What happened to my AirPods Pro after four years of continuous use?

I bought my first generation AirPods Pro at the start of sales in 2019. I ordered from the USA through Amazon and then paid approximately 16,500 rubles.

Still believes that their transparency regime is better, and therefore I am not going to leave the brand.

In my impressions after two years of use, I already wrote that Wireless headphones as a class have turned from “cheap earplugs” with the replacement of a woman for six months to full-fledged device with its functionality, adaptability to the consumer and extended service life.

When purchasing, I expected the AirPods Pro to last between five and seven years.

Looking at them now, I’m afraid that this accessory will reach the bar with a loud creak. Or rather, with a bang.

Replaced both AirPods for free in the first year

You probably know very well about the hissing in the first revision of the model.

If not, then the story is short: in the middle of the six months after use, with a noticeable percentage, users listened in transparency and noise reduction mode, either crackling or hissing. Only in our editorial office 3 people encountered this.

The problem was so widespread that Apple not only admitted and replaced the damaged headphones with new ones for everyone, but also extended the warranty period from one year to two years.

Approaching the tenth month of use, I too turned to replacing the overhead headphones. Strange clicking sounds often happened while walking and running.

It was simple. I went into recovery, left a request (Apple was still actively operating in Russia in the fall of 2020) and two weeks later I received pads, and also gave a second set of attachments as a gift.

The new headphones lasted three years. In 2023, this problem returned and became worse than before.

But first, let’s share an unexpected breakdown that occurred right while we were working on this post.

Torn the nozzle

And do you know when? While I was photographing AirPods for articles.

I probably haven’t touched my own silicone earbuds for two years, which are able to sit and can only be removed if you use a lot of force.

Therefore, today I confidently began to tear off the nozzle, and in the end I almost tore it off completely. It’s good that we noticed in time – the headphones continue to fit tightly, otherwise we would have had to turn on around the city in power-on mode and look for a replacement.

This would not be a problem if the design had been put together, but now it seems that we will have to stock up on wooden ear pads – just in case.

The reason is clear. Over the course of 4 years, the silicone deteriorated and became more fragile. The only strange thing is that this happened with Apple products.

The left earphone wheezes

Six months ago, the track returned with a triple whammy. When you insert the left AirPod into your ear, it almost always emits an obnoxious and very loud white noise after connecting.

I assume that a strange adjustment of the algorithms is happening: a wheezing suddenly appears and fades away within three seconds.

On average, I hear a bug every fifth use.

Solved by disabling the transparency and noise reduction modes., that is, in a passive state the problem of care. Sometimes I just switch to it so as not to be irritated the first time.

But what cannot be turned off is charging problems.

The right ear discharges itself and the case

I don’t understand what kind of design problem arises over time, or whether the holding magnets have weakened, but it often happens that the right earphone is either not fully charged, or is discharged along with the case.

It creates three problems: one daily and two passive.

▸ It’s already happened a dozen times that I go out and the headphones are discharged – although yesterday there were 70% in the case.

▸ The next point follows from this. I’m never sure if headphones will come with full batteries now.

As we all know, AirPods do not have a power on or off button. If they are taken out of the case, they work, isolate noise and look for an iPhone, iPad or Mac to connect to.

Now I constantly check through my smartphone what’s going on with the battery. It got to the point of paranoia, twice a day I could plug them into the outlet. Well, like this, just in case.

▸ What happens when the right earphone does not lock? It works, discharges, and then charges again. Such a run not only drains batteries everywhere, it also plays cycles and listens, and the charging case.

The right hearing, which still won’t settle into its nest

Example: I listen to music through the left, the right should be at 100%. Discharged in an hour the same way

Therefore, I am not surprised that from the declared 4.5 hours of operation of the headphones and an additional 20 hours from the case, there is some left, sorry, shish with butter.

I’m afraid it wasn’t better with AirPods Pro 2; on the Apple forum they don’t complain about charge leakage either.

There is one more point related to such an unstable situation in Chekhle.

I spend two minutes to connect

I don’t quite understand how this is connected; due to the play of the right AirPod in the case, it also, strangely enough, connects to the “left earphone-case-smartphone” connection.

Even if the AirPod is miraculously charged, almost every time it’s connected it won’t. I don’t hear the usual “we will” and I understand that arrivednow independent.

To fix it, I put the headphones in and out of the case several times until it works. Sometimes you have to fiddle with the capsule in the key to find your friend’s contacts.

For $250 headphones, that honestly sounds crazy in any year of use.

I still haven’t figured out what the indicator on the case means

Either it is red, although everything is charged, then it is green when the battery has gone to zero.

I don’t really have anything else to add here, it’s just a stupid thing that helps only in one case – when nothing is blinking, and I know for sure that there is a discharge in the headphones.

According to the instructions, the green indicator means that the headphones are fully charged, and the bracelet indicates that there is less than one cycle left.

It’s hard to remember because I get confused: charged keys or headphones?

Visually well preserved

White glossy plastic is not considered a practical solution. There are abrasions, it is clear that the headphones are not new for a long time.

On the other hand, from a four-year-old gadget made of white acrylic, which is used every day for sports facilities, tabletops, metal, wood and glass surfaces of varying degrees of roughness, one does not expect anything different.

The first time I used a dbrand sticker with the classic dragon egg texture, but then I removed it and never returned to vinyl.

Cases are also not my thing, I like the miniature size of the case, I prefer to read it like that and continue to use it.

To prevent it, a couple needs to constantly brush their hair for several months, otherwise it looks unpleasant.

But in general, not taking into account the accidental position of the right earpiece in its place, the rest of the mechanism covers and magnets work like new. The backlash in the slammed state, which was discussed in the first months then, was forgotten.

There are two things going on with the AirPods Pro 2 generation

I didn’t want to change my headphones when new ones appeared: they pay a lot, they work, there are not many improvements.

Even the transition to USB‑C did not seduce me in any way: this was expected with the release of the iPhone 15, but it had not yet been considered by me.

Light control via the stem, improved battery life with isolation, and MagSafe support sound interesting, but don’t sell the headphones to me.

There are a couple of things that are missing.

I dream of charging the keys using the Apple Watch wires. It lies idle 22 hours a day, unlike the Lightning cable, to which, in addition to the iPhone, I connect the MagSafe battery and AirPods Pro.

Also interesting is the adaptive sound isolation. I don’t know if it’s actually convenient, but pressing on your ears or pulling it out during a conversation sometimes gets annoying.

Already served longer than you should have?

As a result, I get the feeling that my first generation AirPods Pro are slowly but surely falling apart. Odinit, the second one doesn’t sit still, he’s emptying my case, the elastic band is torn. Only the Case continues to serve reliably from the first day of operation.

He said almost nothing about autonomy. It turns out that thanks to the case, she hardly plays a role if she doesn’t spend the whole working day wearing headphones. Mine now last for about three hours of continuous use. Well, at most, I won’t watch Oppenheimer in one sitting until the credits roll. No problem.

But, fortunately, AirPods Pro are not always fooled. I just consider myself old. I hope they will last up to five years, although they say that three is already good.

Is there an owner of the same old units here? Have you met my problems? Or used smoothly? Share in the comments.

📸 All photos in the article: