I’ve had the AirPods Pro for quite a while now – about a year and a half – and here are two features I think are pretty fabulous.
Customize your hearing experience by adjusting your audio accessibility settings
Connect your AirPods to your iPhone > Settings > Accessibility > AirPods > Audio Accessibility Settings > Headphone Accommodations
Here, you will be able to go through a setup process which allows you to tune your audio and set the range of your transparency mode. You can then make the necessary adjustments to allow you listen to your audio with greater clarity. Honestly a pretty neat in-build feature which I personally think more people should know about!
Use your AirPods to test how loud your surroundings are (and if it’s healthy for your years.
You can add the feature by going to Settings > Control Centre > Hearing. Once this feature has been added into your control centre, with your AirPods connected, activate it. Live listen will then be activated and you will be able to identify how loud (or soft) your surroundings are.
As a benchmark, you should try to be in an environment that’s less than 70 Db to prevent noise-induced hearing loss.
Rubber Connector Accessory
In addition, I recently discovered this rubber connector which helps you easily connect your AirPods. While this seems to defeat the purpose of having a wire-free audio device, it is still useful especially for workouts or when you accidentally fall asleep and the AirPods fall out.
Conclusion
If you’re on the Apple ecosystem, owning a pair of AirPods is indeed a must – but how many features do we actually know exist? Let’s continue exploring them and hopefully we’ll be able to make full use of these trusty pair of earphones.
Apple unveiled two new iPads early this morning — the 8th generation iPad and 4th generation iPad Air. If that has gotten you excited, it’s understandable because the specifications and features are amazing.
Just take the new iPad Air. It has impressive credentials. A secured touch screen with 10.9-inch liquid retina display. A powerful A14 Bionic chip that can capture and edit 4K video. An array of colours to choose from. And who could not be attracted to the 2nd generation Apple Pencil?
Of course, it packs much more than these but let’s focus on these for now.
Are these good enough reasons to dunk your current device for this newbie? Don’t get me wrong. I’m not putting down the new offerings.
I’ve owned the first and third generation iPads and am proud of Apple for their innovations. In fact, it’s because of the reliability of Apple’s products that I’m still using the third generation iPad bought in 2012 today. It does everything I need it for. Whatever it cannot do, I will use my notebook or smartphone.
7 reasons not to get
Here are seven reasons why I won’t be getting a new iPad.
My current device is still working fine. It’s a testament of Apple’s quality.
I can still do what I need with my well-used iPad.
I don’t play games that require graphics grunt.
I don’t need a more powerful device — the old chip is fast enough for what I need to do.
I don’t need an iPad in another colour — I can always buy a cover of any other colour. Admittedly, it’s harder to find these today but not impossible.
The display is good and bright enough for me.
I don’t shoot and edit 4K videos on my iPad.
I can think of many more reasons but these seven are good enough to convince me not to part with my cash to get more dash.
And 7 reasons to lay hold of a new one
To be fair, I will also provide seven reasons why you should consider getting one.
If you’ve not owned an iPad, you don’t know what you’re missing. It’s the original tablet and leader of the tablet pack.
If you intend to make the iPad your primary device. Gone are the days when the iPad has to play second fiddle to the notebook computer. I know of people who use just the iPad for work and play.
It can handle tons of stuff. The new chip is powerful enough for Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoship CC and even games that require graphics grunt.
The Apple Pencil is a game changer. If you’re the creative sort, it’s all you need to bring around with you on your sojourns.
Weighing just 458 grammes for the wi-fi version, it is light and thin — plus points for bringing around anywhere.
If you’re into shooting 4K video, this is it — you can even edit your videos on this device.
If you’re an Apple ecosystem fan, this is a must-have to complete your collection. Everything works seamlessly across the Apple products.
So, whether to buy or not really depends on your needs. I don’t need a new version at the moment but your needs may differ from mine.
A recent treat for myself was the purchase of an Apple Air Pods Pro to upgrade my current Air Pods. The Bluetooth headset came on the market around two months back and has received its fair share of positive and negative reviews. As an Android user, here’s my review on this product!
AirPods Pro – Packaging
AirPods Pro – Case
What I like
Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and transparency
Unlike the AirPods, the AirPods Pro provides active noise cancellation which reduces the surrounding’s white noise. Such a feature plus the transparency feature turned off provides users like me with the ability to completely tune-off to the surroundings especially when traveling on public transport and cafes. Will test this feature out further when on the plane!
When the transparency feature is turned on, one can also easily eavesdrop on conversations surrounding you as the microphones on the AirPods Pro pick up surrounding sounds and amplifies it in the AirPods Pro. This feature is good in situations where you need to be constantly aware of what’s going and allows you not to be shut-off from your surroundings completely.
Comfort
The AirPods Pro comes with three pairs of in-ear rubber tips (small, medium and large). The default medium size fits my ears snugly and provides a good level of comfort even when wearing for extended periods of time. I believe that the in-ear rubber became an option not only to replace the hard AirPods but also to aid in the noise cancellation feature. As a patented in-ear rubber tip, I’ve really got to make it a point not to lose these rubber tips as the conventional tips will not easily replace it.
AirPods Pro – In-Ear Rubber Tips
Battery-life
The battery-life is considerably longer than my AirPods with each charge lasting around four hours with the ANC feature turned on. The charging case also holds around four to five charges of the AirPods Pro. A 10-minute charge in the wireless case charged the AirPods by about 40%.
Haptic feedback
While not a main feature, the haptic feedback on the tips of the AirPods Pro gives the button-like feel when clicked. Instead of a pure tap of the earpiece where I sometimes find a bit insensitive on my AirPods, the tip of the AirPods Pro has a button-life feature that is only usable when the AirPods Pro are in your ear. The feel of clicking a button to control is still pretty amazing imo.
What I dislike:
Android users do not get all the perks!
The AirPods Pro is designed to work seamlessly with complementary Apple products (i.e. MacBooks, iPhones, iPads, iWatch) and Siri can easily be called out to assist you. However, for Android users, while Siri is not available, I’d expect the microphone to be able to activate my Google Assistant – but it doesn’t! So that’s something I’m a tad disappointed with, especially if my mobile phone isn’t near enough to pick up my Google commands.
In addition, the ear tip fit test can only be done via Apple products (iPhone specifically) and therefore this feature does not apply to me. Not a big deal in my opinion, but something I’d use if I’d own an iPhone.
Intermittent pairing
I’ve faced two instances of intermittent headset pairing with both my MacBook and my Android phone.
For my MacBook, it somehow only managed to pick up one side of my AirPods Pro and did not pick up the other. This resulted in an imbalance in sounds and was annoying till I placed the pair of AirPods Pro in its casing and removed it again for a refreshed connection.
For my Android phone, the AirPods Pro connection could not be picked up by my mobile phone’s Bluetooth in one instance – an issue I didn’t really have with my previous pair of AirPods. Again, a quick reset solved it.
Like any other Bluetooth headsets, there is bound to be some pairing issues, but I was just shocked to see that it happened (I had higher hopes for these expensive pair of AirPods).
Thoughts
AirPods Pro
I had originally considered buying the Sony WF-1000XM3 Noise Cancelling True Wireless Headphones but ultimately decided on purchasing the AirPods Pro as my previous pair AirPods was pretty reliable and I wanted the seamless pairing it had with my MacBook Pro.
While there are some issues which I dislike about the AirPods Pro, I would still recommend it to anyone who is looking for a noise-cancellation earpiece with decent audio quality. The comfort level of this earpiece supersedes its predecessors and if you own complementary Apple products, the seamless pairing is definitely a perk!
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