How To Fix Earbuds That Work On One Side? [Practical Solutions]

Have you recently bought earbuds for your morning walks, and any of the sides somehow went out of work? Are you thinking of buying a new one? But why will you purchase a new one when you know how to fix earbuds that work on one side!

Today we have come up with an in-depth guide on repairing your earbuds. Scroll down the article and thank us later for saving your pennies!


What Are Earbuds?

How To Fix Earbuds That Work On One Side

Earbuds are listening devices that are different from earphones. These rest outside the ear canal and sit in place by the concha ridge at the center of the outer ear. Earbuds don’t usually have padding, and they are often one-size-fits-all.


How To Fix Apple Ear Buds That Work On One Side?

How To Fix Apple Ear Buds That Work On One Side?

Having an earbud that works only one side is very depressing if you are a daily listener. If you are watching your favorite movie or song on the weekend, this disturbance can make you annoyed for a while.

Buying a new one and replacing the old one is easy but will cost you money. Perhaps you will not buy another costly apple earbud if you have the option to fix it right in your home. So, try these procedures –

  • First of all, if you have several earbuds, you will have to check where the problem lies. Confirming that, you should restart your apple device as sometimes the system may create a problem for audio after the software is recently updated.
  • After restarting, if the one side problem is the same as before, then you should approach to ‘SETTINGS’ option of the device. After that, confirm that voice levels of both sides are balanced by keeping the arrow between the channels. 
  • Completing all of these steps, if your earbuds aren’t still working, you should take a close look at the buds if there are any jerks. Sometimes, waxes of the ear took place on the surface of buds. Take a warm towel, place it against the buds for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Repeat this 2-3 times. Thus, the wax will come out of the buds, making it clean. You can also use an old toothbrush to remove the grille, which mutes the sound. Really it makes a huge difference after removing the little amount of wax.
  • Finally, if the earbuds aren’t still showing up then, it’s better to make an appointment at the nearest apple store.

How To Fix Bluetooth Earbuds That Work On One Side?

How To Fix Earbuds That Work On One Side

One of the most common problems of Bluetooth earbuds is working on one side only. Fortunately, there are easy solutions for that. If your Bluetooth earbud is not working on one side, try the following:

  1. To fix the wireless earbuds, all you have to do is connect to the media device and check the connectivity. Again, reset the Bluetooth and then connect to the device. If still it’s not working, then try with other media devices to confirm that the media device is not at fault.
  2. After making sure that the headphone is at fault, then check the side balance if it’s connected to the computer. Then check the track if it’s a mono track or not as sometimes the listeners don’t know about it because it plays only one side in any media, whether it’s on speaker or headphone.
  3. Then switch off/ on the headphone and re-connect it via Bluetooth. 
  4. Some modern headphones have a rebooting system that enables them to ensure a strong and secure audio connection. 
  5. Another process is you can insert the cable plug into the jack several times and pull it out. By this, the unclean jack will be free and clean the internal jack pins. 

If the product is an apple product, then the steps are slightly different. Let’s check them out:

Firstly, disable/ enable the Bluetooth of the device, then check whether the problem is solved. Then remove the Bluetooth connection from the mobile for a while. If one bud isn’t working, then repeat closing and opening the case several times. 

Almost after 5 mins, play a video or audio to listen to it and check if the other side is working or not. If not, then check the battery percentage of the earbud case. Look over the audio, whether it’s a mono or stereo track. 

Another piece of advice is if the earbuds are disturbing within 3-6 months after buying, then it’s wise to fix this by the professionals within its warranty time.


What To Do When Samsung Earphones One Side Is Not Working?

What To Do When Samsung Earphones One Side Is Not Working

If Samsung earphones aren’t working on one side, turn off the smart device and then turn it on. Check it with another good earphone if it’s working properly. If yes, that means you have a fault in your one. Make sure that there are no cuts or damages in the whole wire as well as the opening area. 

We are now focusing on the tiny microphone box. You should use a solvent of isopropyl alcohol, petrol, and thinner to open the joints. Then, use tweezers to make it open more easily exactly after 5 mins of applying the solvent in the microphone box.

Now using a digital multimeter or a continuity tester, check the central wire connectivity as well as the speaker. If the multimeter beeps, it means the wire is ok. If not, it marks out the knot problem attached to the speaker.

80% of the problems occur due to the knot of speakers. So we have to check it by opening the earbuds shell using the previous solution. If it beeps, that means the speaker doesn’t have any problem, but the wire has. 

Now cut the faulty wire carefully and check the connectivity by burning or scratching its split end. If it beeps, that means the problem has been sorted out by opening the knot area. 

If it doesn’t beep, check both the wires of the upper and lower side with a continuity tester. Not getting a signal means you have to change the whole wire. You can replace it with a spare wire connecting it to this earphone. 

Now assemble all the parts as before and check the whole system by multimeter touching the points of the Right speaker (Red Wire), left speaker (Green Wire), ground (Golden Wire), and microphone.


How To Fix Earphones When One Side Is Quieter?         

The imbalance of sound hearing causes disturbance while working or listening to something. It will destroy the whole experience of hearing and may make you regret what you paid for! But, you can search for what the problem is and can settle down it yourself.

