Apple AirPods 2: Unboxing & Review

It's been over two years since the original AirPods were released and they quickly became the most popular pair of wireless headphones in the world. Many people, myself included, have been patiently waiting for an update. And that's exactly what Apple gave us on March 20, although the product didn't receive as dramatic a change as some expected. That's why many critics call them AirPods 1.5, because supposedly next year Apple will release new AirPods again. Except with major changes like a design overhaul, a black option, a matte finish, and maybe even touch controls. But for now, let's take these new AirPods out of the box, see what they can do, and compare them to the original.

I'm Greg with Apple Explained and if you want to help decide what video topics I cover, make sure you're subscribed and these voting polls will appear in your mobile activity feed. And don't forget to check out our new iGenius plush doll at

apple

explained.com. Now these new generation of AirPods are the first to offer purchase options. You can get them with a wireless charging case for $200, a standard charging case for $160, or you can buy the wireless charging case alone for $80 and use it with your previous-generation AirPods. But one thing you can't do is put a first and second generation AirPod in the same case.

I bought the $200 model with a wireless charging case at my local Apple Store the day they went on sale and didn't have any issues with limited stock like I did in 2016 with the original AirPods. So let's start with the packaging. You'll probably notice that not much has changed with the AirPods 2, except that if you bought the model with a wireless charging case, it will have it on top. Additionally, the Lightning cable that appeared on the back of the original AirPods box has been removed, likely suggesting to customers that they don't need a cable to charge this model.

Although it still has a Lightning connector and a cable in case there is no wireless charging pad nearby. Now, after lifting the lid, we're greeted with Apple's familiar literature sleeve, which, by the way, features text in a darker shade of gray than the previous generation and even has a pop of color inside the manual. But unfortunately these AirPods still don't come with Apple stickers. Below is where you will find the main event. The AirPods themselves are hidden inside their charging case, which is beautifully encased in a cardboard insert. And finally we have the Lightning cable which, as I said before, is still included even though this model has wireless charging.

Although I should mention that none of the AirPods sold today include a wall adapter. Now let's go ahead and explore these new AirPods in more detail. Its design has practically not changed, except for some small adjustments. First, the LED indicator has moved from the inside of the case to the outside. That way, you can quickly reach the AirPods' charge level without having to open the case. It still uses the same color indicators: if the AirPods are inside, orange means the earbuds are charging, while green means they're fully charged. Once the AirPods are removed, the LED indicates the battery level of the charging case.

Green means it has enough battery for at least a full charge of your AirPods, while orange means it doesn't have enough power for even a full charge of your AirPods. And when the charging case's battery is at 100%, it will deliver four full recharges to your AirPods, meaning you can use the earbuds on and off for about 24 hours without having to plug the charging case into power. And it only takes 15 minutes of charging to provide three hours of audio playback to AirPods. Now there are some other minor design changes that you may find interesting. If you owned the original AirPods, you may remember that the lid made a clicking sound when you moved it from side to side, as you can see here.

And this was not a defect that affected only a small percentage of users, it was normal behavior for each unit. This is obviously not a big deal as it did not affect the functionality of the product in any way, but it was annoying for many people. Well, I'm happy to announce that the new AirPods 2 charging case no longer clicks. Another small design change has to do with the magnets. You see, removing the original AirPods from their case was a point of frustration for many users, especially those with larger fingers. Mainly because the earbuds were slippery and difficult to grip, and also because the magnets holding them on were quite strong and required a good tug to remove.

But these new AirPods have magnets that are a little weaker, so removing them is much easier than before. Lastly, the thumb scoop on the charging case has been made steeper, making it easier to trap your thumb in the lid, rather than losing it and sliding off. So that's all the external changes made to these new AirPods, now let's talk about the internal changes. Apple has equipped these headphones with a new H1 chip that replaces the W1 chip in the original AirPods. Now, what do these chips do? Well, actually quite a bit. The original W1 chip allowed for easy pairing with Apple devices, maintained the connection between both earbuds to ensure audio stayed in sync, established a strong Bluetooth connection with your paired device, and worked with built-in sensors like the accelerometer and optical sensor to know when were inserted or removed from your ears.

