AirPods Pro Ear Tip Fit Test fail (seal is actually good on both sides)

Sucking on the mesh of the inward-facing microphone and equalizing my ears did not work for me. What eventually did, as I just tried moment ago, is to use a piece of Loctite Fun-Tak (more generally known as Blu-Tack) on the inward-facing microphone mesh. I rolled up a ball of Fun-Tak, pressed onto the mesh and then removed the Fun-Tak. I repeated this several times. Now both ear buds are passing the Ear Tip Fit Test - they had failed the past couple of weeks. The sound coming out of the AirPods Pro is significantly better. Perhaps AirPods Pro failing the test is also an indication that it's time to clean your ears :D

Refitting, resizing, and the sucking method doesn't even work at all. I still fail the tests in both ears. Luckily I have these on Apple Care.

I'm definitely chalking up that these first gen Airpod Pros have design flaws. Because if it isn't this issue of ear tip fit tests failing, then it's the other issue in another long support thread about how these pros naturally fall out of your ears a lot. I never had to readjust wireless buds so often in my life and we shouldn't have to resort to band-aid solutions such as stickier airpod cases to get it to work.

They definitely need to improve things with the next model, but sadly I fear I'll probably skip out any next gen and go for the new over the ear Airpods X headphones they are rumored to be making that are like their beats. I prefer over the ear anyway, but just for doing video conference meetings at work I prefer to use something that looks more discrete.

Have your AirPod Pro ever passed the ear tip fit test? If they used to but not anymore, try using something like Blu-Tack (I used Loctite Fun-Tak) on the inward facing microphone mesh. I described that in a few comments above. I agree there's definitely a design issue with the AirPod Pro. A user shouldn't have to resort to cleaning the microphone mesh with a ball of sticky Blu-Tack or sucking on them.

I do really like the AirPods Pro but there is definitely a design issue with them. I replaced them a few times due to rattling or buzzing, lack of bass and persistent failure of the fit test. The fit test is a cool idea but is frustrating because it starts to fail within a few weeks of starting to use a new AirPod pro (the right one fails first for me). I also often hear a buzzing or vibration when I talk on the phone. Maybe the active noise cancellation and particularly the active EQ might be the culprit causing problems? I totally agree with Changren that we shouldn’t need to suck them or use Blu-Tack to fix them periodically. I can’t image doing that is good for whatever delicate parts are inside the AirPods Pro. The easy pairing and automatic recognition of them on your other iCloud devices, compact size and overall ease of use and sound quality (when they are working) overrides the many quirks (for me). I guess the saving grace for these is the tight integration into Apple’s devices.

If you have access to it, try using Blu-Tack - in my case Loctite Fun-Tak - on the inside-facing microphone mesh on both ear buds. Ever since I started doing this, I haven’t had a failed ear tip fit test.

Have you tried this?

"Sucking on the mesh of the inward-facing microphone and equalizing my ears did not work for me. What eventually did, as I just tried moment ago, is to use a piece of Loctite Fun-Tak (more generally known as Blu-Tack) on the inward-facing microphone mesh. I rolled up a ball of Fun-Tak, pressed onto the mesh and then removed the Fun-Tak. I repeated this several times. Now both ear buds are passing the Ear Tip Fit Test - they had failed the past couple of weeks. The sound coming out of the AirPods Pro is significantly better."

Bought some Loctite Fun-Tak on Amazon for $4. Your suggestion really worked. I just found that you have to push it into the mesh firmly and do it several times as my first attempts did not get the job done. I just use it to clean all the meshes and the microphone hole. Not sure which one fixed it, but it now works perfectly. And I had tried all of the tips several times before, adjusted, cleaned, etc., but nothing worked. But the Fun-Tak did the trick, so great suggestion, and many thanks. It definitely improved the sound and noise cancellation.

I purchased custom skinned AirPod Pros from a 3rd party and started to experience the same issue with my right ear. I sent them back for troubleshooting and they found under a microscope that the mesh area on the body of the earpiece was clogged with oils and earwax. You couldn’t see it by the naked eye. Once that was thoroughly cleaned with a brush and wiped down, perfect seal test again. Apparently the mesh area contributes to measuring the seal. My retailer sent me a cleaning kit to help keep them clean going forward.

Yeah I've had the exact same issue, on the first few days I had em they both passed fine and the seal was great, over time I noticed my right airpod when on Noise Cancellation just a bit more sound leaked in through the right ear. It got a bit worse over time and now it's impossible for me to pass the ear-tip fit test in my right ear, I have no idea if it's a design or hardware flaw that caused the noise cancellation in my right ear to be more weak. It confuses me since they fit perfectly fine the day I got them. Still haven't tried to fix this issue.

As a few of us have reported here, the issue is primarily due to ear wax clogging the inner-ear facing microphone mesh. You can fix it on your own by using something like Blu-Tack. I used Loctite’s Fun-Tak with great success.

@Matblaxck: AirPods Pro uses both inward- and outward-facing microphones to adjust its noise-cancelation (200 times per second). If the mesh covering the microphone is clogged, it is less effective. I can actually tell the difference in sound quality even when the active noise-cancellation is disabled when the earbud is failing the ear tip fit test.

The inward-facing microphone mesh on your AirPods Pro is most likely clogged with ear wax. I have great success using a product similar to Blu-Tack (or Loctite Fun-Tak) to clean the clogged microphone mesh. Just roll a ball of Fun-Tak, press it firmly against the inward-facing microphone mesh, remove the ball of Fun-Tak , and repeat this process a few more times. That should take care of it.

I'm somewhat happy to report that I'm another Blu Tack success story. I tried everything else everyone has mentioned and NOTHING work. I wish the APPs had been better designed to avoid this issue altogether but I can also confirm the Blu Tack solution does work. I discovered you have to really push the tack down on the mesh to get it to work but I'm now getting a good seal confirmation from the fit test now. Note: despite the failed fit test message, my APPs never sounded bad or failed to get the noise cancellation seal it needed to perform. I wish I didn't have to clean the APPs as thorough to get a passed fit test but the Pods have always sounded great. And that's coming from a musician who uses $1000 custom molded In-Ear Monitors regularly. I'm going to add the Blu Tack to my normal cleaning routine and I hope the issues doesn't resurface.

Glad the Blu Tack solution worked out! I don't religiously perform the Ear Tip Fit test for no reason. Typically, I only perform that test when I feel that one of the APPs sounds softer than the other. And more often than not, that earbud is the one failing the test.

If you have access to a product like Blu Tack or Fun Tak (made by Loctie), try them. So far, at least in the thread, everyone who had their AirPods Pro failing the ear tip fit test has resolved that issue by using Blu Tack (or Fun Tak).

I was literally about to order new ear tips, I was already on the largest ones. I tried all the other remedies I could find and had already tried cleaning the tips with warm soapy water.

Thanks again for “fixing” the issue. :)