24 Hours with Apple's AirPods

I lucked out yesterday and happened to check the inventory of my local Apple Store shortly after they received a shipment of AirPods. I ordered them for pickup and took possession an hour later. Since then I've been using them regularly with my iPhone, Mac, and Apple TV.

First off, the magical setup process is just as advertised...for an iPhone. After setup, I saw the buds available on my Mac's Bluetooth menu and with one click, I was connected. The Apple TV doesn't seem to currently sync the AirPods configuration like the Mac.

To pair with an Apple TV, go to Settings and Bluetooth. Press the pair button on the back of the AirPods case and connect on the Apple TV. Still faster than any other Bluetooth pairing I've tried.

Next, the sound quality is excellent to my ears. I'm no audiophile, so your opinion may differ. But, to me, the Hamilton soundtrack sounded better on the AirPods than on my LG Bluetooth headset that I regularly used up to this point.

As for fit, the left ear feels quite secure, but my right ear feels less so. Neither bud has fallen out, though. Your fit may be better or worse than mine depending on how closely your ear shapes fit whatever platonic ideal Apple designers referenced when developing the original EarPods shape.

Using Siri via a double-tap on a bud provides the most frictionless access to Siri I've used (it feels faster and easier to me than even "Hey, Siri"). While some gesture controls on the buds themselves would be welcome, going through Siri isn't as annoying as I thought it would be. The mics do an excellent job picking up my voice; far better than any other Bluetooth headphones I've ever tried.

I'm overal very pleased with these EarPods after only 24 hours of usage. Using them really does feel like I've stepped into the future I always imagined when I first tried Bluetooth headphones.