How to Check AirPods Battery from Apple Watch

If you’ve got a set of Apple’s spiffy Bluetooth headphones—dubbed “AirPods”—then you might know that you can check how much charge they’ve got left by simply opening the case when they’re near your paired iPhone. When you do that, you’ll see a screen that looks like this:

You can also swipe down from the top of your screen to access Notification Center, and then if you swipe from left to right on that screen, the so-called Today View will show you the battery life any connected Bluetooth devices including your AirPods. You can even ask Siri for battery life status — “Hey Siri, how much charge do my AirPods have left?” — and she’ll tell you.

Check AirPod Battery Life on Apple Watch

If you’re using your AirPods with a paired Apple Watch instead of with your iPhone, though, you can check the battery level there too. But the process isn’t as obvious as it is on the iPhone. Here’s how it works:

Swipe up from the bottom of the Apple Watch face to access Control Center.
Scroll down until you see the battery percentage indicator.

When you tap that battery icon, you’ll see how much charge your AirPods have.

Note that if the AirPods are in your ears, you’ll see only their charge.. If they’re in their case with the lid open, you can scroll down to see the case’s charge, too. If your AirPods are playing music from your iPhone, you can still get their charge level on your Watch, and if you take just one out and keep the case open, you can even get a breakdown by each AirPod.

That’s…uh…that’s a lot of ways you can see how much charge your AirPods have. But if you’re like me and you pretty much always have them in your ears, you gotta keep track! I can’t decide which is worse, though: The inevitability of me going deaf from blasting my ears all day long through my AirPods, or me looking like a bit of a tool for wearing them at the grocery store. I’ll let you guys think about that one.