Most of the Apple products that are released often turn out to be drastically different from every other normal product in the market. This is why they are often mocked at and criticised for their design and form factor in general. But then slowly this form factor becomes the new trend. Every brand out there wants to copy the design and make something better. One such product that was criticised for being “funny looking” but later broke several records is the AirPods. Wireless earphones are not new to us. But none of them literally lived up to the term “wireless” as there is a cable that runs around the neck or at least a neck band in most of the wireless earphones. If both of these are absent then there have been mono earbuds.
Combining the benefits of the mono earbuds and the conventional wireless earphones the AirPods revolutionised the design of chord free earphones. Let the haters hold on to their hate we cannot deny the fact that donning a pair of AirPods truly leave you feeling special. There are some very basic features on these and nothing fancy as with some of the most successful wireless earphones. But the sound quality that we can always expect of Apple earphones does come out of the AirPods and given their exceptionally lightweight build you might often forget that you have your earphones on.
There have been few hits and misses with these earphones. There are a handful of things that we really want Apple to work on in the coming years so as to give us a new and improved version of the AirPods.
- Design refinements:
The first thing that people spoke against the AirPods was the design. The extended stems of earbuds make them look a little strange. Making the stems a little shorter would be a welcome change. One other aspect about the design is the fit. The ergonomic earbuds do not really sit tight inside the ears for every user. For some it always slips and falls off. Adding options to customise the fit or the size of the earbuds would also be a good idea.
- Wireless charging
Apple had earlier announced that a wireless charging case would be coming for the AirPods in the year 2018. This would make the charging process much more convenient. You would then be able to charge all of your wireless devices in one go on the same charging pad.
- Noise cancellation
The AirPods sound good and there is no doubt about that. But these are not the best wireless earphones in terms of the noise cancellation capabilities. Adding features to filter out ambient noise would make these earphones sound even better. This would not just make it easier to make calls but also listen to music in a noisy environment.
- A tougher build quality
Wireless earphones are often chosen for outdoor use when one would truly hands free use of the smartphone. So making the AirPods water resistant would make it a more practical choice for the outdoor. We would definitely like it if Apple could refine the overall build quality to some extent.
- “Hey Siri” on AirPods
So far, we have to double tap the AirPods to activate Siri. Adding a “Hey Siri” command would make things better. But then the problem of Siri on your other Apple devices getting activated with that command would have to be tackled in a different way.
- Adding more colours
There was a time when iPhones and other Apple products came just in a couple of standard colours. But then breaking the norm catering to the interests of the younger generation Apple has started releasing products in various lively colours. We would love it if Apple released more AirPod variants in an assortment of vibrant colours.
- More practical gestures for control
Adding more practical controls would definitely make the AirPods more convenient to use. As of now tapping the AirPods every time for performing the various functions is pretty simple. But adding touch sensitivity for the various controls or even a physical button for the quick controls like mute etc., would make the AirPods easier to use in the long run.
In addition to the speculated improvements we can expect that the sound quality on the newer variants might be even better than their predecessors. Now that Beats is a part of the Apple family, this expectation is valid!
