AirPods available now

slickmcvic

Was initially cynical towards them until I tried a pair in Apple Brent Cross 2 weeks ago.
Ordered them from Compu B on the 30th of Jan & picked them up earlier today.
(2 as opposed to Apples 6 week wait time!)
........wouldn't normally wear headphones but find these top-class,
only regret that Spotify doesn't have great Siri Compatibility as of yet but hopefully this may change.

Zcott

Zcott wrote: »

I like the idea and I'd love a pair but I just don't use headphones enough to drop that amount of money on them.

Well that didn't last...

slickmcvic

Best bit of tech You'll get for that money,.....can see these really catching on!

mynextdevice

Managed to get a pair in Argos Drogheda today and they still had 1 in stock. So I'm guessing Argos around the country will have some in stock as well.

Dades

They're showing up in Argos - but for €210! (Albeit out of stock).

Even if they were in stock don't think I could stomach paying an extra 30 quid on top of an already steep price.

Curious as to whether the estimated wait time on Apple is accurate.

Blazer

having initially dismissed them but decided to take the plunge and got mine today 2 weeks after ordering from compub.
Very impressed with pairing and no complaints of noise in the car.
Sound wasn't bad either I have to say..I have a pair of bose qc20i around €300 and I can see myself using the air pods at work etc.
Pity they're not noise cancelling though..its a nice feature to have.

pphheerroonn

Ordered a pair from compub.com yesterday, they arrived today. Overall, very impressed so far.

Blazer

only thing that annoys me is the low volume on android devices. You have to disconnect and repair. :mad:
Apple devices work perfectly of course.

Vudgie

10% off on CompuB at the moment too.....

murpho999

Yet to see anybody in Ireland wearing these yet.

Do you think they are catching on?

Dades

I've seen, two, maybe three at most.

Still think it's only a matter of time they start to become commonplace. Might need a Christmas to get 'em in people's ears.

Creamy Goodness

Seen about 5-7 people wearing them (excluding people in my office).

If Apple could make them faster and maybe price drop them to around $129 then they'd be everywhere.

Dades

What would a budget version of the AirPods lose?

That doesn't sound realistic to me.

Creamy Goodness

There won't be a budget version of the AirPods, they will just get cheaper or cheap enough to manufacture that they'll get included in the box. But I can't see that for another few iPhone releases just yet considering there's still a 6 week lead time from apple.com.

Sad Professor

It would appear Apple may be selling AirPods at a loss, with some estimates suggesting they are underpriced by as much as half compared to their competitors, in order to encourage people to adopt them. So an even cheaper version is out of the question at the moment. Prices will go down when competition heats up, which will probably be a while because I think Apple caught everyone on the hop.

DubDJ

Sad Professor wrote: »

It would appear Apple may be selling AirPods at a loss, with some estimates suggesting they are underpriced by as much as half compared to their competitors, in order to encourage people to adopt them. So an even cheaper version is out of the question at the moment. Prices will go down when competition heats up, which will probably be a while because I think Apple caught everyone on the hop.

I highly doubt Apple sell anything at a loss. I'd definitely agree they probably don't make as much profit as they could and they would normally charge more for this type of thing.

Due to the lack of headphone jack I'd say they dropped the price to stop backlash from everybody, but I don't think they're loosing money overall.

murpho999

Apple losing money on a product that's priced at €179? I just can't see it.

So do people think they should actually be around €300, who on earth would pay that for a product that is not even premium sound?

FourFourRED

murpho999 wrote: »

Apple losing money on a product that's priced at €179? I just can't see it.

So do people think they should actually be around €300, who on earth would pay that for a product that is not even premium sound?

People who buy €300 beats

murpho999

FourFourFM wrote: »

People who buy €300 beats

super_furry

Do they sound any better than the regular apple earphones? The design doesn't really do enough to differentiate between them being more than just a wireless version of the bog-standard pack-in ear buds.

Blazer

they definitely sound better to me..Apple apparently insist they're no different from a regular pair audio wise though,
I have a pair of Bose QC20i and the AirPods sound pretty good to me as well.

snowflaker

tried them out in an official Apple Store in Beijing- wow- v impressed. None available though

murpho999

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZfolXUBOA8

Interesting video.

Dades

super_furry wrote: »

Do they sound any better than the regular apple earphones? The design doesn't really do enough to differentiate between them being more than just a wireless version of the bog-standard pack-in ear buds.

All some people want is a wireless version of the bog-standard pack-in ear buds!

The fact that they seem to work seamlessly seals the deal.

Blazer

Dades wrote: »

All some people want is a wireless version of the bog-standard pack-in ear buds!

The fact that they seem to work seamlessly seals the deal.

To be honest they're a lot more than that.
Look at the W1 chip and for years companies have failed to get bluetooth working via separate channels. Every bluetooth headset I'm aware of suffers from audio delay during video playback and usually involves a firmware update to hopefully fix the issue. Even beats are notorious for this.
Apple are the first company to get bluetooth syncing via separate channels and video streaming ie audio sync is flawless over them.

murpho999

Dades wrote: »

All some people want is a wireless version of the bog-standard pack-in ear buds!

The fact that they seem to work seamlessly seals the deal.

Surely for €179 though you'd want better sound quality.

Isn't that the most important thing with headphones?

colm_mcm

I think you're missing the point, they don't have to have brilliant sound quality to sell.

Dades

murpho999 wrote: »

Isn't that the most important thing with headphones?

For some, sure. But most certainly not everyone.

I don't really listen to music on headphones. They're almost exclusively for podcasts and calls. What's really important is ease of use when on the go, and comfort. I hate the feeling of in ear phones having owned several types over the years. Apple buds I can/do wear all day long. YMMV!

theteal

murpho999 wrote: »

Surely for €179 though you'd want better sound quality.

Isn't that the most important thing with headphones?

Dr. Dre's bank balance says otherwise

Blazer

theteal wrote: »

Dr. Dre's bank balance says otherwise

In my head that was said in Eminem's voice singing the Real Slim Shady