Will Apple's AirPods Actually Stay in Your Ear?

POST

MAIL

Posted September 10, 2016 at 5:02pm by iClarified

Early hands-on reports differ on whether Apple's new AirPods will actually stay in your ear.

Susie Ochs from MacWorld got some time with the new earphones at Apple's press event.

Not only did I dance, I headbanged. I shook my head side to side, I tossed my hair, I jogged in place, and I looked silly doing all of it. The AirPods stayed put, and they stayed loud. The music (more Sia, naturally) sounded full and lush and I couldn’t hear a single word anyone around me was saying, as if I was completely sealed off in a bubble of rock and roll. Pretty impressive.

Notably, Daring Fireball's John Gruber had the same experience.

My experience as well. I don’t mind Apple’s wired ear buds, but the AirPods feel better and fit better.

The Verge was a little less confident about them staying put.

They fit in my ears a little better than EarPods, but not by much — I jumped up and down and shook my head a bit and they felt snug, but I wouldn't count on them staying in during any particularly dynamic activities. If you pull one out, the music automatically stops, which is cool — there are sensors that detect when they're in your ears.

SlashGear was even less enthused.

My problem – and one, I believe, which I’m not alone in suffering – is that Apple’s preferred earbud design just doesn’t like staying in my ears. Without any sort of rubber tip or loop, it’s basically a case of hanging the EarPod from my ear and waiting for it to inevitably fall off if I move at more than a brisk walking pace. The AirPods seem no different, and though they don’t have a wire pulling them down, they also have no safety tether: I can all too easily envisage one accidentally popping out of my uncooperative ear and getting lost. Yes, you can listen to music or make calls with just one bud in place, but that’s not much consolation when you’ve lost half of your $159 purchase.

At this point, it seems as though the AirPods will be a snugger fit than EarPods; however, if your EarPods are constantly falling out then you may run into issues using the new AirPods. Apple says the wireless earphones will be available in late October for $159. You can follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, or RSS for updates ahead of their release.

You may also want to watch the AirPods introduction video here!

Will Apple's AirPods Actually Stay in Your Ear?

Follow iClarified

clown - September 12, 2016 at 4:46pm

What Are good pair of blue tooth headphones. Less then 300

Reply · Like

NooNe - September 12, 2016 at 1:25pm

Problem is with ears not with AirPods, i'm not able to wear current wired. But it is probably usual that one does not simply fit to all ... So what is the problem? Buy different headphones if you would like. Who cares, much better than exploding batteries right? :-)

Ellen - September 14, 2016 at 5:57am

I already have a lot of earphones and I don't want any more. But then I'm in no hurry to buy an iphone7 and I may not. No buds ever work in my ear. I do charge my phone at night often while I have my earphones on. I don't need Apple to make these decisions for me. I'm old fashioned and if the ear plug worked for 100 years then I see no reason to eliminate it. I have no problem with the wires. I have a bluetooth unite that I can wear around my neck. The buds keep falling out and the unit has to be recharged.. It sits in my drawer. Extra equipment to plug in my earphones and charger is for sure another item for me to lose. As I opined somewhere else, I'd rather keep the old fashion ear plug inlet than have a waterproof phone.

RWR - September 12, 2016 at 12:44am

Honestly, after the iphone4 antenna issue, I wouldn't not be surprised if these headphones fall out easily. How often does apple test their products?

iDood - September 12, 2016 at 3:17am

Fallgate comes to mind.

Chahine atallah - September 11, 2016 at 2:12pm

I think if you are in gym on flat bench or lying on bed they will fall down, this what happens when am using my regular apple headset it falls down and these airpods are exactly same except they don't have a wire to hold them (so for sure they will fall down, at least before the wire used to hold them from falling to ground :) )

tricky dicky 10 - September 11, 2016 at 10:39am

l think they should bring out a white accessory cable that can be attached to the bottom of each- this then wraps around your head, all for for about 45 USD..... this would be "amazing"..

joshWUa - September 11, 2016 at 1:12pm

That's idiotic

088ender880 - September 11, 2016 at 4:57pm

That's sO brave!

Bigjiba - September 11, 2016 at 3:52am

Ok I know it's mostly the profile shots of the product. I am saying when you show the front view of a person and it looks like he has two Bluetooth headsets , oh man, nerd factor x10. Maybe not to the level of google glass which people vehemently hated.

