Twelve South AirFly Duo | Wireless transmitter with audio sharing for up to 2 AirPods /wireless headphones to any audio jack for airplane, car, gym or home use

Product Information

I've used a number of Bluetooth headphone adapters designed for in-flight systems before, but the sheer simplicity of Twelve South's latest AirFly product has impressed me while up in the air. AirFly (2nd gen) is not currently compatible with AirPods Pro (2nd generation). We recommend AirFly Pro for AirPods Pro (2nd generation). The second new feature that AirFly Pro has is called Receive mode. Flip the switch on the side of the AirFly Pro dongle and it becomes the receiver of the Bluetooth transmission. Pair it with your iPhone, and then plug it into an aux-in port (like the one you might find in a car), and suddenly, your phone is wirelessly connected to your car (or a rental car, or a friend's car). I'm a big fan of Bluetooth receivers in my house. I own a lot of older speakers that don't support Bluetooth. As long as you have a 3.5mm aux-in port (not the headphone port, that's aux-out), this will make your home sound system Bluetooth enabled.

As you now know, Twelve South created the Airfly Pro so that consumers can enjoy listening to audio from devices that do not typically connect to wireless headphones. There’s plenty to love about the AirFly Duo. From its small and compact size, including the handy drawstring pouch, to the ease in connecting the device to your favorite headphones, it’s a terrific product that travelers should be excited to try out. When it comes time to charge up AirFly Pro, you'll get a notification in the form of an amber blinking light. It'll flash three times to let you know its running low on juice. It comes with a charging cable (USB-A-to-USB-C) but the good news is it supports USB-C charging, so any one of the USB-C cables you have lying around will juice it up. AirFly Pro, according to Twelve South, also sports a hefty 16-hour battery life. I have not had the opportunity to max out the battery life to test these claims, but I can tell you that I wore out my AirPods Pro twice while AirFly Pro kept ongoing. I also don't like it when gadgets don't provide battery level indicators. This is something Apple skips on, too, with its Smart Battery Case. On something as small as the AirFly Pro, it'd probably be very difficult to fit four LED status lights, but it'd be great to be able to press a button to see approximately how much battery life is left (based on how many lights light up).

Can a Smart TV Connect to Bluetooth Speakers?

The only disadvantage to the Airfly Duo is that it does not come equipped with an audio in option. That means you cannot play audio from your phone to a speaker, car stereo, or various other devices like you can with the Pro. I'm yet to try the AirFly on any further flights, but I'm confident some systems will pose irks and difficulties: a lot of older American Airlines (and other carriers) use a tri-connector, for example, for which you'll need an adaptor (or a lot of patience in getting the stereo 'band' to sit across the right section to achieve mono output to both ears). Pairing the AirFly with your favorite set of wireless headphones couldn’t be easier. After fully charging the device with the included charging cable, we were able to pair our set of AirPods Pro within 30 seconds with the push of a couple of buttons — one on the AirFly and one on the AirPods case. During our testing on a nearly completely full airplane, the AirFly had no difficulties producing sound without interfering with other Bluetooth headphones in the small space.

The Airfly Duo can connect to two sets of headphones at one time, just like the Pro, but unlike the Pro, with just a few hours of charge, the device can last for over 20 hours!Although the product is being sold by Apple, it works with every brand of wireless headphones, not just Airpods. Remember, the only real difference between these two devices is that the Pro offers an option to enjoy your entertainment through a speaker in your home, car, or even on a boat through the audio in option. Will we be flying without the AirFly Duo again? Probably not. Overall, the ease of the device makes it worth carrying along on every trip. It’s compact enough to store in any travel bag, easy enough to connect with a number of devices and perhaps best of all, you can say goodbye to airline-supplied headphones forever. If you travel frequently — or seldom but have other places to use the transmitter — the AirFly devices are an absolute no-brainer. What I really love about Twelve South's Airfly, however, is just how darn easy it is to use. There's an on/off toggle on the side, next to which is a button to connect a nearby Bluetooth device. With my current best headphones sat atop my head - the Bose 700 being my current long-time winners - pairing was achieved in a matter of seconds (the headphones verbally telling me so).