AirPods 2, Reviewed
A great product gets better with hands-free Siri
It’s no longer necessary to answer the question “Why AirPods?” Apple’s wireless earphones are among its most popular — and important — products. Apple asserts they are the most popular wireless headphones in the world.
There is, barring a major product misstep, no place to go from here but up, which is why Apple chose a pair of small yet important updates for its second-generation AirPods, or AirPods 2. One is inside the wireless headphones themselves and the other in the floss-container-shaped case.
To start, Apple finally delivered the long-rumored wireless charging case. It looks almost exactly like the original battery case and still holds up to 19 hours of listening charge in it. The only indications that this is a new case are the repositioning of the pairing button to a dead-center spot on the back of the case, a brushed metal hinge (instead of chrome), and, most importantly, the repositioning of the LED charge indicator from inside the case between the AirPod slots to the front of the case.
Checking that LED previously involved opening the case and looking inside. Now, when I place the case on any Qi-based charger, the light either glows amber to indicate it’s charging or green to let me know the case and AirPods are fully charged. That light will also blink white if I hold down the pairing button to connect to a non-iOS device. Even though the case design is mostly unchanged — there’s still a Lightning port on the bottom — there is a two-gram difference in weight, likely due to the wireless charging components. The case will work with original AirPods, and you can buy it separately for $79.
Physically, the AirPods 2 are an exact duplicate of the first AirPods. Like the originals, their design flows smoothly from Apple’s original though often derided EarPods, particularly the pod portions that fit in your ears, nestled snugly behind your tragus. AirPod stems are thicker than those on the EarPods and terminate in chrome rings that look fashionable but are actually used to connect to the charging contacts inside the AirPods case. There is also a trio of extra holes in the AirPod heads to accommodate dual beam-forming microphones. There’s also still a focusing microphone in the center of the chrome ring that helps cut down on background noise during calls. It’s a good design that worked with the original AirPods, and Apple thankfully saw no need to alter it.
As is typical with any half-step update in Apple’s product universe, the major AirPod changes were saved for the components and software.
Apple’s second-generation AirPods feature the all-new H1 chip. With its power management and Bluetooth 5 capabilities, it’s clearly a cousin to the W1 found in the first AirPods. Like the W1, the H1 chip helps provide five hours of music listening time (you get a total of 24 hours with the case) but talk time increases to three hours — roughly 50 percent more than with the original AirPods.
I don’t make and receive a lot of phone calls, and most last just a few minutes or less. However, for the sake of science, I tried to conduct a three-hour phone call. At roughly two-and-a-half hours into the call, I got my first audio alert that the second-generation AirPods were running low on power, but I forged ahead. I got another notification about 15 minutes later. Eventually, the call surpassed three hours, and I hung up, satisfied. I placed the AirPods back in their case, where the display showed the wireless headphones at two percent power.
The connection between the AirPods and my iPhone, by the way, held well for the duration of the call even as I moved up to 25 feet away from the phone. Moving further away caused the sound to break up. Overall call quality was still good, and my call recipients reported that they could hear me clearly even when I was out taking a walk in the wind. I could hear them perfectly as well. Everyone told me they could hear ambient sounds like the wind and birds chirping, but no one complained that they couldn’t understand what I was saying. As I switched back and forth from the old AirPods to the new ones, at least one caller noted a slight audio improvement.
When the AirPods do drain down, 15 minutes inside the case can give another few hours of battery life.
The AirPods 2 setup is painless — an almost nonexistent process. I unboxed the new wireless headphones, placed them next to my iPhone, opened the case lid, and a graphic appeared on the iPhone of both the AirPods and the new case with their charge percentages listed below the spinning photos. After that, I only needed to choose on the iPhone which audio output device I wanted to use. I did that once, and if I continued using the AirPods with that iPhone, it automatically switched to the AirPods as soon as I put them in my ears.
I did have to upgrade all my devices to iOS 12.2 to work with the new AirPods, which then allowed me to test their new device-switching capabilities. As with the original AirPods, adding them to one iOS device adds them to all your other iOS devices as long as they’re on the same account.
I started with the AirPods on my iPhone, then switched to the new iPad Mini 5. Not only did the new AirPods initially pair faster, they switched from one device to another much more quickly. I did a little test with my Apple TV (which also needs an OS update) and found that the new AirPods had a much easier time connecting via Bluetooth to the set-top box.
The H1 chip also enables hands-free Siri. With the original AirPods, I needed to tap one of them twice to access Apple’s digital assistant. I did this rarely because, for one, I didn’t like the idea of possibly knocking them out of my ears — though they’ve never fallen out — and, two, because it was impossible to activate the touch feedback when I was wearing gloves. The second-gen AirPods let me say, “Hey, Siri,” and state my request without pausing. The request is still being sent to my tethered iPhone, but I don’t have to touch anything or take my iPhone out of my pocket.
I need only worry about those who think I’m talking to myself.
With the AirPods 2, I quietly said, “Hey, Siri, what’s the weather?” and I instantly got a weather report. Same with news and music. Siri only requested I unlock my iPhone when I asked to check my email. I enjoyed walking around my neighborhood one chilly spring morning with my hands snugly stuffed inside my pockets as I peppered Siri with one request after another. I used to worry about people thinking I looked weird wearing AirPods, but now, with everyone wearing them, I need only worry about those who think I’m talking to myself.
While I like controlling everything, including volume, with my voice, it would be nice if Apple enabled a few gestures like, say, a sweep up on one AirPod to adjust volume.
Apple designed the H1 chip specifically for its headphones, bringing with it a new audio architecture. In general, sound quality across all activities was better — not radically better but noticeable. On music, AirPods have always done a remarkable job of maintaining the clarity of high notes while delivering notable bass for their size. Listening to a variety of musical genres on the new AirPods, I noticed the signature quality was enhanced so that there was a bit more sharpness on the hand claps in Daft Punk’s Lose Yourself to Dance, and the sax on Phil Collins’ One More Night sounded like it was in the room with me. The lushness of Josh Groban and Barbra’s Streisand’s harmonies on Somewhere is, well, lusher with the AirPods 2.
The music can get ear-piercingly loud. I pumped up the volume on Pink’s Try and thought my head might explode but noted how the sound still wasn’t distorted.
I also tried out some games on my iPad Mini, including Asphalt 9. Again, the improvement on the sound of those hairpin turns and the wheels grinding against road gravel was not huge but definitely noticeable.
With Apple’s AirPod improvements comes a price hike. If you want the second generation AirPods with the wireless charging case, it’ll cost you $199 — $40 over the original price. If you don’t mind plugging in your AirPods, you can get the second-generation bundle for $159. If you own the original AirPods but just want that wireless charging goodness, you can, as mentioned, buy the new case for $79.
While I’m not happy Apple is charging so much for the wireless case, I do recommend the full bundle. I bet your original AirPods aren’t holding a charge as well as they used to (mine can do about 40 minutes of talk time) and who wouldn’t want the promise of three hours of talk time, 24 hours of music, and the convenience of putting your case on any Qi charger and sucking that precious battery life? Maybe someday, we’ll even get an Apple AirPower pad to place them on, too.
