When Cheap Tech Is Good Enough
Four bottom-of-the-barrel tools I love
Are Apple Airpods worth the cash?
A set of the cheapest second-gen Airpods are $130, and the third-gen ones are $180; a “pro” set, $249. One can buy knockoff brands for much less! But it’s clear that Apple’s engineering is far, far superior to cheapo brands.
In fact, recently the tech firm Lumafield did CT scans of Airpods compared to the knockoffs (that’s the image above). Lumafield found that Airpod batteries were precision-designed to fit the interior space, giving them longer life and probably making them safe. Audio-wise, Apple’s components were far better, too …
Moving to the internal circuitry, the genuine AirPods are a marvel of miniaturization and precision engineering. They use a combination of rigid and flexible printed circuit boards to pack components densely and ensure that every millimeter of space is used effectively. On the other hand, the counterfeit AirPods reveal much simpler electronics cobbled together from off-the-shelf components. That leaves less room for functionality; the counterfeits have fewer microphones and less control circuitry, compromising their sound quality.
So it seems clear that if you’re dropping the extra dough on Apple’s Airpods, you’re getting very good-quality tech.
