The invention of wireless headphones has been a blessing to those who hate the tangled mess that once filled their jean pockets.
Wireless earbuds with Bluetooth compatibility are simply better — they offer less clutter, they are more efficient, harder to knock out of your ear, and are far more convenient. Regrettably, this new advancement for mobile audio devices does not come without its fair share of drawbacks.
Wire-free earbuds are always going to be easier to lose. They won’t dangle safely from a wire when they fall to the ground.
And most importantly, they require a charge. The latter is very concerning for those who have hours of their day spent well away from a plug outlet or any way to charge their earbuds or case.
This is true for Apple’s Airpods as well, which have been reported as losing their charge faster than the listed specifications by dissatisfied consumers.
To alleviate this problem, we are going to look at some of the reasons why your Airpods are dying and solutions to ensure that they stay charged for far longer!
Why Are My Airpods Losing Charge So Fast?
The first thing we have to understand when looking at how quickly the Airpods battery drains sometimes is the size of the product.
When the tech comes in such a small package, the battery is not going to be as robust and long-lasting as something like a portable speaker. So naturally, even if your Airpods are working as intended – they will never get the 12-hour battery lives that we wish they could.
Thankfully, smarter minds than mine came up with a case that allows the earbuds or Airpods to get multiple charges, working as a mobile power station.
If you find that you aren’t placing your earbuds back in the case when you are taking a break from the tunes or you don’t bring the case at all, this might be your issue. In that same vein, be sure that the charging case is fully charged before taking it with you, as an uncharged case is little more than an Airpod container.
Another solution to this problem is lessening the strain on your AirPods, which can be done in a number of ways.
Like all audio devices, the higher the volume is, the more juice is going to be required from the battery.
Additionally, the added features that come with the Airpod like the in-ear detection (which pauses the Airpods when you remove them) and the noise cancellation are going to put added strain on your charge. So if you can go without these intuitive, helpful features, you will get more battery for it.
If you are going through all of this and checking every mental box, realizing you have done all of the previous suggestions, then bad news is looming. The most likely issue is that the battery to your Airpods is likely reaching retirement age and can’t maintain the same charge that it used to.
If this is the case, little can be done for the existing battery other than acquiescing to its lower charge rate or purchasing new Airpods altogether. For those under warranty, thankfully Apple will replace the battery for no additional fee if you are within the warranty timeline.
5 Solutions to A Quickly Draining Airpod Battery
Regardless of whether you are incredibly diligent and gentle with your Airpods or you can hardly remember the last place you put them – there are a number of ways to increase the life of your fully-charged Airpods.
So even if you can’t pull half a day out of one Airpod charge, you can still get the specified six hours listed by Apple.
1. Crank Down the Jams
It feels hypocritical to judge others for such a universally beloved pastime. I almost certainly have some amount of hearing loss from consistently maxed out volumes in my earlier years.
High volumes suck a battery dry faster than you really realize, leaving you wondering why Apple choose to lie to you about the battery life.
This turns your volume knob into the middleman between an electrical tug of war between your audio level and the battery itself. Keeping the volume around 60% should get you the battery life you want without having to hear the Rolling Stones whisper Sympathy For The Devil in your ear.
You can also make sure no dirt or grime is obstructing the audio output holes which could also make your listening experience a much quieter one.
2. Turn Off Additional Features that Drain the Battery
One of the biggest things that make Airpods stand out so significantly (outside of the Apple logo) is the incredible added capabilities that make these earbuds feel like something out of a science fiction novel.
The noise cancellation is brilliant at reducing noise pollution around you so all you hear is the smooth jams of your playlist. It also offers technology that detects when the Airpod is being removed from your ear and will pause the audio, which is something that has been long overlooked by tech and audio brands.
Unfortunately, these features are going to cost you a good portion of your battery life. So if you can live without them, it could prove beneficial to have a more rudimentary setup for your Airpods to last more of the day. This is one of those solutions that come down to personal choice (a few of these solutions are), so no shame if you feel that these features are a worthwhile trade-off.
3. Keep Airpods In Their Charging Case As Often As Possible
If you are someone who uses your Airpods several times a day for an infrequent amount of time, place them in the case when you are taking a break from music.
