[ricardobeat]

AirPods use Apple’s proprietary W1/H1 chip for pairing, and it seems to make BT more reliable somehow. The impact of BT on the phone’s battery life is negligible.

As for sound quality, the Pros or a Sony WF/MDR are quite good. If you’re noticing significant reduction in quality you’re either choosing low quality ones or something else in the audio chain is wrong.

I actually prefer the Sony to any of my wired headphones (AT, Roland, Etymotic, Philips SHP) most of the time. The noise canceling and ability to turn my head / move about more than offset any loss in quality - which I’m unlikely to notice while working anyway.