I haven't tested this, but I wonder if maybe turning off the Automatic Ear Detection setting (Settings -> Bluetooth -> Airpods) could impact the battery life.
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Some AirPods Users Facing Battery Drain Issues With Charging Case
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Agree. Bought them really intending to give them a fair trial. My expectations were more than satisfied.
Mine are like Rafterman's set. Highly satisfactory battery life, better than expected, both for the AirPods and the charging case.
I'm pretty sure this is expected behaviour. The pods won't charge to 100% all the time to prevent rapid battery degradation. You will see this with MacBooks and iPhones as well. They sometimes discharge to 97% or only will charge up to 97% while plugged into the wall.
If they would charge to max capacity all the time they would die way too fast.
For the same reason these devices charge really fast until they reach about 80% and then they take ages to charge up to 100% (or sometimes 97% or so).
EDIT: Before I get yelled at. I think they changed the display in iOS so that it shows 100% as soon as the battery reaches about 95% to avoid confusion. You can verify this by using coconutBattery or something similar.
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Typical Mac Rumors reply.
Just because you don't have an issue doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
I've got the problem. Start out with the AirPods and the case both at 100%. Leave the AirPods in the case with the lid closed and don't touch it. Check 3 hours later and the AirPods are still at 100% but the case is down to 90%. Guess my next stop is the Apple Store to see if I can get them replaced.
Have you actually used these? I think they sound pretty good. Much better than EarPods IMO.
My point of writing "no use" was just to inform that the battery drain happened without me using the AirPods. I wasn't saying that the AirPods are of "no use". I'll be using these things as much as sees fit and seeing if the drain issue resolves itself as the batteries go through a few charge cycles. In a month or so when these are readily available I'll re-evaluate and think about exchanging.
Have managed to return my first pair with the problem and got another set so will test these out and report back. If this is a defect unlikely a second pair will be affected... if they are most likely a) normal behavior or b) software/firmware related.
PLEASE do atleast 3 FULL CHARGE cycles of the case until you start worrying about the drain. I was having the same problem, it was losing 8-12% of charge during the night. I noticed it draining less after the second full charge, and now after the third charge it los ZERO charge tonight. It was at 49% at 10pm (airpods at 100%), when i woke up at 7am they were still at 49%. So please don't post battery drain issues just after receiving the airpods because it creates a lot of confusion for people still deciding to buy this amazing devices. Personal guess: I think this is happening because apple put pressure on the suppliers to have enough stock for christmas and they left a good amount of airpods with the batteries uncalibrated.
I took my AirPods back - I bought two sets together on the 19th December for my wife and I on xmas day. I noticed the battery drain on mine all day on the 25th so I googled and nothing, then a couple of days ago info started to surface with people having the same issues...
Fast forward to this morning and I changed my AirPods and refunded my wifes (They fall out of her ears). I have just charged them and I am hoping these are better. When I spoke to the Apple Rep he seemed to think the 24 hours of battery time is standby time. I said so you expect everyone to charge their AirPods every night and he said yes.. I said its 24 hours listening time not standby time yet everyone in the shop agreed with each other and made out I had got it all wrong.. Go figure! They did finally allow me to change the AirPods though. Talk about poor training! (Also posted this in the newer AirPod story)
Fast forward to this morning and I changed my AirPods and refunded my wifes (They fall out of her ears). I have just charged them and I am hoping these are better. When I spoke to the Apple Rep he seemed to think the 24 hours of battery time is standby time. I said so you expect everyone to charge their AirPods every night and he said yes.. I said its 24 hours listening time not standby time yet everyone in the shop agreed with each other and made out I had got it all wrong.. Go figure! They did finally allow me to change the AirPods though. Talk about poor training! (Also posted this in the newer AirPod story)
Mine were bought in store and taken back to the same store.
[doublepost=1483108915][/doublepost]It appears to me like mentioned before it is an AirPod issue rather than case. The AirPods do not appear to go to sleep/standby fully and constantly require power. Therefore the case charges them as they discharge. I confirmed this one night by taking the AirPods out of the case at midnight (100%) and the Case with lid closed (49%) At 7am One AirPod was at 45%, the other at 67% - the case was still at 49%.
Hope this is fixable via firmware. No one at Apple seem to understand them.. (Both AppleCare/Tech support and instore)
I ask because I got mine online and it's 6 weeks for replacement - plus they insist I return them now.
Hello, i got the same problem since last Friday. Every day the case discharge about 15% without any use. Yesterday i did a full charge cycle to 100%, disabled bluetooth on my iPad and left the case closed for 20 ours, after opening i got 99% case and 100% AirPods.Then i turned on bluetooth on my iPad again, wen't for shopping 2 ours and checked the status again. Now i got 84% case and 100% for AirPods with any use. I will do this Test again today Night.
