Why does one wireless earbud drain faster than another?

To begin with, it is worth noting that the batteries of all TWS models, regardless of the brand, discharge unevenly and will have a discrepancy of several percent. If the difference is 5-10%, this is quite normal. If it reaches 20% or more, then something is wrong with the headphones. Let's figure out what the reason might be.

1. Software failure

Yes, the most common software glitch in a smartphone or headphones can lead to increased discharge. And this is the first thing you should check. First try rebooting your device, and if that doesn’t help, connect headphones again.

To do this, go to “Settings” → Bluetooth, tap on the headset name or the i icon next to it and select “Forget this device” or “Delete”. Then open the case, or press the button on it, or simply take out the headphones to put them into discovery mode. In the Bluetooth settings on your smartphone, tap “Add device” to connect.

2. Lost contact when charging

When using headphones, dirt will inevitably accumulate inside the case. It can block the contact pads and, as a result, prevent the full charging of one of the earbuds. As a result, it will initially be charged less than the other when you first take them out of the case and, accordingly, will run out faster.

However, this reason is quite easy to exclude. Carefully check the charge level of both headphones before using them. If both show 100%, the problem is somewhere else. If not, cleaning the seat using a cotton swab dipped in alcohol or a special brush, which can be found on marketplaces, will help.

3. Uneven use

With intensive use, the battery capacity decreases faster. Therefore, if you often talk on one earphone or, say, use navigation, it is not surprising that when listening to music, it discharges faster than the other.

You can try to “calibrate” the first one by forcefully using the second, more capacious earbud in headset mode. This way you will spend its resource without changing the state of another. Then there is a possibility that over time both batteries will come to a common value.

4. Active use of the headphone microphone

Almost all headphones, except perhaps the cheapest ones, have microphones in both earbuds, but they do not work at the same time. By default, the microphone is used in the earphone that was connected first, even if both are worn. With frequent calls and active work with the voice assistant, one earbud is expected to discharge faster.

You can correct the situation by switching the microphone from the “Auto” mode to a more capacious earbud - some models allow this. Go to “Settings” → Bluetooth, tap the name of the headphones and in the “Microphone” item select the earbud that holds the charge better.

5. Features of work

All TWS headphones operate on the “master-slave” principle: the right one connects directly to the phone, and the left one receives a signal from the right one. Because of this, most of the load falls on one of the headphones, and it discharges faster.

With proper optimization, the effect of this is minimal, but if the manufacturer is not too concerned, then the problem may be more obvious. Unfortunately, in this case, nothing will be done. The good news is that this only appears on ultra-budget models.

6. Defective battery

It may well be that the capacity of the already tiny battery of one of the headphones is initially less than declared or is consumed too much due to a manufacturing defect. Even famous brands are not immune from this, let alone inexpensive Chinese models.

If the headphones are still under warranty, then try contacting service to have the defective device replaced. If there is no guarantee, you can try your luck in some workshop or buy a second earphone separately. Or just buy new pair.