I received the Airpods Max today and unboxed them and was surprised how very sturdy and solid they feel. I know, I've heard about them, but holding them in your hands for the first time, everything about them screams quality!
Now, everything I have read about the "smart case" which some people call the "smart pouch", and I have heard some say "Smart Bra"; but I would go with pouch. I don't know if they changed the material, but the descriptions I had heard made me think I was going to have a mesh kind of thing that was kind of stretchy like the afore mention article of women's clothing. However, this one feels like polyurethane, or even silicon. My wife says it still looks odd, and with the headphones in it, more like a purse, but it appears to be quite sturdy. I gather it has no charge of its own, it just tells the headphones to go into a deep sleep... Now, as for the headphones themselves... I am quite seriously impressed! Yes, they are heavier than the average headphones but so well designed you don't notice that much after putting them on. Yes, they are warm. It will be interesting when the warm weather hits how much I'll want to have them on. But, if you want amazingly good sound, that kind of just works with Apple, they are fabulous! One thing I am very pleased about is what they call Transparency Mode. There are 6 microphones on the outside of the headphones. While you are listening over Bluetooth to your Apple device, if you turn on Transparency mode, those microphones allow you to hear the outside world without diminishing the sound quality of whatever you are listening to. Unlike other things I have had that tried to do that, the sound is in stereo. So, if someone speaks to you from your left side, you hear it on your left side. Those microphones are used to assist with the noise cancelation mode so it can tell what the outside noise is and counteract it. So, when Noise Cancelation is on, the world is pretty much blocked out. I have some Sonos speakers on my desk and when my wife turned on the TV in the living room, the sound came over my speakers. Well, I turned on Noise Cancelation, and heard nothing of the TV while I was listening to some music. Between songs, I could tell something was on in the far background, but not enough to identify it or be bothered by it. Now, about the $35 cable to allow you to plug them into a standard 3.5 MM earphone jack like on Windows computers, Victor Readers, etc. It is over price. But, while you do not get the fidelity you get over Bluetooth when it is running all of it processes, they sound fine for speech when plug into my Dell laptop. I have to turn the volume up on the computer or the headphones since they take more power to drive them, but I could see myself using them with the computer for Jaws. They apparently do have to be charged to use them with the cable even. Unlike my old Plantronics Beat Sense headphones that can be used with the cable even if the battery is dead. But an interesting note about the Transparency Mode when using them with the cable. There appears to be at least one microphone on the right ear that works all the time when the cable is plugged in. But, if you press the button that toggles to Transparency Mode, all the microphones come on. It is nowhere near as loud or clear as when on Bluetooth, but you can hear what's happening around you more than with it off. I plan to run them through their paces and see how long the battery does last. There are only two buttons on the right ear. They are on the top on either side of the bar that goes over your head. The one on the side of the bar nearest your face is a rectangular/oval button that toggles between Noise Cancelation and Transparency Mode. The one on the other side of the bar is the round, Digital Crown. Like a large version of the one on the watch. That is used for volume, pausing and playing, and holding it to ask siri. That is all I know so far. Later, Richard Ralph's Observation: It is a mistake to allow any mechanical object<>to realize that you are in a hurry. My web site, www.turner42.com<http://www.turner42.com> -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/MW4PR17MB451327DB8B8EF339725AABEFB7609%40MW4PR17MB4513.namprd17.prod.outlook.com.
