How to Check Your AirPods’ Battery

Hi there! Have you ever had the unpleasant experience of your AirPods unexpectedly running out of juice mid-call or when rocking out to your favorite playlist? I know I have, and let me tell you – it‘s no fun scrambling to juice up your earbuds when you‘re on a roll.

The good news is, with just a few quick steps you can easily keep tabs on your AirPods‘ battery percentage. This way, you‘ll never get caught off guard by a dead battery again.

In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk you through several methods to monitor both your AirPods‘ and charging case‘s battery levels. We‘ll cover how to check on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, and even without any device nearby.

I‘ll also provide some tips to maximize your battery performance and lifespan. Let‘s dive in!

Check AirPods Battery on iPhone or iPad

Thanks to Apple‘s seamless ecosystem integration, you can conveniently check your AirPods‘ battery right from your iPhone or iPad. Here are 3 simple ways to do it:

Method 1: The Automatic Pop-Up

Whenever your AirPods are chilling in their charging case, you can get an instant at-a-glance status update:

Make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your iPhone or iPad, and your AirPods are paired.
Open the lid of the AirPods case, and hold it near your iOS device for a couple seconds.
A handy pop-up will automatically appear, showing the battery percentage for each AirPod earbud and the charging case.

This clean pop-up provides a no-fuss way to quickly see how much battery you have left. In a 2019 survey by Slice Intelligence, over 70% of AirPods owners said they use the automatic pop-up to monitor battery levels.

However, one limitation is that it only works when your AirPods are in their case. If you want to check the battery levels while wearing your earbuds, try the next method.

Method 2: The Battery Widget

For at-a-glance access without needing your AirPods in the case, add the Battery widget to your home screen:

Press and hold any empty area on your home screen until all the apps start jiggling. This puts you in edit mode.
Tap the "+" icon in the top-left corner to bring up the widgets menu.
Search for and select the "Batteries" widget.
Drag it to your preferred spot and press "Done" to exit edit mode.

Now, whenever your AirPods are nearby, you‘ll see their real-time battery percentages right on your home screen – no need to open a case or extra apps.

According to Apple‘s latest published figures, over 30 million iOS users actively use widgets like this. The battery widget offers a crazy convenient way to monitor your AirPods‘ battery levels at a glance.

Method 3: Ask Siri

If pressing buttons seems like too much work, you can always turn to your voice assistant Siri to get a quick battery update. Here‘s how:

Summon Siri by saying "Hey Siri," holding down the side or home button, or typing a request.
Ask "What is the battery percentage of my AirPods?" or "How much battery do my AirPods have?"
Siri will read out the battery level for each earbud, as well as the charging case if you have it nearby.

With minimal effort, Siri gives you an up-to-date rundown of your AirPods‘ battery status. You can even customize your question to check only the left, right, or case battery if desired.

According to Apple, over 25% of iPhone users regularly use Siri voice commands. So if talking is easier than tapping widgets, Siri can quickly tell you your AirPods‘ battery percentage.

Between the auto pop-up, home screen widget, and Siri voice command, checking your battery on iPhone or iPad takes mere seconds. It doesn‘t get much simpler than that!

Check AirPods Battery on Mac

What if you want to check your AirPods‘ battery life from your Mac laptop or desktop? No problem, here‘s how:

Make sure your AirPods are nearby, either in the case with it open, or with the earbuds removed.
Click the Bluetooth icon in your Mac‘s menu bar to open Bluetooth settings.
Locate your AirPods in the list of devices. Their current battery percentages will be displayed next to them.

Unlike on iPhone, it doesn‘t matter whether your AirPods are in their case or not when checking from your Mac. As long as they are powered on and nearby, you can view up-to-date battery levels.

According to StatCounter, over 16% of desktop operating systems are MacOS as of January 2023, so millions rely on this handy Bluetooth menu to monitor accessory battery levels.

I recommend glancing at this menu periodically to stay on top of your AirPods‘ battery status while working from your Mac. This method only takes a couple of clicks for instant feedback.

Check AirPods Battery on Android

Now you may be wondering – what about Android users? Can they check AirPods battery life too?

Since AirPods are designed specifically for Apple devices, they don‘t have built-in integration with Android. However, some third-party apps provide manual workarounds:

AirBattery

One popular option is AirBattery, with over 5 million downloads on the Google Play Store. Here‘s how it works:

Download and install the AirBattery app from the Play Store.
Open the app and allow all requested permissions.
Follow the in-app tutorial to finish setup.
Your AirPods‘ battery percentage will display on a persistent notification.

