Apple’s wireless AirPods will solve your iPhone 7 headphone woes

Home / News / Apple’s wireless AirPods will solve your iPhone 7 headphone woes

Seething about Apple’s decision to drop the headphone jack from its iPhone 7? We’ve got a solution for you… Spend some more money on a pair of Apple’s new AirPods.

These wireless buds work in the same way as Samsung’s Gear IconX headphones and the Motorola Verve Ones+. You just pop them out of a charging case into your lugholes and press play on your music app of choice.

So if you don’t like the look of those Lightning port EarPods that come free with the iPhone 7, then these are a thoroughly futuristic alternative.

Unlike those other wireless buds you can already buy, Apple’s new AirPods don’t rely on Bluetooth to work. Instead they use a proprietary technology that will hopefully deliver a more stable audio feed. That’s potentially good news, because Bluetooth earphones are annoyingly prone to cutting out.

To deliver improved consistency, Apple’s built a new W1 chip into the AirPods. It’s this diddy thing that also helps to deliver five hours of battery life, which can again be topped up by another 24 hours via the charging case.

As well as working with your iPhone, the AirPods are compatible with the Apple Watch and will set you back £159. That’s cheaper than several of their competitors, but then these headphones don’t include any additional health tech such as heart-rate tracking.

Tempted? You’ll be able to pick up a pair in late October.

About

Rob has written about gadgets for a while now, so his party trick is the ability to name every phone being used in any given train carriage. He can also give you a definitive ranking of Super Mario games if that sounds more interesting. Please don't ask him anything about washing machines though. Or fridge freezers. Or Southampton F.C.'s transfer policy.