The original Apple AirPods are pretty damn good. They鈥檙e comfy, have great sound quality, and stay in most people鈥檚 ears. But they鈥檙e聽lacking in a couple key areas like long battery life and聽tap functionality.
Not anymore. The 聽offer everything from extended talk time to tap control聽to Siri, making them an even more coveted piece of everyday carry. 聽
My favorite features聽are聽the longer battery life (thanks in part to the power efficiency of the new Apple H1聽headphone chip) and ability to quick charge when needed. Apple says you鈥檒l get up to an hour more of talk time, which is nice when you鈥檙e on your third conference call of the day and don鈥檛 have to worry about your AirPods crapping out midsentence. Also neat:聽fifteen聽minutes of charge time in the case gets you three more hours of music.聽
I bike to work every day and used to hate switching songs on my original AirPods via Siri because she couldn鈥檛 hear me over the wind. With the new version, I can double-tap聽my right聽AirPod to skip to the next song聽and double-tap聽my left AirPod to skip back. No more suffering through bad music.
Utilizing some algorithm magic, Apple also found a way to cut down wind noise when you鈥檙e riding and talking聽or just walking somewhere on a windy day. Can I speed down the bike path and have a wind-free conversation? Absolutely not. But I can pedal at a decent pace and not annoy the person I鈥檓 talking to, which is a win in my book.
Just like your iPhone, you can now say, 鈥淗ey, Siri,鈥澛燼nd the digital assistant pops right up. Siri is not perfect by any means, but it鈥檚 convenient to be on my bike and ask Siri about everything from the weather to my schedule without having to take my hands off the bars.
If you have the new , the AirPod integration is superconvenient. You can control the headphone volume via the watch dial, answer a call and send it to the AirPods, and dictate and verify a text. If you have the Series 4 watch with cellular, you can make calls via your AirPods but without your phone. I dig this perk on the weekends when I want to ride 70 miles and聽need the option to call a bail-out ride聽but don鈥檛 want to carry my phone.
Other new additions include the ability to wirelessly charge the AirPods聽and faster connectivity to your phone, which can make a difference when you鈥檙e trying to answer a call and insert聽your headphones at the same time.
I鈥檝e been watching people put the new AirPods to good use in all kinds of ways, including Jared Zissu, the founder of , an online fly-fishing publication. Zissu is constantly on the road and has his AirPods in constantly. Things like the new battery life and reduced noise have allowed him to do more business, but they鈥檝e also helped him chill out聽when the time comes. He usually fishes without the AirPods, but sometimes, in rivers where a fish might bite only once every three hours, a good playlist and his AirPods come in handy.
鈥淭he sounds of nature are usually best, but sometimes a playlist and my AirPods can really help me get into the zone,鈥 he says.