AirPods 2nd-generation: Not really 2.0, but definitely enhanced

[MUSIC] These are the second generation Airpods. They look almost identical to the originals. Which is why I like to call them the Airpods 1.5. However, they do offer some key improvements, including Apple's H1 chip. They offer support for Blue Tooth 5.0 as well as always on Siri. Hey Siri? [MUSIC] The base model remains at $159. To get the long awaited wireless charging case which charges up on any cheap compatible charging matt, you'll have to pay an extra $40 or 199 total. Meanwhile, owners of the original air pods can buy it separately for the not exist. Exactly a bargain price of $79. The only way to tell the two cases apart is the addition of a tiny LED on the outside of the wireless one and the placement of the pairing button. That illuminating dot lets you know that the case is charging. However it turns off after a few seconds of the case being on the pad. The new H1 chip Helps facilitate the earpods other big new feature, the widely expected addition of always on voice recognition. That means that instead of double tapping one earpod to activate Siri, you simply say, "Hey Siri." Activate Apple's voice assistant. It worked quite well in my test with zippy responsiveness and it just might get you to use Siri more often if you don't use it that much right now. You can still program double tapping to activate Siri but most people will program it to skip tracks forward and back. There are no volume controls on the airpods you can now just tell Siri to lower or raise the volume. You can also tell her to skip a track forward or back. But it only works in Apple music, not Spotify. The new tip also allows for noticeably faster connection times between all the Apple devices you own and 50% more talk time, one hour more. Compared to first generation airpods. The battery life rating for music listening remains the same at five hours however. A 15 minute recharge in the case gives you three hours of listening time and two hours of talk time which helps mitigate any battery life concerns. Apple hasn't made any claims about sound quality being any better for listening to music. It's about the same as far as I could tell. There were times when I thought the sound seemed a touch more forward and a touch louder, but it's hard to tell for sure because the earbuds have an open design and looser fit compared to noise isolating earphones. When you put them in your ears they don't sit in the exact same position, so it's hard to make a precise comparison. Call quality has definitely improved You won't hear it, but callers will. That's because these ear buds do a better job filtering out background noise, including wind, so you could have a conversation outdoors and people will hear you better. When it comes to music listening, these guys still don't quite measure up to other competing models. They have better bass, and richer sound overall, and also sound better in noisier environments, but when it comes to making calls, they are top notch. Like the original air pods, these also work with Android devices and other bluetooth devices, however certain special features like the initial auto-pairing As well as the always on Siri will not work with those devices. Hopefully, this is an incremental upgrade. The new changes do enhance an already excellent true wireless headphone. If you are looking for bigger changes, a better fit, new colors. Maybe the rumored health tracking feature. You're going to have to wait for that. Or perhaps you want to take a look at the alternative from Beats that's coming out. So what do you think? Would you buy the new Air Pods? Let us know in the comments. And thanks for watching. [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO]