In-flight entertainment systems, for the most part, are wired headphones only but sometimes you want to watch that new superhero movie or classic you keep putting off. Or maybe you didn’t download everything you wanted to on your tablet for a really long flight. Nobody wants to get stuck with the terrible headphones airplane staff provide you with, fortunately there’s a convenient way to connect your fancy wireless earbuds with any headphone jack.
Taking Off With AirFly
The AirFly Pro is a small Bluetooth transmitter you pair wirelessly with your cordless earbuds or headphones, then plug in to a headphone jack. It’s made by a company called Twelve South but is also sold directly by Apple online and in their stores. Twelve South actually made a few different type of AirFly, the regular AirFly, AirFly Duo, and AirFly Pro.
The main differences are the AirFly connects to only one device at a time, the Duo and the Pro let you connect two sets of headphones at the same time, and the Pro let’s you do things in reverse; which is stream from an iPhone to a headphone jack. For example to stream music to a car that doesn’t have a Bluetooth connection or a rental you don’t want to sync your phone with.
The AirFly Pro is pretty small, comes with this small pouch, and measures 10.92 centimeters at its longest and weighing only 15 grams, easily fitting in the palm of your hand. It charges via USB-C and on a full battery gives you around 16 hours of listening time. The design is fairly simple, you’ve got an audio jack and a pairing button. On the side there’s a switch between transmit and receive modes as well as a small reset button to return to factory settings.
Pairing Your Headphones And Earbuds
Pairing the AirFly with your headphones is pretty straightforward. you push and hold the power button down for 4 seconds. Once the indicator light is flashing orange and white, it’s ready to pair. Then you’ll put your headphones in pairing mode and hopefully in about 5- 10 seconds you’re all set.
I recommend pairing the AirFly Pro when your at home because it’s not the most intuitive, since you have to rely on indicator lights and it’s just much easier to have everything set up before you get on a plane. Once you’ve made the connection though, it’s process you don’t have to repeat for the same earbuds or headphones again.
Sound High Quality
The sound quality from the AirFly is very good and depending on the wireless headphones you’re using, the AirFly really provides them with a strong audio feed to play from. There’s hardly a lag from what you’re hearing to what you’re seeing on the screen and airplane announcements aren’t four times as loud as everything else.
Compared to other, cheaper Bluetooth transmitters, the AirFly Pro is well worth its slightly higher price tag. The competition generally is laggy, with worse battery life, and for frequent flyers, an AirFly Pro will be invaluable.
