> will entrench the user in a walled garden ecosystem from a very specific giant tech company that isn't big on making their products compatible with other companies

Are you suggesting AirPods aren't Bluetooth 5.3 and aren't compatible with Bluetooth audio sources? Or that it doesn't play AAC, MP3, and FLAC?

The proprietary capabilities (such as instant smart switching between active devices) are all incremental, taking nothing away from normal Bluetooth usage.