Do Wireless Headphones Come Charged? (+6 Questions Answered)

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It’s no news that wireless headphones come with in-built battery. And this is what powers the device and enable it to function. But can you use these headphones right out of the box? Do the batteries of wireless headphones come charged?

Most wireless headphones come pre-charged and can be used immediately. Wireless Bluetooth headphone devices with lithium-ion rechargeable batteries will have a decent amount of power right out of the box. However, others whose batteries are non-lithium may require a first-time full charge before you can use them.

Do Wireless Headphones Need to Be Charged?

Wireless headphones need to be charged. Unlike wired headphones which get their power through their wires, wireless headphones get their power from lithium cells, which are found in rechargeable batteries. When these batteries run down, they need to be charged for the wireless Bluetooth headphones to function.

The majority of the electronics we have today are made from lithium cells. Wireless headphones are no different. They usually contain lithium-ion batteries and require charging from time to time.

Unlike the plain old wired headphones that get a little amount of power through their wires and work on just audio signal alone, wireless headphones are different. 

Since they are not wired, they need working batteries to be able to work perfectly. These batteries need to be charged from time to time.

However, it is not advisable to charge your headphones while they are turned on. 

Due to this, some manufacturers have designed their headphones such that they don’t turn on while they are on charge. Their noise cancellation and Bluetooth functions cannot be used as well during charging.

How Do You Know When Your Wireless Headphones Are Charged?

Wireless headphones come with an LED indicator. This LED indicator will give some indication of when the battery is fully charged.

For most wireless headphones, the LED indicator will start blinking red when the battery level is low. When the headphone is plugged into a USB power source for charging, the red LED indicator stays lit.

After the wireless headphone is fully charged, a trigger will be sent to the headphone. This will cause the indicator color of your headphone to change or turn off. For most headphones that change color when the battery is fully charged, the LED indicator usually turns white.

However, all these differ from one headphone manufacturer to the other. Hence, you should read the manufacturer’s manual to know your device behaves when fully charged. 

When you identify that your headphone device is full, just turn it off or disconnect it from the power source.

How Long Does It Take Wireless Headphones to Charge?

There are many wireless headphone brands and types available. Every headphone brand has different durations they take to get fully charged. So, it is advisable to read the user manual of your device to know how long it takes to charge so that you can unplug it when it is charged.

The charging time for most wireless headphones depends on their battery capacity and the charging technology they come with.

On average, most wireless over-ear headphone batteries can take between 2 to 5 hours to fully charge. On the other hand, wireless in-ear headphone batteries can take about 1 to 3 hours to fully charge and can last up to about 20 hours before needing to be charged again.

However, some wireless Bluetooth headphones come with fast charging abilities. Some of these over-ear headphones and in-ear headphones with fast charging abilities can get fully charged in less than 45 minutes.

With the extent of advancement in electronics and charging technologies, I believe any wireless over-ear headphone that doesn’t come with fast charging is not worth your money. Having to sit for many hours waiting for your wireless headphones to charge can be frustrating. 

So you are in the market for a new pair of wireless headphones, this is something you should definitely consider.

One wireless headphone I’m really impressed by when it comes to fast charging is the Bose Soundlink Around-Ear Wireless Headphones (on Amazon). According to Bose, you can get up to two hours of playtime with just a 15 minutes charge. However, according to a test conducted by Which?, this headphone can go up to 2 hours 45 minutes with just a 15 minutes charge. Really impressive.

And it even comes with a 3.5mm detachable cable that you can attach to the headphones and still listen to music when your battery completely dies out. Quite handy 

How Long Should I Charge My Wireless Headphone for The First Time?

Every wireless headphone has a different size and capacity of battery built in it. These and the charging technology determine how long headphones should be charged for the first time. 

However, it is ideal that you should check the instructions and manufacturer’s recommendations concerning charging your wireless Bluetooth headphones before doing anything.

Batteries with the most capacity may require relatively more hours of charging than those with smaller capacity. However, this may depend on the charging system in use as well.

Some headphones may come fully charged or with some amount of charge available on them. Others may require an initial full charge. 

While researching the topic, I realized that most people actually had some battery charge present in their wireless Bluetooth headphones when they bought them.

Every headphone manufacturer has specific instructions and guidelines covering this subject, so consulting the user manual of your wireless Bluetooth headphone is the best option.

Some manufacturers recommend that their wireless Bluetooth headphones are charged for a minimum of 30 minutes before using them for the first time.

How Are Wireless Headphones Charged?

There are many wireless headphones available today. And some of them have a learning curve on how to use them. However, charging them is not complicated. Depending on the manufacturing design, wireless Bluetooth headphones may be charged using either a USB cord or special charging stations that come with the headphones.

Although most wireless Bluetooth headphones are USB-charged, there are some wireless Bluetooth over-the-ear headphones that come with their special wireless charging stations. 

For such wireless headphones, you can charge them by simply placing them correctly on their charging stands and giving them enough time to recharge.

The majority of the USB headphones available are charged by using USB cables. USB-charged wireless Bluetooth headphones may be charged using either USB-A or USB-C. To charge your wireless Bluetooth headphone which is powered by USB;

  1. Plug the USB cable into the micro-USB connector on the headphone’s right earcup
  2. Plug the other end into a USB wall charger or into a computer that is turned on.
  3. Allow up to three hours to fully charge the battery. However, this varies from product to product. Averagely. A full charge can power your headphones for up to 15 hours.

Can You Overcharge Wireless Headphones?

You can overcharge your wireless headphones. However, modern headphones are designed such that it is highly unlikely that you will face any serious issues if you accidentally leave your headphones still charging after the battery is fully charged.

Nowadays, most electronic appliances, including wireless headphones, are designed in such a way that they can tackle the issue of overcharging on their own. Most wireless headphones have an auto power cut-off feature that kicks in after charging is complete. 

These headphones can remain in the charger once it has attained a full charge without being damaged.

The circuitry of these headphones has been built to cut off current flow after charging is complete. Despite that, relying on such circuits completely and leaving your wireless headphones on charge for long hours after their actual charging time is not recommended at all.

This is because there is no way of telling if the circuit is functional or faulty. Since you can’t guarantee that the circuit components that have been used in your headphones are efficient enough to cut off the current, disconnect your wireless Bluetooth headphones when they are full.

Conclusion

Wireless headphones run on batteries that are made from lithium-ion. Most of them come pre-charged and can be used immediately after purchase. 

The first thing you should do after you purchase one is to read the manufacturer’s recommendations and instruction manual to know exactly what to do.