What you need to know
- These AirPod knock-offs don't make any sound.
- We're not even sure they look good.
- Our minds are so blown we can't think of a third point to make.
I'm sorry. I really am But that header image is all I could think of when I spied this story on Cult of Mac earlier today. Because, well, why? We've seen plenty of AirPods knock-offs and most of them cost a fraction of the price of the real thing. But these. These take the biscuit and cost just $12.
There's a very good reason for that, too. These aren't actually earbuds. They don't make any sound. They do.....nothing. They're just there to look good and, I think you'll agree, the jury is very much out as to whether they manage that or not.
No it isn't. They don't.
This madness comes courtesy of "fashion" store ASOS (opens in new tab) and was first spotted by an Australian news outlet.
We can understand companies wanting to make earbuds that look like AirPods. They're iconic, and they sell in huge numbers. But these don't even look like AirPods. It's as if someone wanted to make something like AirPods, but different enough not to get sued into oblivion.
Mission accomplished, really.
Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.
Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.
