And while I've been able to listen to music with these new AirPods for the same five-ish hours the originals were rated for, I've noticed a significant increase in how long I can use them to conduct phone calls. Granted, like most millennials, I try to avoid actual phone conversations as much as possible, but I bit the bullet for this review and handled a two-hour conversation with no trouble. (The earlier AirPods tended to die after about an hour and a half, tops.) Thankfully, charging the AirPods again is as simple as popping them back in their case, which typically provides between four and five full charges.

This year you can also charge the whole shebang wirelessly. The luxury will cost you extra though: The standard AirPods sell for $160, but the AirPods with the wireless-charging case cost $200. (You can also buy that case separately to use with your original AirPods for $80, but I'm not sure it's worth it.) Long story short, it, uh, works. It's far from the fastest way to refuel your earbuds so you're much better off plugging in a Lightning cable, but it's handy if your home is full of Qi-compatible charging pads. That fully wireless life just isn't for me, though, and if you're in the same boat, feel free to save your $40 for something else. A nice meal, maybe.

So far, the AirPods are at least marginally better than the originals in almost every way that matters. We now come to what might be the most contentious question in this whole review: Do these new AirPods sound any better than the ones we already had? Opinions between reviewers seem to be split: Some say there is no change at all while others point to a marked improvement in volume and presence. My answer lands somewhere in the middle.

Personally, I've found that these new AirPods produce sound that feels ever so slightly louder and more full than the originals. These are subtle differences, but noticeable ones. When I let my colleagues try the AirPod 2s in a blind test, though, about half thought the original ones sounded better. (In case you were curious, I made sure to clean the earwax out of the original AirPods before I started this testing.)