As AirPods continue to grow in popularity, the truly wireless earbud market is also becoming increasingly crowded. Samsung, for instance, just launched the Galaxy Buds, while Apple’s Beats brand also introduced the Powerbeats Pro.
The H1 chip
The biggest thing going for AirPods – and Apple’s wireless headphone efforts in general – is the H1 chip. For users of the Apple ecosystem, this provides incredible integration with iPhones, iPads, Apple Watch, Mac, and Apple TV.
Switching between devices with AirPods is very easy. There’s no need to put AirPods in “pairing mode” or dig through Bluetooth menus. Instead, iCloud and the H1 chip work in conjunction with one another to seamlessly handoff between devices. The H1 chip has taken one of the biggest complexities of wireless headphones and greatly simplified it.
Bragi integrated Alexa into its truly wireless earbuds, but it recently announced its exit from the consumer hardware business. Bose’s popular QuietComfort 35 headphones support Alexa, but you have to press the “Action” button to activate the assistant. You can’t simply say “Alexa” to issue a command, which takes away the “hands-free” nature of a virtual assistant.
Of course, AirPods aren’t for everyone and they simply don’t fit everyone’s ears, but that’s why Apple also has its Beats lineup of headphones. We’ve already seen the H1 chip with Hey Siri expand to Powerbeats Pro, and it seems likely it will come to other Beats headphones in the future. That could include a truly wireless version of BeatsX, upgraded versions of Beats Studio and Solo headphones, and more.
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