How using one earbud more than the other can cause uneven wear and tear

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Back in the day, some of you might remember the popular gadget known as a Bluetooth headset or earpiece. It's not a pair of wireless headphones with a mic attachment or one of the best gaming headsets, as the term more commonly describes today. It was a single bud, sometimes with a tiny boom mic, that wrapped around and sat on or was positioned in your ear. The purpose was to make it easier to take hands-free calls without completely blocking out the world around you. You would see businesspeople walking around with these all over, some wearing them all day as a sign of prestige (and maybe a bit of self-importance). They were eventually replaced with wireless earbuds that can work in mono mode, meaning you can place one bud in your ear and use it the same way. But doing so all the time is not necessarily a good idea.

Using one earbud more than the other can create an uneven usability balance, which can lead to quicker wear and tear on the one bud you use most often. Beyond that, charging cycles are limited with devices, and when you need to charge one bud more often than the other, it is more likely to drain faster. It's important to understand how this works and what you can do to avoid issues while still being able to talk hands-free.

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As noted, wearing one earbud more means it goes through more battery cycles than the other. Even though they both charge in the same case, if one bud is at 50% and the other at 80%, it will logically take longer and more power to recharge the one with less battery life. While the simple solution is to alternate buds, some wireless earbuds use a master/slave setup where one bud offers the primary connection to the phone and transmits data to the other. In these cases, only the master bud can be used in mono mode, so you don't have that option. That said, most newer earbuds outside of some cheaper entry-level models support mono playback from either bud thanks to the role-swapping design. This includes some of the best wireless earbuds, such as the Samsung Galaxy Buds and Google Pixel Buds. So, if you are set on wearing just one, it's best to go with a model like this and switch to even out the imbalance.

But note as well that wearing just one bud often for things like phone calls consumes more power, as does the Bluetooth transmission process. This means its battery per use, as well as overall battery, will drain more quickly. Removing one bud more often from the case can also cause charging imbalances, which can further impact battery wear. When you want to listen with both buds, you may find that the bud you use more often dies before the other, resulting in forced mono mode. With master/slave buds, this means you won't be able to listen at all.

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The best way to avoid these issues is to stop wearing just a single bud. Doing so is useful for taking a quick call every now and then, or maybe for listening to a translation of a lecture or meeting in one ear. But try to limit how often you do it. If the reason is that you still want to be aware of your surroundings, consider a pair of wireless earbuds that have transparency or ambient mode. Activate this mode to let in ambient sounds to hear the waitress coming by the table, talk to a friend, hear a pilot announcement on a plane, or simply be more aware of your surroundings, even with both ears plugged. Some can even switch to this mode automatically when they detect voices.

Some people like to wear a single bud while driving, the legality of which varies by state and location. Rather than doing this, use the speakerphone function of your phone, potentially through a system like Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. If you want to take private calls while others are in the vehicle, consider buying one of those old single-bud Bluetooth headsets or using an old pair of buds you have lying around that you aren't as worried about causing an imbalance.

If you're stuck on using only one bud often, you can still find single Bluetooth earpieces from brands such as Poly and BlueParrott, though these are mostly designed for professional use and are much bigger than the ones from decades past. Otherwise, limit single-bud usage to only when necessary and use a pair with role-swapping and switching. Or, better yet, find a set with transparency mode and rely on that while wearing both buds.