5 Technical Reasons to Upgrade to the New 2nd-Gen AirPods
Credit: YouTube / Apple World 2019
One of Apple's latest announcements introduced a new generation of AirPods. They're still very similar to the older model, but they include several minor improvements, which means AirPods users are currently wondering if it's worth it to switch.
If your AirPods are still working, it's probably a good idea to hang onto them. However, for some people, the specific upgrades that the new AirPods offer may prove to be very attractive. Continue reading to learn about a few ways you might fall into the "must buy" group.
You Take a Lot of Calls with Your AirPods
If you take a look at the specifications for the newest generation of AirPods, you'll notice something interesting. The stated battery life for listening to music is the same, around five hours (those of you with AirPods know you rarely get such a long charge, but it's a useful comparison tool). However, the phone call battery life has a huge boost in battery life: you'll get 50% more talk time on a battery charge! That's some serious optimization. If you depend on your AirPods for fielding phone calls, then upgrading will have a significant impact for you – consider it!
You Switch Between Multiple Apple Devices
Do you use your AirPods interchangeably between your iPhone, iPad, and MacBook, or a similar array of Apple products? Then you may be interested in another new feature of the AirPods 2 – they have a much faster connection speed when switching to different devices. As you may have experienced, switching audio sources takes several seconds (sometimes longer) before your AirPods start working again. With the new version, you can cut that connection time in half!
You Love Wireless Charging (Obviously)
Are you obsessed with wireless charging? Do you dream of having every device you own charge without cables? Then there's a particular reason that you may be interested in the new AirPods. Earlier AirPods didn't offer any charging options – you were required to use an Apple Lightning cable charger. The latest version has been updated so that the AirPods case now has wireless charging capabilities. You can put it on the same charging pad that you use for your iPhone, and it will charge right up! However, the wireless option also costs $40 more, so consider the cost.
You Play Mobile Games
Specifically, if you like mobile gaming on your iPhone or iPad, then the new AirPods probably sound pretty good – literally. One of the most significant changes that Apple made to the AirPods 2 was to reduce latency when working with on-screen apps so that the delay between an action taken and an audio cue in the AirPods is lower – about 30% lower.
In other words, if you tap something in a game, your AirPods will now be noticeably faster to give the audio cue associated with that tap. You'll get a better game flow and the ability to handle particularly quick actions with more confidence.
This feature also works for musicians that like to use iOS devices as part of their musical setup. Although, if you're a musician with an iPad, you should probably be using higher-quality over-ear headphones than AirPods, unless you're just using them for sound checks.
You Talk to Siri All the Time
Older AirPods did have a way to talk to Siri – you tapped on the AirPod to active her, and then spoke. That probably works just fine for most people. However, if you really use Siri a lot, especially when your hands are occupied, the new AirPods are always listening for "Hey Siri." That means that you don't have to reach up and tap the an AirPod anymore – just start talking. Order AirPods 2 here.