Apple revamps its original AirPods with new design and better sound

When Apple pulled back the curtain back on its first-generation AirPods back in 2016, the world was doubtful of the wireless future the tech giant was pushing. Still, within a few months, AirPods seemed to appear everywhere and now in 2021, wireless earbuds/headphones are standard and don’t even include a 3.5mm headphone jack anymore.

To carry that mantra forward, Apple has revamped its base-level Airpods with a few new features to help keep up with the growing competition. The new AirPods look a little more like the AirPods Pro with shorter stems and a smaller overall size.

Notably, the AirPods get rid of the touch-sensitive zones and replaces them with stems that users can squeeze to play/pause audio. This is the same implementation that OnePlus uses with the OnePlus Buds Pro, and it works well there, so I’m excited to see it come to more earbuds.

While these buds might look almost identical to the AirPods Pro, they’re notably missing the small silicon ear tips and instead look more like a traditional AirPod. While this helps keep that classic Apple EarPod feel, it doesn’t work great with sound isolation, so you’ll still be able to hear some background noise while wearing these.

These new AirPods also feature adaptive EQ to match the sound being pumped out of your earbuds to match sure that no matter the fit users can expect accurate music playback.

Apple is also pushing dynamic head tracking with the new AirPods, making them work with the 3D audio effect the AirPods Max and AirPods Pro feature.

Finally, Apple says that with the AirPods’ new MagSafe compatible charging case, users will expect 30 hours of total battery life. The AirPods are also water-resistant this time around, allowing you to wear them in light rain or while working out.

In Canada, the new AirPods start at $239.

For all of our coverage from Apple’s event, follow this link.

More to come…