The rare hearing aids are better than you think – CNET in Spanish

Yes, wearing the hearing aids AirPods Apple to make you look ridiculous. But this is not a surprise.

The question is: what are, in effect, good headphones? What worth, when compared to models truly wireless (with separate headsets for both the left ear and the right) and with models Bluetooth regular (those wireless headphones whose headphone left and right are linked with a cable)?

The short answer is that these headphones Apple’s$ 159 are better than you’d expect and, particularly, for owners of Apple products are pretty good. But its unique design represents a limiting factor and a little frustrating.

I tested the version of the AirPods that has been on the market. Now they are finally available after being announced together on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in September. This is the period of time that my colleague Scott Stein has been living together with versions in pre-production of the hearing aids, and also Mariana Marcaletti had their own experience by trial and error.

The AirPods, and your box of reloads.

Sarah Tew/CNET

The AirPods have many things in your favor. This was good and excellent:

Fit and comfort: The AirPods are ultralight and fit better in my ears than the EarPods. Despite the fact that the AirPods have a very similar look to their brothers wire, have some design improvements that are supposed to help to create a better fit, and what is more important is that you do not have wires. Cables the EarPods are thin, but still add weight to the headphones and make the headphones out of your ears. Without anything to represent them being a burden, the AirPods are stacked in my ears.

they Are very easy to put on and are comfortable to wear, due to how light they are.

The chip W1 makes it very seamless synchronization: The Bluetooth chip custom Apple, the W1, is designed so that there is automatic synchronization with Apple devices running iOS 10, watchOS 3 or macOS Sierra. And is in full compliance with: just place the headset near the device compatible and these will be automatically detected and will ask to be synchronized (there is no need to delve into the settings menu). You can also move fluidly between different Apple devices, changing the sound of your computer, your iPhone or iPad.

Yes, the AirPods in addition to work with Bluetooth audio devices that are not Apple (I was able to pair the headphones with a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge), but you can’t access their special functions. (You have to use the sync button that comes in the box of refill to pair the headphones with these devices).

reliable wireless Connection: the wireless connection between The two headphones is quite solid, presenting few obstacles. I have tried several wireless headphones (those that do not have a cable that connect between themselves), and some of those models were propenson to lose the connection. The more recent opponents of the AirPods, as the Sport Elite of Jabra, Bragi The Headphone and Skybuds, provide a connection much more reliable, but the AirPods are among the first in this aspect.

The AirPods in your box, which has the appearance of a box of dental floss.

Sarah Tew/CNET

sound quality: The sound has an aspect of openness, because, of course, are headphones open that do not cancel the noise. This means that the headphones do not require a seal or closed to offer the best sound. The only thing you have to do is colocártelos in your ears, and you’re done.

In a quiet room, the AirPods sound pretty good. Are well balanced and provide a reasonable amount of bass. The BeatsX coming in are more low (at least, that is my impression during a short trial session with a unit of reproduction), but the AirPods have more bass than I expected. (Its sound is similar to that of the EarPods wire, so if you like those headphones, you’ll like the AirPods).

Although the soprano sound is not great compared to of the headphones fully wireless, the sound quality of the AirPods is higher than the average. The Jabra Elite Sport, we have a design to isolate the noise and a rate monitor ear built-in, sound better but cost more.

Flexibility and special features: Work very well as stereo headset or as monoaudífonos (that is, that you can only use a headset, either the right or the left). According to Apple, the headphones are equipped with microphones to focus on the sound of your voice”. I made several calls and my partners were impressed with the quality of the call.

Thanks to the double sensors and optical accelerometers integrated into each of the headphones, the connected device (iPhone, iPad, Mac) knows that the AirPods are in your ears and will pause the music when a headset or two are removed or out of your ears. And, depending on the app of music that you’re running, the headphones will continue to play music when you ever put. (To the surprise of no one, the AirPods are designed to work seamlessly with Apple’s Music, but with Spotify, when I took the AirPods my ears, I had to start to play the music manually).

The box of the recharge and the duration of battery: The AirPods fit perfectly in the case of recharge, which is about the size of a box of dental floss (and, in fact, have the appearance of a box of dental floss). The box and the AirPods can be recharged via a Lightning cable included. The box closes magnetically.

The battery life of five hours is not fantastic, but thanks to the box of reloads, does not represent a disadvantage. Were rare occasions in which I had the AirPods on my ears for more than a couple of hours, and when I brought them out, I kept in the box, which is recharged quickly (Apple says that a charge of 15 minutes yields three hours of battery life).