Article originally appears at Forbes
The arrival of Apple’s second generation of AirPods is imminent, but can the iPhone maker improve the product and learn from Google’s mistakes?
Head-to-head Google’s Pixel Buds and Apple’s AirPod’s share a lot of similarities. They’re similarly priced, the sound quality is similar, they’re built to be used with the each company’s respective flagship smartphone and neither fits particularly well in-ear.
Whilst Apple’s AirPods became central to memes about projecting wealth, the Pixel Buds had a much, much rougher ride. That’s largely down to execution. The Pixel Buds had serious pairing issues (I couldn’t pair my Buds to my Pixel for 15 mins), and have to be re-paired per Android device, whereas AirPods automatically sync up with Apple devices linked to the same iCloud account.
This, alongside sound playback issues, and the over-promise of what a fairly routine translation feature could supposedly do meant that the Pixel Buds didn’t deliver. If Google decides to try headphones again I’m sure this will all be fixed, in the meantime though, Apple should see Google’s flop as a cautionary tale….
Too much touch
The capacitive touchpad area on the Pixel Buds is the only way to deliver commands, Apple also has something similar. The difference is that the Pixel Buds allow way more commands – too many in fact.
Swipe left or right to toggle volume, long press for Assistant, tapping to play or pause, tapping to answer a call, but long-pressing to end one, double tapping to listen to notifications and so on. What inevitably happens is incorrect or accidental touches give the wrong instruction. It became near impossible to touch my Pixel Buds without delivering an unwanted command.
Apple’s limited physical controls – a simple double tap for one action on either headphone – should stay exactly as they are.
No hands
The latest leak- reported by Forbes’ David Phelan – suggests that Siri can be activated – via Airpods – with the wake phrase ‘Hey Siri’. Whilst Google has the better AI technology by a country mile, I don’t understand why a no-hands option to activate Assistant isn’t available.
It looks like Apple will rectify this and it makes sense because the problem of too many touch controls can be solved with verbal controls. Also, the entire point of an AI assistant is to free up interaction with your smartphone – voice commands are a key part of that.
Of course the downside to this is publicly speaking to Siri whilst everyone eavesdrops on your music choice.
