Apple’s AirPods have a lot of features that make them the best earbuds out there in the market, and these features are like no wires that might get tangled, good battery life, or exceptional audio performance but all this comes with Apple’s AirPods hefty price tag or the fact that sometimes the AirPods may not fit your ears well and so they might fall out easily.
Apple includes three different silicone ear-tips in the box for you to switch between and use. After pairing with your iOS device, you may run the Fit Test to ensure you’re using the correct ones. But what do you do if it still does not fit you well?
For starters, the active noise cancellation on your AirPods may not work well due to a lack of seal between your ears and the outside noise and this might decrease the overall sound quality.
Another significant difficulty with a poor fit is that they may fall out at any time. These aren’t like the original AirPods, which just sit in your ear, because the silicone tip may slide out. This can ruin the overall listening experience if your AirPods keep falling out randomly and so here are a few things you can do about it.
The first and foremost reason your AirPods may be falling out might be that they poorly fit your ears even though Apple had made a point in their design so that their AirPods fit 90% of their customers.
Yes, a large proportion but it still leaves us with 10% of the customers who may struggle with the fit. On paper, this percentage may appear to be a minor amount, but given the number of Apple customers worldwide, belonging to this side of the spectrum is highly probable.
Each person’s ears are uniquely different in form and size. Some studies claim that ears are better at identifying people and are more distinctive than fingerprints. So, it might be that the AirPods’ one-size-fits-all approach maybe its biggest design flaw after all.
This may seem obvious to some, but it never hurts to double-check that your AirPods and AirPods Pro are correctly worn at all times. The design of the AirPods and AirPods Pro is significantly different. As you may be aware, the AirPods have the same form and size as Apple’s corded headphones.
The AirPods Pro, on the other hand, has silicone tips that penetrate considerably deeper into the wearers’ ears. Because of the minor change in design, the two are classified into different technical categories. The standard AirPods are classified as “earbuds,” but the AirPods Pro is classified as an “in-ear monitor” or IEMS.
Apple had recognized this issue and even came up with a solution of their own. What Apple did was that, in comparison to the basic AirPods, which had plastic, non-replaceable tips, the AirPods Pro had silicone tips, and for a time, everyone felt this was the ideal solution. And the silicone tips did, to some extent, fix the problem of AirPods slipping out of your ear. The tips were available in three different sizes, allowing them to fit virtually all ears on the planet.
But all of this came at a cost and soon people realized that even the silicone tips were not helping much against this problem. This was because the silicone tips introduced two additional issues: it was slippery and prone to gathering dirt.
Several users even complained that the silicone tips were significantly more prone to dropping due to their tendency to slip out of the ears quickly and much more easily.
Though simple, another reason why AirPods come out of our ears is due to external causes, like being struck. Although both the AirPods and their Pro counterparts fit properly, being struck forcefully by something or someone might cause the earphones to fall out of your ear. Aside from that, you could accidentally hit the earphones while putting off your workout clothing or reaching for your hairbrush.
Nowadays, one of the most common circumstances in which individuals lose their AirPods is when they remove their face masks. In all of these circumstances, the best thing to do is to just be aware of the possibility of anything hitting your ears. But, just in case, make sure your AirPods are firmly worn.
Another fix that might fix the situation for a lot of users or even improve the overall fit and music experience is to use memory foam instead of silicone tips. This is because memory foam, unlike Apple’s silicone tips, quickly conforms to the curve of the ear, delivering a better-sealed fit and improved noise cancellation due to better-sealed fit. Recently, a lot of users have been switching to memory foam for their AirPods.
If you are someone who goes running or jogging frequently, then there is another fix that a lot of athletic customers have done in the past with wired earphones too. That is to plug your AirPods into your ear upside down as it improves the overall grip and stays firmly in your ear when you’re working out or going for a jog.
If all else fails, you might look into third-party accessories to keep your AirPods from falling out. These items were created exclusively to answer frequent user issues and inquiries, such as how to make AirPods fit better or how to keep them from slipping out.
Although they do help with giving your AirPods a better fit, you might need to take off the additional accessories to put your AirPods back in their charging case as they are not official Apple products.
Yes, the AirPods are undoubtedly the most innovative of their type, but they have one fundamental flaw which is that they have trouble staying fit inside your ear. The good news is that using one of the methods listed above, you might just be able to remedy that one problem. If you do the math, you’ll end up with the ideal earphones.
Robert Smith is a technology lover and loves to write about laptops, monitors, printers, tablets, Apple products and anything that's related to computers and games. He is passionate enough that he maintains this blog regarding tech updates on a daily basis.
Robert Smith is a technology lover and loves to write about laptops, monitors, printers, tablets, Apple products and anything that's related to computers and games. He is passionate enough that he maintains this blog regarding tech updates on a daily basis.
