AirPods case bad standby battery life

[TurboPGT!]

Not surprisingly a great many people don't fully understand the relationship between the charging case and the AirPods themselves.

But that won't stop people from making threads about how theirs is "defective".

 

[specialk0449]

My AirPod case loses about 4% per day, while keeping the Airpods at 100%. I have experienced a decrease by both while not being used.

 

[CjonesHouston]

My AirPod case loses about 4% per day, while keeping the Airpods at 100%. I have experienced a decrease by both while not being used.

Sounds normal. Devices like these usually drain around that percentage on their own. You and I received a good pair.
Congrats.

 

[ip67]

I don't understand why the case continues to keep the AirPods topped off when they're fully charged, hence the case drain in standby. You would think once the pods are fully charged they would just stay charged? Or is there a constant connection going on to where the case has to keep charging the pods?

 

[jonnyb098]

I also notice a weird case battery drain that seems to be from the actual airpods. Sometimes I'll open then case to check battery life and they'll dip down to 97 percent. That seems to be the source of the case drain. Had 50 percent on the case this morning and now it's down to 12 percent at the end of the day.

However it seems when devices are farther away (30 ft). The case seems to not drain as fast. My guess is the proximity to the phone is causing a constant standby connection even while they're in the case, therefore causing drain.

 

[Phil A.]

I took my case off charge about 24 hours ago.

Since then, I've used my AirPods for about 6 hours and checking just now, my AirPods are at 100% and the case is at 76%

I'm happy with that

 

[WilliamG]

I also notice a weird case battery drain that seems to be from the actual airpods. Sometimes I'll open then case to check battery life and they'll dip down to 97 percent. That seems to be the source of the case drain. Had 50 percent on the case this morning and now it's down to 12 percent at the end of the day.

However it seems when devices are farther away (30 ft). The case seems to not drain as fast. My guess is the proximity to the phone is causing a constant standby connection even while they're in the case, therefore causing drain.

Why would that happen? The Bluetooth connection of the case to the phone is severed when the case is closed anyway?

 

[daffie]

I also notice a weird case battery drain that seems to be from the actual airpods. Sometimes I'll open then case to check battery life and they'll dip down to 97 percent. That seems to be the source of the case drain. Had 50 percent on the case this morning and now it's down to 12 percent at the end of the day.

However it seems when devices are farther away (30 ft). The case seems to not drain as fast. My guess is the proximity to the phone is causing a constant standby connection even while they're in the case, therefore causing drain.

Yes I have the same exact experience with my airpods and case. First I thought it was Bluetooth connection causing the drain but I now believe it's the airpods losing juice and need constant topping off. Weird.

I'm in the process of completely draining the case and airpods atm and then will recharge to full, then check drain again...

 

[teidon]

I have noticed that the case loses about 5% charge over night. I have also noticed that every time I open the case when the Pods are in the case, the case loses about 1% of charge. That would mean that if over the period of say 10 hours you open the case twice per hour just to check the charge level, the case would lose about 10 * 2 * 1% = 20% plus the normal 5% that inevitably happens. So about 25% total for the 10 hour period without using the Pods at all.

 

[alFR]

I took my case off charge about 24 hours ago.

Since then, I've used my AirPods for about 6 hours and checking just now, my AirPods are at 100% and the case is at 76%

Hmm, took mine off charge about 18 hours ago, haven't used them at all and my case is at 68%. Better than straight out of the box, but still a fair bit higher than is being reported by others here. Think they'll be going back.

 

[The Game 161]

Charged my case today for first time since Christmas Day

 

[MH01]

you always loose battery in standby , recommend putting them in the case when not in ears

Also if the sensors are covered, the AirPod thinks it's on your ear and is on.

 

[alFR]

you always loose battery in standby , recommend putting them in the case when not in ears

Also if the sensors are covered, the AirPod thinks it's on your ear and is on.

They are in the case, the drain people are seeing is with the earbuds in the case sitting doing nothing...

 

[TurboPGT!]

I don't understand why the case continues to keep the AirPods topped off when they're fully charged, hence the case drain in standby. You would think once the pods are fully charged they would just stay charged? Or is there a constant connection going on to where the case has to keep charging the pods?

This is no different than any other device. But instead of plugged in to the wall, they are in a battery powered case. Its to be expected.

 

[tomaustin44]

I initially (and perhaps still do) had this problem.... Got my Airpods on Christmas Day and gave the case a bit of a charge (to about 80%). I used them a little bit on Boxing Day and then yesterday noticed that the case was discharging 20-30% every 4 hours, even when Airpods were fully charged.