Bigjiba - September 11, 2016 at 3:35am

To be honest I think it will be ok. They are ALREADY selling generic rubber loops for the airpods so people have a choice to use or not depending on their activity. But those people need to remove before using the stock case so it's still not an elegant solution. My complaint is the price and sound quality. Imagine if was included with the phone. NO ONE will complain about the earphone port.

iDood - September 11, 2016 at 3:31am

Airpods = iPod HiFi. Just my prediction.

Charlie Mix - September 11, 2016 at 12:30am

iTether- a magically innovative Apple approach for clumsy owners of EarPods. Never lose your EarPods again with our fluoroelastomer cable. $79.99.

Great! - September 10, 2016 at 11:39pm

Just use a string to tie the two so you don't lose them. Some company is already designing special magnetic cords plus batteries to attach to the charging base of each pod at each end so you get the string plus added battery life.

joshWUa - September 10, 2016 at 11:12pm

No they won't, they will stay lost and you will cry because you spent 150 dollars for them.

t11chb - September 10, 2016 at 5:58pm

There's no reason why they wouldn't. It's not as if the cable holds in the current ones

curtixman - September 10, 2016 at 6:46pm

LoL! I don't think that's the implication. Having no cord makes it very important that they don't fall out. Can you imagine? How many times would you like to pay $179 for a pair of earbuds every time your on your longboard or motorcycle and one of two flies off? They are so small you'll never find it.

Tjp - September 10, 2016 at 7:35pm

Well, $159 ... And on the motorcycle they'd just be rattle in the helmet, or in a correctly fitting helmet, wouldn't budge. But a better motorcycle solution would be a specialized set like the Cardo Scala G9x with appropriate filtering and noise canceling for the application. And surfers, well, surfers ...

Officialfit23 - September 10, 2016 at 8:32pm

Rather get power beats 3

AppleKid - September 10, 2016 at 5:47pm

Have anybody seen one of my ear Pods, I seem to have lost one of them, damn it, I knew it, I would loose it this fast, fuk me damn it, I would just go and buy another one, problem solved and If I loose it again I would buy it again and again, it's my money and apples too...

gamerscul9870 - September 10, 2016 at 9:01pm

1. why didn't you think about taking one pod off your ear each and putting them back in the case before doing anything else? 2. What I do to my AirPods is tie a string on both ends of the two with the case in order to make it retractable like those mouse with those spinning cords in order to save space (if you don't k ow what I means, I'll link you to one so you understand). 3. I think buying a left/right airpod alone could soon be a thing.

PerpetuallyBlue - September 10, 2016 at 5:08pm

The regular ones won't so why should we expect these to do so? Maybe I'll wait for next year's model and make sure this technology gets upgraded. Perhaps soothing that does not protrude so much from your ears. Just a small thing you can place. I mean, if we have to put up with listening without charging then we need something worthwhile at least.

PerpetuallyBlue - September 10, 2016 at 5:10pm

Right now I'm posting from the comfort of my bed with the rest of the house quiet so I have my earphones on as I listen to music but my phone is hedging because I want it ready at full charge when I get up and go in a few minutes. Not possible without the adapter on the new model. So what's the point? I'm so not balky about that. I'm hanging on to my 6s for dear life.

Timmy Cook - September 10, 2016 at 6:25pm

I understand your concern and that's why we came out with a innovative product called the Apple Battery Case that will give you juice on the go. It's only $99.00+.

Name14 - September 10, 2016 at 6:29pm

And now waiting for the Ampy-troll's post...

gamerscul9870 - September 10, 2016 at 8:58pm

The Ampy "troll" only pops up when (s)he's onky trying to provide a soltuion to either a battery problem someone in the comments posted or to the article itself, also @MichelM you could buy the lightning EarPods. At least those are compatible with ing any iPhone from 5 to later even if it's more expensive, besides my EarPods stay in my ear just fine as the way they were first introduced and presented.

itasara - September 14, 2016 at 6:10am

I AM tired of constantly spending money only to have the items become obsolete. Have a little compassion for some of us older users who are pretty much a large part of the population these days. Throwing out what works is not always progress. I hope my 6+ lasts a long time and then if these changes have not changed back I'll have to consider another company who doesn't take away what we already like. Some of the younger folks have earpods in their ears as if they were attached to them. Does anyone care if they go deaf when they are older? I hope they have good jobs because if they lose the wireless pods it will dig into their pocketbooks big time when they lose them. Is Apple offering insurance for loss?