The launch of the iPhone 7 in 2016 caused a stir for many reasons (same design, price hikes, no USB-C), but none seemed to annoy people more than the exclusion of a traditional 3.5mm headphone jack.
I’ve been using an iPhone 7 Plus as my main phone since launch day, and the lack of a headphone jack encouraged me to move over the Bluetooth headphones, a change that has been fantastic.
I traded in my Bose QuietComfort 25 noise-cancelling headphones for the Bluetooth-enabled QuietComfort 35s, and I haven’t looked back. Cutting the cord makes pretty much every usage scenario better, and the exceptional battery life on the QC35s mean I can go days without charging.
But the size of the QC35s mean I don’t carry them everywhere, and in these situations, I threw the included Lightning EarPods in my pocket.
Fast forward to a month ago, when my local Apple Store finally had stock of the AirPods, essentially a wireless version of the EarPods, and considering Apple’s generous return policy, I decided to give them a try.
This came at a time when I’ve been using an Android device for review purposes, and since purchasing the AirPods a month ago, they have only been connected to an Android device (currently the Huawei P10) and my MacBook Pro 15 Touch Bar. My review will focus on their performance with Android.