I paid some $350 for the latest and great Sony wireless headphones earlier in the year, that I returned a week later. Why? Because they were not polished. For example, pairing to both my laptop and my phone at the same time was a nightmare. I could not listen to music on my laptop and instantly receive phone audio if someone called me. I also could not listen to music on my laptop, then close the laptop and resume music on my phone with instant playback.
I also found the Sony privacy policy on the headphones to be lackluster. If the Apple headphones are more privacy conscious and also make this experience across devices as seamless as they're promising, I'll pay for them.
With all due respect, why do I need to care?
This post is about AirPods.
I have Sennheisers. Should I write about their up- and down-sides too? What about Bowers and Wilkinsons owners? What about Bose owners?
I think we all know that Apple comes nowhere new the quality of these brands. Could we please focus on the actual topic of the post here?
I'm summarizing my perspective on the AirPods Max and their price tag and on which conditions I'd be willing to purchase them, by comparing Apple's claims about them to specific problems I had elsewhere.
Just to follow up - as I think the person above was a bit harsh:
I am a Bowers and Wilkins user and have the same pain points as you, it's a recurring and daily issue that I'll listen to audio from a home based device (laptop, iPad) and then have to unpair/re-pair to my phone when I leave the house.
As a seamless wireless experience it falls short as it would be faster to have a wired set and simply plug it in to the device.
Same again when I come home and want to switch back. Apple cleanly solves this.
Whether that is worth a £200 premium on top of what I paid for my current cans is debatable, however if they can match or outperform the current NC family (PX, Bose QC, Sony MX4) I will be seriously considering them as my next pair
I also found the Sony privacy policy on the headphones to be lackluster. If the Apple headphones are more privacy conscious and also make this experience across devices as seamless as they're promising, I'll pay for them.