellomyguys 5y ago
Yeah, using my AirPods Max is one of the most frustrating experiences. In the past week I've had to force reset them so many times and it almost seems arbitrary when it actually connects. I can't imagine a non-savvy tech person being able to easily debug it.
- bredren 5y ago
  With Mac / iOS devices? It should not behave like this. Consider swapping them out.
  - hellomyguys 5y ago
    Yes with iPads and iPhones. It's not an uncommon experience if you google it. I imagine its a software issue not a hardware issue too.
BoxOfRain 5y ago
That's even more weird given my experience with a pair of Beats Studio 3 headphones I have which are de facto a brand of Apple headphones. They've never given me Bluetooth grief once in years of very regular use, it's not like they can't do reliable Bluetooth equipment.
chipotle_coyote 5y ago
I don't know about "every other Bluetooth," but I certainly experience different problems with other Bluetooth devices. :) My regular experiences: - The AirPods Pro and AirPods Max generally work well. I've experienced most of the annoyances the OP lists occasionally, but not regularly, although the "autoselect the device want you want" outsmarts itself semi-regularly. (Not quite enough to make me disable it, but it's close.) I have never attempted to control the volume of the AirPods Pro using Siri because it sounds like a bag of hurt. - My Bose SoundLink II will immediately say it's connected to the last device that it paired with when I turn it on, but sound won't come out of it. Depending on what seems to be random chance, either it'll start playing in ~15 seconds, or it will repeat its "Connected to [Device]" voice cue and then immediately be available for play, or once in a while it will put itself back in "I'm not connected!" mode and I will have to go into Bluetooth settings to manually connect. - My Vanatoo desktop speakers have Bluetooth, and once they're connected to the phone they don't want to let go. I'll have successfully sent sound to the SoundLink, or the AirPods, or just the phone's own speaker, and then suddenly the sound will mysteriously vanish because the Vanatoos have woken up and grabbed the signal. (This sometimes happens before the Vanatoos have powered up their own internal amplifiers.) - The Bluetooth pairing in my mother's car consistently has the weirdest behavior: I connect, it starts playing a podcast or music, and the audio just cuts out every four seconds or so at a regular cadence. It seems like it might be playing just a little too fast and there's a buffering issue. If I disconnect the Bluetooth and reconnect it, then everything's fine. But the first connection after the car starts will always be broken. I mean, I know that's all anecdotal. But at least for me, the AirPods are the least broken Bluetooth audio devices I use. I get that "it works less frustratingly for many people most of the time" is not nearly as catchy as "it just works," but until Bluetooth gets properly sorted out in 2083 or whenever, I guess I'll live with it.
- TylerE 5y ago
  I have to wonder if it's time to just say screw Bluetooth, and deploy a new standard that's specially oriented for audio. Requirements aren't crazy. It just needs to support uncompressed 96/24, full duplex.
  - 5y ago
StaleTortilla 5y ago
Agreed on Bose QC 35II being great. I hardly ever have any issues with them. The only issues I do have with them are when they connect to my work MacBook Pro. The biggest of these issues is that the MacBook refuses to let any other device be the active device. If my Bose QC 35II connect to both my MacBook and my PC or phone (Android), and I want to listen to audio from the non-MacBook device, I have to first disconnect the headphones from the MacBook. But for my PC and phone, I can be dual connected to those, and as long as I have nothing playing, I can start playing something on either device and immediately hear it. At this point I've given up on using the Bose with the MacBook.
- leo150 5y ago
  I'm having exactly the same issue. Moreover, when you have multiple devices and want to switch to a new one, first you have to guess who hijacked the sound.
  - Zarel 5y ago
    Yeah, I like my AirPods Pro precisely because I don't need to disconnect them from the previous device to connect to them from the next device. Bose NC 700s and Sony XM4s both have the problem where I need to disconnect from them on an old device before I can connect to them on a new device.
krferriter 5y ago
I think part of the problems you describe is the failings of the bluetooth stack in MacOS, not the Airpods themselves. I have had bluetooth device issues in MacOS on a brand new Macbook, and of course MacOS offers no advanced control options or access to underlying defaults it plugs into device and connection configurations, and there are forum posts about issues going back many years with no acknowledgement by Apple and seemingly no plans for a fix. My main problem with Airpods is the physical design, which simply refuses to stay in my ears at all, rendering them totally useless, even if I'm just sitting relatively stationary at a desk. My Samsung Galaxy Buds have been doing pretty well, though I just started having a problem where the left earbud is extremely quiet.
- supercheetah 5y ago
  Are the Galaxy Buds still under warranty? I've had mine for about three years now, and my biggest issue is that the right bud drains now faster than the left, and so after a few hours, I'll only get audio from the left.
- pjerem 5y ago
  I have to reassure you, the Windows BT stack is actually a pile of garbage. And I’m talking about things like the whole audio system crashing when trying to use my XM4 on any videoconférence software, my Xbox controller randomly disconnecting for several seconds while in game (I play at a <1m distance) or my keyboard suddenly disconnecting while I work. At this point I’m starting to believe that even Linux has a better Bluetooth stack than windows and OS X. iOS is okayish but I have random issues with my AirPods. Generally they just stop being recognized and I have to reset them and to setup then again. Boring.
  - smoldesu 5y ago
    > At this point I’m starting to believe that even Linux has a better Bluetooth stack than windows and OS X. With Pipewire, this seems to have come true in it's entirety. Connecting multipoint Bluetooth headsets to multiple Linux devices works astonishingly well, and I don't think I've ever had a connection drop or encountered a real "bug" with it. The only annoyance is that if you have one device playing audio and another starts playing, it will cut out for a fraction of a second while the headset negotiates it's connection. Besides that it's almost scarily flawless.
afterburner 5y ago
Meanwhile my $30 versions work great. And look better IMO
dempedempe 5y ago
I had my QC 35IIs stolen when I forgot them in a Sixt rental. I decided to get some Airpods as a replacement as most reviews I found online said they were comparable. God, I miss my QC 35IIs...
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
ar_lan 5y ago
I've never experienced any of the issues you've mentioned and have been a user of AirPods since they were first released. My _only_ complaint has ever been battery life. I've tried many other brands (I had lost two pairs of AirPods from all the travel I was doing) and everything else was an awful experience for anything but simply listening to something. I have to manually disconnect from my phone then re-connect to my computer (AirPods solve this), people could never hear me through the microphones, and generally I was better off not using the "controls" the other brands offered. I really wanted to like cheaper alternatives, but they're just not good. AirPods, however, are fantastic.
NoPicklez 5y ago
I have a pair of Bose QC 35s that I've had for years and whilst I agree connecting to the iPhone is crisp. I have been to hell and back trying to get them to work well with my Macbook. Problems with them not pairing, the audio quality suddenly going terrible or them just dropping out.

