Any time a manufacturer makes a noticeable change to the design/shape of their product it’s bound to have a polarizing response. For a lot of users, the new design of the AirPods 3 was a welcome change that brought them closer to the AirPods Pro, both in terms of sound quality and look.
The trouble has been, for a fair number of other users, the more bulbous-shaped head of the AirPods 3 (vs the slimmer AirPods 2) doesn’t fit very well for those with smaller ear canals.
Do a quick Google search for “AirPods 3 keep falling out Reddit” to see how often this has come up.
I had this issue as well, and it wasn’t even the kind of thing that cropped up occasionally over a week or two of regular use. For me it was annoying in the first 15 minutes of using them, and ultimately caused me to abandon them.
Their new design makes them a lot like the AirPods Pro, just without the silicone tips that allow them to extend further into the ear. The end result is that unless you have ear canals large enough for this bulbous head, the AirPods 3 won’t sit deep enough in the ears to stay put.
This creates two troublesome effects:
- The AirPods 3 are prone to falling out easily when you move your head, chew food, walk around, or lay back.
- They don’t form or maintain a proper seal, meaning you lose a lot of bass. For headphones boasting better bass than previous models, this is a real dealbreaker.
Solutions?
If you’re lucky, a simple technique of putting them in where the stem is straight down and them twisting them stems-forward to lock them in will help. That’s the most frequently shared “solution”.
Unfortunately, in my experience and that of most of the others having this issue, that doesn’t do anything.
For those having this issue, the AirPods 3 are just too big to sit correctly and there’s nothing to be done about it.
If you already own them, you basically have a choice to live with it to enjoy some of the new features they bring, or return them to either go back to AirPods 2 or upgrade to AirPods Pro.
So what’s the point of this post?
Basically I wanted to provide reassurance to anyone having this issue that you aren’t alone, and this is a known problem. You’re not doing something wrong and you didn’t miss a memo.
Don’t be dismayed by others’ claims that, “They fit fine for me! In fact, better than the AirPods 2!” Good for them, truly.
If I come upon any genuine tricks to resolve this I’ll update and share here, but otherwise, these are not recommended headphones for those with smaller ears.