Earbuds are our daily companion to listen to music, podcasts, and the whole multimedia experience. Unfortunately, as useful as earbuds are, they tend to break quite often. Have you ever thought closely about why do my earbuds keep breaking? Is it because of the quality or some bad practices that always break earbuds?
Most of the time, the earbuds break because the user mishandles them. So, if you find yourself looking for a new pair of earbuds every few months, you have come to the right place.
In this article, I’ll be discussing the potential causes of earbuds breaking as well as the practices to get the longest lifespan possible out of your earbuds. So, without further ado, let’s begin.
Related: How Long Do Earbuds Last
Contents
How to know if your earbuds are broken?
Understanding your earbuds are not functioning properly isn’t rocket science at all. There are some pretty clear indications that show your earbuds have broken, and you have to replace them. If you don’t know how to tell if headphones are blown, here are some common signs of being aware of:
Static Noise
Have you ever noticed your earbuds are making a static sound while in playback? If you do, that’s a clear sign of damaged earbuds. Initially, these disturbing noises might be pretty quiet. But as time goes by, it tends to get louder. Especially in low volume, this noise becomes more vocal and overshadows the audio you are actually listening to.
Sound Drop
Sound drop is another familiar indication of broken earbuds. We all face this situation when the buds keep missing the audio on one side or both. The drops might not be constant, but it’s disturbing when it starts to happen often. Most of the time, these drops occur due to fractured wires at connection points.
Connection loss in earbuds
Is there anyone who didn’t face this issue at least once in their life? You are enjoying your music peacefully, and suddenly, one earbud goes off. I think this is the most common and clearest indication that your earbuds are done for.
Sometimes, this issue goes away after you shake the wire at the joints, but it comes back again. Once you face this issue, check the earbuds on another device. If the problem continues, you have to assume your earbuds are broken.
Potential reasons why your earbuds keep breaking
As I said before, most of the time, earbuds issues are caused because of mishandling. But that doesn’t mean earbuds themselves are not to blame here. Of course, when you buy a pair of low-quality earbuds, they can break sooner than a high-quality counterpart.
Also, sometimes no matter how good your earbuds are, they can always be a faulty pair. In that case, it’s just unfortunate.
However, if you wonder why my headphones keep breaking, you must consider what you are doing wrong in terms of usage and storage. So stay with me as I discuss some potential reasons.
Sleeping with the earbuds
Going to sleep with your favorite music can be so much fun. However, the fun won’t continue once you wake up and discover that your earbuds are not working. As you turn your head so many times during sleep, the cord can get tangled and create unnecessary tension.
So, to prevent this unnecessary wear out, the best practice is to remove the earbuds before sleep. If you want to know how to make earphones last longer, this is one of the best pieces of advice I can give you. Using earbuds during sleep comes with several risk factors. It’s stressful for our ears, too, and can cause wax buildup.
Also, you can miss important alarms that may indicate potential danger around you. If it’s important for you, at least use wireless earbuds so that you don’t mess the cord.
Not disconnecting the earbuds properly
Disconnecting the earbuds by pulling the wire is pretty common among users. Furthermore, some don’t even feel removing it from the ears is necessary. Instead, as they move away from the device, the earbuds just fall off their ear.
Related: How to Keep Earbuds from Falling Out
Though there is no visible damage, people don’t understand that it puts the wire under a lot of stress, especially on joints and connection points. As time goes by, cracks start to appear inside the cord, causing issues like sound drop and connection loss.
To solve this issue, you have to care more about the earbuds and disconnect themonly by pulling the jack.
Carrying and storing the earbuds without a case
Even I, like most of us, used to just throw the earbuds into my pocket or backpack when I needed to carry them around. But no matter how carefully you put the earbuds in, it gets tangles with different contents like the keychain, pocket knives, lighters, or any other thing in your pocket.
Cases might not be the most convenient thing to carry as it’s slightly bulky. But trust me, using a case is the best way to store earbuds. So, premium earbuds these days even come with a carrying case and detachable cables. So, if you don’t want to get a case, at least try to make a dedicated compartment or pocket to carry and store the earbuds.
Cord hanging off the table, desk, or bed
This is another mistake peoplemake that ultimately puts unnecessary stress on the cords. After using the earbuds, we often leave the buds hanging off from somewhere. In this process, the cord stays bent at several points. Each time you do this, the bend happens in different areas. At some point, this continuous bending can sever the wire inside the cord, breaking your earbuds.
What’s even more dangerous is when something heavy like a chair or someone walks over the cord. Even it doesn’t tear down the cord; it can instantly break your earbuds beyond repair. So after using the earbuds, make sure you leave them somewhere safe.
Exposure to sweat and water
Whether we are working out in the gym or just out for a morning run, earbuds are our daily companion to enjoy music. However, if you expose your earbuds to moisture like sweat or rainwater, even a single drop is enough to mess up the internal circuits.
Related: Are apple earbuds waterproof or water-resistant
If you decide to use earbuds while working out, make sure you buy an IP-certified pair, so there is no issue from constant sweating.
Conclusion
Here we are at the end of the article. I hope by now, you got the answer to why do my earbuds keep breaking frequently. No matter which earbuds you use, it’s supposed to break sooner or later. But if you follow my advice about using the earbuds, you will be able to maximize the lifespan of your earbuds pretty easily.
Graduated with a Bachelor of Audio Engineering and Sound Production. He has worked with a number of studios as a Recording Engineer, with over 10 years of servicing experience in both re-recording mixing and sound editing.