Are you wondering how long does AirPods case battery lasts? If yes, you’re on the right page.
I have an Apple AirPods Pro 2, which I always charge for 30-60 minutes before bed.
But I’ve always wondered how long it lasts with my mixed usage and how many hours the charging case lasts.
Thus, I charged my AirPods Pro 2 up to 100% for this article and tested them until the earbuds ran out of juice.
Quick Answer
The AirPods battery case lasted around 23.2 hours for my AirPods Pro 2. Like always, I used the AirPods Pro 2, with the ANC turned on whenever required. The AirPods lasted around 5 hours after each session.
Here’s how I tested the AirPods Case’s battery life
I charged the AirPods Pro 2 to 100%. This way, the charging case and the AirPods were charged 100%.
Later, when I removed the AirPods from the case, I didn’t put them into the case until they died completely.
When the AirPods died after a few hours out of the case, what was left was the case’s battery.
Thus, I inserted the AirPods again inside the charging case till they were charged 100% and followed the same procedure several times.
I noticed how long the AirPods lasted after each session.
Then, I calculated the AirPods case’s charging time by subtracting the total time from the first time I took the AirPods out of the case after a 100% charge.
In my test, the case charged the AirPods four times completely and slightly over half during the 5th time.
Battery Life of Different AirPods Models
Now you know how long the battery of the AirPods Pro 2 case lasts.
However, the battery life varies greatly across multiple generations of the AirPods and AirPods Pro.
So, I’ve created a breakdown of how long different AirPods and their battery case last.
| Model | AirPods Battery Life | Charging Case Battery Time |
|---|---|---|
| AirPods Pro* | 5 hours | 22.8 hours |
| Airpods Pro* | 5.3 hours | 26.5 hours |
| AirPods 4# | 5 hours | 25 hours |
| AirPods 4 with ANC# | 4 hours | 16 hours (continuous ANC) |
| AirPods 3* | 6.8 hours | 34 hours |
| AirPods 2* | 4.1 hours | 20.5 hours |
| AirPods* | 4.8 hours | 22.2 hours |
* The battery information for Apple AirPods 1, 2, 3, and Pro is collected from Rtings.com
# For AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC comes from techradar.com
How to Improve the Battery Life of AirPods
If you’re interested in improving your AirPods’ battery, here’s how to do it.
1. Turn off ANC when not required
Active Noise Canceling in earbuds is a groundbreaking feature. However, it consumes a lot of battery because of the electronic circuits and multiple mics.
In some cases, the ANC feature can reduce the battery life by half if used for the whole duration.
Thus, at home or in a quiet environment, turn off ANC. It’ll add a few hours to the overall battery life.
2. Turn off transparency mode
Similar to ANC, the transparency mode also affects the battery life.
In the transparency mode, the additional microphones record the ambient noise, so you can listen to it and be aware of your surroundings.
The recording of ambient noise and feeding it to your ears causes more battery drain.
3. Turn off Spatial Audio
Spatial audio is a special feature in newer versions of AirPods that offers an immersive audio-listening experience.
It is a remarkable feature, but it requires high processing power, causing faster battery drain.
It has to process regular audio into a three-dimensional space, coupled with head tracking.
Spatial audio requires a lot of processing power, which significantly affects the AirPods’ battery life.
4. Listen at a lower volume
The AirPods’ battery life stats claimed by Apple are tested at 50% volume.
However, only some of us actually listen to music at 50% volume, don’t we?
Most of us, including me, listen to music at around 70% volume, which is why the real-life battery life doesn’t match Apple’s Figures.
As a result, if you want to improve your AirPods’ and the charging case’s battery life, listen to music at a lower volume.
5. Optimized Battery Charging
The ‘Optimized Battery Charging’ is a feature baked into the Apple AirPods Pro and AirPods 3 onwards, with iOS 15 and higher.
This means that the AirPods will learn your charging behavior and, while charging, will keep the case charged up to 80%. Only when you’re about to use the AirPods will the charging go up to 100%.
For example, suppose you charge your AirPods overnight every alternate day and use them at 9 am. In that case, the AirPods will charge to 80% by 8 am and only charge from 80-100% in the next hour.
The charging time and speed depend on your schedule and what the AirPods learn from your charging habits.
Apple claims that this feature helps preserve the battery’s health and makes it last longer.
FAQs
Why do AirPods’ cases lose battery so fast?
Power loss is a big reason that causes the AirPods case to lose battery so fast. For example, if an AirPods case is charged up to 100%, then it can only charge the AirPods up to 90%. The remaining 10% of the battery is lost during charging due to power loss and heat.
How to check the AirPods case battery life?
When you connect your AirPods to an iPhone, it will show a pop-up that displays the charge in the AirPods and the AirPods case. That’s how you can check the battery life of the AirPods case.
Is it ok to leave the AirPods case plugged in all the time?
No! While AirPods case automatically stops charging after reaching 100%. However, it will reduce the case’s battery health over time, and there’s a risk of an electrical mishap.
Conclusion
I hope this article helped you learn how long the AirPods case battery lasts.
As you’ve seen, most AirPods cases’ battery lasts over 20 hours. So, you can use your AirPods comfortably for 3-4 days at once if you use them for 4-5 hours a day.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section below.