[UVB-76]

I also prefer in-ear headphones when out and about, so would compare the AirPods to something like the Klipsch S4i [1]

Compared to the Klipsch earphones, the AirPods:

1) Are more than twice as expensive ($159 vs. $69)

2) Have significantly worse sound quality

3) Look ugly as sin; wired earphones like the Klipsch ones look just fine, and come in colors other than white

4) Require regular charging (only 5 hours of listening time); wired earphones require no charging at all

5) Are considerably easier to lose or misplace (either one or both)

6) Will have a finite life, as the battery wears out; standard wired earphones will last forever if you look after them

7) Are only compatible with current generation Apple devices; standard wired earphones have universal compatibility

8) Will likely be depreciated within a couple of generations of Apple products; wired earphones will endure

[1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00264GYMG/

[10a352766262]

Compared to landline telephones, cell phones:

1) Are more than twice as expensive

2) Have significantly worse sound quality

3) Look ugly as sin; wired telephones look just fine

4) Require regular charging; wired telephones require no charging at all

5) Are considerably easier to lose or misplace

6) Will have a finite life, as the battery wears out; standard wired telephones will last forever if you look after them

7) Are only compatible with current generation cellular networks; standard wired telephones have universal compatibility

8) Will likely be depreciated within a couple of generations; wired telephones will endure

[brodie]

The sound quality of the EarPods, which presumably the AirPods are based on, is good but definitely a very subjective thing. I've found them to be excellent for the price/form factor. Things I like:

- Great, deep bass response (when you position them to create a good seal between your ears and the outside world).

- Reasonably detailed mids.

- Somewhat diminished but still relatively detailed highs.

- Comfortable for wearing for long periods of time.

- Isolation isn't too strong, even with a good seal (helpful for maintaining situational awareness).

My only complaint is that between different pairs, the ability to get a comfortable seal can be inconsistent. However, I wouldn't consider them high end, and while their lack of noise isolation can be a downside at times, given the cost and the excellent bass and overall clarity, I think they're a great earphones.

If the AirPods have better SQ, that'd be awesome; but if they have the same sound quality but without the wires and with good (and hopefully passthrough when possible) audio compression, I'll be eager to buy a pair. And I think as more and more people wear them, they'll quickly become fashionable to wear.

On a related note, I hope Apple and others are eventually able to move to lossless, even lower latency compression for wireless audio. I absolutely love the lossless compression the AirPort Express provides via AirPlay.

[djrogers]

While the klipsch headphones have wires, and don't have beam-forming noise cancelling mics.

Different strokes....