Airpods vs Ticpods
With smartphones, ditching the headphone jack and making users take up either alternative cable solutions or Bluetooth earphones/headphones. There are a variety of Bluetooth earphones out there however with the introduction of Airpods by Apple and paved the way in which Bluetooth earphone experience should be done correctly however to gain the full experience you have to own an iPhone. Incomes an alternative to Airpods and that are the Ticpods made by Mobvoi. These are made to be the Airpods killers an alternative solution for both Android and Apple users. Here is my comparison between the two.
Build Quality
Airpods
The Airpods are made from a glossy finish, which is seen on their previous wired alternative, the tips are finished with a silver finish for charging. The shape of the earphones themselves has not changed from their wired counterpart perfectly slotting in your ear with comfort. The charge case which the Airpods are housed in, are made with the same glossy finish as the earphones with a magnetic lid for easy open and close.
Ticpods
The Ticpods are made from a glossy finish however maybe not to the quality of the Airpods however still giving the premium feel. Their takes on the use of the in-ear design with a rubber finish for comfort. The charge case is made from a matte finish with a magnetic hinge. The size is slightly bigger than the Airpods charge case.
Winner – Airpods
Apple’s build quality has always been top notch and the glossy finish with an aluminium finish cannot be beaten when compared to the matte and mixed gloss finish of the Ticpods.
Connectivity
Both earphones use Bluetooth to connect to the smartphone. The Airpods use the W1 chip, which will enable for iPhones to detect to the earphones when they are nearby and connect automatically. Both earphones require the headphones to sit in their respective charge case to connect to the desired smartphone. Both earphones have an approximate range of 20m.
Winner - Draw
Battery
Airpods
The Airpods provide 5 hours of listening and up to 2 hours of talk time. Along with the charge case, it will provide up to 24 hours of listening and up to 11 hours talk time. 15 minutes of charge time will provide up to 3 hours of listening time and 15 minutes of talk time. The charging case can be charged via the lightning port at the bottom of the charging case. Charging the earphones via the charging case is done by slotting back the earphones in the correct slots and the LED in the case will charge to amber to indicate charging and will charge to green when fully charged.
Ticpods
The Ticpods can provide up to 4 hours of listening on a single charge and 18 hours with the charging case. Charging the Ticpods for 15 minutes gives your 85 minutes of charge. The battery case charges via micro-USB, the case has two LED’s, which flashes green when charging, and stays on when fully charged. To charge the earphones it follows the same concept as the Airpods by slotting the earphones with their respective slots.
Winner – Airpods
The Airpods battery capacity to be able to listen up to 5 hours of songs in one sitting before running out of battery and 15 minutes charge can enable 3 hours of listening. Whereas the Ticpods have a lower duration on one charge and 15 minutes of charge only enables 85 minutes of listening. However, it’s good to note that the decrease in battery life in the Ticpods can be because of the noise cancelling abilities which require a bit of battery power.
Features
Airpods
The Airpods have Apple’s W1 chip which will enable Apple devices to detect when the earphones are nearby creating a better connectivity experience for the user. On each earphone, they are enabled to have a specific function when double tapping on either headphone, this can be set up in the settings. By default, it is set to activate Siri which allows voice controls of volume and other stuff. The earphones themselves have sensors, which will detect when the earphones are inserted into the ear and will automatically turn on or off when taken out of the ear.
Ticpods
The Ticpods have noise cancelling and both earphones have multi-gesture controls which are unique to each earphone allowing to play/pause, next or previous track, volume up and down or activating the respective phone assistant for the connected phone. The earphones also have sensors that detect whether the user is wearing the earphones and will automatically turn on.
Winner – Ticpods
The Ticpods has more function with its number of multi-gesture controls on both earphones and along with noise cancelling. The Ticpods provides greater functionality when compared to the Airpods one double tap gesture on each earphone. The Airpods do however have one great feature of the W1 chip, which allows quick connectivity.
Sound
Airpods
The Airpods produce a great all round sound for earphones. They produce nice sound quality for Bluetooth headphones. Airpods are best for audio with bass and trebles; it produces immersive highs and lows. For vocals, it produces crisp and clear vocals from artists and clear subtle acoustics or instrumentals. At times, I have noticed subtle instruments/beats in songs that I haven’t heard before. With the way that the earphones are designed, it delivers an immersive experience that gives crisp all round sound experience.
Ticpods
The Ticpods have noise cancelling which does a nice job by cancelling small external noises, however, don’t expect it to drown out crying babies. The Ticpods produce average sounds across the board from low to highs. It does produce a decent amount of bass and treble, however, all this is held back from the tinny audio that you get. The tinny audio produces this effect where it feels like the artist is slightly further away and you are in a concert hall. It hard to notice the subtle beats that can be heard in the Airpods. For acoustics and instrumentals, it still produces tinny audio however they are the best part of the Ticpods. For more acoustic sounds it because of natural sounds.
Winner – Airpods
With the greater, all-around audio quality in the Airpods as it produces greater bass, treble, lows and highs with a greater audio immersion when compared to the tinny audio produced from the Ticpods.
Summary
The Ticpods are labelled as the Airpod killers, it does make a great attempt at killing the Airpods with packed functionality, above average build quality and okay audio quality. However, the Airpods still tops the Ticpods is most categories produce better audio with better immersion. With the top build quality as seen in most Apple devices and with the W1 chip that improves the connectivity with Apple devices greatly improves the user experience. Along with a high battery capacity, either with or without the battery case and the size of the battery case gives a great all-round Bluetooth earphones experience when travelling and on the go.