How To Charge AirPods: An Ultimate Guide for Beginners & Pros Alike

Mobile Accessories

Did you just upgrade your phone and earphones and now trying to figure out how to charge AirPods? Look no more, because we have here our ultimate guide on everything about AirPods plus different ways of charging your beloved earphones.

So you’ve finally made the shift to cordless easy calls and listening and now upgraded to the latest AirPods and AirPods Pro. But having one also means that you should know how to properly care for it and as well learn how to charge your AirPods. A brand new one usually comes fully charged in a box giving its new user up to 5 hours of listening time and up to 2 hours of talk time before one can charge it again.

For its battery level, there are several ways on how to check it but the most common indicator is hearing a tone when the battery is low and another one just before it runs out. Once your new AirPods battery has run out, you need to learn how to charge it for the first time.

How To Charge AirPods
Photo by PlushDesignStudio on Pixabay

 

How To Charge AirPods For The First Time

The first thing you need to understand about charging AirPods is that you don’t charge them on their own or directly. Rather, you charge these in their case, wireless or not. The case is basically its battery pack. When you put your AirPods in the case, the individual AirPods draw their batteries from the case. You should also keep in mind that you are charging 2 devices here, your Airpods and AirPods case.

To charge your AirPods (first time or not!)  simply put your AirPods back to its case. Its case comes with a built-in battery. If the case is fully charged, it will provide up to 24 hours of listening time and 11 hours of talk time. That’s pretty long for a small device. And if you charge the AirPods for just 15 minutes, you can get as much as 3 hours of listening time and an hour of talk time.

If you put your AirPods in the case, the light inside the case and if you have a wireless case, you will see the light on the front of the case, which is an indication of its charging status. And if you remove the AirPods, the light indicator on the case shows its battery life.

Yes, charging your AirPods isn’t really that complicated but another thing that you should be aware of with your new pods is how to charge its wireless case.

You can charge your wireless case with a lightning cable and here’s how:

 

How To Charge AirPods Method 1: Charging AirPods Case

After understanding the connection between AirPods and its case, and learning about how to charge AirPods, charging its case wouldn’t be that hard.

1. You can charge the case with or without the AirPods inside the case. Just make sure that the case is closed.

2. Connect the light cable at the bottom of the case. The status light should turn on for a couple of seconds and turn off as it continues to charge.

3. You can plug the lightning cable to an adapter into a power source or a USB port on your computer.

4. Your AirPods /Airpods case is finally charging.

AirPods, iPhone
Photo by Irvin on Pixabay

 

How To Charge AirPods Method 2: Charging Mat

There are also other ways on how to charge AirPods depending on what charger you have or if your are willing to spend more on accessories. This is a charging mat. Apple released a wireless charging case and second-generation AirPods, AirPods Pro can be charged with almost any Qi-compatible charging mat o stands.

If you happen to own one, here are the steps to follow:

1. Place the Airpods case on the charger, making sure that the status light is on the front, facing up. Then, like charging it normally, you can charge the case with or without the AirPods.

2. Check the status light. It should turn on for several seconds and turn back off.

3. If the light won’t turn on, try repositioning the case on the mat.

However, if you face trouble charging the case, make sure that the cables are plugged-in properly whether it is on the power socket or through the computer. If you are still having trouble, double-check your cord and charging device if it is working properly.

AirPods Case, iPhone
Photo by Suganth on Unsplash

 

AirPods charging lights

  • Green light with AirPods inside: AirPods is fully charged.
  • Green light with no AirPods inside: Your case is fully charged.
  • Amber light: Less than one full charge is left in the wireless case battery.
  • Flashing amber: This may mean that you need to set you AirPods up again.
  • Flashing white light: AirPods are ready for set up.

 

Charge Time

It’s charging depends on how long your charger your AirPods. Hence, if you intend to use it for a longer period of time, you should make sure to charge your case 24 hours for maximum enjoyment. For 15 minutes, you get three hours of listening time or 1 to 2 hours of talk time depending on the generation of your AirPods. Therefore, this means 30 minutes of charging your AirPods will give you 100% of its battery.

 

Battery Life

1st generation AirPods:

  • Up to 5 hours of listening time on a single charge
  • Up to 2 hours of talk time on a single charge
  • When the case is fully charged, over 24 hours of listening time and 11 hours of talk time.

2nd generation AirPods:

  • Up to 5 hours of listening time on a single charge of your Airpod.
  • Up to 3 hours of talk time on a single charge
  • When the case is fully charged, over 24 hours of listening time and 18 hours of talk time.

Airpods Pro:

  • Up to 4.5 hours of listening time on a single charge
  • Up to 3.5 hours of talk time on a single charge
  • With 5 minutes charged, it can get you 1 hour listening time and talk time each.
AirPods Case
Photo by Pestoverde on Flickr

Checking Battery Life

There’s no way you can check it’s battery percentage on the case but one way to know that you are running out of battery is through hearing a tone and another one before it completely dies. You also have the option to ask Siri for a battery check. If you need more information on how to pair your Airpods to your mobile phone, here’s how it works.