The Importance Of The W1 Chip

At YGadget, we often give Apple a lot of stick. We wont go back on that. They deserve it. But every now and then they get something right and when they do, they blow us away. The W1 Chip is one of those magical inventions that, as Apple always say, “just works”

The chips was first introduced in 2016 with the announcement of AirPods. It’s the technology that gives them the ability to easily connect with your iPhone by simply flicking open the dental floss esque case. But it’s much more than that.

We recently got our hands on a pair of Beats X wireless headphones. In case you forgot, Apple bought Beats a couple of years ago so we are also seeing the exclusive W1 chip in their latest line of Bluetooth products, and put simply, we are impressed.

Not only is the pairing process more simple than basic Bluetooth devices (when connecting for the first time just turn the headphones on and tap ‘connect’ on the pop up window) the connection is much quicker every time you use them. There is practically no waiting time at all.

There is also a few extra tricks up its sleeve.

If you own more than one Apple device, such as a MacBook, iPad, iPod, Mac etc, your headphones are ready to go on all of your devices provided you are signed in on the same iCloud account. Let’s face it, you will be.

Never has using Bluetooth been such a pleasure. Gone is the waiting time for a connection. No more disconnecting from one device to connect to another.

When you upgrade your iPhone or iPad to the latest model, as soon as it is turned on and signed in to your iCloud account your headphones are already good to go.

Last year i spent a short time in hospital, I had my phone with me for music/podcasts and my tablet for watching Netflix/YouTube. Being polite of course, I had my headphones in so I didn’t disturb people. Using Bluetooth headphones was a pain because i had to disconnect from my phone to connect to my tablet. It would have been a lot simpler to use wired headphones, but lying in a hospital bed, there was already more than enough wires to get tangled in without adding a headphone cable to the mix.

The only problem? It’s locked down to Apple products. Imagine a world where every Bluetooth device worked this well. What a peaceful world that would be. Maybe in a few years we will see this or a similar technology rollout to generic Bluetooth devices and android devices. One can dream.

Have you had any experience with the W1 Chip? What was your experience? Do you notice any difference at all, or are you generally happy with how you connect devices?

#apple #W1 #bluetoth #review #beatsx #headphones