Wireless Buds' Independence

[utebehemoth]

I am a big fan of the concept of the so call "true" wireless earbuds. 

I have had AirPods and others. 

I read up on almost every new pair that gets launched that I can find.  Something that always sticks out to me though, is independence is hardly ever integrated or discussed.

 

As one of the major features of AirPods, I would think that more companies would be trying to incorporate this feature into their products as well. 

Also, it seems odd that most of the reviews and product sheets don't seem to mention, one way or another, if the product has this capability.  

 

If I were a tech reviewer charged with reviewing earbuds, the ability to use the bud independently of each other (use one / charge one) would be high on my list of things to check.

 

So the question I have, is why is this not the case?

Is this feature more necessary due to some limitation of the AirPods or am I just uniquely more interested in this feature than the rest? 

Is there some IP / patent keeping others from competing? 

 

I don't meant this post to be list of which true wireless buds are best nor a bump for AirPods, but more of a question of why this is something seemingly downplayed by both manufacturers and reviewers. 

 

Note: I am aware that many have the ability to use only one (usually the right) but not either independently like the AirPods.

[myselfolli]

1 minute ago, utebehemoth said:

I am a big fan of the concept of the so call "true" wireless earbuds. 

I have had AirPods and others. 

I read up on almost every new pair that gets launched that I can find.  Something that always sticks out to me though, is independence is hardly ever integrated or discussed.

 

As one of the major features of AirPods, I would think that more companies would be trying to incorporate this feature into their products as well. 

Also, it seems odd that most of the reviews and product sheets don't seem to mention, one way or another, if the product has this capability.  

 

If I were a tech reviewer charged with reviewing earbuds, the ability to use the bud independently of each other (use one / charge one) would be high on my list of things to check.

 

So the question I have, is why is this not the case?

Is this feature more necessary due to some limitation of the AirPods or am I just uniquely more interested in this feature than the rest? 

Is there some IP / patent keeping others from competing? 

 

I don't meant this post to be list of which true wireless buds are best nor a bump for AirPods, but more of a question of why this is something seemingly downplayed by both manufacturers and reviewers. 

 

Note: I am aware that many have the ability to use only one (usually the right) but not either independently like the AirPods.

I think that's a very specific thing to look for in a review. When would you ever realistically use that feature? If you only want to use one (Air-) earpod, just put one in. As for charging: they will stop charging once they are fully charged up...?

[utebehemoth]

1 minute ago, myselfolli said:

I think that's a very specific thing to look for in a review. When would you ever realistically use that feature? If you only want to use one (Air-) earpod, just put one in. As for charging: they will stop charging once they are fully charged up...?

The problem is that you can't put either one in. You can only put in the right one, for instance.  If you use only the left, nothing happens.  With AirPods, you can use either.  So you can be using one while the other charges, then swap.  I've done this a lot when using them for long troubleshooting calls 8hr+.  If I were to use both of them, they would not have lasted long enough to use for the entire call, but because i could use one at a time and continue to charge/swap, I could use them indefinitely.  

 

There are many times when I'm doing things where I only want to have in one bud (calls, audiobooks, etc) , problem is, when that one dies, the other is also useless.