Is it normal for wireless earbud's left & right earpieces to have slightly different battery levels?

[Android Central Question]

Is it normal for wireless earbud's left & right earpieces to have slightly different battery levels?

I just bought the first pair of truly wireless earphones, galaxy buds, off of Amazon, but I noticed that the right earpiece's battery drained significantly faster than the battery of left earpiece, I checked it up online to find forums with threads fulls of similar issues, to which I requested an exchange, got the new pair of earphones and tested them to find that the right earpiece's batter still drains faster, though not significantly, there is a gap of exact 2 mins, for example, both the earpieces start at 70-70 (L-R) then say it would fall to 70-65 (L-R) and after exactly 2 mins it would equal to 65-65 (L-R). I understand no two hardware can be exactly the same and this chasm between the numbers is a small one, so I thought maybe I'd ask if its normal to have slight difference between the two earpieces otherwise I'd just refund them?

 

[SpookDroid]

Re: Is it normal for wireless earbud's left & right earpieces to have slightly different battery lev

It is because the signal strength will be different on both. If the difference is of 15 or 20 percent after the same usage time, then yeah, that'd be a concern. But 5% is pretty common since the system also rounds out battery info from each earbud.

Situations like where you have your phone (closer to the right or left one), how conductive one side of your head is (as to block less signal), other devices in the same frequency nearby (introducing potential noise) will affect battery life, and since these are individual connections, well, they both use energy in slightly different levels.

 

[hallux]

Re: Is it normal for wireless earbud's left & right earpieces to have slightly different battery lev

If they're like the only other wireless buds I've used, one of them connects to the phone then has another radio that connects it with the other bud. As one bud has to connect to two devices and the other only one, it's quite possible it would drain faster.

 

[SpookDroid]

Re: Is it normal for wireless earbud's left & right earpieces to have slightly different battery lev

If they're like the only other wireless buds I've used, one of them connects to the phone then has another radio that connects it with the other bud. As one bud has to connect to two devices and the other only one, it's quite possible it would drain faster.

The Galaxy Buds are independent. They connect individually so you can use either side as a single bud.

 

[Rukbat]

Re: Is it normal for wireless earbud's left & right earpieces to have slightly different battery lev

The battery drain also depends on the sound level played by the bud. If there's more sound or louder sound (averaged over, say, 5 minutes) on the right side, the right earbud will drain faster.

 

[Jeasbe]

Re: Is it normal for wireless earbud's left & right earpieces to have slightly different battery lev

Using Oppo Enco Air2 Pro since a month.
Battery levels between Right and Left buds varies by 10% most of the time.
The Right one is discharged more. But the discharge stays constant... As in..
100-90
90-90

90-80
80-80

80-70
70-70
And so on.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Re: Is it normal for wireless earbud's left & right earpieces to have slightly different battery lev

I would recommend sending them for warranty repair of they are only a month old and having battery issues.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Re: Is it normal for wireless earbud's left & right earpieces to have slightly different battery lev

Wouldn't say that's an issue. seems like a normal variance.

I've had 3 sets of true wireless earbuds and they've all had a discrepancy in the batery level. Weirdly, it is always the right one that has the lower battery.

 

[me just saying]

Re: Is it normal for wireless earbud's left & right earpieces to have slightly different battery lev

Mine has different battery levels but I believe it is only because I tend to listen to one at a time to make the battery last and to keep from getting fired It means the right one is being used more often so there is more charging cycles on it.

 

[smvim]

Re: Is it normal for wireless earbud's left & right earpieces to have slightly different battery lev

Personally I just don't even care if the left or right earbud is discharging with one at a faster rate than the other, I only focus on making sure they both have enough power until they get put away to be charged up again.
Just out of curiosity why is it a problem that one holds a charge a little better than the other one? I just get frustrated with myself when I forget to make sure they both get charged up frequently.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Re: Is it normal for wireless earbud's left & right earpieces to have slightly different battery lev

Personally I just don't even care if the left or right earbud is discharging with one at a faster rate than the other, I only focus on making sure they both have enough power until they get put away to be charged up again.
Just out of curiosity why is it a problem that one holds a charge a little better than the other one? I just get frustrated with myself when I forget to make sure they both get charged up frequently.

Speaking for myself, it's not actually something I care about, it's just something I've noticed.

I can see how it would be potentially concerning to someone who doesn't have an understanding of battery and radio technology though...

 

[belodion]

Re: Is it normal for wireless earbud's left & right earpieces to have slightly different battery lev

Also - and you obviously didn't mean this, but I’ve just taken me philosophy outfit out from under the bed to have a go with it - I think it would be impossible for the two battery levels to be the same. So, “normal” is not the word, but “always the case”.