hellomyguys 5y ago

Yeah, using my AirPods Max is one of the most frustrating experiences. In the past week I've had to force reset them so many times and it almost seems arbitrary when it actually connects. I can't imagine a non-savvy tech person being able to easily debug it.

bredren 5y ago
With Mac / iOS devices? It should not behave like this. Consider swapping them out.
- hellomyguys 5y ago
  Yes with iPads and iPhones. It's not an uncommon experience if you google it. I imagine its a software issue not a hardware issue too.

BoxOfRain 5y ago

That's even more weird given my experience with a pair of Beats Studio 3 headphones I have which are de facto a brand of Apple headphones. They've never given me Bluetooth grief once in years of very regular use, it's not like they can't do reliable Bluetooth equipment.

chipotle_coyote 5y ago

I don't know about "every other Bluetooth," but I certainly experience different problems with other Bluetooth devices. :) My regular experiences: - The AirPods Pro and AirPods Max generally work well. I've experienced most of the annoyances the OP lists occasionally, but not regularly, although the "autoselect the device want you want" outsmarts itself semi-regularly. (Not quite enough to make me disable it, but it's close.) I have never attempted to control the volume of the AirPods Pro using Siri because it sounds like a bag of hurt. - My Bose SoundLink II will immediately say it's connected to the last device that it paired with when I turn it on, but sound won't come out of it. Depending on what seems to be random chance, either it'll start playing in ~15 seconds, or it will repeat its "Connected to [Device]" voice cue and then immediately be available for play, or once in a while it will put itself back in "I'm not connected!" mode and I will have to go into Bluetooth settings to manually connect. - My Vanatoo desktop speakers have Bluetooth, and once they're connected to the phone they don't want to let go. I'll have successfully sent sound to the SoundLink, or the AirPods, or just the phone's own speaker, and then suddenly the sound will mysteriously vanish because the Vanatoos have woken up and grabbed the signal. (This sometimes happens before the Vanatoos have powered up their own internal amplifiers.) - The Bluetooth pairing in my mother's car consistently has the weirdest behavior: I connect, it starts playing a podcast or music, and the audio just cuts out every four seconds or so at a regular cadence. It seems like it might be playing just a little too fast and there's a buffering issue. If I disconnect the Bluetooth and reconnect it, then everything's fine. But the first connection after the car starts will always be broken. I mean, I know that's all anecdotal. But at least for me, the AirPods are the least broken Bluetooth audio devices I use. I get that "it works less frustratingly for many people most of the time" is not nearly as catchy as "it just works," but until Bluetooth gets properly sorted out in 2083 or whenever, I guess I'll live with it.

