5mo ago

When you pair your Bluetooth earbuds and one hasn't charged

ALWAYS GETS ME AAAARRRRRRGHHHHHHH I make sure I disconnect them from all devices; I make sure they are well positioned in their cases; that the charging lights are on etc and yet.... they disappoint me like this...

45 comments

Sounds like a vote in favor of the headphone jack.
- Sure, I still use those too. They have their own pros and cons though, but you are right, you won't have that particular issue
- Sounds like OP has crappy earbuds. I’ve never put mine in the case and had one not charge.
  
  I use AirBudz and have also never had this issue.
  
  I just tried and I wasn't able to have my earbuds in their case without them charging.
- More like in favour of non-shitty Bluetooth earbuds. I've never had this kind of issue with mine.

I've got a set of Pixel Buds A Series that seem to have painfully weak magnets, causing the buds to constantly lose contact with the charging pins. And since they're always turned on when disconnected from the charger, this means my buds will randomly pair to my phone even though they're both in the case, muting my sounds and preventing me from hearing notifications when I'm not wearing the buds. It's super frustrating. I feel your pain.
- I upgraded to the pixel buds pro and have been very happy. Had some charging issues with my A series.
  The pass through audio and noise cancelling features are amazing. I can do housework or ride my bike and use pass through to not be isolated from the world. It also feels different, like the buds get lighter. And noise cancelling is great for working in coffee shops.
  
  I did the same! The Pros are 100% worth the cost difference, IMO. Though I do wish there was a way they could've incorporated the "wingtip" design of the A series ear tips into the Pro design, as that was a really comfortable fit. Everything else, including the reliability of the charger, is a straight upgrade.
  
  I have a lot of charging issues with my Pixel Buds Pro. Other than that they are pretty good headphones, but it does get a bit annoying.
  
  That sounds a lot like my experience going from AirBudz to AirBudz pros as well. The pass through and ANC are incredible! I was astounded that they actually have bass, as well. I never had charging issues with my regular pair, but the pros do get less out of their charging case. At least it’s USB-C now!
- Yeah sometimes that happens too. My fix is very simple, if I'm not using my buds I turn off Bluetooth.
  One of my pairs has weak magnets too, but the other one doesn't. 🤷🏼‍♀️
- I've found periodically cleaning mine with rubbing alcohol and a qtip vastly improves charging, fit, and sound. Still thinking about upgrading sometime soon tho.

This happens with my hearing aids. They cost a small fortune, but the audiologist won't do anything about it because it's intermittent - I can never show it happening. "The charging case must be dirty" etc. The manufacturer, Phonak, says any fault reporting must be done through the retailer. It seems to happen mainly when I've got something on where I really really need to be able to hear properly, or when I want to use Bluetooth to listen to music.
AAAARRRRRRGHHHHHHH is putting it mildly. My fury knows no bounds.
- That wouldn't belong in this forum... Definitely beyond mildly infuriating! I'd be pissed too :(

Urgh, that's a very annoying issue. Also the charging case battery will degrade and run out of power quickly after a year or two.
- My AirBuds are FIVE(!) years old and I used them every single day all day at work, for walks, all the time and the case’s battery is still EXCELLENT. I know Apple Bad and whatnot but their wireless headphones are of excellent quality.
  I now have a pair of Pros because I needed the ANC, but I still use my regular ones to nap and stuff.
  I’ve also never experienced OP’s issue with them.
  
  My Motorola HT820 bluetooth headset is old enough to vote (18 years), and still holds a charge for a few hours. Tech can last if built right.
  
  I never use Apple stuff because of the price, but yeah i do understand some of their stuff came with exceptional good quality. Emphasise "some" though.
  
  My samsung gen 1 galaxy buds are still perfectly fine too, use them to this day at the gym back from 2019-2020. Premium wireless in those days were made of some surprisingly stern stuff. Used to be a diehard Sennheiser guy but their stuff would just stop working after a year or two, wired or not.

I don't have to worry about that, because I always lose just one of them.
- One of the reasons I stubbornly keep buying those "sport" models that are connected by a wire.
  They are cheaper and you never lose one, of course they don't last forever but you can get a good few years out of a pair.
  
  I have a five-year-old pair and cannot imagine how someone would lose just one. They live in the case when not in my ears, so they stay charged. Losing single one and not the whole case baffles me.
  
  I am going to need new ones shortly and I am struggling to find any with the nanna strap. What type do you have?

thanks for the charging reminder

I bought some Sony WF-1000XM3 a couple of years ago. They were new, although heavily discounted, but the battery life was awful; the box says the buds themselves would last for 6 hours on a single charge, right? I got maybe 1.5 hours out of them.
Sony wouldn't RMA them because I supposedly bought them at their outlet store (I didn't). Eventually, I just replaced the batteries in both buds and now they last ~3 hours; I guess that's due to the battery in the charging case also being weak.
Next time I'll just buy one of those Fiio bluetooth DACs to use with my Grados....
- Ufff that sucks... I'm impressed that you changed the batteries on the buds. I'm not even sure I could open mine without destroying them.
  
  It's actually quite easy on the Sonys, I was more than surprised.
- What kind of Grados? I LOVE my Grados and I just have a bunch of pairs of SR80…e? My usage of them has only fallen off after snagging some Sennheiser HD560s for a stupidly low price.
  
  I splurged for a pair of SR325x recently and they're awesome; just a great, balanced sound. Pretty easy to drive, too, even with my old iPod mini.

This is the wooooorst

I have had the same problem with Powerbeats Pro and Beats Fit Pro. The case uses two small pogo pins in each earbud slot to provide power. These provide the tolerance required to make a good contact with the earbud which is held in place by magnets. These pogo pins are the problem. I periodically use a microfiber cloth moistened with a bit of isopropyl alcohol to clean the earbud slots with focus on these pogo pins. Make sure to move the pins up and down with your cleaning motion. My thinking is that the alcohol will clear out any earwax or other gunk that has built up around the pogo pin and is preventing it from coming back up to full height. I haven’t had this issue recur since adjusting my cleaning habit to include the alcohol on the pins. Pogo pins do use a spring to function so like all springs it will eventually lose some of its resistance and will need to be replaced. Since these small electronics are not made to be repaired, that means buying a new pair, most likely. However, I recently replaced one Beats Fit Pro with a new pair after almost four years of near daily use. I’m pretty impressed with how far these wireless earbuds have come since the first generation.
- Noted! Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try it out

This happens with my PS5 controller sometimes. I plug it in after gaming and then go to bed. When i wake it’s still dead. Then i have to play with a corded controller like some 90s kid.

what kind of earbuds do you use, the overpriced apple shite? never had an issue like that with my Jabras
- I have Jabras too. The only apples I buy are by the kilo

45 comments