Your AirPods might be your TV’s secret audio upgrade

An Apple addiction can be a real thing. Relying on your iPhone, iPad, and MacBook all day to do work, contact people, scroll apps, and read a book are ways you can interact with Apple devices all day. This doesn’t even include watching Apple TV+ on your TV. The fruit-based tech giant has woven its way into every aspect of your daily life.

Another contribution to an Apple addiction is AirPods. Listening to music, podcasts, or FaceTiming with people gives you the opportunity to have them in at all times. It can be so simple to keep your AirPods in, as they are comfortable and have long-lasting battery life.

There are other features that give AirPods the versatility to be worn for all kinds of instances — one of which is watching TV. It may seem ridiculous to want to wear your AirPods while watching TV, but preferring them over a soundbar makes sense for these reasons.

1

Spatial Audio is ideal

This is arguably the best feature AirPods offer

Spatial Audio brings you a more immersive experience when you’re pairing your AirPods to listen. It can offer surround sound-like audio to make it feel like you’re in a theater listening. The 3D audio effect makes it feel like sound is coming from all different directions.

When you use your AirPods with Spatial Audio while watching TV, it can change how you’re enjoying your experience because it feels like you’re a part of the entertainment. In order to achieve this effect with a soundbar, you would have to create a surround sound system, meaning you’d need a soundbar and a few other speakers placed around the room. If you have an Apple TV, the audio will sound like it’s still coming from the TV rather than separate speakers or a separate device.

2

TV speakers are subpar, and a soundbar may be a small upgrade

This all depends on the size of the room

If you have a large room, it might make sense to add in a bigger soundbar and subwoofers to provide a fuller and richer audio experience. But, you must figure out where to place those speakers so they sound good for wherever you’re sitting. If there are multiple people in the room, it can change how the audio reaches them. Also, if you don’t have a soundbar or external speakers, you’re forced to listen to the audio coming out of the TV, which is often not ideal.

Many people have begun using subtitles when they’re watching shows and movies because of how poor their TV’s audio is. With AirPods, you’ll hear the audio more clearly and won’t need to crank up the volume incredibly loud. Obviously, if you’re hooking your TV up to your AirPods, it has to offer Bluetooth connectivity and others won’t be able to hear the audio at the same time as you. But for personal listening, AirPods absolutely beat trying to listen to your TV’s audio.

3

Cancel out the noise around you

Eliminate any distractions while you’re listening

Imagine you’re watching a sporting event and are completely locked in for the final quarter or period. Your team is clinging on to a lead and everything feels like it’s hanging in the balance. You can’t hear anything around you other than what’s on the TV. That’s because you have your AirPods in with noise cancellation enabled. It completely separates any audio that you might hear in the room and just funnels the audio from your TV into your ear.

A soundbar can never emulate this feeling. Soundbars are made to provide better sound quality for a larger room and make it feel like a more complete and balanced audio experience. Enabling the active noise cancellation of AirPods can make it feel like you’re actually there in that stadium. Also, if you’ve never tried to watch a horror movie with noise-cancelling headphones on, you’re in for a treat. A Quiet Place will feel like you’re actually in a world where any sound you make could potentially be disastrous.

4

You can still hear what you want around you

It doesn’t all have to be cancelled out

Another one of the great audio features that AirPods offer you is transparency mode. This allows you to listen to the audio from your device while also letting you hear the surrounding sound. It’s a smart use of audio when you’re on a run and want to hear if a car is coming or if you’re on the subway and want to eavesdrop on a conversation. But you can eavesdrop on what the TV is saying while also listening in on what those around you are saying.

The same can be done if you have one AirPod in and one out, but you’re still able to hear what’s going on around you if you have them in transparency mode. Soundbars also let you hear what’s going around you while you’re listening, but the audio will be clearer if it’s being broadcast directly into your ear. You don’t even have to pause the movie or TV show to listen to what’s happening in the room. It’s a kind of magical way to be in two places at once.