The charging case of the Airpods has a notoriously fast charge time, keeping them on for a few minutes at a time will keep the charge percentage higher more consistently if not full throughout the day.
This can be a hard thing to remember every time you take your earbuds out so try to make a habit of keeping your charging case nearby, so you can always place them back after. This is especially helpful as your battery inevitably begins to fade in longevity and allows for you to get more out of a diminishing part of your Airpods.
4. Keep Charging Case Plugged in as Much as Possible
Now clearly this is not going to be possible in every imaginable scenario, though if you find yourself listening to music inside or near electrical outlets, keeping the case full of juice will definitely benefit you and your Airpods.
For those skeptical, the battery of the charging case has a mechanism that shuts off extra juice so you do not have to stress about the possibility of overcharging your case.
If you can’t keep it charged for the majority of the day, then try to plug it in before you go to bed so you can start the next day with a fresh, full charge. Airpods are a great product that offers a lot of ingenuity, this however comes with the added need for diligence in charging not only your earbuds but the case itself.
Make your charging case just as big a priority as your Airpods and you will rarely run out of charge.
5. Keep the battery above 40%
Forgive how unbelievably corny the following statement is; batteries are a lot like people. We have a lot to offer in terms of energy, but if we push ourselves too hard it will wear on us long-term and have serious repercussions down the road.
Batteries have the same issue and pushing them to their limits will be detrimental to their charge quality. To alleviate this future issue, do your best to make sure that the Airpods never fall below forty percent.
This is obviously not always going to be possible, and you aren’t in hot water if you forget to maintain this every now and then. Continued abuse of your battery (ten percent or less) will result in the unfortunate reality of a dying battery that offers little and less with each charge.
If you follow steps three and four then this will never be much of a problem, though if your battery is dying well before it should, this is likely the reason.
Understanding Battery Degradation in AirPods
A crucial factor that many consumers often overlook when discussing battery life and charge cycles is the inherent nature of lithium-ion batteries, which power the AirPods.
Lithium-ion batteries are typically capable of handling between 300 to 500 full recharge cycles before their capacity starts to degrade noticeably. A charge cycle is defined as the process of charging a battery from 0% to 100% and then discharging it back to 0%.
When it comes to AirPods, each complete charge and discharge cycle could potentially reduce the overall battery capacity slightly. After several hundred cycles, the AirPods’ battery may start to hold less charge than it did when new, leading to shorter listening times between each recharge. This phenomenon isn’t specific to AirPods or Apple products but is rather a characteristic of lithium-ion batteries used in most modern electronic devices.
Maintaining optimal battery health involves a blend of good practices, many of which have been outlined in this article.
However, it’s essential to recognize that over time, your AirPods’ battery life will naturally decrease due to the chemical changes within the battery. When the battery life becomes too short to be practical, replacing the battery or the entire set of AirPods may be necessary.
Final Thoughts
Technology can be both wildly breathtaking and infuriatingly fragile.
Thankfully for us, most of the problems we encounter in these products have been discovered and handled by several other formerly frustrated consumers on the internet.
Airpods are no different. With the information offered in this brief article, you will get far better battery life and longevity out of your snazzy, stylish Apple AirPods.
FAQs
Why do my AirPods run out of battery quickly when not in use?
Some users might notice a quick drain of the AirPods battery even when they’re not in use. This could be due to the AirPods staying connected to your device even when they’re in the case and not being actively used. Also, features like automatic ear detection and background app refreshing could also be contributing to battery drain. To minimize this, you could turn off these features when they’re not required.
Can I replace my AirPods battery if it’s draining quickly due to age?
AirPods, like other Apple devices, have built-in batteries that aren’t meant to be replaced by the user. However, if your AirPods are under warranty or you have AppleCare+, you may be eligible for battery service from Apple. If the battery has degraded due to normal wear and tear and your warranty or AppleCare+ has expired, you might have to pay for battery service or product replacement.
Do AirPods have a battery saving mode?
At the time of publish, AirPods do not feature a specific battery saving mode. However, certain practices can help prolong battery life, such as lowering the volume, disabling extra features when not in use, keeping AirPods and the charging case above 40%, and regularly placing your AirPods in the case when not in use to keep them charged.
