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One week in with Apple's new AirPods 2 reveal some interesting new discoveries. Is Apple's hottest new accessory worth the hype? We discuss if you'll be needing to hang onto your first-gen AirPods or dump them for an upgrade.
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0:00
What's going on, everybody, Ian here for Cult of Mac
0:08
And it's been a week since I got my hands on Apple's second generation AirPods
0:12
And this is kind of my impressions. The second generation AirPods are just like the first generation AirPods in a lot of ways
0:35
They fit the same, they look the same, and they sound the same. So if the fit didn't work for you, these second generation ones aren't going to work either
0:43
If you didn't like the little sticks hanging out of your ears and didn't like that look, these don't change that
0:49
If you didn't like the white, these are still white. And if you didn't feel like the sound was up to your standards or didn't work for you, these aren't going to either
0:56
All of that said, these second generation AirPods, improve on the originals in a lot of really good ways
1:03
Primarily battery life. With these new ones I went four and a half hours of straight music and podcast listening and still had 20 left They also are quoting three hours of talk time I haven had three hours to talk to anybody even in the last week but I have taken a lot of 20 phone calls with them
1:21
They consistently have more than enough battery after a 30-minute phone call
1:26
Some of that extra battery life is thanks to the H-1 chip, which is Apple's new headphone processor
1:32
and it enables a lot of things like the improved battery life and like hands-free, hey Siri
1:38
which is another great little feature. The ability to say, hey Siri at any point and have the AirPods just pick up and start listening for a command is kind of freeing
1:47
No more of that awkward double tap thing on your ear that nobody liked and that was kind of uncomfortable
1:53
Now you can just shout out under the air and the assistant will pick up and start listening for your command
1:57
whether that's turn the volume up or down or change songs, ask about a little piece of information or control home kit things
2:04
At the same time, one of the weirdest things about, hey Siri is that when you say it
2:10
with the AirPods, you don't get that . Which means that you're kind of shouting out and hoping that Siri is listening when you make
2:17
your command. There's no way to know that the assistant is listening until you get this awkward, overly
2:23
humanized uh Which is a little bit unsettling Another thing the H really improves on from the first generation is switching your headphones between different Apple devices
2:35
With the first-generation AirPods, they say it could be done. For me, it worked about 50% of the time, and even at that, it took forever, especially if the
2:44
Mac was involved. With the new second-generation AirPods, I was able to switch even to a Mac in a matter of
2:50
about two seconds, maybe three seconds, or switch over to an Apple TV or to my iPad
2:55
and back and forth all very quickly through either control center or the Bluetooth menu on the Mac
3:01
The obvious big change with the new second generation AirPods is the wireless charging case
3:06
With the wireless charging case, you get the same lightning port that you had before here on the bottom
3:11
but you also get access to using any Chi standard wireless charging pad
3:17
Something that has been mentioned a few times now on Twitter is that some Chi chargers will actually stop charging the case
3:25
after the status light goes off. I'll link a couple below that I like that work great for this
3:30
but it is worth noting that some of the cheaper wireless chargers might not be the most ideal for charging such a low power device
3:37
So for me the last week with the new AirPods has been great Five hours of listening and three hours of talk time is more than I ever really need in any given situation But my first generation AirPods batteries had gotten so shot It was a lot
3:50
to expect an hour to an hour and a half of music or audio playback and a 20 minute phone call
3:56
could drain those from full. But if you just got AirPods in the fall or as a Christmas gift, I don't
4:01
think you need the new AirPods. Maybe the wireless charging case is worth it, spending that 80
4:06
bucks, but I don't think there's any need to get the brand new AirPods unless you're really dying to have Hey Siri built into your ears
4:13
But if you got first generation AirPods two years ago, or you haven't picked up a set of AirPods yet and you're trying to decide whether or not now is the time, as long as these will fit in your ears and you like the sound quality of them, there is absolutely no reason not to pick them up
4:27
$200 is not cheap for a pair of headphones, but you do get that Apple magic
4:31
So what do you think? Did the new AirPods do enough to get you to want to upgrade
4:36
Let me know in the comments down below. Hit the thumbs up button if you enjoyed this
4:40
Share the video with somebody if they're curious about whether or not the AirPods are worth it
4:44
I'm the Infer Cult of Mac. We'll catch you in the next one
#Consumer Electronics
#Audio Equipment
#Gadgets & Portable Electronics