As an AirPods owner, I’ve become increasingly frustrated with the fact that they always seem to be running out of battery at the worst times. After doing some research, testing, and troubleshooting, I wanted to share what I’ve learned, and provide some tips on when and how to charge your AirPods to maximize battery life. In this blog post, I’ll be talking about the best practices for charging your AirPods, so you can keep them powered up and ready to go when you need them.
The best time to charge AirPods for most people is when you are finished using them. AirPods do not overcharge so you do not need to worry about them becoming damaged by leaving them in the case for too long.
While leaving a battery at 100% for a long time is not optimal, it is also the case that it is much more convenient and leaving the AirPods at 0% charge is actually much riskier.
| Key Takeaways and Tips |
|---|
| – Charge AirPods by leaving them in the case when not in use |
| – Avoid leaving AirPods at 0% charge for too long |
| – AirPods cannot be overcharged in the case |
| – Turn off the mic and lower the volume to extend battery life |
| – Check the case for debris and ensure AirPods are charged to 100% |
Table of Contents
When should you charge AirPods?
For most people, it is best to charge AirPods when you are not using them by simply leaving them in the case.
This will have the benefit of ensuring that your AirPods always have power when you want to use them and helping you to avoid losing them since you will only need to remember where you case is.
It is not perfectly optimal to leave the AirPods at 100% charge for too long since it does put a bit of extra stress on the battery. Ideally, the AirPods would always be between 20% and 80% power.
However, this is not convenient and the extra savings you would get by trying to optimize it are just not worth it for most people.
Also, it is actually much riskier to leave the AirPods at 0% charge for too long. This is because when your AirPods run out of power, they actually do still have a small amount of power.
The reason for this is that the battery does need some power to actually allow itself to be charged.
If the battery is left at 0% charge for too long, it can result in there not being enough charge that will allow it to be charged. This can result in the battery permanently dying.
Also, AirPods are designed so that they cannot be overcharged in the case. Once they reach 100%, they will stop charging.
This means that it is ok to leave your AirPods in the case when you are not using them and overnight as well.
Additionally, it is really the number of charge cycles that matter. A charge cycle is where the AirPods are charged an amount equivalent to 100%.
Charging them twice from 50% to 100% would count as a charge cycle. The more you use AirPods the more charge cycles they will go through.
However, you bought AirPods to use them, so you should not worry about this too much.
Read more: Are AirPod Pros louder than AirPods?
How often can you charge AirPods?
AirPods are supposed to last up to 6 hours of listening time. AirPod Pros are supposed to last up to 4.5 hours of listening time. However, the battery will die faster if your use the mic a lot.
If you use your AirPods often, you will likely need to charge them once per day.
However, it should be unlikely that you run out of battery while you are using them if you always put them in the case when you are not using them.
By putting your AirPods in the case when you are not using them, you will be able to make sure that there is always some charge in them when you need them.
AirPods are designed so that they cannot be overcharged, so it is ok for you to leave them in the case when not in use and for you to charge them overnight.
Read more: why are my AirPods stuttering?
Can you overcharge AirPods?
AirPods are designed to stop being charged once they reach 100%.
If it were to be the case that AirPods could be easily overcharged, there would be many complaints about it and even lawsuits, so Apple would not design their AirPods in a way that would allow that to happen.
In fact, it can be beneficial to charge the AirPods fully and to leave your AirPods in the case when you are not using them.
This is because it will make it less likely that you will not damage your AirPods or that your AirPods will have no power when you need them.
Furthermore, leaving the AirPods at 0% charge for too long can actually be more damaging than having them at 100% charge for too long.
This is because lithium-ion batteries do need some power to actually allow themselves to be charged.
Charging the AirPods overnight can help you avoid allowing them to be at 0% charge for too long as can simply leaving your AirPods in the case when you are not using them.
Making AirPods last longer
Below are things you can do to ensure that your AirPods last longer.
Charge them when not in use
If your AirPod’s battery is getting old or has been used a lot, it would be likely that it has degraded as a result, like all batteries do when they are used a lot.
In this case, the best option would be to make sure that you always have the charger with you so that you can quickly charge them when needed.
It only takes 20 minutes for them to be charged fully and a 5 minute charge gives 1 hour use when they are new.
Turn off the mic
As mentioned earlier, if you are using the mic a lot, it will cause the battery to run out faster.
It would help to try to mute the mic when possible and it would also help to change the mic that is being used by going to the AirPods settings on your iPhone.
Lower the volume
If you are using the AirPods with the volume high, it would also help to lower the volume.
Also, it is actually strongly recommended that you do not put the volume too high anyway because it can damage your hearing.
Ensure the case is clear of debris
It would help to check that there are no debris inside the case since it might be causing your AirPods not to be charged properly.
Make sure you are actually charging them fully
It would also help to make sure that the AirPods are actually being charged to 100%.
When you open the case, while the AirPods are inside the case, it should light up green to show you that they are fully charged. If it lights up orange, it means that they are still charging.
You can also see how much charge the AirPods case has by opening it near an iPad or iPhone.
