Last month, the hands-free law was passed here in our beautiful city of Atlanta. In theory, the days of giving the stink eye to the folks who ruined your commute because they merged into each other on 285 are coming to an end. I personally love rubbernecking as I creep past them at 5 mph almost bumping the person in front of me…but I digress. The hands-free law has given us the wonderful opportunity to explore new technology that allows us to continue being productive while the city sorts out this infrastructure issue.
Earlier this year, my esteemed colleague, Kevin Jackman, wrote a Tuesday Tip on the Apple AirPods. They are a great solution for hands-free, cordless earphones that can be used to receive incoming calls and listen to music, podcasts, audio books, and more. Kevin is as great as he is biased. This little whippersnapper loves Apple and their products, so when I read it, I immediately searched for an alternative. That is when I found Bose SoundSport Free earbuds.
Before I go into how SoundSport is head and shoulders above the AirPods, I need to say one thing: the AirPods do charge way faster and have a much longer battery life…
Now that we’ve gotten that out in the open, below are all the reasons you get more for your money with SoundSport:
- Comfort and Secure Fit: SoundSport has built-in support to keep these little earphones in your ears. No more fumbling around on your car floor looking for the AirPod that just fell out (probably during the most important call of your career).
- Water and Sweat Resistance: While SoundSport earbuds sit comfortably and securely in your ears, they are also resisting your sweat. You can wear them at the gym, on the golf course, or jogging in the rain if that is something you like to do. The AirPods offer none of this. If you find yourself jogging in the rain with the AirPods, hopefully they fall out before giving you a little shock.
- Track Management and Volume Control: SoundSport has built-in track management and volume controls on the actual earbuds. The AirPods do not – in fact, if you do not own an iPhone, you cannot manage this at all (how annoying!).
- No Auto-Pause Feature: AirPods have a built-in proximity feature that will auto-pause your music if you fidget with them in any way. SoundSport did away with this feature so you do not have to worry about your music turning off as you move about.
The MSRP on the SoundSport is $250, whereas the AirPods are $160. But like so many things in life, you get what you pay for. Make sure to take a look at them for Black Friday or Cyber Monday (if you have the patience).
Tony Coughlin
With multiple years of experience in customer service across many industries, Tony brings his upbeat and positive attitude to the Network 1 team. He is committed to delivering the right solutions and services for clients and business partners.
tcoughlin@network1consulting.com or 404.997.7655
Network 1 Consulting is a 20-year-old IT Support company in Atlanta, GA. We become – or augment – the IT department for law firms and medical practices. Our IT experts can fix computers – but what our clients value most are the industry-specific best practices we bring to their firms. This is especially important with technology, along with regulations and cyber threats, changing so rapidly. We take a proactive approach to helping our clients use technology to gain and keep their competitive advantage.
