How Far Can AirPods Be Away From Your Phone?

Not having to carry your phone around when you’re wearing AirPods is one of the most valuable features of having wireless headphones. But how far away can your AirPods be from your phone before they disconnect and stop working?

There are two factors when it comes to the range of the AirPods:

• Optimal range is the distance from which your AirPods are designed to work without suffering from any performance or connectivity issues. As long as you’re within the optimal range, you can use your AirPods to listen to high-quality audio without any distortion in the sound.
• Maximum range is distance beyond the optimal range. As you enter the maximum range, the audio quality will begin to drop, and there will be connection issues with the AirPods. Entering the maximum range could also wholly disconnect your AirPods from your phone.

Is the Optimal Range Same for All AirPods Models?

The second and third generations of AirPods use the H1 chip, whereas the first generation of Airpods use the W1 chip (both the Pro and the base models). The H1 chip supports Bluetooth 5.0, whose range is four times greater than Bluetooth 4.2, which is what the W1 chip supports.

While there’s no official data from Apple, it’s clear that AirPods with the H1 chip have a much better range than the first generation of AirPods.

Here’s a table to help you roughly understand the range of current AirPods models:

Keep in mind that if there are objects between your AirPods and your device, it could decrease the optimal range.