Poll: is AirPods lifespan too short?

[Saludos]

I’d like to know your experience with AirPods. I really love them, I have gen 1, it’s a real great Apple product.
But... I think the lifespan of AirPods is too short. It seems like you don’t buy them, but you “rent” them.
My experience: I bought my AirPods 2,5 years ago. After the first year battery life of one of my AirPods was more then halved, happy to say apple changed my AirPod (with no charge).
After one year and an half the other AirPod has same battery issue. And again (in my country we have 2 years warranty) Apple changed it.
Now one of my AirPods has a volume issue: suddenly the right AirPod Sounds lower and muffle.
I went to apple store, they checked everything, no software issue. It’s an hardware issue, is almost dead.
I think it’s absurd to buy just “one” AirPod, spending 70 euros, considering I have an old case and an old (the other) AirPod out of warranty (what if I need to change the case in the next few months,80 euros again. Then the other AirPod, that is in In the middle of his “life”, 70 euros again. My conclusion is: saw AirPods gen 2 for 143euros for the Black Friday week. I’ll buy them.
Needless to say I’m not happy for this. My AirPods life was 2,5 years.
And Here’s my “poll”. How long do you have AirPods gen 1? Is AirPods lifespan really so “short”? Do we have to take into account this when we buy AirPods?

 

[V_Man]

With the price of APP I would love to see a replaceable battery. $249 for 2 years isn’t horrible but could be better.

Would love to see a small replaceable battery. Maybe the tip of the stem could house it and unscrews to replace. Mic included.

I’m just thinking out loud early in the morning.

 

[Precursor]

Where's the poll? I came in for the poll!

 

[FlyingDutch]

My "day 1" AirPods 1st gen died after 2 years and 10 months (actually only the left one died, but the battery life of the right was about 2 hrs so...).
Now I bought 2 pair of AirPods 2 (one for me and one for my son) and I'm considering to buy the AirPods Pro.
But I'm not expecting them to survive more than 3 years, even if the battery improved compared to the 1st generation (not sure about that).
Those are tiny batteries, always kept at 100% by the case... no way to keep them healthy over the time.

 

[OriginalClone]

What happened to the poll?

 

[aakshey]

Where's the poll? I cam in for the poll!

This.

 

[Baldrake]

I think 4.5 hours is fine for headphones this size. You can get a lot done in that time - go for a workout, get a study session in at the library, do a short haul flight.

My concern is what happens when the battery begins to deteriorate. A three hour battery life, for example, isn’t that great. So the problem with the initial battery life is, it doesn’t leave a lot of room for the battery to start failing.

 

[Saludos]

I think 4.5 hours is fine for headphones this size. You can get a lot done in that time - go for a workout, get a study session in at the library, do a short haul flight.

My concern is what happens when the battery begins to deteriorate. A three hour battery life, for example, isn’t that great. So the problem with the initial battery life is, it doesn’t leave a lot of room for the battery to start failing.

That’s the problem: my AirPods gen 1 lasted only one year as advertised (5 hour music and almost 3 hours phone calls). The problem was the second year: less than 3 hours listening to music and less than 40 min during phone calls. Now, after 2 years and 8 months, battery life is very poor, furthermore the left AirPod has an hardware issue.
My experience is: only 1 year they worked perfectly, second year performance were halved. After less than 3 years I have to change them. Not so good

 

[hesoba]

That’s the problem: my AirPods gen 1 lasted only one year as advertised (5 hour music and almost 3 hours phone calls). The problem was the second year: less than 3 hours listening to music and less than 40 min during phone calls. Now, after 2 years and 8 months, battery life is very poor, furthermore the left AirPod has an hardware issue.
My experience is: only 1 year they worked perfectly, second year performance were halved. After less than 3 years I have to change them. Not so good

How long does it take to fully charge them ? Lets say in the Second year with Max Battery 3 Hours

 

[Shanghaichica]

I got my AirPods in February of 2017 and upgraded to the 2nd gen in February of 2019. After 2 years I was getting about 1.5 to 2 hours usegae from a charge. The case was still holding a charge quite well. I was also getting random drainage on one of the buds and frequent drop outs. However overall they were still pretty useable. My main issue was that I was doing a 2 hour commute so sometimes I would have to charge them up to make sure they lasted for the whole commute which was somewhat inconvenient.

 

[Otflyer]

I would imagine the same battery issues apply to most ear buds. I have no concerns about it. After two years the technology advances to the degree I’m ready for a new pair anyway.