AirPod Pro Microphone Call Quality

I have the same issue and it’s the most annoying thing bc it takes at least 20 seconds to get my AirPods into the case (or they think they’re still in my ears) and turn my phone call to speaker or regular… I hope there’s a firmware update

I have had this same issue for a long time, so I never used my Airpod Pros for calls. I was just on the phone with support and I found a workaround that seems to work for me.

Connect them to your phone. On your phone - go to Settings -> Airpod Pro -> Microphone

Mine was set to Automatic and had the issue. Then I changed to Always Right -> issue persisted. Changed to Always Left and it worked fine.

Be on a call with someone and change the settings asking for feedback on the quality. It will take a few seconds to switch the setting on the Airpods, but they will likely notice a difference.

This is by no means a fix, but a workaround. Apple said I would need to get my right pod looked at to fix the issue correctly.

Me too, i cannot take a call i any environment, even in my quiet room. And even after apple replace my airpods, the problem are still there.

So now when i receive call i need to take off the airpod pro because the people cannot hear me correctly.

I really doubt the pro in the name of these allegedly "Airpod pro". Be able to Take a call should be one of important feature for a professional.

Its 2023 and nothing changed.

This seemed to fix it for me, thanks. Just crazy that a £250 pair of headphones still has this problem 4 years after release and the only solution is to turn off features. My original AirPods had the same issue when using with my iPhone XR too, now I'm continuing to experience it with AirPods Pro and a 13 Pro Max. It makes me wonder if I'm just particularly unlucky or whether there might be some setting or software conflict tied to something that is transferring over with my Apple ID.

I found the ‘voice isolation’ setting on phone as opposed to the AirPods fixed this issue.

I activated it while on a call by swiping down on the top right, and as opposed to adjusting the AirPods found the ‘Mic Mode’ widget on the top right and selected that and chose voice isolation, which fixed this problem

I constantly have phone calls where I can hear the other person perfectly, this includes when the call is routed via my iPad. The MAJOR PROBLEM is that the caller can almost always NEVER HEAR me at all, or they tell me my voice constantly cuts in and out. One friend said maybe you should charge them, when in fact the battery life was fine.

im using AirPod Pro Gen:2 and in New Zealand these cost almost $500.

I’ve just read a reddit thread where some many ppl complained of how defective the microphone’s are on the AirPod Pro and here I see there’s 20,000 people confirming this.

THEREFORE BE WARNED - DO NOT BELIEVE APPLE - AIRPOD PRO’S DO NOT WORK FOR PHONE CALLS

unless your in a quiet room. Their advertising where a person gleefully walks down the street is absolute rubbish and a total lie and basically fake news. I’m a major Apple fan & consumer and I’m extreme upset and embarrassed by this situation and Apple’s total disregard for their consumers.

For anyone experiencing this, there's a good chance the cause is they're fake. Just happened to me.

They even pair, and show in my AppleID devices etc. But handoff between phone and macbook is clunky (needed to unpair from one first, unlike my genuine Airpod Pro 1's which seemlessly transitioned)

The other giveaway is current fakes can't remove the ear tips, and the case can't play the sound from FindMy, see this vid for all differences https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_jUsb4GTVo

FIXED:

Hey, it happened to me today but I have fixed it easily.

Locate the metal at the bottom of the AirPods Pro, and clean in properly. That should fix it.

Don’t forget to clean inside the case as well to avoid that from happening again.

If this works, go to TechForJack on Youtube and Subscribe.

Same problem with my Air Pods Pro II. I've unpair and re-paired and tried pairing them to different devices but the microphone quality is awful and completely unusable for calls. For me they're pretty much just an expensive paperweight now

Honest to god it makes me so **** angry. I can’t even talk to my mother without her asking me 20 times if I’m still there. As expensive as they are I’ve angrily yanked the AirPod out of my ear and chucked it. “What’s wrong with your phone?” “Why do you keep disappearing?” Gets me in some real good arguments. Thanks, Apple… these are way too **** expensive to be dog poop for calls…

It's happening to me as well since i bought my Airpod Proc 1st generation. I never pay too much attention to it since i mainly use them as speakers, barely use them to talk or send a voice message, but i noticed every time i try to use the mic it's really hard for the other person to hear me but i thought it was something to do with the other person, not me.

Yesterday i tried to record myself on a voice message many time, an each one of them i barely could hear myself. I did some research and found there is a recall issued that was available up to 3 year after the 1st gen 1 was produced, so its up to oct 2022 since they're made oct 2020.

I went to apple and they said they can't do anything but sell me a new one. But with this experience i don't think i'll go again for another airpod and risk to lose another US270.

So for those still having the issue, if it's a newer version you might have a chance that they replace them, otherwise you'll have to buy a new set of Airpods unfortunately. Not me tho.

My brother has AirPod 1 Pros and my sister had AirPod 2 Pros. I talk to them a lot and they both pick up a lot of background noise. Background conversation, running water, clanging dishes, scrubbing dishes, slight breeze, vehicle noise (with the windows shut), opening of doors, toilets flushing, etc. all come through very loudly. That’s the only reason I haven’t bought AirPods. They’re useless for calls. Oh, I’ve purchased and returned them after a couple of days of taking them through the paces. Musically, compared to my 25-year-old Grado headphones, AirPods (all of them) sound like $10 earbuds. I will say that ANC is great, but I can use earplugs to get the same effect if that’s all they’re good for.

Thanks all for looking into this. There were several recommendations in this thread that I tried. What seems to have worked for me in the end was to change the Accessibility->Audio/Visual setting, later forgetting the device on the phone and re-pairing using the method of opening the lid and holding pair button. Now finally my calls are clear. I verified all of this by calling my work phone and leaving myself voicemails after each step and after the last one, it finally doesn't sound muffled, even when I call only with one airpod in the ear.

Thanks all for looking into this. There were several recommendations in this thread that I tried. What seems to have worked for me in the end was to change the Accessibility->Audio/Visual setting, later forgetting the device on the phone and re-pairing using the method of opening the lid and holding pair button. Now finally my calls are clear. I verified all of this by calling my work phone and leaving myself voicemails after each step and after the last one, it finally doesn't sound muffled, even when I call only with one airpod in the ear.

Ok, never mind. This lasted about 15 minutes and it's back to the muffled voice. It seems that the airpods are struggling when I start to talk and it takes them a bout 1-2 seconds to be come clear. When I talk continuously it remains a decent quality but as soon as I pause, it's muffled again upon resuming to talk and again it's bad for 1-2 seconds as long as I talk all the time.

Expressing my concerns, I'm perplexed as to why Apple has remained silent on this matter. Personally, I feel entitled to a refund if it turns out that Apple is either complicit in unethical practices or mishandling our finances.