I got my Apple AirPods bluetooth earbuds first thing Monday morning, and after using them for a while I posted a first impressions piece and mentioned I'd follow up later in the week with a more thorough review as I continue to use them. Five days of use later, and I love 'em to the point that the AirPods case has found a new home in the front pocket of my pants with my keys and wallet, which is about the highest praise I could ever give a piece of portable electronics.
Originally announced along side the iPhone 7 back in September, the AirPods have been subject to incredibly harsh criticism from seemingly all corners of the internet prior to their release. "You're going to lose them" was crowed over and over, like Ralphie being told he was going to shoot his eye out. In reality, while I suppose it is possible to misplace the case holding your AirPods, just randomly losing one doesn't seem like a very likely scenario unless you just have really bad habits of not putting things back where they belong. Unlike the plastic case that Apple's wired EarPods have come in (Which was curiously absent with the iPhone 7 pack-in EarPods!) that really only served as a slightly nicer way to store your headphones, the AirPods case is a vital part of the whole AirPods setup. Opening the case triggers the whole AirPods pairing process, and it's also how you charge them, so it seems like I just naturally end up sticking it back in my pocket when I was using them. Then, because you w...