Airpods MAX launched $1000 nzd

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#2619951 11-Dec-2020 10:28

Just wondering if the people on this forum could explain how products like the Sony’s or Bose deliver features like Siri integration, spatial audio, shared audio, stainless steel construction, electromechanical control.

I like my XM4’s, but I can’t get these other features to work on them.

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#2620026 11-Dec-2020 11:13

BlinkyBill:

Just wondering if the people on this forum could explain how products like the Sony’s or Bose deliver features like Siri integration, spatial audio, shared audio, stainless steel construction, electromechanical control.

I like my XM4’s, but I can’t get these other features to work on them.

I can't speak for the other items, but the Siri integration on my Sony XM4s is non-existent, in fact the headphones often try to rope me in to using Alexa.

Of course some people will make quips about "why would you want to use Siri", but for me (and I'm sure others) Siri is a big part of my day-to-day life and I use it for driving (CarPlay), reminders, messaging, creating calendar appointments and everything. Not to mention the music controls!

So again that's a huge benefit that the AirPods Max will have over any competing premium headphones.

mrgsm021

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#2620070 11-Dec-2020 12:29

dafman:

On the train earlier this week, I counted five people sitting in the three rows immediately in front of me wearing headphones, and all five were Sony WH-1000 series.

Bose are becoming the rarity.

Have noticed this also.

Maybe the Bose QC35s are getting too old and the new 700 are a little overpriced with RRP of $700 whereas the Sonys are a little more reasonable with better sound (IMHO) and ANC

Handle9

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#2620203 11-Dec-2020 16:15

dafman:
Handle9:

Lol. Company wants to make money. Man bites dog, more news at 11.

Yeah I know, silly of me to let ethics stand in the way of consumerism. I'll try harder next time.

Companies directors have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders. They don't have one to their customers.

Charging a premium for a product isn't breaching any ethical boundaries- it's not lying, cheating or stealing. If you don't see value then don't buy the product.

Handle9

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#2620212 11-Dec-2020 17:09

Technofreak:

Off topic for a moment

Handle9:

Honestly why would anyone in the real world bother? Solutions like this are always a kludge at best.

Plenty do bother for many reasons.

Whether or not kludge applies is a personal perspective. I certainly don't consider it to be kludgy, I need a reliable phone. In this case I suspect you've never tried the OS to have made that statement. While it may not be quite as polished in some areas as Android or iOS it runs very well with all the standard apps you need on a daily basis.

Of course I haven't tried it and neither have 99.9999999999999% of users of mobile devices as it's not a relevant OS to anyone outside an incredibly small enthusiast community.

Technofreak

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#2620330 11-Dec-2020 21:50

BlinkyBill:

Just wondering if the people on this forum could explain how products like the Sony’s or Bose deliver features like Siri integration, spatial audio, shared audio, stainless steel construction, electromechanical control.

I like my XM4’s, but I can’t get these other features to work on them.

I'd have thought the Siri integration would have been through the connected device i.e. iPhone, iPad, iPod.

Spatial audio, have you tried the Sony headphones app?

Shared audio?

Stainless steel construction, no wonder theAirpod Max is heavy, weight or the lack of is important to me. I don't see stainless steel construction as an advantage, I'd see it as a dreaw back.

Electromechanical control? Not sure why you'd need that. The controls on the XM3 and I guess also the XM 4 are by finger touches to the ear cups and can be customised using the Sony headphone app.

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Technofreak

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#2620334 11-Dec-2020 22:11

Handle9:

Honestly why would anyone in the real world bother? Solutions like this are always a kludge at best.

Because there's people who don't like the Apple "walled garden" nor the data mining of Google. That's why.

When Dafman posted he wasn't really happy with either of the Apple or the Google (Android) options I suggested there were alternatives for those so inclined to make the effort. I know it's not a choice that will suit everyone but it is a viable option.

Of course I haven't tried it and neither have 99.9999999999999% of users of mobile devices as it's not a relevant OS to anyone outside an incredibly small enthusiast community.

True it is an OS with a relatively small user group but it has been deployed as an OEM OS in at least three major countries.

You know it's kludge but by your own admission you've never tried it to actually know. How can you know? I don't expect everyone to like it but to make a sweeping statement like you did doesn't make sense.

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Technofreak

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#2620340 11-Dec-2020 22:28

Benjip:

Well the first impressions are rolling in, and it's sounding good (pun intended):

On top of that, their noise canceling is arguably the best I've experienced, slightly edging out the noise canceling on both Sony's WH-1000XM4 and Bose's Noise Cancelling Headphones 700.

(CNET)

Sound-wise, I've had fun listening to the AirPods Max for a few hours — they're crisp and bright, with a pleasingly wider soundstage than my Sony headphones, and no distortion at all, even at max volume.

(The Verge)

Sounds like these might have the edge over the Sony XM4s (not to mention the pairing/switching will be far superior for those of us who use all-Apple computers/tablets/phones, thanks to the H1 chip).

I read that same review on CNET. I found it to be quite superficial and had the hallmarks of being written by an Apple Fanboy

Your comment pretty well sums it up for me so far as Apple goes. Their interoperability is such that their devices and peripherals are not designed to interconnect with other manufacturers. The rest of the world settles on a standard protocol but Apple goes off on it's own, e.g.lightning connector when everyone else used USB. There are other examples.

