It's Not Just You – Your Headphone Batteries Really Have Gotten Worse
But if you think that the devices you use to hear them with have also become worse since you bought them, science says you might be correct on that front, too.
In a recent paper published in the journal Advanced Materials, researchers looked at how wireless headphone battery life declines after leaving the box, by using imaging technology, infrared scanners and even X-rays.
They wanted to find out whether headphones which last for eight hours when they were new can only run for, say, six hours after a couple of years without needing a charging break.
Our suspicions aren't unfounded, it seems ― the longer we own our battery-powered earphones, the shorter the battery life seems to get.
The scientists found that little structures in earphones like Bluetooth antennae, microphones and circuit boards can make the battery's environment a little taxing (for instance, it can warm up one side of the battery but not the other).
Even temperature changes in our own lives, like going for a walk in the cold with our earphones in, risk slightly damaging the battery, the researchers add.
For that reason, the study says: 'Conventional battery failure analysis in controlled lab settings may not capture the complex interactions and environmental factors encountered in real-world, in-device operating conditions.'
In other words, the batteries in your earphones weren't tested for real-life conditions as they actually play out.
It's a big ask, which is why the University of Texas at Austin team used some of the world's most advanced X-rays for the job.
They worked with groups from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory's Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, Brookhaven National Laboratory's National Synchrotron Light Source II, Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source, and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) to get their data, Science Direct reports.
Physicist Xiaojing Huang, who worked in the Brookhaven lab that collaborated with these researchers, told the publication: 'Most of the time, in the lab, we're looking at either pristine and stable conditions or extremes.'
'As we discover and develop new types of batteries, we must understand the differences between lab conditions and the unpredictability of the real world and react accordingly. X-ray imaging can offer valuable insights for this.'
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