One of the most frequent problems is one earbud is louder, and another is quieter. In this situation, we tend to throw the earbud, but it is more practical to fix it. Here is how you can overcome this:

  1. Swapping the earbuds from right to left and left to right to make sure the problem isn’t you. Sometimes ear wax can be an obstruction to hear the sound properly. If this came out wrong, you saved yourself from a doctor’s appointment. 
  2. As the headphone is used most frequently, it catches up dirt quickly, which causes interruption to the normal flow of volume. It is easy to clean the filth following some process carefully.
  3. Check the volume in settings if it is balanced. Suppose you are using Bluetooth, then check the connectivity in settings. 
  4. If the wire is ripped anywhere, which causes broken sounds, it needs to be fixed by electric tape. Figure the point at which it works its fullest. Bend it, then wrap it with scotch tape.
  5. Sometimes long wire causes a problem by ending up twisting. In this case, a short wire is preferable as it is easy to handle, and you don’t have to untie the knot every time. Twisting the cable every time makes the wire weak, and loss of transmission signals resulting in poor sound quality. 

We can say that it is not a pleasant experience to hear different levels of sounds from both sides of the earbud. So, figure out the main problem, try these steps, and in spite of being in depression, try to save your money and time as well.


How To Fix Earphones Without Tools?

Figuring out the problem of headphones is the fastest way to give a quick solution. So, we have to check various things to make sure where the problem is coming from. However, not all of us are technicians or good with tools.

That’s why, in this section, we’ll take a look at how you can fix earphones without any tools:

  • Firstly, put the plug into the audio jack and check the sounds. For several earphones, if the sound doesn’t work, the audio jack has a problem. At first, you have to fix this.
  • Most of the time, people keep their earphones here and there in the room that causes unseen dirt and rubbish in the earphone jack. It may cause a loose connection between the earphone jack and port. So, you need to clean this with a toothpick or any sharp material to point out the dirt. 
  • Secondly, go to the Settings option of your device to check whether any malfunction of the system took place. Sometimes the audio listening system isn’t balanced, which results in one side hearing. 
  • Again, twist, bend, and straighten to check if you can hear any sound. If it’s coming slowly, that means it has a problem with the wire. Figure out that region in which both earphones are working, and if you are able to do so, then use a tape to keep that bent area that way. This can call forth a temporary solution.
  • Now take a look at the whole wire if it’s cut or opened up in any area. If the cut-up area isn’t that big, then take a Sellotape or electric tape to cover it as tight as possible. 
  • Lastly, if the settings are correct and the earphone isn’t still working, then try to reset the whole system. Sometimes this process may work as a tricky part. If it does, you got your luck!

How To Prevent Earbuds From Getting Damaged?

Earbuds are to some extent vulnerable and can get damaged easily. Thus, they need your attention. Let’s talk about situations where earbuds get damaged and how you can avoid that.

Sleeping: Many of us have the habit of sleeping with our earbuds on while listening to songs. The thing is, when you roll over in your sleep, the earbuds have to endure a certain weight. That’s why in some cases, they might get damaged from the weight.

Removing ear tips: At times of cleaning your earbuds, you need to remove the ear tips. And if you’re not cautious enough, you might damage the earbud speakers. This can also happen while changing the tips. So, use technique rather than force while removing the tips.

Putting pressure: Stay alert about putting pressure on your earbuds. Especially while traveling, we tend to take earbuds with us and sometimes put them in our bags. Now, this can affect your earbuds seriously. Make sure to put them in an open space, free from pressure.

Extreme temperature: Either it’s too hot or too cold, an extreme temperature can damage the internal equipment of earbuds. Thus avoid any exposer of your earbuds to extreme temperature.


Earbuds Maintenance Tips

Earbuds are a thing of every day. While listening to a song or talking to someone or maybe playing games, you use them. Now, while they aren’t cheap and you need them on a regular basis, you must know how to take care of them.

Here are some easy earbuds maintenance tips that will prevent quite a number of problems in the future:

Cleaning: Just like everything else, after some usage, earbuds get dirty, and for that, the sound quality might drop. So, you should clean your earbuds regularly or at least once in a while.

First, remove the ear tips, then take a dry brush or a cotton bud to wipe the Earbud speakers, Air duct, Mic mash, and charging contacts. Clean the ear tips separately with a tissue. 

Keeping dry: You should always try to keep your earbuds dry. But as we’re humans, we make errors and wet them sometimes. In that case, make sure to dry them before placing them into the charging case. 

Avoiding loud sound: Excessive volume can create disturbance to your earbud’s internal equipment. Therefore, you should avoid excessively loud sounds.

Using case: Don’t keep your earbuds lying around after use. Put them in their case, otherwise, dirt and other stuff from this exposer might affect the earbud’s quality.


Final Thoughts

After going through the article, I hope you know how to fix earbuds that work on one side or provide noisy sound. The earbuds should be in a clean and safe place to get long, uninterrupted service that lasts for at least 2-3 years!

These days, some bags and cases have been launched in the market to protect the headphone and keep it damage-free. You can use those too for a longer & uninterrupted service!

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