For the record, I totally love my Apple AirPods, and am on my second pair since they were first released ....
I haven't (yet) got the AirPods Pro, but that's next year's purchase ....
Meantime, I was a little worried that (a) I was going deaf in my left ear and/or (b) my left AirPod wasn't working properly ...
Now I listen to a lot of audio through my AirPods, mostly spoken-word podcasts, but occasionally Apple Music ....
The symptom ... I'd noticed that the sound from the left-hand AirPod was way lower than that from the right-hand AirPod ...
I'd tried my normal tried-and-tested approach of: -
- Gently cleaning them with a screen wipe, getting rid of dirt and ( alas ) earwax from the outside of both AirPods
- Using a plastic toothpick to gently prise out the ( alas ) earwax from the speaker grills ( 3x ) of each AirPod
- Using a plastic toothpick / spiked stick to ensure that the little "breathing hole" was clear on each AirPod
- Using a cotton bud to clean out each "channel" of the AirPod's charging case
but .... NO DICE
I did double-check that the audio balance on my iPhone was correctly set, with a 50:50 balance between left and right ...
I also tried playing audio with only the left AirPod inserted, but it was oh-so-quiet ( sorry, Bjork )
The solution ?
Suck the AirPods ....
Yeah, I know, right ! That's just GROSS !
But it worked ...
I found the tip here
I assume that the small amount of suction pulled any ( alas ) earwax out of the interior of the speaker grills, the bits that I couldn't ever possibly clean from the outside ...
Anyway, it worked ...
And, hey, it's my earwax !
Gross but true