Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

jplusc

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 5, 2010
764
323
Los Angeles
Just curious what others are seeing. I'm primarily using mine for conference calls via Skype for business and I'm only seeing about 2 hours of talk time (and I have them in the case when not in use so there's no standby per say). A little disappointed so far. Fortunately I can use one at a time to keep things going.
 
i used mine in the gym for over an hour and it dropped 19%. no issues with battery life. I won't use these more than 2-3 hours i day i imagine. i will go to town on thursday and spend a few hours there and likely use them non stop there.
 
As they're rated at 5 hours of playtime, I'm expecting a 20% drop per hour. It might be because they're still new but mine are depleting much faster. In one song it dropped 3%
 
  • Like
Reactions: npolly0212
Two-way communication takes more battery life. Your 2 hour battery life is not out of line when it is also transmitting your voice.
 
Two-way communication takes more battery life. Your 2 hour battery life is not out of line when it is also transmitting your voice.

My battery life is now in line with Apple's advertised time, I get a 20% drain per hour when listening to music and after 2.5 hours it was at 50%. The reason it dropped originally is because I was listening to music and took a 15 minute phone call. I'm very happy with my AirPods.
 
Yeah, I noticed when doing voice calls the battery drops a lot faster. The buds themselves have been great for me battery wise even while making calls, but the case seems to deplete faster than I thought it would just keeping the buds topped up. That said, I have only now just put mine on the charger today after receiving them on Monday. And I still had 20% on the case and about 90% on the buds, so I probably would've have lasted through today as well.

It is a little annoying that I have to get the case with the buds and my iPhone to see the charge though, I'd much rather the case had two more led's to give more charge info just by looking at it. (Three green = full, one green = 33%, one amber = <10%) That or add a similar "pop-up" battery status window on every device and only show on the closest one (Mac, iPad or iPhone.)
 
What's the best practice here? Always in the case when not in use or, like in the old days, wait until the battery has been substantially depleted before charging again? Thanks.
 
What's the best practice here? Always in the case when not in use or, like in the old days, wait until the battery has been substantially depleted before charging again? Thanks.

These have Li-Ion batteries, which like to live in the middle 20-80% range (40-60% is typical for long-term storage). They don't have "memory" so there is no benefit to discharging all the way before recharging. If anything, I'll avoid leaving them at 100% or 0% for extended periods of time, especially in a warm environment, as that would hasten capacity degradation... same things I consider with my Li-Ion powered electric car.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jk73
Apple promises 2 hours of talk time and 5 hours of listening time with 50% volume. http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEF2AM/A/airpods

Also give any new device about 3-5 full charge cycles before you judge the battery performance.
Ah ha! I was wondering why I wasn't getting great battery life - I'm on hours of calls a day. I just put them in the case for a few minutes when I get coffee and no worries.
 
Just curious what others are seeing. I'm primarily using mine for conference calls via Skype for business and I'm only seeing about 2 hours of talk time (and I have them in the case when not in use so there's no standby per say). A little disappointed so far. Fortunately I can use one at a time to keep things going.

Sounds like par-for-the-course per Apple spec sheet on these: 2 hours of talk time at 50% volume. That said, one tactic mentioned in multiple reviews is to only use one AirPod for long phone calls, leaving the other in the case. When the low battery alert happens, swap for the charged AirPod. Rinse, repeat. Allegedly, you callers will not ear any clue. Sure beats the old days of running around the house looking for the other cordless handset while on an important call!
 
  • Like
Reactions: jplusc
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.