For an actual set of headphones with a decent size battery, they can still be useful for many years even if the capacity drops to 50%. Tiny things like AirPods are crazy though. When they're brand new the battery life is barely enough, when they're a year or two old it sounds like a giant nuisance.
Apple just launched the more fitness-targeted Powerbeats Pro with a bigger battery, but the charging case to accommodate the "around ear" design is enormous compared to AirPods.
And now reviewers are excusing that saying "Yeah it's a huge case, but the battery life is probably good enough that maybe you could leave the case at home!" As if the battery life three years from now will be anywhere near 9 hours.
EDIT: Two articles posted on 9to5mac by literally the same person a couple of months apart:
> But batteries are consumable, we all know so well now, and that’s proven true for the tiny batteries inside AirPods after two years of daily use. Battery life that once exceeded five hours now struggles to power AirPods through three hours of continuous usage at the same volume. Battery life results can be cut in half if you need to play audio at a louder volume.
> In practice, I used to never hear the low battery alert during usage. I rarely listened to audio with AirPods for five straight hours before charging in the carrying case without thought. More recently, I’ve heard the bloop sound much more regularly, frequently followed by AirPods dying before I’m ready to recharge.
> AirPods give you up to 5 hours of power in between charges; Powerbeats Pro almost double that with up to 9 hours of power in between charges. The additional four hours might mean you only need to take the earphones out of the house for the day with the charging case left at home.
Talk about a lack of foresight.
On 9to5mac in 2021: "The batteries in my Powerbeats Pro only last four hours and I have to carry this gigantic charging case everywhere. HOW COULD I HAVE KNOWN???"
And for a comparison point versus real headphones, Sony’s USB-C charged WH-1000XM3 is rated for 30 hours with noise cancellation on, 38 hours without. But those aren’t something I’d carry around all the time, so I’m happy to keep using wired earbuds where battery life isn’t even a question.
Apple just launched the more fitness-targeted Powerbeats Pro with a bigger battery, but the charging case to accommodate the "around ear" design is enormous compared to AirPods.
And now reviewers are excusing that saying "Yeah it's a huge case, but the battery life is probably good enough that maybe you could leave the case at home!" As if the battery life three years from now will be anywhere near 9 hours.
EDIT: Two articles posted on 9to5mac by literally the same person a couple of months apart:
https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/28/airpods-battery-life/
> But batteries are consumable, we all know so well now, and that’s proven true for the tiny batteries inside AirPods after two years of daily use. Battery life that once exceeded five hours now struggles to power AirPods through three hours of continuous usage at the same volume. Battery life results can be cut in half if you need to play audio at a louder volume.
> In practice, I used to never hear the low battery alert during usage. I rarely listened to audio with AirPods for five straight hours before charging in the carrying case without thought. More recently, I’ve heard the bloop sound much more regularly, frequently followed by AirPods dying before I’m ready to recharge.
https://9to5mac.com/2019/05/06/beats-powerbeats-pro-hands-on...
> AirPods give you up to 5 hours of power in between charges; Powerbeats Pro almost double that with up to 9 hours of power in between charges. The additional four hours might mean you only need to take the earphones out of the house for the day with the charging case left at home.
Talk about a lack of foresight.
On 9to5mac in 2021: "The batteries in my Powerbeats Pro only last four hours and I have to carry this gigantic charging case everywhere. HOW COULD I HAVE KNOWN???"