As the latest MR article suggests there are a number of others complaining of similar issues on Reddit and I was about to book a Genius Bar appointment. I thought I'd give it another day and see so last night I made sure everything was charged to 100% before bed. Woke up this morning and the case was still at 100%.

Have used the Airpods for a few hours today and at 3.30pm the case is still at 77%, which I think is alright.

Bottom line.... I'll keep an eye on them over the next couple of days but my experience lends credibility to the theory that there is a problem with the initial charge cycle.

 

[jonnyb098]

A little update. I put my iPad and airpods on my nightstand last night before bed. Aipods had around 80 percent charge. Roughly 10 hours later when I checked them they were at 45 percent. Note they were out of the case next to my iPad.

Case was at 14 percent last night as well and was at 9 percent 12 hours later. So it does seem at least right now the airpods are indeed the cause of the case drain. I've only been through one charge cycle so I'll see what happens over the next day or so.

 

[iAdamator]

I don't know if this is a problem per se, but I noticed my case will not go fully dead even if I am trying to make it do so. It won't go lower than 5%.

 

[teidon]

I don't know if this is a problem per se, but I noticed my case will not go fully dead even if I am trying to make it do so. It won't go lower than 5%.

Put at least one Pod in the case and leave the lid open.

E: To add more information, the case stops charging the Pods when the case is 5% or lower.

 

[s2smooth4u]

I'm not noticing the case battery drain on standby but when I charged my headphones today...the case went from 97% to 57%. That's a 40% battery drain for 15 min of charging. That seems odd to me. Has anybody else noticed that?

 

[WilliamG]

Posted in the other thread, but am keeping a log of the case/AirPods today:

I wonder if they go into an enhanced standby mode after a period of time? I do find the charging of the AirPods and the case to be a little... nebulous. I'm doing some lengthy testing on mine now.

At 9:20am, case and AirPods at 100%. At 10:20am, case at 100% and AirPods at 95%. Right now at 1:16pm, case is at 93%, AirPods at 100%.

So that's 7% drain in about 4 hours. Really not sure how normal any of it is.

 

[ip67]

This is no different than any other device. But instead of plugged in to the wall, they are in a battery powered case. Its to be expected.

Not true. My iPhone and MBP don't continue to charge after it's charged. It's a poor design flaw to be always connected.

 

[profets]

I've noticed the case with mine doesn't last particularly long. But it hasn't felt like an issue as the AirPods do seem to get excellent battery life and the case can charge them several times.

Today I purposely avoided using my AirPods just to see how the battery was when not in use. The case dropped 20% in 3 hours (AirPods were at 100% at the beginning of this 3 hour observation).

Actually what might be more interesting is to fully charge the case, and then when unplugging it also remove the AirPods. See if the case itself has some sort of abnormal discharge or if it's only occurring when the AirPods are in there.

It's a tricky product when you think about it, 3 little devices, each one with it's own battery and bluetooth connection, all in a tiny package.

Not surprisingly a great many people don't fully understand the relationship between the charging case and the AirPods themselves.

But that won't stop people from making threads about how theirs is "defective".

I think most people understand how it works, but what seems to be an issue (obviously not for everyone, or maybe not everyone is paying such close attention), is that some do experience a significant battery drain while the device isn't being used.

If someone has abnormal battery drain, is theirs not defective?

I don't understand why the case continues to keep the AirPods topped off when they're fully charged, hence the case drain in standby. You would think once the pods are fully charged they would just stay charged? Or is there a constant connection going on to where the case has to keep charging the pods?

This is no different than any other device. But instead of plugged in to the wall, they are in a battery powered case. Its to be expected.

I think what @ip67 meant was if the AirPods are fully charged, why are they not holding a charge state when they're not being used (in the case).

I can absolutely and would expect some drain with time while they're just sitting in the case in standby and not being used. But one would expect that to be a very slow discharge when not in use, just like other electronic devices with lithium ion batteries.

 

[ip67]

I think what @ip67 meant was if the AirPods are fully charged, why are they not holding a charge state when they're not being used (in the case).

I can absolutely and would expect some drain with time while they're just sitting in the case in standby and not being used. But one would expect that to be a very slow discharge when not in use, just like other electronic devices with lithium ion batteries.

Yes, this is what I mean; some discharge is inevitable, but not at the rates that are currently happening with the AirPods. I expect some firmware updates will be happening soon.

 

[profets]

Well, after full charge finished 10 hours ago, I separated the AirPods from the case (no clue if this will cause the AirPods to be active in some way), but the case after this time is still at 100%.

So if there is a weird battery discharge perhaps its related to the AirPods.

 

[jsmitty]

I tested mine overnight and the case dropped from 100% to 98%. Not bad