TylerE 5y ago
I have to wonder if it's time to just say screw Bluetooth, and deploy a new standard that's specially oriented for audio. Requirements aren't crazy. It just needs to support uncompressed 96/24, full duplex.
- 5y ago

StaleTortilla 5y ago

Agreed on Bose QC 35II being great. I hardly ever have any issues with them. The only issues I do have with them are when they connect to my work MacBook Pro. The biggest of these issues is that the MacBook refuses to let any other device be the active device. If my Bose QC 35II connect to both my MacBook and my PC or phone (Android), and I want to listen to audio from the non-MacBook device, I have to first disconnect the headphones from the MacBook. But for my PC and phone, I can be dual connected to those, and as long as I have nothing playing, I can start playing something on either device and immediately hear it. At this point I've given up on using the Bose with the MacBook.

leo150 5y ago
I'm having exactly the same issue. Moreover, when you have multiple devices and want to switch to a new one, first you have to guess who hijacked the sound.
- Zarel 5y ago
  Yeah, I like my AirPods Pro precisely because I don't need to disconnect them from the previous device to connect to them from the next device. Bose NC 700s and Sony XM4s both have the problem where I need to disconnect from them on an old device before I can connect to them on a new device.

krferriter 5y ago

I think part of the problems you describe is the failings of the bluetooth stack in MacOS, not the Airpods themselves. I have had bluetooth device issues in MacOS on a brand new Macbook, and of course MacOS offers no advanced control options or access to underlying defaults it plugs into device and connection configurations, and there are forum posts about issues going back many years with no acknowledgement by Apple and seemingly no plans for a fix. My main problem with Airpods is the physical design, which simply refuses to stay in my ears at all, rendering them totally useless, even if I'm just sitting relatively stationary at a desk. My Samsung Galaxy Buds have been doing pretty well, though I just started having a problem where the left earbud is extremely quiet.

supercheetah 5y ago
Are the Galaxy Buds still under warranty? I've had mine for about three years now, and my biggest issue is that the right bud drains now faster than the left, and so after a few hours, I'll only get audio from the left.
pjerem 5y ago
I have to reassure you, the Windows BT stack is actually a pile of garbage. And I’m talking about things like the whole audio system crashing when trying to use my XM4 on any videoconférence software, my Xbox controller randomly disconnecting for several seconds while in game (I play at a <1m distance) or my keyboard suddenly disconnecting while I work. At this point I’m starting to believe that even Linux has a better Bluetooth stack than windows and OS X. iOS is okayish but I have random issues with my AirPods. Generally they just stop being recognized and I have to reset them and to setup then again. Boring.
- smoldesu 5y ago
  > At this point I’m starting to believe that even Linux has a better Bluetooth stack than windows and OS X. With Pipewire, this seems to have come true in it's entirety. Connecting multipoint Bluetooth headsets to multiple Linux devices works astonishingly well, and I don't think I've ever had a connection drop or encountered a real "bug" with it. The only annoyance is that if you have one device playing audio and another starts playing, it will cut out for a fraction of a second while the headset negotiates it's connection. Besides that it's almost scarily flawless.

afterburner 5y ago

Meanwhile my $30 versions work great. And look better IMO

dempedempe 5y ago

I had my QC 35IIs stolen when I forgot them in a Sixt rental. I decided to get some Airpods as a replacement as most reviews I found online said they were comparable. God, I miss my QC 35IIs...

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

ar_lan 5y ago

I've never experienced any of the issues you've mentioned and have been a user of AirPods since they were first released. My _only_ complaint has ever been battery life. I've tried many other brands (I had lost two pairs of AirPods from all the travel I was doing) and everything else was an awful experience for anything but simply listening to something. I have to manually disconnect from my phone then re-connect to my computer (AirPods solve this), people could never hear me through the microphones, and generally I was better off not using the "controls" the other brands offered. I really wanted to like cheaper alternatives, but they're just not good. AirPods, however, are fantastic.

NoPicklez 5y ago

I have a pair of Bose QC 35s that I've had for years and whilst I agree connecting to the iPhone is crisp. I have been to hell and back trying to get them to work well with my Macbook. Problems with them not pairing, the audio quality suddenly going terrible or them just dropping out.