One AirPod (2nd gen) sometimes doesn’t connect on first try

Hello, I’ve been using my 2nd gen AirPods for a few years now, and they’ve been acting a bit strange for about a year. When I take out the right earbud it sometimes just doesn’t connect on the first try. When taking both out there’s a chance that only the left one connects. This happens about 65% of the time. However, putting one (or both) back, closing the lid for a split second and then taking them back out “fixes” this, meaning they will both connect on the second try.

This only happens after them having been inside the case for a prolonged time, a few hours at minimum.

I do clean my case sometimes so the connectors inside the case are clean. Charging works correctly so I don’t think it’s the battery being empty. Neither restarting my phone nor the AirPods stopped this from happening. 

How can I fix this for good, prevent this from happening in the long run?

The sound also sometimes becomes shredded (about 5% of the times I use them) and I want to fix that for good as well, but that might be better to ask in a separate thread. 

For info, I prefer my audio playback to not stop when taking out one earbud so I have ear detection turned off. 

iPhone: 14 Pro, iOS 17.3

AirPods: model A2031, firmware version 6A321.