I like to choose what suits me best from various manufacturers. Once you get on the Apple system you are to a large extent trapped or corralled into using only Apple products.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
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BlinkyBill

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#2620383 12-Dec-2020 08:33

Technofreak:

BlinkyBill:

Just wondering if the people on this forum could explain how products like the Sony’s or Bose deliver features like Siri integration, spatial audio, shared audio, stainless steel construction, electromechanical control.

I like my XM4’s, but I can’t get these other features to work on them.

I'd have thought the Siri integration would have been through the connected device i.e. iPhone, iPad, iPod.

Spatial audio, have you tried the Sony headphones app?

Shared audio?

Stainless steel construction, no wonder theAirpod Max is heavy, weight or the lack of is important to me. I don't see stainless steel construction as an advantage, I'd see it as a dreaw back.

Electromechanical control? Not sure why you'd need that. The controls on the XM3 and I guess also the XM 4 are by finger touches to the ear cups and can be customised using the Sony headphone app.

I guess you have missed my point completely. Let’s see if I can be clearer. People are posting here because the Pods are ridiculously priced, Apple is greedy, you can get the equivalent for half the money etc. Those comments are incorrect.

It’s not relevant to compare the cost of the Pods Max vs something like the XM4’s or similar - because they are different classes of device. The Pods are loaded with the stuff I listed that the XM4’s don’t have (btw, they don’t have spatial audio) and these things add to the cost.

If you want all that Apple stuff, then buy the Pods, if you don’t why would you pay extra over the XM4’s? It’s a free choice.

The XM4 controls, btw, are not robustly implemented. I would say they are sketchy or wonky or something. And also because they are sold out globally for 3 months.

Would I buy the Pods? Probably only when my XM4’s fall apart.

dafman

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#2620399 12-Dec-2020 09:33

Handle9:

If you don't see value then don't buy the product.

Err, totally agree, that was my initial point.

Technofreak

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#2620437 12-Dec-2020 11:45

BlinkyBill:

I guess you have missed my point completely. Let’s see if I can be clearer. People are posting here because the Pods are ridiculously priced, Apple is greedy, you can get the equivalent for half the money etc. Those comments are incorrect.

It’s not relevant to compare the cost of the Pods Max vs something like the XM4’s or similar - because they are different classes of device. The Pods are loaded with the stuff I listed that the XM4’s don’t have (btw, they don’t have spatial audio) and these things add to the cost.

If you want all that Apple stuff, then buy the Pods, if you don’t why would you pay extra over the XM4’s? It’s a free choice.

The XM4 controls, btw, are not robustly implemented. I would say they are sketchy or wonky or something. And also because they are sold out globally for 3 months.

Would I buy the Pods? Probably only when my XM4’s fall apart.

I'm not sure I missed your point maybe, maybe not.

I don't see some of the features you see as worthwhile on the Airpod MAX as being worthwhile. In other words I don't see it has being loaded with features in comparision to the Sony's. I certainly don't see them as being a different class of headset. Horses for courses I guess.

Spatial audio might be nice but not worth thre extra money, the stainless construction adds weight which for me is a very big drawback. Electromechanical controls? I can't see why you'd want them.

While I have the XM'3s and they may act differently to the XM4's the touch controls work very well, certainly not sketchy or wonky. Perhaps it's the device you have them connected to. I presume you use the Headphones Connect app to set up and update the XM4's?

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alasta

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#2620444 12-Dec-2020 12:31

Technofreak:

Your comment pretty well sums it up for me so far as Apple goes. Their interoperability is such that their devices and peripherals are not designed to interconnect with other manufacturers. The rest of the world settles on a standard protocol but Apple goes off on it's own, e.g.lightning connector when everyone else used USB. There are other examples.

I like to choose what suits me best from various manufacturers. Once you get on the Apple system you are to a large extent trapped or corralled into using only Apple products.

I haven't really experienced this. I have an iPhone and a MacBook Pro and they seem to interact fine with my Garmin watch, Garmin scales, Sonos speakers and Canon camera.

bitserf

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#2621119 13-Dec-2020 22:49

Expected most of the comments to be about the price, was not disappointed :)

Personally, if it solves the annoyance of moving between my Apple devices (work MBP, personal MBP, iPad and iPhone), the XM4s I'm currently using are going in the bin.

Handle9

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#2621120 13-Dec-2020 22:55

alasta:
Technofreak:

Your comment pretty well sums it up for me so far as Apple goes. Their interoperability is such that their devices and peripherals are not designed to interconnect with other manufacturers. The rest of the world settles on a standard protocol but Apple goes off on it's own, e.g.lightning connector when everyone else used USB. There are other examples.

I like to choose what suits me best from various manufacturers. Once you get on the Apple system you are to a large extent trapped or corralled into using only Apple products.

I haven't really experienced this. I have an iPhone and a MacBook Pro and they seem to interact fine with my Garmin watch, Garmin scales, Sonos speakers and Canon camera.

My airpods pro work great with my android phone and Sony TV. They don't work well with my windows pcs but the Bluetooth on that is trash. I have similar problems with my XM3s.

Of course you get some extra features using them with apple stuff but they work really well regardless.

lNomNoml

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#2621121 13-Dec-2020 22:57

bitserf:

Expected most of the comments to be about the price, was not disappointed :)

Personally, if it solves the annoyance of moving between my Apple devices (work MBP, personal MBP, iPad and iPhone), the XM4s I'm currently using are going in the bin.

That's a very expensive fix for an annoyance Apple made for you.

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