AirPods left right different battery drain

[Poder]

Hello,

After listening for few hours from a fully charged set of AirPods, without putting them back in the charging case, I have different battery levels:
Left is at 23%,
Right at 10%.
(checked when putting back one AirPod in its charging case).

Do you experience a similar different battery drain left vs right ?

Thanks a lot,

Nice day to All.

 

[CharlesShaw]

Yes. I wonder if it's because they have different distances from the source antenna, depending on position? At the moment, I'm using mine while sitting directly in front of my rMBP and the Left one is draining a tiny bit faster.

Update: half a lazy day later, they discharged at an identical rate. Just music from MacBook or AppleTV watching, no calls or Siri. I'll let them run empty today, per teidon's suggestion, to calibrate the estimate better.

Update: another thought is that it's just how batteries act. How often do you buy two rechargeable batteries, connect them to a meter and compare progress?

 

[teidon]

Try using the batteries completely empty. The given battery level is always an estimation. Completely discharging the battery and then fully charging it should calibrate the battery level indicator so that the estimation is more accurate in the future.

 

[rorschach]

Are you using them on phone calls? The mic is only used on one side at a time, so that could explain the difference. If you're just listening...no idea.

 

[Statusnone88]

Wouldn't it make sense that they discharge at different rates? Just thinking from a music stand point, I know that with stereo sound, different volumes, instruments, vocals are coming out of each headphone to create that "all around you" sound. Could it be that different sounds need different levels of power to produce, thus putting a bigger battery need on one side vs the other?

Take my comment with a grain of salt, since I am not an expert on the issue. But at least in my head that's why I've suspected the batteries drain differently.

 

[Poder]

Hello,

Thank you for your feedback.

Yes I was listening only to music, no call or phone uses.

The position of the left - right vs the emission antenna and / or the different "signals" from a stereo music standpoint sound good as for a possible explanation.

Happy Christmas to All !

 

[ohio.emt]

I've also noticed once and awhile the charge is different when starting. If I have the widget up when I open the case it shows 100% for the case and the airpods together. However sometime when I take one out one will be 2-5% lower then the other. I just wish they would show individual battery levels all the time.

 

[kis]

That's relatively easy to explain: only one of them is connected to the phone via Bluetooth (class 1, which transmit at a max of 100mw -> massive power drain). So audio goes from the phone to one of the Airpods and is then transmitted to the other one via some lower power near field transmission mechanism.

 

[Ralfi]

Did you not use Siri at all?

I'm thinking by double tapping on one side only/mostly (I mainly tap my right one) will drain that Airpod more than the other?

 

[ShylockC]

That's relatively easy to explain: only one of them is connected to the phone via Bluetooth (class 1, which transmit at a max of 100mw -> massive power drain). So audio goes from the phone to one of the Airpods and is then transmitted to the other one via some lower power near field transmission mechanism.

Sorry for responding so late. Actually not true. Each airpod has a unique connection to the phone. Neither is a “master” unlike other bluetooth headphones.

 

[mg93108]

I just bought the new Air Pod Pro noise-canceling earbuds. I love them but I am seeing the same thing....but worse. I just went to put them on and the charge was 45% for my right ear and 9% for my left. Since the last charge (which was at 100% each) I was speaking on the phone 85% of the time and watching a video 15%.
Anyone have a thought on this?

 

[Otflyer]

That's relatively easy to explain: only one of them is connected to the phone via Bluetooth (class 1, which transmit at a max of 100mw -> massive power drain). So audio goes from the phone to one of the Airpods and is then transmitted to the other one via some lower power near field transmission mechanism.

Not true. With the APP each ear bud connects to the source Independently.

 

[Gitgat]

Hello,

After listening for few hours from a fully charged set of AirPods, without putting them back in the charging case, I have different battery levels:
Left is at 23%,
Right at 10%.
(checked when putting back one AirPod in its charging case).

Do you experience a similar different battery drain left vs right ?

Thanks a lot,

Nice day to All.

I had it pretty significantly. Was getting less than 2.5 hours on the right and the left would be at 30-45% still. I opened a chat with apple and within 24 hours they had a new pair at my door and I sent the old ones back. They took the whole set to 'capture them for engineering' instead of just replacing the one pod.

 

[sonicrobby]

One battery might be at a lower health than the other. My original airpods (which were supposed to last for 5 hours on a single charge) only ever lasted 2. Today, my left one lasts about 50 minutes, my right one about 90 minutes. So I definitely see a differential with them in day to day use. Pretty annoying finishing a workout with one pod going xD

 

[mg93108]

I've only had these for 5 days

 

[arcane93]

I just came here because I’m seeing the same problem with mine. I started watching Netflix on my iPad this evening with both of my AirPods Pros showing a charge of 100%, directly out of the charging case. After a little over an hour and a half of watching, my right AirPod is reporting a charge of 70%, while my left AirPod is reporting 43%. That seems like way too big a difference to be explained away easily by signal differences, stereo sound, or whatever. And already being down to 43% after an hour and a half doesn’t bode well for getting the expected battery life out of them.

