Walking with Two Pairs of Airpods in Winter

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During walks, especially once temperatures drop my old pair of airpods tend to die by the time I reach the half way point of my walk. When they're getting old the batteries in airpods don't last as long in cold conditions but they're fine in warm conditions.

A few years ago when a pair of airpods died I didn't immediately put both to charge and so one of them was dead, dead, not just temporarily dead. I tried to get Apple to sell me a replacement airpods but the person I dealt with was asking me over and over what the problem was and I told him, over and over. In the end I got so tired of dealing with this induhvidual (intentional spelling) and just ordered a new pair.

I looked at the price for replacing the charger and individual earphones and came to the conclusion that it was cheaper to just get a new pair. Sometimes they sell for 189 CHF and other times the same airpods sell for 110 so I buy them when they're cheaper. The airpods that I killed are no longer in use.

Since then I have bought two new pairs, at least one and a half years between purchases. I use my airpods for every walk I go on, so one and a half hours a day. I also often use them when cooking so that's even heavier use.

When airpods are new they're fine with the heat, and the cold, so you can use the same pair without worry. It's when they have been used for a year or two that they begin to hate the cold of winter. It's at this time that the left ear usually dies. If an airpod dies while you're walking you're stuck without audio. During phone calls you go from a video chat that's easy to hear, to impossible to hear, due to ambient noise traffic.

That's where the second pair of airpods comes into play. Yesterday when I was walking I used my old airpods until I started to run. Half way through the run the old airpods died, so I swapped them for the new airpods and continued my run.

The point about airpods is that even when they don't last as well in cold weather they are still good for years. By buying a second pair you can have a primary pair, that you plan to use for the entire walk, and the secondary pair for when the primary fails.

Why Not Wired?

You might ask "why not use wired earphones in cold conditions and the reason is "comfort". Airpods are more versatile and practical when you're wearing layers of clothing, coats and more. I do use wired earphones when it's windy, when I know I'll be talking on the phone.

With airpods it's hard to shelter them from the wind but with wired earphones the mic is easy to shield from the wind. You can continue your walk and your conversation, without the person you're talking with struggling to hear you.

And Finally

Airpods come in a small convenient charging box so it's easy to walk with a spare pair in winter. The point is not that you buy two pairs at once. The point is that you buy one pair and use it until it starts suffering in winter, and a new pair, to use as a backup when the old pair fails. The old pair then heat up and recharge as you continue your walk. Once winter is over you can go back to carrying a single pair of airpods again.