Skip to content

THE BEST EARPHONES - Apple AirPods Review

2019-02-07 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 11:54 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Tools, apps and tech · mode: Review and recommendation · tags: Sponsor segment present

Ali reviews the Apple AirPods as the tech that has added most value to his life in two years: they cut the friction of listening so far that he plays podcasts and audiobooks during every chore, and at about £6.50 a month over two years he thinks them worth every penny.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Sponsor mention and intro: why the AirPods are his favourite headphones

  • ★★★ Ali calls the Apple AirPods his favourite headphones and one of the pieces of tech that has added the most value to his life over the past two years. — 00:00:00 · AirPods, Apple
  • ★★ Ali says the AirPods' most important selling point is convenience: their small case lives in a pocket, and you just open it and put them in. — 00:00:29 · AirPods

00:00:40 — Main features: convenience, auto-pause, average sound, they don't fall out

  • ★★ Taking one AirPod out automatically pauses what is playing, and putting it back resumes it; Ali uses this at least once every day. — 00:01:00 · AirPods
  • ★★ Ali finds the AirPods' sound only average, like Apple's EarPods and nowhere near proper headphones: convenience, not sound quality, is the reason to buy them. — 00:01:30 · AirPods, Apple
  • ★★ Ali says fit varies by person, but his AirPods practically never fall out at the gym, cycling or running in rain and wind; only ducking a squash ball has knocked one out. — 00:01:30 · AirPods

00:02:19 — How they add value: the snap-your-fingers thought experiment, podcasts and audiobooks, friction, £6.50 a month

  • ★★ Ali says tech is ultimately a tool, so what you do with a gadget matters much more than the product itself. — 00:02:26
  • ★★ Ali puts the price of the AirPods at about 160 pounds. (hedged) — 00:02:26 · AirPods
  • ★★★ Ali would pay a lot for a magic ability to play any audio in his head with a snap of the fingers, mainly because it would let him listen to more podcasts and audiobooks. — 00:03:02
  • ★★ Ali says podcasts and audiobooks have added an enormous amount of value to his life in the four years since he discovered them. — 00:03:02
  • ★★★ Podcasts such as The Tim Ferriss Show, The Ground Up Show, the Indie Hackers podcast, Seth Godin's Startup School and the GaryVee Audio Experience inspired Ali to start his YouTube channel and newsletter and to grow his side businesses and passive income. — 00:03:31 · The Tim Ferriss Show, passive income
  • ★★ Ali says podcasts have also given him practical advice on productivity, happiness, minimalism, interior design, health and fitness. — 00:03:31
  • ★★★ If listening took no effort, Ali argues, we would all listen to far more podcasts, because the friction of getting out and untangling earphones for small chores like laundry, dishes or the trash would be gone. — 00:04:01 · friction
  • ★★★ The AirPods come close to that magic ability, Ali says: their friction is so low that for two years he has used them practically every day during chores around the house, and so listened to many more podcasts and audiobooks. — 00:05:05 · AirPods, friction
  • ★ Putting in his AirPods and pressing play on his Apple Watch takes Ali about three to four seconds; a double tap on an AirPod opens Siri to resume Spotify or Overcast. — 00:05:05 · AirPods, Apple Watch, Spotify
  • ★★★ Ali thinks the AirPods are worth their 160 pounds: over the just under two years he has had them that is about £6.50 a month, which he would pay in a heartbeat for listening to anything at any time. — 00:06:33 · AirPods
  • ★★★ Ali says anyone with an iPhone or another Apple device who listens to a lot of podcasts or audiobooks should definitely get the AirPods. — 00:06:33 · AirPods, iPhone, Apple
  • ★★ Ali's Beats wireless earphones cost about 150 pounds but come free with Apple's education offers, as his did with his MacBook; similar ones cost about 20 pounds on Amazon. — 00:06:33 · MacBook, Amazon, Apple

00:06:39 — AirPods vs Beats wireless earphones, Bose QC35s and Audio-Technica ATH-M50x

  • ★★ During a month when he thought he had lost his AirPods (they were behind the sofa), Ali used his Beats earphones only on his 10 to 15 minute skateboard ride to work, never for chores, because the wire tangled and the friction was too high. — 00:08:03 · AirPods
  • ★★ Ali says even earphones designed for the Apple ecosystem come nowhere close to the AirPods' convenience. — 00:08:32 · AirPods, Apple
  • ★★ Ali calls his Bose QC35s amazing noise-cancelling headphones for planes, trains and the London Underground, but uses them only for long-distance travel: they take too long to set up for chores, and he would not wear them skateboarding or cycling. — 00:08:32
  • ★ Ali uses his wired Audio-Technica ATH-M50x headphones only for music editing, such as making audio tracks in Logic Pro. — 00:09:12

00:09:42 — Wrapping up: worth every penny, no point waiting for AirPods 2

  • ★★ Ali advises against waiting for the AirPods 2: if the AirPods could add value to your life, just buy the current ones. — 00:10:06 · AirPods
  • ★★ Ali promises a video review of the AirPods 2 once they come out. (hedged) — 00:10:06

00:10:35 — Squarespace sponsor read and sign-off

  • ★★ Ali is redesigning his website on Squarespace to add written tech reviews, some of his videos and his graphic and web design portfolio. — 00:10:52 · aliabdaal.com, Squarespace

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: AirPods · friction

Also: People: Gary Vaynerchuk · Matt D'Avella

Projects: aliabdaal.com

Works: Indie Hackers podcast · Seth Godin's Startup School · The GaryVee Audio Experience · The Ground Up Show · The Tim Ferriss Show

Organizations: Amazon · Apple

Concepts: passive income

Products: AirPods 2 · Apple Watch · Audio-Technica ATH-M50x · Bose QuietComfort 35 · EarPods · iPhone · Logic Pro · MacBook · Overcast · Powerbeats3 · Siri · Spotify · Squarespace

← Previous: How to Study for Exams with Google Sheets · Next → 3 Books that Changed my Life