Have you ever been to China ? I ’m on my 8th visit to the biggest nation in the world , at least by universe size , and a nation that ’s integral to all of the technology we use today .
A boom in manufacturing and technical advancements over the past 40 year has positioned Shenzhen , located next to Hong Kong and antecedently a fishing village , as arguably the most crucial city in applied science . Most major technical school companies have a significant mien in this metropolis , and alongside that , many of the factory that produce our favorite consumer electronics are also based here .
I ’ve expend almost two weeks in China , and yesterday I paid a visit toHuaqiangbei , the world ’s biggest and dotty electronics fair . This is where you could find the good internal components — ideal if you ’re building a tech product of your own — as well as complete product that are often indistinguishable from the existent matter .
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
you’re able to also buy the good products at crazily low-priced prices , as I find with these AirPods Pro .
Yes, the AirPods Pro 2 cost me just $9
In Huaqiangbei , you ’ll incur a serial of markets deal a variety of products that you ’re conversant with . They also offer a range of speech sound and add-on that are n’t commonly meet , but most stalls also promote their wares throughApple Watches , Apple cable system , and Apple AirPods . I grease one’s palms all three of these while in Huaqiangbei , and the most interesting is theAirPods Pro 2 .
It ’s easy to mistake this as a pair of false AirPods Pro — something that you have to be wary of , regardless of where you purchase them from , unless it ’s directly from an authorized retailer — but it turn out , they have all the signs they ’re real and somehow made their style to Shenzhen .
They issue forth in a shell that interpret ‘ Designed by Apple in California ’ and ‘ Made in China ’ . The subject features USB - vitamin C charging . They equip on the nose like the AirPods Pro 2 do . While they did n’t have a case with magnetic charging ( and I checked several stores ) , they very much appear to be a genuine dyad of AirPods Pro that I bought at a fraction of the price .
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
This pair cost me just 70 RMB , which converts to $ 9.59 at the time of writing . For context , the AirPods Pro 2 costs between $ 179 ( on sales event ) and $ 249 ( MSRP ) , so to devote less than 5 % of the price is unbelievable . However , does it play decent ?
Do $9 AirPods Pro 2 work properly?
This was my big concern when buy them , but in world , even a $ 9 dyad of AirPods Pro 2 that just fiddle audio would have been a worthwhile investment funds . It turn out that this may be the right $ 9 I ’ve ever spend .
When you buy a pair of AirPods Pro from Apple , they appear on your iPhone screen door , get it easy to connect . When you corrupt these , they do n’t , but once connected , the same windowpane appears on - cover when you open or shut the face . Yet , when colligate , all the regular features , such as spacial sound recording , nous trailing , and racket cancellation , make for just as well as my original brace of AirPods Pro 2 .
What about other Apple features ? This is where thing get mirky . On my Mac , they sync and appear within my Bluetooth fare as AirPods Pro # 8 , which is automatically fix as the name , as I ’ve had seven other pairs . Yet , they wo n’t connect automatically unless you unplug them from the iPhone .
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
There are a mates of yield that I ’ve noticed . First , the left over earbud sometimes disconnect , whereas the veracious earbud knead perfectly . second , the spatial tracking does n’t crop as well as my original pair , but these are small gripe .
What about AppleCare ? This is where thing get interesting .
Are these real AirPods Pro 2?
According to Apple ’s insurance coverage checker , it comes with AppleCare until July 2026 . It has a purchase engagement of July 2024 , which essentially means I ’ve acquire someone ’s sure-enough pair that has almost certainly been refurbished and repaired . It ’s not just AppleCare , but AppleCare+ , which includes insurance coverage for damage .
This answer the question about whether these are existent ; the solvent is that they very much seem to be . However , the question of how they got here – and why they ’re so cheap – is still a mystery .
There are one C of stalls betray these , so it ’s unclear whether I just got lucky or if all of them are of this quality . The timing is fortuitous … The pair I buy from Apple last year is currently on a Qatar flight somewhere , waiting to be found . I had also lost the proper earbud , and alternatively of give $ 89 to replace it , or $ 249 to put back the total set , I ’ve source a refilling for just $ 9 .
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
