How Long Do AirPods Last (& How To Make Them Last Longer)

• Follow our guide on extending your AirPods’ battery life
• Find out how long your AirPods batteries should last
• Don’t forget to find out how to pair two sets of AirPods to one phone!

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If you’ve purchased a set of AirPods, you might wonder how long the battery will last. After all, they aren’t a wired set of earbuds, meaning you’ll need to charge them regularly.

You’re probably also wondering how to keep the time between charges as long as possible. 

There are some great tips and tricks to make your AirPods last, so if you’re worried about them dying on that long commute or maybe you’re away from home and left your charging case behind. 

Follow our guide for everything you need to know!

How Long Do AirPods Last?

As a general guide, you’ll be looking at somewhere between 24 and 30 hours of usage from your AirPods based on multiple charges (meaning, you use your case to charge them until they are fully discharged and then recharge from the case repeatedly)

The time between charges will vary depending on which generation of AirPods you have. 

It’s also good to remember that if you are fully charging your AirPods and using them until the battery is depleted without charging from the case, this will be significantly lower than 24 to 30 hours (for example, you’re on a long journey and don’t have your charging case with you).

It’s also important to note that AirPods have multiple uses: listening to music and using them to talk to someone on a phone call. Both of these times will have a different impact on your battery time.

Of course, this does make it tricky to provide a specific battery time if you are using AirPods for both music and phone calls, but this guide will give you a rough estimation of how long you will be looking at using your AirPods before having to put them back on charge.

How Long Do AirPods Last On Multiple Charges?

As I’ve mentioned, ‘multiple charges’ means letting your AirPods deplete but then using the charging case to recharge them several times (without recharging them at any point).

This is the most effective way of prolonging the battery life of your AirPods, so if you are going to be using them a lot without the ability to plug your case in, make sure your charging case’s battery is full and take it with you.

As a general guide, this will enable you to get between 24 and 30 hours of listening time and between 20 and 24 hours of talk time.

The full breakdown of battery life based on AirPods’ multiple charges looks like this:

	Listening Time (Hours)	Talk Time (Hours)
AirPods (1st Generation)	24	11
AirPods (2nd Generation)	24	18
AirPods (3rd Generation)	30	20
AirPods Pro (1st Generation)	24	18
AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)	30	24

How Long Do AirPods Last On A Single Charge?

AirPods will naturally last longer if you keep charging them with their case. 

However, if you will be using them once, maybe the charging case is at home, you can still get a rough idea of how much battery time you’ll have to use.

This will vary depending on your model and whether you will listen to music or talk.

A single use of AirPods from fully being charged will look a little like this:

	Listening Time (Hours)	Talk Time (Hours)
AirPods (1st Generation)	5	2
AirPods (2nd Generation)	6	4.5
AirPods (3rd Generation)	6	4
AirPods Pro (1st Generation)	4.5	3.5
AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)	6	5

How Long Will My AirPods Last On A 5-Minute Charge?

You might be in a rush and need more time to charge your AirPods fully.

If you’re struggling for time and want to give them a quick top-up, you can roughly estimate how long your battery will last based on a 5-minute charge time. 

A 5-minute period in the charging case will give your AirPods around the following about of listening and talk time:

	Listening Time	Talk Time
AirPods (1st Generation)	3 Hours	20 Minutes
AirPods (2nd Generation)	1 Hour	40 Minutes
AirPods (3rd Generation)	1 Hour	1 Hour
AirPods Pro (1st Generation)	1 Hour	1 Hour
AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)	1 Hour	1 Hour

How Long Do AirPods Max Last?

AirPods Max are the over-ear version of AirPods, so you might wonder how they differ from AirPods and AirPods Pro regarding battery life. 

On a full charge, a pair of AirPods Max will last up to 20 hours (for listening or talking). A 5-minute charge period will get you around 1.5 hours of listening and talk time.

Did you know you can connect your AirPods to Android devices?

How Can I Make My AirPods Last Longer?

While it’s possible to estimate the amount of time your AirPods will last, there are some handy ways to expand the listen and talk time of your AirPods.

