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Are AirPods good for phone calls?

As an owner of Apple AirPods, I must admit I was initially frustrated when I first used them for phone calls. I wanted to know if I was missing something, so I did some research and testing to see if AirPods were really as good as advertised for making phone calls.

In this blog post, I am going to share my experience and how I solved the problem, as well as other solutions I discovered.

For most people, AirPods are good for phone calls. If you are going to be taking a lot of calls, you may want to get a dedicated headset for calls since the AirPods can occasionally pick up background noise or be unclear.

Quick Tips for AirPods and Phone Calls
– AirPods are generally good for phone calls but for frequent use, consider getting a dedicated headset.
– AirPods Pro are also good for phone calls and have a similar mic to regular AirPods.
– If AirPods sound bad during phone calls, check for a bad connection, dirty AirPods, a broken mic, or try resetting them.

Are AirPods good for phone calls?

AirPods are generally very good for phone calls. You can use AirPods to accept calls just double-tapping on the AirPods 1 or 2 or squeezing once on the stem to accept calls for AirPods 3 or AirPods Pro and you can end calls by doing the same thing.

For most people, the AirPods mic is good enough for phone calls.

However, if you are going to be taking a lot of business calls and you need the audio to be perfect, you may find that they let you down sometimes such as by picking up some background noise or not being quite clear enough.

AirPods
AirPods

Are AirPods pro good for phone calls?

AirPods Pro are also good for phone calls for most people. You can accept calls on AirPods Pro by squeezing the stem and you can end calls by squeezing the stem again.

The mic quality is good enough for most people when talking on the phone.

Again, if you are going to be using them for professional use cases, you might find that the quality is sometimes not good enough such as by picking up background noise or not being clear enough.

When it comes to hearing the other person, the AirPods are good enough and the sound quality is generally good on the AirPods Pro as well as the regular AirPods.

Read more: Why are my AirPods turning yellow?

Are AirPods pro better for phone calls?

The mic on the AirPods pro is generally very similar to the mic on regular AirPods. When it comes to talking on the phone, there is not much difference between AirPods and AirPods Pro.

However, the AirPods Pro does have noise-canceling which is useful in some situations.

Yet, you can actually talk for up to 30 minutes longer on the AirPods 3rd generation than you can on the AirPods Pro. If you are going to be talking in the phone for a long time, that may be a deciding factor.

Why do my AirPods sound bad on phone calls?

If your AirPods sound bad on phone calls, it is likely to be due to one of the following reasons:

A bad connection

The cause could be due to bad wifi or cellular coverage. This would be more likely if quality is not bad when you have a good connection and if the quality is also bad when you are using other earphones.

You need to reset the AirPods

It might also be the case that you need to reset and re-pair your AirPods with your device.

To do this, do the following:

  1. Forget the AirPods on the device you are using
  2. Put your AirPods in the case
  3. Press the button on the case for 15 seconds until the light flashes orange then white
  4. Wait 30 seconds
  5. Open the lid and hold the button on the case
  6. Reconnect your AirPods to your device

Dirty AirPods

It might also be the case that your AirPods speaker grill is dirty and it would help to try cleaning your AirPods. It would be more likely that they are dirty if it is not only FaceTime where there is an issue.

Broken mic (switch to the other one)

When you use AirPods, it is actually the case that only one of their mics are being used when you are talking.

It might also be the case that the mic that is being used is faulty. If you are using iPhone or iPad, you can switch the mic that is being used in the Bluetooth settings by clicking the “i” next to your AirPods.

  1. Go to settings
  2. Go to Bluetooth
  3. Click the “i” next to your AirPods
  4. Click “Microphone”
  5. Change it from “Always left” or “Always right”

Read more: How to make AirPods switch between iPhone and PC?

How good is the AirPods mic?

The mic, on the AirPods, is generally very good. If you intend to get AirPods for general use cases such as talking on the phone, talking on FaceTime, Zoom, Skype or similar things, you will likely find that your AirPods work perfectly well.

However, if you are intending to use your AirPods for professional use cases such as music production, it will not be good enough.

With that being said, it is not uncommon to see people on Youtube, using their AirPods as a mic, but they’re not typically large Youtubers.

Pros of AirPods Mic

  • Good enough for most people when talking on the phone
  • Good enough for FaceTime, Zoom, Skype and similar purposes
  • Easy to accept and end calls

Cons of AirPods Mic

  • May not be good enough for professional use cases
  • May pick up background noise or be unclear
  • Uses up the battery faster