Bluetooth headsets are advertised as having an extensive battery life, prompting a surge in popularity with consumers who are willing to pay for the feature. However, the trend within the consumer market of pursuing a “long battery life” is often accompanied by deceitful advertising and the potential for consumer complaints.
Hypothetically, Bluetooth earphones have 5-6 hours of battery life whilst, in actuality, they run out of power after less than 3 hours of use. Such a problem is capable of greatly affecting user trust. Therefore, it is important to understand why the reduction exists to prevent future issues.
Allion’s E-Sports Product Application Ecosystem Consultant Team has identified the main causes for the reduced battery life in accordance to the product design characteristics of Bluetooth headphones in addition to the situations most commonly used by consumers:
- Headphone volume settings
Allion’s consulting team found that the battery life data advertised for most earphone products is conducive to a lower volume level than real consumer user scenarios. In real consumer user scenarios, the volume level in the general environment is between 40-60%, while in noisy environments it may be increased to 80-100%, which will quickly reduce battery life. Therefore, when you use Bluetooth earphones in a noisy environment, the actual use time will be reduced.
- Enabling special features
Bluetooth headphones often come with extra features, such as active noise cancellation, touch control, voice control, etc. While improving comfort and convenience, these features increase power consumption and reduce battery life. Hence, when these features are used frequently, the actual usage time becomes shorter than advertised.
Allion’s AV product Application Ecosystem Team provides “headphone power consumption” verification consulting services to assist manufacturers in accurately grasping the battery life of their Bluetooth headset products through the application of diverse user scenarios:
Using Robots to test Headset Power Consumption
- By utilizing AI automated testing, earphones are pressed regularly using a UR Robot. The relevant tests, such as volume levels and prompt sound changes, are checked to accurately measure the changes in battery storage.
- Avoid fatigue and hearing loss caused by wearing headphones for long periods of time.
- Provide test data of different volume levels (e.g. 30% ~ 100%) that run for a prolonged period of time to understand the actual battery life of the test products under differing volume levels.
- The Headphone Power Consumption Verification Scheme, combined with the Ambient Noise Sound Field Restoration Service, is moved to the listening room to simulate a more realistic environment for users, such as: a living room, MRT car, high-speed rail, airport hall or bus-like scenario.
Company S and Company M have the same type of Bluetooth earphones; both claim to have a battery life of 6 hours when ANC is on. Allion restored the noise and sound field environment and tested it under the following conditions to see if they perform as advertised.
To accurately measure the battery life of a headset product, in addition to the functions it supports, it is necessary to consider the impact of both the ambient noise and sound field to obtain more accurate data. This allows users to trust your brand and products to a greater extent.
Faster, Easier, Better!
Allion’s consulting team, with an amassed 30+ years of experience in the IT industry, is capable of tailoring to various user scenarios for differing customer products, digging deep into hidden problems, and provide customized and comprehensive consulting services for manufacturers to effectively improve product quality in addition to reducing customer complaints and returns.
Faster：
Allion provides you with years of professional testing skills that are effectively shorten the test verification time, providing you with a fast and accurate test evaluate plan. This allows for product verification to be completed in the most efficient way.
Easier：
Allion is capable of quickly identifying and solving problems with the help of AI-powered, automated testing. By making each product test qualitative, quantitative, and reproducible, they are improving the overall performance and quality of their customers’ products.
Better：
Allion has a team of professional technical consultants that design user scenarios, meeting the needs of various products so that your products are capable of performing better in practical settings.
If you have any requirements or questions, please contact us.