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Imagine being able to get Apple AirPods with Qi wireless charging for under $20. Sounds fantastic, right? Well, maybe, maybe not. Tech expert Dave Taylor of https://www.AskDaveTaylor.com/ reviews the Air i500 TWS Pop-Up Wireless Earbuds and finds that they're an astonishing clone of the Apple product for a tiny fraction of the price.
But does that make them a smart purchase? That's just as much a question of ethics and intellectual property ownership as it is just about the final price tag of the device.
Here's the link to the product I reviewed:
https://madgeniuset.com/collections/smart-bracelet/products/i500-pop-up-tws-airpods
and here's a link to what might (or might not) be the same product on AliExpress:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33049524555.html
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0:00
Apple Airpods for the price of a burger? Well, sort of. Let's check it out
0:13
Dave Taylor here and I'm looking at these and you're thinking, okay, Apple Airpods, I can see that
0:19
But they're not actually Apple Airpods. They look the same, they function the same, they even actually sound pretty darn nice
0:28
But these are the Air I500 TWS pop-up wireless earbuds and they're basically a Chinese knockoff of the Apple Airpod
0:38
Now, they've put a ton of engineering into trying to duplicate every single function of this
0:44
And it's really fascinating to see how well they've done and you will be startled, I kid you not, shocked and startled at how inexpensive they are
0:54
These are a tiny fraction of the cost of Apple Airpods. But are they as good
1:00
And is this something we should be endorsing? Because obviously Apple spends billions of dollars on research to create great products
1:08
And when other companies use their technology without licensing it, this is not necessarily good for the overall ecosystem
1:16
So, in fact, I've spent years ignoring these sort of products because I've really wanted to see innovation, not duplication
1:24
But finally I knuckled under and I said, you know what, let's give these a check out
1:29
So, these I500s have in-ear sensors, so when you take them out, they pair
1:36
And when I put them in my ear, they're ready to roll. They even have in-ear sensors, so if I take it out of my ear, it will pause
1:43
You can listen to them separately or together. They even use a clone of the H1 chip, which is the fast pairing chip that supports Bluetooth 5.0
1:53
Not only that, but when you have them in, you can just say, hey Siri, and your earbuds will give that data to the phone and you'll be able to use that too. Amazing
2:03
So, independent earbud use means I can just put one in, so if I'm going to make a phone call or something, I can just have one ear in and that works perfectly fine
2:12
And like I said, they auto-pair and auto-disconnect. And I want you to see this
2:18
Oops, let's get back there if we can. Come on, you can do it
2:23
It even talks to the phone in a way where the phone believes these are actual Apple AirPods
2:30
So, as you can see in this inset, it shows me battery charge per earbud, shows me the connection, gives me all the animation
2:39
Really, the phone has no idea these aren't the real things, which honestly is reverse engineering
2:45
I asked the company, how are you getting the iPhone to think these are actual, proper, and legal Apple AirPods
2:54
And they said, well, we duplicate all the functionality. And this is like, hmm, do you pay for the license for that technology
3:01
And the answer is, no, they don't really do that. So, there's sort of a moral and ethical question here too as to whether or not you want to acquire these
3:10
But I thought it'd still be interesting to actually check them out. So, they support, here's one of the other cool things, especially given the price, they support wireless charging
3:20
So, this is the fantastic OtterBox OtterPad. This is a wireless Qi charging plate
3:27
And if I put these on here, it will actually start charging the AirPods
3:34
And fantastic, right? So, as a price comparison, the real, honest to God, second generation Apple AirPods with wireless Qi charging are $199
3:47
That is way, way, way more expensive than these are. So, let me show you what's in the box
3:54
Then we'll talk about the sound. And then finally, we'll talk about the price
3:58
So, the box comes with apparently a variety of different things. The version I got literally just has a charging cable
4:06
So, that's a lightning cable. There are other versions of this that seem to come with extra case, comes with ear tips, all sorts of different stuff
4:18
So, I'm not really clear. My guess, this is sort of my theory, is that the factories that actually make the AirPods for Apple also sort of moonlight by making these other ones
4:31
And so, there's different packaging variations. But this is so close to the real thing from Apple that you could actually probably sucker someone into thinking these are actual AirPods and really rip them off
4:44
