[dlevine]

I'm curious as to why Airpods have 98% satisfaction rate? I don't have a pair, but it seems like a lot of people I know who have them feel similarly.

Is it because the battery life is good and they connect super easily and stay connected? Or is there some other feature that pushes people over the top?

[kemayo]

Speaking just for myself, it's two things:

First, there's that Apple "it just works" whole-package experience. If you're bought into the Apple ecosystem, using macOS and iOS, it's really incredibly seamless and gets rid of all those bluetooth hassles. Plus, as you say, battery life is good enough that I've never personally run up against it.

Second, and the part which surprised me to discover after I got mine, it turns out that headphone wires had been subconsciously bothering me. Experiencing earbuds without them is genuinely better in feel, and I find I use earbuds so much more as a result.

[meursault334]

Reading this I might actually buy these. I was pretty set against because of the fear of losing them. I've been annoyed on many occasions at not being able to use my lightning headphones with my Macbook Pro while traveling and I can see this being a superior option to any corded headphone solution. I use video chat a lot and using corded Apple headphones with a laptop is definitely awkward.

[kemayo]

I had some worries about losing them, as well. These have proven to be unfounded over the last few months... though I haven't done anything intense while wearing them. In the course of my day to day life walking around, maybe occasional light running through the rain, they've never fallen out.

I did try some experimental jumping around and shaking my head wildly after I got them, and they didn't slip out from that.

I suspect a lot of this comes down to your ear shape. The fit of the wired EarPods are a decent proxy for how the AirPods will fit. The AirPods are less likely than the EarPods to fall out, because the wires aren't there tugging on them as you move your head, which turns out to be a useful difference.

[tedmiston]

Agree that it's the (1) deep integration into iOS (how much better the experience vs other bluetooth headphones), (2) the battery life (and the whole case design so that they're always charge), and (3) true wireless / no connector cord.

[ROFISH]

> battery life is good and they connect super easily and stay connected? Or is there some other feature that pushes people over the top?

Yep, that's pretty much it. That and it's so easy to use: Insert into ear, music starts playing on headphones. Remove them, perhaps to talk to someone, and it stops playing. Put back into ear and it starts playing again. No buttons, no bluetooth settings, no setup screen; it just plain works.

[nardi]

I don't think it's about "features." I think they're amazing because they do what they're supposed to, and they do it really, really well. I've owned many, many pairs of Bluetooth headphones, and these are the first that consistently just work and I can easily take with me everywhere. A+++ would buy again.

[exelius]

I can see that. I have a pair of Bose QuietComfort 30s and they are great - only downside is that they're too big.

I'm worried I would lose the AirPods though.

[jeppebemad]

I've been loving my Beats X wireless in ears. I feel like they've got all the upsides of the AirPods. Including the compactness and "just work" features, but excluding the "might loose them" part. They've been hanging around my neck for months now!

[rhinoceraptor]

I think it's the case that not many people have them. I want to buy a pair but the lead time is still six weeks, and it's been that way for months. At this point I wouldn't expect them to be available in physical stores until July or August at the earliest.