Finally! AirPods 2 are in my hand!

I’ve been tracking them all over the Houston area for the day, anxious for them to reach my doorstep. Little did I know that my brand new iMac would be coming in today as well. It was like a little birthday party paid by me (and those that gave me gift cards for my birthday!)

I haven’t had much time to put the new AirPods through their paces, but I have been listening to them for the past hour or so. I’ll write a longer review after I’ve had a chance to really use them for a while.

You can also check out why I like the originals ones so much here!

The Feel of the new AirPods

Upon opening the box I noticed a different feel than I was used to. Of course, it’s been over a year since I’ve held a brand new pair of AirPods in my hand, so I could be used to the worn look.

In fact, I’ve been using a silicone case on my pair of AirPods for a while since I lost my first pair when they fell out of my pocket. Luckily the case still fits the AirPods. It doesn’t allow me to wirelessly charge them, so that will have to be addressed at some time if I start wanting to do that.

To me, the texture of the case and AirPods felt more textured than I remember it feeling. I don’t think the texture is new, and it does feel like the newer Apple Pencil, but it’s not different enough to say that they changed it.

What has been written home about is the new hinge. It does feel and sound different than the first set. I don’t know if the standard charging case feels the same way, but the wireless ones do. On the new case, the hinge is definitely a paler shade of silver than before.

I’ve read the the change came from the wireless coil in the back of the case. Also, the pairing button has been moved up from before on the 1st generation AirPods.

Not much else is different on the outside. I’m sure as I wear them more and they get used more, I’ll see how the feeling is the same as the old ones. For now I’m going to keep the silicone case on my new case as well. If I find that I use the wireless charging more, if AirPower comes, or if Apple allows us to charge the AirPods case on our next iPhones than I’ll figure out if I use it enough to risk them falling out of my pocket again.

Tech inside the AirPods

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I’ve already heard many people say that you shouldn’t get the new model since they are the same as the old model.

I can tell you right now, that’s not true.

These new pair are much faster at pairing and connecting to devices than the first generation ever were. It took just a second to pair, compared to five or more for the pairing screen to even come up on the last model.

Moving between devices is also much quicker. I’ve moved between my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook so far and while it’s not instant, it has improved greatly.

So if you’re someone with a few Apple devices that you bounce between, you might see a need to upgrade or get the new pair.

Apple did upgrade the processor inside of these headphones from a W1 (the first wireless chip Apple designed for these) to the H1 (a chip that is designed for just headphones). This is the reason for the increase in connectivity, speed, and “Hey Siri” feature – more on this in a minute.

It’s also upgraded to Bluetooth 5.0. This has increased the speed at which the headphones transfers data so you should get better sound quality and a long range with these. I haven’t checked the range yet, and I’m going to talk more about the sound quality in the next section.

All of this adds up to what feels like an S year for the headphones. That’s not a bad thing. All of this adds up to a pretty good device. Should you try to snag a pair of cheaper gen 1s? If you don’t go between devices often and you don’t care about range or “Hey Siri” you should. If any of that matters to you, then go for the gen 2s.

Sound Quality

I think this is a subjective test. What sounds good to me, might not sound good to you.

With that said, I think these sound a little louder and fuller than the 1st generation AirPods. I don’t think audiophiles are going to like these any better, but for the most part, they aren’t meant to compete with great sounding headphones. Sure they sound better to me, but would I put them up against a $300+ pair of headphones, no way.

Still, I’d probably rather have these with me than the more expensive pair. These just travel so well. I can take them everywhere I go.

These are also louder than the last pair as well. At 50% volume, there is a big difference than before.

Odds and Ends

I feel like it’s a little difficult to test Siri when your device is so close, but I’ve tried anyway.

I had my iPhone in my hand and had the AirPods connected to the iPad while listening to music. The screen on the iPad was black, but I was playing music. When I said “Hey Siri” it did come up on the iPad before the iPhone.

I switched and did the same, but with music on the iPhone and Siri responded on the iPhone.

I really like how instead of stopping the music, Siri now just lowers it until she speaks. That’s how I know the AirPods Siri is working, and I like it much better. It’s like the HomePod Siri.

The one catch so far as been “Hey Siri” on the MacBook. I couldn’t get her to wake up using the AirPods. I’m not sure yet if I’m missing something or what. When I write up my review later, I’ll check back on this.

Finally, setting up these new AirPods, it seems the default double tap gesture is set to Next Track. You can still change it if you’d like. I’m not sure what I’m going to set mine up as just yet.

As everyone online has mentioned, AirPower is printed on the box. Will we ever see this thing come out?

Wrap up

So far, I think these are better AirPods than the 1st generation. Are they worth an upgrade if you own the last pair? Maybe not, it just depends on how you use them. If you only connect to your iPhone and you’re good on battery, keep them.

If you move around a lot, wireless charging interest you, and you want “Hey Siri” I think these are worth the upgrade.

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments and feel free to watch the live stream on instagram where I unboxed these and my new iMac.

Also, check out the Tech Tip Tuesday from yesterday, where I show you how to change the double tap feature on your AirPods.

Order the 1st generation from Amazon here

Order the new 2nd generation from Amazon here