When it comes to the earbud market, there is no doubt that Apple is winning with its AirPods. I, for one, am a huge fan of these devices and use them all the time in my daily life. However, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t come across my fair share of issues with the AirPods. The one that’s on my mind today is the problem when there is a delay in sound, which can be incredibly frustrating when you’re watching your favorite media content. So why does this issue even happen?
One of the best ways to take care of the audio delay on an AirPod is to avoid using them in a low-battery state. However, aside from this, you can try the following fixes:
- Check for connectivity issues with your phone.
- Check AirPod batteries
- Keep AirPods close to your phone.
- Check the Bluetooth codec.
- Switch off low-power mode.
Clearly, there are many different ways to fix this issue in your Apple AirPods. However, if you really want to know how to fix the problem with each one, you need to keep reading this article. I will explain in detail how you can do this using a step-by-step list, so let’s go ahead!
How To Fix An Audio Delay On Apple AirPods
So, you’ve realized as you watch a video that the audio isn’t syncing with the video, but when you take off your AirPods, it seems to work fine. What can you do to fix this issue? Here are some of the ways that we recommend you solve this problem:
Make Sure Your Phone Is Connecting
One of the biggest reasons this problem can occur is if there is a glitch in the pairing process. That way, it takes time for the audio to reach your ears because the phone keeps unpairing itself. However, the great news is that you can fix this just by unpairing your AirPods and pairing them again.
- On your iPhone, open up the Settings App.
- Navigate to Bluetooth settings, and tap to see more information about your AirPods.
- Select the Unpair option.
- Pair your AirPods again to reconnect them.
Check The Battery For Your AirPods
You may commonly encounter this issue whenever your AirPods are in low battery mode. You may also notice at the same time that your AirPods will give lower audio quality in general as well. This is how you can check the battery levels on your AirPod:
- Put your AirPods in the case so that they can start charging.
- Bring the AirPods case close to your phone.
- The phone will automatically detect them and display the battery level at that moment.
This will let you know the status of your AirPods battery, and you can let them charge for some time if the battery level is too low. At the same time, consider looking at the battery on your phone as well. If it is lower than 20%, please charge it immediately so you can get better audio quality when using your AirPods.
Related: Why Do AirPods Sound So Bad on PC?
Keep Your iPhone In Range
When using your AirPods, you may feel a temptation to leave your phone being as you walk around and accomplish other tasks. And this can be very freeing, especially if you have a lot of chores to do during the day. However, don’t forget that your AirPods have a range they can work with, and they don’t stay in connection with your phone forever.
In fact, an Apple AirPod can only maintain that connection for a range of about 30 feet. The more you travel away from the connecting device – your iPhone, the Bluetooth waves can no longer transmit data. This is why, when you take your phone too far away, you can hear choppy, muffled, or slow audio. One way to avoid this is to keep your phone in a pocket while you are doing tasks to keep the connection strong.
Check Bluetooth Codec
One of the ways that you can quickly transfer information (such as audio data) from one device to another using Bluetooth is compression. This involves compressing and encoding the data. The sending device compresses all of the data, and there is a codec in place that determines how this is done.
The receiving device can then accept the data and decode it to make it accessible to you. Depending on the codec type, there can be different kinds of compression. More significant compression means that the audio can quickly transfer between the two devices. However, in devices where compression is less efficient, a large amount of data sends between the two.
In that case, you can hear a delay in the audio you want to listen to, and it’s all because of the Bluetooth codec. The AirPods use an AAC codec. So, if your phone’s codec is not compatible with this, you may notice an audio delay. You may have to either downgrade the codec or take it to an expert for help.
Related: Why Does Your Right AirPods Die Faster Than the Left?
Switch Off Low-Power Mode
Whether you are using an iPhone or an Android phone, you will probably have a function to control battery use. Using this mode, you can keep your phone running even at low power. However, this has an effect pon the performance of your phone. As a result, you may notice that there are audio delays present when you connect your AirPods to a phone in low-power mode. If that is the case, all you need to do to reverse this issue is to switch off the low power mode and charge your phone instead. This way, your battery can still stay steady, while you can listen to audio without delays.
Conclusion
Sometimes, you may have some delays that none of these recommendations can fix. However, you are likely to solve your problem by carrying out these steps in most cases. If you run into this issue and can’t do anything to fix it, though, it is time to contact Apple customer support for some answers.