I checked, and the microphone is set to auto switching, so it’s not that either (also, nothing I was doing was using the microphones, though I don’t know to what extent they may just always be ”on” even when not in use).

Now I’m honestly debating whether I should try to return or exchange them. I’m probably just past the regular 14 day return period, but they should fall under the extended holiday return policy.

Update: Just chatted with Apple Support and the person that I spoke to had me reset my AirPods, and told me to try them again and see if that cleared the issue. They said that if it doesn’t, I should take them back to the Apple Store.

 

[danmart]

If you have them set to listen for ‘Hey Siri’ then one AirPod has the mic live at all times. This wasn’t the case with AirPod 1.

 

[HiVolt]

I've had this with my 1st gen AirPods since day one. Apple said it was "within spec", but declined to say what the "spec" is, assuming the percentage difference between them. The difference was smaller at first, but it grew bigger. Now it varies between 15-20% difference when the battery gets lower.

Not only that, after approximately 18 months, the battery life is quite crap now. This screenshot is after approximately 2.5 hours out. So the two together, don't even last 3 hours. These were always used as a pair, never as a single unit for phone calls etc.

 

[MJ0778]

I have the same problem with my APP. After 1-2 h sport and listening music by my Apple watch, sometimes I have 20-30 % difference between left and right APP.

But much more mystical is if they have nearly the same drain (..70%) I put them back in the case and in this moment and the drain falls to 30 % (e.g.). I don't know if the status is wrong or the drain is really down. This happens sometimes, also when they have different drain.

 

[Jutah]

I have the APP and I think they have some weird glitches from time to time.

after a full charge they are at 100% but after a minute they set on 99%, then stay there for a while, then start dropping evenly.

If I use them for video all with Google hangout they drain ashell, after80 minutes they are at 50% or so.

keep testin, thou.

 

[Ralfi]

But much more mystical is if they have nearly the same drain (..70%) I put them back in the case and in this moment and the drain falls to 30 % (e.g.). I don't know if the status is wrong or the drain is really down. This happens sometimes, also when they have different drain.

YES. This is my issue too. I’ve lost 50-60% just from double-checking the battery. I managed to capture evidence of this via screen recording. Sometimes both batteries drop to under 10%, or one drops to that level, resulting in a much lower ‘average’ battery figure to the one which initially popped up.

Usually, the lower battery figure appears when I check the battery widget on the same device, or when I flip the lid on another IOS device (the widget is often the trigger on this other device also).

I brought them (& my screen recording) into an Apple Store earlier this week, & they concluded that I should wait for the next firmware update & see if it fixes it.

 

[Manosioa]

YES. This is my issue too. I’ve lost 50-60% just from double-checking the battery. I managed to capture evidence of this via screen recording. Sometimes both batteries drop to under 10%, or one drops to that level, resulting in a much lower ‘average’ battery figure to the one which initially popped up.

Usually, the lower battery figure appears when I check the battery widget on the same device, or when I flip the lid on another IOS device (the widget is often the trigger on this other device also).

I brought them (& my screen recording) into an Apple Store earlier this week, & they concluded that I should wait for the next firmware update & see if it fixes it.

THANK GOD i thought i was insane.
Bought my APP 2 weeks ago and noticed this issue 3 days after purchase.
i just did a reset and see if it's fixed.
Will keep you updated

 

[Ralfi]

THANK GOD i thought i was insane.
Bought my APP 2 weeks ago and noticed this issue 3 days after purchase.
i just did a reset and see if it's fixed.
Will keep you updated

Thanks, Manosioa. Fyi, I did 3 factory resets whilst on phone with Apple support & another reset in store. No change.

I think it’s settled down of late though (over the last 2-3 days), but i’m not convinced. Just hoping a firmware update fixes it. 🤞

 

[Manosioa]

Thanks, Manosioa. Fyi, I did 3 factory resets whilst on phone with Apple support & another reset in store. No change.

I think it’s settled down of late though (over the last 2-3 days), but i’m not convinced. Just hoping a firmware update fixes it. 🤞

let’s hope it’s finally fixed for you.
In my case even after the reset the problem remains.
I even have a screen recording of the issue.
I’m doing another one as we speak and I’ll test the results.
Tomorrow I’ll call Apple Support just in case they tell me sth different.

I’ll keep you posted

 

[Ralfi]

It’s still happening for me fyi. I guess I just hadn’t checked it as often lately, & that gave the impression of it going away...Not so.