So, if you're buying these sort of things on Craigslist, be super careful
4:48
Because you could buy this for, and I'll just tell you up front, $11.99
4:53
Actually, no, $11.50, right? You can buy these for $11 and then sell them to someone for $99
5:00
That's a half off the price of wireless charging AirPods. Honestly, they'd never even know
5:05
So, okay. Now, in the box, like I said, this one's disappointingly slim
5:11
But there's other versions that seem to have a lot more stuff in them. You still have that fundamental design of the AirPods where they just fit in
5:18
They're one size fits all. And if that's not the right size for your ear, well, that's the way it is
5:24
That's sort of an inherent limitation with the design. But having said that, let me just say, these sound really good
5:31
I was actually really impressed. And not only do they sound really good, but they actually have a really nice set of functionality
5:39
And they sound good for phone calls. Are they as good as the Apple AirPods
5:44
Probably not. I think the AirPods have better sound and better voice
5:48
But these, particularly given the price, are entirely reasonable alternatives, especially for kids who are likely to lose them or something
5:56
So, no latency. I tried watching some TV, watching some YouTube and stuff
6:01
Everything's perfectly fine. Phone calls, you know, they're phone calls. They sounded decent
6:07
But the music actually sounds good. There's a crisp precision to the sound on these that surprised me
6:13
Again, given the price, first I thought these were about $50. And I'm like, that's a pretty darn good price for something that's a sort of rip-off of a $200 product
6:24
But then I found these, like I said, for way less than that. At which point you realize that having them sound other than horrible is amazing
6:32
And they actually sound really good. Are they fantastic? Not really. There's a lot of inherent problems with having one-size-fits-all earbuds
6:41
But for that, they still actually do a nice job of music reproduction
6:46
And because they're working off of Bluetooth 5, they give you a lot of range
6:51
And they're consistently paired. I never had a problem where one ear was working and the other ear wasn't
6:56
That's super annoying. Bluetooth 5 really fixes that. And I was walking probably 15, 20 feet away from my phone
7:04
And they were still working just fine and streaming music without any issues at all
7:08
So, props to them. Good sound. Amazing duplication of functionality. The packaging, the design itself, obviously is pretty much an exact duplicate of what you'd get from Apple
7:22
Even down to the lightning connector and a lightning cable. Which means that the lightning cable also, undoubtedly, is an unlicensed little tiny chip in the lightning connector to make it work too
7:33
Oh my gosh. As long as you're willing to play a little fast and loose with that intellectual property, this is what you can get out of the deal
7:40
Now, before I tell you the price and we talk about that a little bit, let me just ask if you can subscribe to my channel
7:46
I hope this video clearly demonstrates I'm really honest and candid. I will tell you the pros and the cons
7:53
And I look at a lot of different products. And in fact, I've been using my iPhone XS
7:58
By the time I get to my next video on the channel, it will be an iPhone 11 Pro
8:03
So, I keep up. And that means you can keep up too
8:07
So, subscribe. Click that button. Really appreciate that. And leave me a comment
8:12
Will you be willing to consider buying a cheap knockoff knowing that there's no license fees that have been paid to the original designer and inventor of all of this technology, e.g. Apple
8:25
Or do you feel like Apple is so overpriced that anything you can do to get Apple technology that doesn't require you having to get a loan at the bank is a good deal
8:35
So, let me know. Tell me either way. Okay, these. Let me just pull them out
8:41
And, you know, here's a close-up so you can see exactly what the AirPods look like
8:47
I mean, they are really the spitting image of what Apple has
8:51
So, these Air i500 TWS pop-up wireless earbuds are $11.50 at aliexpress.com
9:03
And you can look around. You might even be able to find them for less than that. That's crazy
9:08
Including shipping to the USA, that's under $15. Under $15. I mean, if someone came to me and said, hey, I got these AirPod knockoffs for $15
9:18
I'd be like, nope, not interested. But you know what? They're not bad at all
9:23
So, really, I feel like your decision to acquire these might be more of an ethical question than it is a financial question
9:30
Which is kind of unusual in the world of Apple products because pretty much when you buy stuff from Apple, it's a financial question, right
9:38
I know. I finance my laptops. That's how expensive they are. Yikes
9:42
So, anyway, very interesting total knockoff of the Apple AirPods. Possibly worth you checking out
9:50
And with that, I'll catch you in my next video. Thanks for watching
#Audio Equipment
#Product Reviews & Price Comparisons
#Gadgets & Portable Electronics