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15% more price for 25% more battery is worth it alone. Add in that every time I adjust the volume without needing to dig out my phone, and I’ll feel even better.

$20 is a single meal at a fast food restaurant, which I’ll have forgotten about the very next day. This is a much better long term investment.

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I would pay for the stem volume controls alone.

I prefer the regular AirPods to in-ear. But I still keep an old pair of Pro's around purely because the stem is so convenient for changing volume when I'm walking the dog or out for a run and I'd rather not get my phone out my pocket.

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FWIW being able to effortlessly change volume with the watch dial is like 20% of my reason for wearing one.
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I'd happily buy the older versions for less. Which is why they don't allow that.
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The differentiating feature is the Wireless Charging case, which they've had a separate SKU for forever.
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I bought the AirPods 4 with ANC in large part due to the Wireless Charging Case.
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These things have usable lifespans of about 2-4 years before the batteries start to go (depending on how low a capacity you can tolerate). It’s more like you buy the one available at the time when your old ones wear out.
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I don’t know if I just got lucky or what. But my AirPods Pro (1st gen) just finally crapped out last week. And the batteries are mostly fine: the speaker blew out in the right one, and it now sounds awful. But that’s ~6-7 good years that I got out of ‘em.
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^ knocking it before anyone on earth tried it- minus apple
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Both of these features have been on existing models (which I've used) for quite awhile and are not unknown quantities.
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