I’d been eyeing AirPods for a long time and finally pulled the trigger at the end of 2019 on Pinduoduo. I’d been going back and forth on the price — despite the unmatched Bluetooth earphone experience they offer, they were still a bit steep for me. That’s why I kept putting it off.
But once Pinduoduo brought the price down to ¥899, I was seriously tempted. After “begging” on Weibo for some extra cash, the price dropped even further. There was really no reason not to buy them anymore. I opened Pinduoduo, set up interest-free installments via Huabei, and hit order. I even bragged about it on Weibo.
I have to say, AirPods completely changed the Bluetooth earphone connection experience. Before, using earphones meant pulling out EarPods, untangling the cable, plugging into the phone, then fitting them in your ears. Now you just take out the case and pop them in. It seems like skipping one small step — untangling cables — but that was exactly the most annoying, mood-killing step. So this seemingly minor improvement genuinely made a difference in daily happiness. That was the main reason I convinced myself to spend ¥899 on earphones.
When they first arrived, I was thrilled. With the earphones, I started listening to music noticeably more often. More music is never a bad thing. Plus, I could finally get more value out of my Spotify Premium subscription, haha. Another reason for buying was that I could wear them regularly to listen to English — YouTube has tons of material for ear training, which would help improve my listening skills.
But after using them for a few days, I noticed my right ear kept hurting. The moment I put the earphone in, there was a clear, sharp pain. I’d actually had this issue years ago with EarPods. At first I suspected the earphones were defective, but trying a friend’s EarPods produced the same problem. Eventually I figured out that I have a bony protrusion in my right ear canal. This spot constantly gets pressed against by hard earphone shells, causing the skin to break. Every time I wore them, they’d rub against that little wound, and I’d end up taking the right one out. My AirPods basically became a single-ear device.
After discovering this issue, I tried buying soft foam/rubber pads on Taobao. But once they arrived, all they did was make the case harder to close — they didn’t fix my problem at all. So I gave up on that approach.
For now, I just have to live with this drawback. The ultimate solution would be upgrading to AirPods Pro, of course… (runs away)