The AirPods’ stems are made from a soft material that absorbs most of the sound, while the pods themselves are made from a hard material that reflects the sound back towards the ear. Moreover, The earbuds need to be positioned properly over the ear’s external auditory meatus to function properly.
Below are the answers to your equation why are my airpods so quiet and solutions.
Why Are My AirPods So Quiet
- Dirt Build up
- Low Battery
- Device Music Settings
- Firmware Update
- Corrupted Bluetooth Connection Settings
- Device Volume and Connection Calibration
- Stereo Balance Settings of Each Earbud
- Low Power Mode
- Settings Taking Time To Update
- Defective AirPods
Dirt Build up
Debris like dust or melted ear wax may be a major reason why your Apple AirPods aren’t loud enough. As cliché as it sounds, cleaning your AirPods may help resolve most of the volume issues you have with your AirPods. Debris hinders the flow of sound therefore, you hear a softer sound when it reaches your ears.
Clean your AirPods using a microfiber cloth with cotton buds. This will only clean the top part. To clean the inner parts, I recommend you “suck” on the bigger speaker. However, place a cloth between your mouth and the speaker to trap the dirt.
Low Battery
Smart devices are engineered to detect low battery and lowering performance or turn off some features completely to preserve power. Apple AirPods, Apple Watch, Apple airpods Pro, and all other Apple devices are not exempt. If they are running low on battery, the sound will be low. To fix this issue, make sure your AirPods are fully charged.
You can get 4 to 5 hours of listening time and 3 to 3.5 hours of conversation time on a single charge. It’s also important to keep your charging case fully charged, as with it alone, you can get 24 hours listening time and 18 hours of talk time. 15 minutes charge will give you about 1-hour of listening or talk time.
Device Music Settings
It is possible that the reason your music is not loud enough is because of the settings on the music app you are using. This is especially if you are experiencing a low-volume issue when playing music on a specific app. If you are playing music on the Apple Music App, check the Voice Limit setting. If it is set to minimal or low, your volume adjusts automatically to that volume.
To fix it, go to your Device’s settings then tap on Music, then set the Volume Limit to the maximum volume.
Firmware Update
It is highly probable that there is a bug in the Firmware Version of the AirPods. Even though the Firmware updates automatically, sometimes you may need to do it manually. Apple releases firmware occasionally, so to fix the bug, check whether there’s a released update that you have not updated.
Update the device you want to link the AirPods with to solve the problem. Your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or even Mac could be the culprit for quiet AirPods. After that, your AirPods will update to the most recent version automatically.
Corrupted Bluetooth Connection Settings
Sometimes, your Bluetooth device connection settings may hinder good audio quality since AirPods like all other Bluetooth headphones rely on these settings to work. The best way is to forget the device and reconfigure the Bluetooth settings again.
Open the Bluetooth settings on your device and click on forget This Device. Keep the AirPods in their charging case and wait a bit. Press and hold the Setup button until flashes amber and white repeatedly. Give it a few seconds then open the lid. You can now begin the pairing process. Once done, check to see whether the volume is balanced. If not, adjust the volume to the fix low volume.
Device Volume and Connection Calibration
Device settings tend to get corrupted over time due to updates and other changes in settings, IOS device volume settings not being an exception which means your device needs to be tuned up.
To fix this, you need to calibrate the settings and Bluetooth connection too. To do this, turn down the volume while still playing music on your AirPods. Disconnect the AirPods then Disable Bluetooth. Turn the volume on your device down and that of your AirPods. Turn Bluetooth back on and reconnect your AirPods. Adjust the headphone volume to your liking.
Stereo Balance Settings of Each Earbud
It is possible that you may have configured the iPhone’s accessibility settings of each earbud to play at different levels. This may be one playing louder than the other and vice versa, To remedy this, go to the iPhone settings, then Accessibility to Audio/Visual. Make sure the slider is balanced in the middle between both earbuds.
Low Power Mode
Apple devices have a feature called Low Power Mode which helps preserve battery by lowering the device’s performance. As stated earlier, the low battery may affect your device’s audio by lowering the amount of audio coming out of your AirPods making the AirPods quiet.
You can enable or disable the Low Power Mode, as it gives a warning when your battery is at 30% or lower and is not passive. Disable the mode by going to the settings option and tapping on the Battery option. After that toggle the Low Power Mode Version and disable the feature. Adjust the volume once you are done disabling the feature and check whether the sound is loud enough.
Settings Taking Time To Update
After all, is said and done, some of the settings may still not work especially if your device has been running for some time. The reason for this is that your device may be overloaded with processes which may lead to not saving the changes you made. This issue may be the reason why your AirPods volume is too low.
To fix this, restart your device. That’s right, the good old way of removing bugs for both the device and the connected devices. You will need to restart the device your AirPods are connected to. Once the device is up and running, check to make sure your AirPods are connected again and working properly.
Defective AirPods
If none of these methods are fixing the low volume issue, it is probable that your AirPods are defective. The only way to fix this is to contact Apple support and explain your problem to a certified Apple Technician.
Make sure to also explain the attempts you made to repair them and what exactly you did, just in case it may have contributed to the problem. It is also important to mention your attempts so they do not waste time repeating the same troubleshooting methods.
Check the warranty of your device before going in so you do not have to dish out a large sum of money for the repairs or replacements.
Read Why Does One AirPod Die Faster here.
Tips To Get The Best AirPods Audio Quality
- Update your AirPods
- Keep your AirPods charged
- Turn off smart features on your AirPods
- Try different ear tips or use Memory Foam ear tips
Update your AirPods
Apple releases new AirPods firmware occasionally so they can fix bugs, improve sound quality and add new features to your AirPods. Updating the firmware may help improve the sound quality of your AirPods. Even though they are set to update automatically, you can update them manually.
Keep your AirPods charged
This is probably a very natural thing for you to do, but sometimes you may forget. If your AirPods are low on charge the audio quality may be dicey. If you notice your sound is deteriorating, check whether the battery status is showing amber.
Turn off smart features on your AirPods
Surprisingly, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), Transparency Mode, Spatial Sound, etc. may affect your sound. ANC precisely reduces bass due to the intense noise processing going on in the background. Spatial Sound is designed to create an immersion effect with the help of Dolby Atmos mixes, as a result, the audio quality is affected. Also, disable absolute volume from the device control center.
Try different ear tips or use Memory Foam ear tips
If the silicone ear tips do not seal your ear completely, sound may be escaping through the empty spaces, therefore affecting the sound quality. You can take the ear-tip fit test to determine your size or you can get memory foam ear tips that are customized for your ears.
FAQ
Now is the time to stop asking why are my AirPods so quiet and take action. Check all the recommended fixes I’ve listed. If nothing works then it’s time to move on and get a new pair.
