AirPods discharging in empty Charging Case

I have the same issue. Also, my Airpods batteries discharge when not in the case. If I leave them with 100% charge overnight out of the case, in the morning they are at 0%. The shop replaced them but the problem persists also with the new pair. Apple Store Genius tells me it's by design and that I should always keep them in the charged case. (???) I argued that if that is so they should declare it publicly in the spec. I would certainly not buy them then.

Hi Lawrence. Thank you for your comment. I understand that and indeed do expect some discharge to happen. However, with a Bluetooth V.5 device it should happen at a much slower rate. My other non-Apple earbuds - just one example - under same conditions lose just 3% of their charge overnight.

Hi Keenberg,

Have you tried cleaning your AirPods' connectors, both on the AirPods and in the charging case?

If you have, and that still hasn't helped maintaining a charge, you may still have residue on the connectors, which prevents maintaining a successful charge.

Here's something that can help. Try cleaning the connectors, both on the AirPods and in the case, with a Pencil Eraser. This will definitely help to remove any dirt on the AirPods & in the case, which hasn't been removed by using a dry cloth. This will also clean the connectors, so they are in a significantly cleaner state. It will also help the case battery from constantly needing to heavily charge the Airpods.

If you try cleaning with a pencil eraser, before putting the Airpods in the charging case again, make sure that they are both clean of any bit of the eraser.

Have a Great Day!

When the AirPods are out of the case they are powered on. So of course they are going to discharge, because when something is powered on is uses power. You must keep the AirPods in the case when not using them because they are powered off in the case. Every Bluetooth headset ever made will discharge its battery when it is powered on.

I'll try again to explain. AirPods are POWERED ON as long as they are out of the case. That means they are using battery energy. They are rated for 5 hours when POWERED ON. So if you take them out of the case, which turns them on (there is no other switch to turn them on or off), the batteries will run down in 5 hours. Your other earpods are almost certainly POWERED OFF when you are not using them. I'm surprised they discharge at all when powered off.