HWM Singapore – June 2019

Applehasjustreleased

newAirPods,butyou

wouldbehardpressed

totellbecausetheylook

andevensoundidentical.

Happily,however,thereare

meaningfulupdateson

theinside.

Themostsignicant

updateofallis thenewH1

headphonechip.TheH1

chipreplacestheW1chip

foundintherst-generation

AirPodsandit doesa couple

ofimportantthings.It

supportsthelatestBluetooth

5.0standard,enables

hands-freeSiri,allowsfor

fasterconnectiontoand

switchingbetweendevices,

andis morepowerefficient

soit servesup50%more

talk-time.

SettinguptheAirPods

is supereasy.Simplyopen

themnearaniPhoneand

a promptwillappear.Tap

connectandthat’sallthere

is toit.Plus,if youare

connectedtoiCloud,the

YoucannowinvokeSiriwithout

double-tappingontheAirPods.

PICTURES

APPLE

AirPods will automatically

be set up on all other Apple

devices associated with the

iCloud account.

Like any other earbud and

IEM, the sound quality that

you are going to get from the

AirPods is going to be highly

dependent on the quality of

the seal that you can achieve

with your ears. If you fail to

get a good seal, the AirPods

will sound soft, hollow, and

lacking in bass.

But if you can get a

decent enough seal, the

AirPods will surprise you

with their respectable

sonic capabilities. Bass is

surprisingly impactful and

punchy for earbuds this

small. Mids are placed just

right in the mix so vocals

and most instruments have

the right amount of body

and presence. The highs,

however, are signi cantly

rolled off so the AirPods lack

that bit of air and sparkle

that would have made

8.5/10

TESTED&RATED

SINGAPORE

ATA GLANCE

CHIPSET

AppleH1

WIRELESSSTANDARD

Bluetooth5.0

BATTERYLIFE

5 hourslistening,

3 hourstalk

PRICE

$239

CONCLUSION

Stillthebestall-aroundtruewireless

earbudsforiOSdevices.

them great.

However, the best thing

about the AirPod is how

strong a connection it

maintains with iOS devices.

Unlike other true wireless

earbuds, which I  nd to be

horribly susceptible to audio

dropouts and jitter, the

AirPods are steadfast and

seldom suff er from

any connection problems.

This is, in my view, the

AirPods biggest advantage

over its rivals.

And if you want to

splurge, the AirPods can

also be purchased with a

new wireless charging case.

This new case looks just

like the old one but it can

be distinguished by its LED

status indicator on the front

• the old case’s LED status
  indicator is on the inside and
  concealed by the cover. The
  new wireless charging case
  is convenient, especially if
  you already have a wireless
  charging pad for your
  iPhone, but it is also very

slow. It took me about three

hours to get a full charge.

The bottom line for

iPhones owners is this: if

you have a  rst-generation

AirPod and it still works

well, there’s little bene t

to upgrading to the new

AirPods; but if your existing

AirPods are failing on you

(the built-in batteries have

a limited lifespan, after all),

or if you are searching

for a new pair of true

wireless earbuds, then these

updated AirPods are easy

to recommend. In fact,

they’re probably the only

one’s we would recommend

for your iPhone.

JUNE 2019 | HWM 65