My new set (3rd now). Still drain the same. After an hour I have lost 6% of charge from my case. It's got to be the AirPods not turning off. Hope Apple acknowledge this as a fault and not the way it's designed. Otherwise they will need charging every couple of days even if you don't use them.
No stock at my local Apple Store but managed to find some stock at the local EE branch so returned my Apple Store set and bought a new pair there. Recommend keeping an eye on this though for stock updates... http://airpods.isinstock.com
After some further testing I am now convinced the AirPods themselves are constantly draining the case. I charged mine so AirPods and case where 100% but at no stage, even after being left on charge, did the 'lightening bolt' charge icon disappear from the AirPod card as pictured below.
After removing them from charge I let the AirPods sit in the case unused and checked them again in an hour.
The AirPods were still at 100% but still indicated they where being charged. The case had reduced to 94%
After removing them from charge I let the AirPods sit in the case unused and checked them again in an hour.
The AirPods were still at 100% but still indicated they where being charged. The case had reduced to 94%
The above post is exactly how mine behave. I believe this is a fault surely.. At the rate these drain while in the case we will need to charge the case every 2-3 days even if you don't use them. Hopefully Apple will acknowledge this and I'm hoping its a simple firmware upgrade which I hope can be done using the phone and OTA. (Lots of hoping I know!)
The sound is amazing for a small piece of headphones.
[doublepost=1483175102][/doublepost]
I agree!
Since you posted this yesterday, what are your experiences today? Having the same issues; have you recharged the battery after they got 0%? I usually charge the case, when it reaches 20%.
Most independent opinions I've seen of them actually rate the sound quality as at least acceptable, of course I'll reserve judgement until mine arrive but if what most are saying, they are better than EarPods then I'll be happy.
As to why people would buy them, well I can only give you my own opinion on that subject. I've read enough to convince me that the sound quality of them is at a level I would consider acceptable for what they are. I don't expect them to replace any of my quality headphones, what I do expect is for them to compliment them.
I'm looking forward to the truly wireless nature of them, let's be honest that is what we're paying for and within their category I believe them to be fairly priced. Personally I have situations where a wire connecting my headphones is just a bloody nuisance. My over-ear Bluetooth headphones are excellent, but their design means that in some circumstances the band slips down my head and again can be a nuisance.
I don't like earbuds that push into my ear canal, I find them uncomfortable, so that rules out the vast majority of the currently available wireless earbuds. Thankfully Apple have stuck with the sit-in style of earbud which suits me just fine.
I've got some experience in the field, I've been sent a competitors wireless earbuds to test and while I'm forbidden to talk much about them publicly, I can say that they are bloody awful. Despite on paper being more feature packed than Apple's AirPods (full control with buttons and so on.)
Truly wireless headphones are definitely worthy of their place in the market, they free you from all of the annoyances and limits of every other kind of headphone and have a convenience that no other style can offer. They aren't going to be for everyone, not everyone will have a scenario where they will find them useful. That doesn't make them pointless or ineffective for other people.
I'm not an audio snob, despite having spent more thousands than I can (or would choose to) remember over the years on my HiFi equipment and accessories. I love and strive for audio excellence in almost every conceivable category. But there is also a cutoff where convenience and function, combined with an acceptable quality of sound win out over audio perfection. At least there is as far as I'm concerned, I'll happily take the freedom offered by the AirPods and their (apparent, is all I can say so far) acceptable sound quality without turning my nose up at them because they don't offer the pinnacle of audio output.
The funny thing is, Apple's EarPods aren't actually terrible for what they are. They get a bad rep, but when you just sit and actually listen to them, they actually have a good degree of clarity about them. They have a rather spacious sound, with good detail and a solid grasp of dynamics. Not too shabby for a pair of bundled buds and definitely the best set of bundled headphones I've ever heard. There's better available of course, but in the budget earbud category they can hold their weight. So putting that, or indeed a little better as the case seems to be, into a truly wireless set of buds packed to the brim with cutting edge technology and I think they are worth the price Apple are asking for them.
As I say though, this is largely based on other peoples opinions as I've yet to receive mine. But when they are comparable (if better) than the EarPods then it's fairly easy to get an idea of what you are going to get with the AirPods and I for one am very excited to be getting them.
Holy hell I can blather on something rotten at times
Charged the case yesterday. It drained only 2% (from 100% to 98%) between 9pm yesterday and 9am this morning. But then, today between 9am and 6pm it drained 7% (from 98% to 91%).