AirPods 3 touch controls

[weddlec]

I love my AirPods. I bought them right when they came out. They fit my ears perfectly and I’m in the camp of people who don’t want silicon tips. When the pros came out I passed because of the tips. I was hoping these AirPods 3 would not have the tips. I bought them right after the keynote. I had a friend today give me some concerns. He says the touch controls on these will be click based (squeezing the stem) like on the pros. That would be a deal breaker for me as I work outside in the cold and wear gloves. I usually play/pause my AirPods 2 by smacking the side of my head. Works perfect. makes me look stupid but so does everything else I do. Anyone have insight on this? I’m so hoping the controls are accelerometer based like the 2’s.

 

[jonnyb098]

I love my AirPods. I bought them right when they came out. They fit my ears perfectly and I’m in the camp of people who don’t want silicon tips. When the pros came out I passed because of the tips. I was hoping these AirPods 3 would not have the tips. I bought them right after the keynote. I had a friend today give ,e some concerns. He says the touch controls on these will be click based (squeezing the stem) like on the pros. That would be a deal breaker for me as I work outside in the cold and wear gloves. I usually play/pause my AirPods 2 by smacking the side of my head. Works perfect. makes me look stupid but so does everything else I do. Anyone have insight on this? I’m so hoping the controls are accelerometer based the the 2’s.

They aren’t….they are the same as the pros…..which seems to be hit or miss for some. I feel like squeezing the stems just begs for them to be tugged and moved in your ear vs just a light tap.

 

[weddlec]

If anything a light double tap pushes them back into your ears better.

 

[Herrpod]

Best thing about the originals is tapping my finger near the AirPods but not on them and it still registering. There’s no need to smack your head, or ever touch the AirPods. I’m avoiding the 3s for this reason as well.

 

[secretk]

They aren’t….they are the same as the pros…..which seems to be hit or miss for some. I feel like squeezing the stems just begs for them to be tugged and moved in your ear vs just a light tap.

I do not own original Airpods but I have the Airpods Pro. I did have Samsung buds that have touch control. I have no issues with squeezing the stem. For me it works every time and it does not affect the positioning of the buds. I did have issues with using touch for the Samsung buds. It is more annoying to me as I feel that every time I do this, they push further into my inner ear. Granted the original Airpods do not have that design but for me touch is still annoying and it might get triggered every time I want to actually reposition the earbuds.

Because of this I actually do prefer using the stem for controls. I can see why in the winter with gloves however that would not be the best option. Maybe in such cases Siri is the best.

 

[Caliber26]

I, too, am not crazy about the stem controls. I feel they require more effort since you have to use two fingers, compared to a simple tap with one finger. Ever since they introduced this feature on the AirPods Pro I felt like it was a backwards move.

I suppose the solution to this can be "Hey Siri" and avoid the dumb stem sensor altogether.

 

[Channan]

Looks like you’ll be sticking with your current AirPods if that’s a dealbreaker.

I suppose it’s nice in some situations like your own, but I much prefer the added controls with the pressure sensor. I set my AirPods to play/pause with the left, and skip songs on the right, but then I lose one control when only using one at a time and can’t go to a previous song at all without Siri. I rarely dislodged my AirPods Pro when using the controls, and since the AirPods 3 don’t have the same right fit, it should be even less of an issue.

 

[klasma]

It’s a dealbreaker for me as well. I had already placed an order and canceled it after learning about the controls. I need usable controls when the AirPods are under a hood or headband.

 

[7thson]

You’ll be limited to the AirPods 2 if the tap to pause/play/etc function is a must. I prefer it as well, but Apple moved on from it fairly quickly after introducing it, so I doubt it will get reintroduced into any future iterations of AirPods.

 

[weddlec]

It’s a dealbreaker for me as well. I had already placed an order and canceled it after learning about the controls. I need usable controls when the AirPods are under a hood or headband.

Looks like this is the final word then. Same situation. Immediately ordered them, and will likely cancel. I love my original AirPods so much that when the 2’s came out the faster chip made a big difference. I have no problem paying the Apple tax for something that fits my use case. It’s just so frustrating that I can’t get the smaller form factor of the 3’s with the same controls of the 2’s. Again I work outside, usually in the cold, usually with filthy hands and the ability to play/pause (without the added Siri step) without actually touching them is huge. I listen to roughly 30 hours of podcats a week and when I’m around people it’s nice to be able to play/pause without them knowing that i was listening to something. I would easily pay $300-$400 to have all of that. When I’m indoors and with clean hands I don’t even bother with AirPods, I use my Sony WH-1000XM4’s.

 

[weddlec]

Absolute garbage. Makes me so mad. I think the new ones sound better. I love that they're smaller. Can't play/pause. Requires 2 fingers and will not work through a stocking cap. How in the world is replacing accelerometer controls with a physical button a "pro" feature? Looks like I will be stocking up on AirPods 2's until Apple releases the new pro's with a new accelerometer feature.

 

[Channan]

Absolute garbage. Makes me so mad. I think the new ones sound better. I love that they're smaller. Can't play/pause. Requires 2 fingers and will not work through a stocking cap. How in the world is replacing accelerometer controls with a physical button a "pro" feature? Looks like I will be stocking up on AirPods 2's until Apple releases the new pro's with a new accelerometer feature.

Because the pressure sensor provides more controls. Whether you like it or not is personal preference, but the way you prefer gives less control.