If you’re looking to prolong your battery life, then read on!

Charge Your AirPods Regularly

It might be tempting to drain your battery in full before recharging your AirPods.

While this isn’t likely to have any immediate negative effect, charging your AirPods regularly may help to prolong battery life, so you should find they don’t deplete as quickly between charges.

Optimize Your Battery Usage

If prolonging the use time of your AirPods is the aim, then turning off extra functions such as Active Noise Cancellation can mean your battery will last longer.

Other functions, such as Automatic Ear Detection, can also cause your battery to dwindle faster than necessary.

If you want to turn any of these smart functions off, just follow these steps:

1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the ‘Settings’ app
2. Select Bluetooth
3. Tap your AirPods
4. Turn off the desired feature

Features such as pause and skip track, or anything you use the AirPods’ microphone for, should have a minimal effect on battery life.

Always Store Your AirPods In Their Case

It can be tempting to leave your AirPods out of the case, but keeping them when not in use is worth it.

First of all, this will ensure your AirPods are receiving a charge (so you’re less likely to leave the house and realize they are low on battery!), but also it will protect them from excess dirt or damage. You’re also much less likely to lose them. 

While dirt or taking a knock shouldn’t cause too much damage, it’s another small step that can help keep your AirPods living as long as physically possible.

Tip: you can actually charge your AirPods without their case or a different case. 

Avoid Extreme Temperatures

It’s true that suddenly moving any electrical equipment from a hot to a cold environment (or vice versa) isn’t good for it. The same goes for your AirPods.

A sudden temperature change can cause damage to the battery, as can leaving them in any hot or cold environment for a prolonged period.

So be careful about leaving your AirPods in the car in a cold winter, hot summer, or in the sun, as this can all cause the battery to become damaged.

Avoid Loud Volumes

It’s worth keeping your AirPods at a reasonably low volume if you are concerned about battery life.

Although you can make them louder, this will deplete the battery a lot quicker than a quieter set (also consider the damage to your ears!).

Wondering how to reset your AirPods? Here’s how.

Keep Your AirPods Clean And Dry

While AirPods, to an extent, are resistant to sweat and water, it’s a good idea to keep them as dry as possible (or if they get damp, make sure to dry them as quickly as possible with a dry, clean cloth).

Definitely make sure they don’t go through the wash! Regularly cleaning them can also help prevent damage.

If you’re wondering how water/sweatproof AirPods are or how to clean them, check out our guide here.

Replace The Batteries

AirPod batteries have a natural lifespan, meaning it will be worth looking into replacing them at some point. This is usually around 2-3 years after purchase, but this will depend on your usage.

Apple can do this for a fee. Alternatively, if you take out AppleCare+, you will be eligible for a battery replacement for free if the charging capacity drops below 80%.

What Is Optimized Battery Charging?

You may have heard this term mentioned when purchasing your AirPods, although Optimized Battery Charging isn’t a feature on all generations of AirPods.

Currently available on AirPods Pro and 3rd Generation AirPods, Optimized Battery Charging is designed to prolong your AirPods battery life by intelligently tracking your charging habits.

If your AirPods spend too long on a charge while the battery is at 100%, this increases the risk of damage.

Optimized Battery Charging identifies your normal battery charging routine and keeps the charge of your AirPods at 80% until just before you normally stop charging them.

For example, if you wake up at 7 am and use your AirPods at the gym most mornings, charging will remain around 80% until close to 7 am to minimize the risk of battery wear.

You don’t need to do anything to enable this feature, but if you decide you want to turn it off, you can do so by following these steps:

1. Place your AirPods into the charging case and leave it open
2. On your iPhone or iPad open the ‘Settings’ app
3. Select ‘Bluetooth’
4. Locate your AirPods and tap the ‘i’ button next to them
5. Locate Optimised Battery Charging and switch it off

Up next check out:

• Can AirPods Be Tracked? Yes, Here’s How
• AirPods Flashing Orange? Here’s What To Do
• AirPods Or AirPods Pro Sounding Muffled? Here’s What To Do