Apple's AirPods are the world's most popular headphones. Apple has sold more than 200 million pairs – that's about half the number of Rubik's Cubes (the world's most popular toy) that have been sold in its much, much longer lifetime. The Rubik's Cube has been on sale for over 40 years, whereas the AirPods only launched in 2016. In other words, AirPods are quite the success story. Given a try, it's not hard to see why. While not the best headphones of their type and price for sound quality, they are among the most user-friendly pairs you can buy, with a host of features that really enhance the user experience. If you're an Apple user, that is. For anyone not using an iOS, watchOS or macOS device, the experience is rather different. But what exactly can you do with AirPods if you're not locked into the Apple ecosystem, and which features will you miss out on? Do AirPods work with Android devices?Yes, they do. Like other wireless headphones, every iteration of AirPods – the AirPods, AirPods Pro and AirPods Max – connects to a source device using Bluetooth, so they'll connect to any smartphone, tablet, computer or portable music player that's Bluetooth-enabled – which these days is most of them. But that's not the full story. Apple keeps some of the best features exclusive to its own devices, so you'll need an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch or Mac to take advantage of them. It's almost as if Apple is pushing its own products, eh? AirPods still work as wireless headphones, and features like noise-cancelling and transparency (if applicable) work the same across any device. But without an Apple source, you'll still miss out on plenty of neat features...
AirPods features that are Apple-only1. Full Spatial Audio 2. Audio Sharing 3. Siri 4. Read out messages 5. Customise controls 6. Quick pairing
7. iCloud pairing 8. Automatically stop playback 9. Switch audio 10. One-bud listening 11. Ear Tip Fit Test 12. Adaptive EQ 13. Find My AirPods MORE: Read our Sony WF-1000XM4 review These are the best AirPods alternatives Go behind the scenes: How the AirPods 3 were made – and how Apple plans to make them even better Joe has been writing about tech for 17 years, first on staff at T3 magazine, then in a freelance capacity for Stuff, The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, Men's Health, GQ, The Mirror, Trusted Reviews, TechRadar and many more (including What Hi-Fi?). His specialities include all things mobile, headphones and speakers that he can't justifying spending money on. |