Are my AirPods 3 end of life?

[MacYost]

Recently my AirPods started to sound softer and softer. I used to listen with the volume bar at 1/3 of full. Now I need to put it on 90% to get a decent sound level. Also the bass has gone, the sound like an AM radio.

I tried to clean them (outside only) and I did a reset. Nothing changed.

They are 3 years old and used every day. Are they end of life or could the be fixed in some way?

 

[dumastudetto]

3 years of daily usage is pretty good.

What usually happens is the innards get gunked up with earwax that gets pushed inside the ear pieces and it gradually diminishes sound quality and volume.

If you've tried cleaning then there's not much you can do if they are gummed up inside. If the battery is also, as I would expect, not lasting very long now then it's probably time to buy new AirPods as they are practically impossible to fix - even for Apple.

 

[MacYost]

Thanks. The battery life is actually still quite nice. I can’t tell you what it is, but it doesn’t feel as a restriction for my current usage.

I read somewhere that I could get them (properly) cleaned at an Apple Store (I only tried to clean the outside). But that would be a day trip for me to another city. I’m wondering what they will do more in the store than what I already did?

My local Apple reseller seems to be able to do it to, but is asking 25 euros for this cleaning service. And I’m wondering if that is worth the cost.

 

[MacYost]

In the meanwhile I remembered there’s also YouTube and I searched for cleaning AirPods.

After watching some videos about how to clean, I decided to try it out on mine. I put some alcohol on them, let it soak for a minute and then started brushing with a toothbrush.

This was 50% successful. Both AirPods sounded much better afterwards. The volume and bass were back. But I also broke something in the right one, as all kick drum and bass notes are now resonating and rumbling.

So I ordered a new pair, and will keep using my old left one for running only (as that’s when I only need to hear a metronome).

 

[seggy]

You probably ended up pushing debris into the drivers, or something else similar. RIP.

Lesson is that if you have earwax as gross as I've seen with some people I've lent high-end earphones to try out (and the reason I only did that for a short time), clean anything that goes in your ear often, and strongly consider the same thing for your ears.

The incident that resulted in me never lending anything out again was when I lent someone an earphone with a fresh set of bright yellow foam tips along with spare tips. After he gave them back, he'd lost the spares and instead of telling me had just continued to use the original tips for a few months. And the set on the earphones were brown🤮

 

[Jackbequickly]

I would never lend out my AirPods for someone else to use. Just me . . . . .