Remember all those rumors last year about next-generation AirPods that might feature active noise canceling? Well, those AirPods haven’t materialized yet but now Ausounds, a startup, has launched a new set of true wireless earbuds — the AU-Stream ANC — that have the same “stick” design as the AirPods and feature active noise-canceling. They’re on sale now for $150 and they’re surprisingly good if you get the right fit.
They feature 13mm drivers, Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, 5 hours of battery life with an additional 15 hours from the case and water-resistance (IPX5 certified). They also offer USB-C charging — that’s somewhat rare to find at this price point…
[A] tight seal is crucial not only for sound quality but the active noise-canceling doesn’t work effectively without it. Sound-wise the AU-Stream ANC is on par with the Sony WF-1000XM3. It doesn’t sound quite as detailed or as open — and the bass isn’t quite as well-defined. But it’s a very decent-sounding true wireless headphone with some good kick in the low end. And it does sound better than the AirPods.
MacDailyNews Take: Of course, you won’t have all of the unique AirPods goodies like voice-activated Siri access and instantly ready to use with all your devices sans Bluetooth pairing, as there’s no H1 chip in the AU Stream ANC earphones.
More info about AU Stream ANC True Wireless Earphoneshere.
I love my AirPods so much I have 2 sets. But the instant on has rarely worked on with my iPhone, iPad or Macbook air.
Are you using the old W1 chip or do you have the new H1 chip-equipped AirPods?
What works great for me is the AirPods connecting immediate with the audio and also taking over the Audio stream.
What I hate is switching the device. Eg when I leave the house they often connect to my iPad (50 meters away!) and then my podcast comes out of my iPhone speaker until I realise I need to switch device – which requires too many presses and takes several seconds and (rarely) fails!
I wish Apple would license/sell the H1 chip to hearing aid manufacturers. Airpods are a no-go for most hearing aid types. Many hearing aids will hook up to an iPhone (in varying degrees of usefulness/elegance), and Apple has worked with hearing aid manufacturers to make this happen. It would be nice if they would expand this support to selling the H1 chip. The cost of hearing aids is so high that an expectation that they should be as full-featured as possible in thier iPhone integration is understandable.