And the new H1 chip does all of those things and more, and it does them faster. For example, the new AirPods will switch between your devices twice as fast as you can see here, they will also pair with your Apple devices twice as fast, and have 30% lower latency while gaming. The H1 chip is also more energy efficient, so you'll get three hours of talk time instead of two. But these AirPods offer the same 5 hours of audio playback since Apple decided to include a new feature called "hey Siri" that eats up that extra power efficiency. You can activate the voice assistant hands-free, which used to require a couple of taps on an earbud, but there is one drawback with this feature that I must mention.

And if you tend to use “Hey Siri” with an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch or HomePod, you may find the function a little slower on the new AirPods. As you can see here, there is a delay that doesn't exist when using the feature with other Apple products. That doesn't mean Hey Siri is useless on AirPods, I love being able to perform voice commands when my hands are full. But I had to get used to the delay. And if you're someone who just doesn't use Hey Siri on any of your devices and you're still not using it after purchasing these new AirPods, I recommend that you disable the feature completely in your device settings, that way, your AirPods will get a couple of hours of extra battery life.

Just like the previous generation, you can still activate features like Siri, play/pause, next track, or previous track by double-tapping the designated earbud. Now, when it comes to audio quality, there's been some confusion since Apple put this on their website: "So whether you're gaming, listening to music, or enjoying podcasts, you'll experience higher quality sound." ". Many people took this to mean that the new AirPods had better sound quality than the previous generation. But Marques Brownlee approached Apple and received clarification that there were no changes to the sound quality of the AirPods. Now let's look at one of the features I'm most excited about and that's wireless charging.

All it takes is a wireless charging pad to power up the case and the orange LED lights up indicating it is charging. And while I was disappointed that Apple canceled its AirPower wireless charging pad that would have worked so well with these AirPods, there are still good alternatives like the Nomad base station that lets you charge your AirPods, iPhone, and Apple Watch simultaneously. Setting up these new AirPods can be done even faster than before. If you have an Apple device, simply turn it on and open the charging case. A window will appear, then all you have to do is tap connect and you're done.

And thanks to iCloud, your AirPods will automatically appear on all the Apple products you own. But if you want to use them with a non-Apple product, you'll need to press and hold the pairing button on the back of the charging case and locate the AirPods in your device's Bluetooth settings. ` Now there is one last point I want to highlight that applies to all wireless headphones. The batteries they work with are very small. Each AirPod contains a 93 milliwatt-hour battery in its stem, and the benefit of this is a fast charging time, but the downside is that its capacity begins to degrade noticeably after a year or two of heavy use.

Nowadays, my old AirPods that I bought in December 2016 only offer about two hours of audio playback before running out of battery. Which represents a significant amount of lost capacity in just two years. But the nice thing about these new AirPods is that they are more energy efficient, so I plan to turn off Hey Siri after about a year, once the batteries start to degrade to try to make up for the lost capacity. So, considering everything we've covered in this video, what are my final thoughts on Apple's second-generation AirPods? Well, if you've never had them before, now would be a good time to buy them.

And if you already have a wireless charging setup for your smartphone, I think it's worth purchasing the AirPods with wireless charging just for the added convenience. Otherwise, the $160 model is probably best for you. What if you already have the previous generation AirPods? Well, if you bought them recently, I would recommend waiting to upgrade until next year, as that's when Apple is rumored to be delivering an update with some pretty dramatic improvements. But if you were an early adopter of AirPods and are experiencing significant battery degradation, it might be worth upgrading to this new generation to once again enjoy a full five hours of battery life.

Now, if you want early access to my next video, be sure to join our Patreon community. And don't forget about our new affordable iGenius plush doll available at

apple

explained.com. Thanks for watching and see you next time.