Airpods Battery Life Expected to degrade over time like an iPhone?

[Starfyre]

My iPhone lasted about 3 years before battery wear made it unable to hold a charge beyond 5%. I've never owned wireless headsets before, does the same apply to these Apple Airpods? Or has battery technology made it so that Airpods should last much longer than normal phone batteries?

With my iPhone I replaced my battery and it was as good as new. With Airpods, I don't think there is a way to change your battery, and on top of that you typically drain the battery entirely before putting it into the charging case making it "bad" for general good practice for lithium ion batteries which is to keep it as close to 100% as possible rather than letting your phone die at 0%, then making full charges up to the max.

 

[0007776]

My iPhone lasted about 3 years before battery wear made it unable to hold a charge beyond 5%.

If that is true there was a defect in your battery that caused it to drop that low that fast. But yes, all batteries will degrade with use and time including those in the air pods.

 

[Kimcha]

Batteries degrade the most when you let them fall below 20% frequently. That happens a lot on phones.

But the AirPods fall much more seldom to that level as they are always recharged back to 100% when you put them in the case.

Therefore I believe the AirPods batteries will hold up much better.

 

[H818H]

AirPods, like anything with a non-replaceable li-ion battery, are a short-term (3-4 yr max?) disposable item.

It makes sense to consider owning an item with li-ion batteries as a rental instead of a purchase, as its lifespan is inherently limited to a pretty specific period (no-one will ever be using 10 year old AirPods).

AirPods cost around $53/per year to rent - at which point they have to be replaced to continue your 'subscription'...

 

[ApplePersonFreak]

No matter what the object is, if it’s got a battery, chances are it’s going to degrade. Just enjoy your devices and when that time happens, worry about it then.

 

[Tgrey]

don't think any consumer electronics are designed to last more than 3 years

 

[JTravers]

Apple will replace the batteries in your AirPods for $49 each. (They just give you a replacement instead of actually replacing the battery.) By the time you need replacement batteries, it might be worth just buying a new set of AirPods, though, assuming a new version is out by then.

 

[Archer1440]

Actually, after a year, they will play the audio at half-speed... bah-DUMP.


j/k, low-hanging fruit of a joke considering what's going on.

 

[Phone Junky]

I had my right AirPod go bad after 10 months and Apple replaced it under warranty. The replacement AirPod’s battery goes down slower with use than the original.

 

[thadoggfather]

They will throttle the BPM and slowdown songs over AirPods

 

[bobob]

When are they going to repeal the laws of physics?

 

[infinite.six]

Over the course of a year of use, my AirPods have been hitting the average battery life of 5 hours per charge with no issues. Literally the day after my 1 year warranty was up, they now cannot last more than 3 hours. There is no way I'm going to pay $100 to just replace the batteries so I will look into other products. An iPhone battery replacement is what, $80? Right...

 

[H818H]

Over the course of a year of use, my AirPods have been hitting the average battery life of 5 hours per charge with no issues. Literally the day after my 1 year warranty was up, they now cannot last more than 3 hours. There is no way I'm going to pay $100 to just replace the batteries so I will look into other products. An iPhone battery replacement is what, $80? Right...

This is exactly why you should consider AirPods a subscription service rather than an outright purchase.

If you want to continue the experience year after year, you have to keep on paying - forever.

 

[AustinIllini]

iPhone batteries get charged almost every night. I would expect AirPods to wear somewhat slower than iPhone batteries for that reason.

However, Lithium ion batteries do have a life span.

 

[steve knight]

I see the difference between a new set and the old set. both sets get drained twice a day so they will get a lot of wear on the batteries.

 

[infinite.six]

This is exactly why you should consider AirPods a subscription service rather than an outright purchase.

If you want to continue the experience year after year, you have to keep on paying - forever.

I use a Plantronics Voyager Legend BT headset for work every weekday. I routinely use it until the battery dies and charge it to full. It lasts me the whole work day as I stream music and talk on the phone. I bought it in 2012. It just works.