Apple EarPods Assessment

Soon after 11 long years, Apple finally decided it was time to update its ubiquitous white earbuds. In the course of its September 12 launch event, Apple introduced the EarPods, calling attention to each of the design and style and engineering efforts that had gone into their development. This immediately got us wondering: Will these EarPods truly be any much better? Right after some considerable listening time with them, we have a verdict: the EarPods are various greater in some ways, even but nevertheless a dud. Read on for our in-depth analysis.
Out from the box

The EarPods come packaged in typical Apple fashion, inside a compact clear plastic case. It seems intended for repeated use, though we dont believe thats a very practical thought: You need to wrap the EarPods back up specifically as they have been at the factory, otherwise they dont fit properly and, besides, the clear plastic lid doesnt snap back into location extremely securely.
Functions and design and style

We covered the crucial design and style changes when Apple announced the EarPods, but heres the nutshell version: Apple has changed the shape of the earphones to allow for better comfort. The housing is all plastic and there is no longer a rubber ring running the perimeter from the earbud itself. To enhance sound, Apple vented the EarPods in many places, citing improved bass and midrange reseponse, and changed the buds shape so that sound is routed far more toward the ear canal than it really is toward the outer ear.

Comfort

The new EarPods do take a step forward in terms of comfort. The edges dont feel as sharp when very first placed in our ears and the contoured shape helps to make the earphones really feel as if they were intended to become within the ear, while the old buds always felt like foreign objects that had no business barging into our aural orifices.

Still, following about 45 minutes of use, we have been ready to take the EarPods out. Apples style guru Jony Ive nailed it around the head when he said in this Earpod video: making 1 headphone to fit everyones ears will be like attempting to produce 1 pair of shoes to fit everyones feet  I mean, its impossible.

Indeed, despite Apple possessing three-dimensionally scanned hundreds of ears for a commonality so that the EarPods may possibly fit a broad range of ears, they end up being just as uncomfortable in the long term; though, admittedly, it did take us just a little longer to be fed up with them than it took using the older earbuds.
Security

Unfortunately, the EarPods dont stay place any greater than the original Apple earbuds. If something, the rubber ring around the original version may possibly have allowed to get a tiny a lot more grip. With the all-plastic EarPods, security remains an concern. We didnt get a chance to get our sweat on, but were fairly safe saying the EarPods wont make an excellent workout earphone.

Sound quality

Apple has considerably improved the bass response with all the EarPods. This is simply the most discernible difference when compared for the old Apple earbuds, and we feel that it could be just dazzling enough to have folks issuing a thumbs-up as a knee-jerk reaction. Even so, further scrutiny bears out that bass response isnt the only point thats changed.

We noticed that Apple has significantly brightened up the treble output as part of its redesign. Some may appreciate this change, but we did not. We found that cymbals sounded brittle and guitar distortion soundedproperlydistorted inside the wrong kind of way. Theres the intentional distortion that guitarists implement and then theres the unintentional distortion you get when you are listening to an underpowered or flat-out shoddy audio item that cant handle what you throw at it. The EarPods reside firmly inside the latter camp. We also didnt care for the overtly hissy handling of sibilants (s and t sounds).

The real loser in this fight to bring a lot more treble and bass towards the table would be the midrange region. If the original Apple earbuds midrange and vocal response sounded tepid, then youd need to say the EarPods sound chilly. Vocals seem recessed within the mix along with a little thin, with too considerably emphasis placed around the upper portion of the mids with absolutely nothing in spot to warm it up.

Sound isolation

There has been small to no change right here, which need to come as no surprise to anyone. Earbud-style earphones were by no means intended to shut out noise theres just no seal implemented to accomplish such a task. As such, we wont bother to list is as a low-point in our synopsis. Expect to hear the outside world and for the outside world to hear a bit of your music.
Conclusion

When all is said and done, Apples new EarPods are an improvement on the earbuds they replace, but only marginally so. Its hard to imagine anyone would compare the two and express a preference for the older model. With that said, we had hoped for any little a lot more in the EarPods. Comfort has been improved, but only enough to be a little far more tolerable for short term use. Bass has been beefed up considerably  and you wont hear us complain about that  but treble is really a tiny as well hot and brittle for us now and the midrange sounds as if it has been sucked towards the back of the room.

At the finish from the day, Apples customers get saddled using the same lackluster product  just excellent enough to keep consumers in love with their new iOS devices, yet bad enough to send them running, money in hand, for a greater alternative. From where we sit, it appears nothing considerably has changed.
Highs:

Considerably improved bass
Slightly better short-term comfort
Slightly larger in-line control micrphone

Lows:

Hot and brittle treble
Midrange sucked out
Nonetheless uncomfortable for long-term use