AirBattery runs in the background and updates your AirPods‘ battery live. Its compact persistent notification is handy for glancing at your levels without opening the full app.

However, I should note AirBattery doesn‘t work with the very latest AirPods models. Also, some users report bugs with its battery readings being inaccurate. So while useful, it‘s not a perfect solution.

AirDroid

An alternative app you could try is AirDroid. It offers similar functionality:

Get AirDroid from the Play Store, install, and open it.
Allow permissions like accessibility and overlapping other apps when prompted.
Tap "My Devices" and select your AirPods to connect them.
You‘ll then see your battery percentage and history logs.

For Android power users, AirDroid provides robust AirPods monitoring thanks to its combination of notifications, widgets, and detailed historical data.

However, again, compatibility is limited. The latest AirPods models don‘t work properly. So ultimately, while these apps help, native AirPods integration still doesn‘t exist on Android.

Check AirPods Battery Without Devices

What if you don‘t have your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Android device handy? Not to worry – you can still estimate your AirPods‘ battery level by checking the status light on the charging case.

When you open the lid, look for a tiny LED light either on the front of the case or between the two AirPod slots, depending on your model. Here‘s what the colors indicate:

Solid green – Fully or close to fully charged
Solid amber/orange – Less than one full charge remaining
No light – Completely dead

Although not as precise as seeing an exact percentage, the status light offers a quick ballpark estimate of how much battery you have left.

I suggest making a habit of peeking at the light every time you open your case, just to stay aware. That way, if it‘s amber or off, you‘ll know to charge up soon.

While rudimentary, this no-device method ensures you can gauge your AirPods battery even if you left your iPhone on the nightstand and are heading out the door.

Assess Your AirPods‘ Battery Health

In addition to monitoring your AirPods‘ current battery percentage, you may also want to periodically assess the overall battery health.

All batteries naturally degrade over time as their chemistry wears down from repeated charge cycles. So how can you tell if your AirPods‘ batteries are still healthy?

Apple provides these approximate listening times for AirPods models when new:

AirPods 1st & 2nd gen – Up to 5 hours
AirPods Pro – Up to 4.5 hours
AirPods 3rd gen – Up to 6 hours
AirPods Pro 2 – Up to 6 hours

Use these benchmarks to judge your real-world listening time between charges. If you notice it declining well below these figures, even after full recharges, your battery health may be suffering.

According to Apple‘s own hardware engineering teams, Li-ion batteries like those in AirPods can maintain around 80% of their original full charge capacity for approximately 500 complete charge cycles.

So if your listening time with fully charged AirPods drops drastically below 4-5 hours, the batteries could be wearing out. Replacement AirPods batteries typically retail around $50-70, and Apple will install them at the Genius Bar for $49 per earbud.

I‘d recommend getting your batteries swapped every 2+ years, or sooner if you notice considerable performance degradation. This will restore battery life back to factory fresh levels.

The only way to definitively test battery health is to contact Apple Support and book an official diagnostic. But keeping an eye on your listening durations compared to normal baselines is an easy way to gauge battery wear yourself.

Maximize Your AirPods‘ Battery Lifespan

To maximize your AirPods‘ battery lifespan and performance over time, here are 5 key tips:

Avoid temperature extremes – Don‘t leave your AirPods in hot cars or other hot/cold environments for prolonged periods, as temperature extremes accelerate battery degradation.
Fully recharge regularly – Letting batteries drain to 0% too often can damage battery cell chemistry over time. Recharge your case and earbuds frequently.
Enable "Optimized Battery Charging" in Bluetooth settings – This uses machine learning to reduce wear by limiting time spent at 100% charge.
Keep firmware updated – Apple issues performance improvements and bug fixes in firmware updates that help your battery operate efficiently.
Replace batteries around the 2 year mark – Performance inevitably drops over time. Swapping in fresh batteries around every 24 months is ideal for maintaining peak runtime.

With proper care and maintenance, your AirPods‘ batteries can continue delivering stellar performance for years before needing replacement.

The Bottom Line

I hope this guide gave you a comprehensive rundown of the various options available for monitoring your AirPods‘ battery levels.

Whether you want a precise percentage reading on your iPhone, a quick no-device estimate from the case light, or to check long-term battery health, these tips empower you to stay on top of your charge status.

Knowing exactly how much listening time you have left before recharging will help you avoid any awkward unexpected battery deaths in the future.

Implementing these battery best practices helps you keep your AirPods juiced up and rocking for as long as possible. Let me know if you have any other battery questions!