I wonder how these things are selling? And who they're selling to?
Not that it counts for much - because who among us is out and about among crowds, walking through malls, airports, etc. these days - but in what little I
am out (grocery store, the occasional socially-distanced restaurant or pub visit), I've yet to see any of these in the wild. Granted, those places aren't exactly where you'd see people wearing such things, so I know that's not a fully accurate picture.
I guess we'll know, within a year or so, if these things are the new AirPods...or the new iPod Hi-Fi.
At $500+, I'm kinda betting on the latter. I do see AirPods quite a bit, nearly everywhere I go (even in these limited times). I'll see at least two people wearing them on any grocery store visit these past 6-9 months. So I know those are popular. But they're also less than half the price and not nearly as cumbersome or "big on the head". That counts for a lot.
I love listening to music and podcasts, but these things would have to be well under $300 - and when I say "well", I mean like $229 or so - for me to even
begin to think about. And, even then, my old-school wired earbuds that came with my iPhone SE still sound good to me (clear, bass, etc.). And while I'd enjoy the lack of tangled wires represented by the AirPods, I just can't bring myself to fork over the $159-249 for those either.
It's sometimes hard to be an Apple user/fan
and a practical-to-a-fault, world-class cheapskate.
If I wasn't wired the way I am, I'd already have about one of everything. But I just can't seem to ever easily pull that trigger...I'll think of 4x the number of reasons
not to buy something (Apple and otherwise).