Now, before you say “slow news day ah??” let me just say that this piece is of cultural significance. It paints a picture of how even K-pop superstars are human too. That everyone loses their AirPods sometimes. Or in the case of BTS rapper Kim Nam-joon, it happens all the time.
In a livestreamed Q&A, Nam-joon, better known as RM (formerly Rap Monster) revealed that he was currently on his 34th pair of AirPods because he keeps losing them. This news broke on Twitter as user wisha (@doyou_bangtan) shared translated snippets of the K-pop group’s livestream.
However, it wasn’t revealed in the thread exactly how he lost them, but considering the fact that these little guys don’t do a great job staying in your ears, there could be more reasons than number of lost AirPods.
Now, considering the fact that a pair of the standard AirPods retails for RM879 (I mean, there’s the RM699 one, but if you’re a K-pop superstar why wouldn’t you get the wireless charging one?) the fact that he’s spent money on 34 pairs of AirPods means he’s spent almost RM30,000 on those chopped up toothbrush heads.
That’s enough to get your hands on one of Apple’s souped up MacBook Pro 16, which is a lot of money. Or, you could say…a lot of RM.
But, I can already hear you rioting about how this could have happened at all. After all, it was Mr Cook himself who said they stayed in his ears even when he was dancing. It is, however, the unfortunate fact of the universe that some things will always remain a mystery, because it’s not like people have different ears or anything like that.
That being said, the thing I’m more curious about is why RM continues to pick up pair after pair of AirPods even though they keep falling out of his ears. From what I’ve heard, they don’t sound super good, and the fact that they’re so pricey really doesn’t seem to make sense.
Maybe it’s that whole ecosystem Apple users won’t stop harping on about. It’s true, AirPods work really well with Apple’s other devices, but is that little bit of convenience really worth losing your headphones over and over again? Perhaps it’s because RM is like me, and has weird ears that don’t play well with in-ear headphones. Now, I know, it’s probably blasphemous for me to compare myself to RM, but before you stab me with a pitchfork, remember that the whole point of this article is to show how human we all are.
Or perhaps, what RM really needs in his life is just some tech advice from his friends here at SoyaCincau. After all, he must be super busy with dancing, singing, and posing for thirsty pictures. Well, fret not RM, here are Rory’s top 3 suggestions for how you can avoid losing another pair of headphones.
1. Go full uncle with these AirPods strap
If going fully wireless was the main source of your problems, consider this useful accessory from Spigen that converts your truly wireless AirPods to mostly wireless AirPods.
They’re called the Spigen TEKA AirPods Strap, and they’ll attach to each side of your AirPods so when they do fall, at least they’ll still be around your neck. Now, I’m sure that this isn’t a look average mortals can pull off, but if anyone’s going to be able to do it, it’s a K-pop star from the hottest boy group currently on the planet.
2. Maybe use another pair of headphones?
I mean, this is pretty self-explanatory. The AirPods clearly don’t fit very well, and the fact that they’re not really in-ear means that you don’t get the grip you often do. So maybe it’s time to change to a different pair. Something like the AirPods Pro, for example.
These have those extra rubbery bits that can really get up in there in your ear so they’re far less likely to fall out. Plus, these new headphones apparently have better sound and ANC on top of that!
Or, if you don’t mind stepping outside of the Apple ecosystem, maybe try out the Sony WF-1000XM3 headphones instead. They sound great, come with more eartips than I have fingers so you can mix and match until you find a combo that fits best. Plus, they’re more affordable than the AirPods Pro.
3. Don’t use headphones at all!
No, seriously. If the headphones are the source of your problems, maybe try getting rid of them altogether! iPhones these days have excellent speakers already, so just play your music or whatever out loud. Normally, this would be super obnoxious, but sometimes you just have to think about what’s best for you, y’know?
