AirPods Cases

The AirPods charging case is white plastic with a hinge, and it spends its life loose in a pocket with keys and coins. Two things go wrong: the lid picks up fine scratches until it looks grey, and the case slips out of a pocket without anyone noticing.

A leather cover fixes both. It takes the scuffs instead of the plastic, and the clip gives the case somewhere to live that is not the bottom of a bag.

The charging cases are not interchangeable, and the difference is easiest to see from the front.

• AirPods 1 and 2: the tall, narrow case with the charging light on the back.
• AirPods 3: shorter and wider, with the light on the front.
• AirPods Pro: wider still, with a speaker grille on the underside that has to stay clear.

The model selector on each product lists only the cases that cover fits.

The metal clip is the part most people end up using every day, so it is a solid carabiner rather than a split ring stamped from sheet.

It clips to a keyring, a belt loop, a bag strap or the pull on a rucksack zip. Clipped to the outside of a bag it also solves the other AirPods problem, which is digging through a bag one handed while a train is pulling in.

The base is cut open around the charging port, so a cable goes in without taking the cover off. Wireless charging works through the leather on the cases that support it, though it is slower than on bare plastic and the pad needs to be centred.

The status light stays visible on every model. If a cover hid it, we would have cut it differently.

An AirPods cover is handled more often per day than almost anything else we make, which means it changes faster than a bag does. The tan shades darken noticeably within a month, and the black barely moves.

If you want a cover that still looks close to the photograph in a year, take black or the darker brown. If you like the idea of a piece that records how much you use it, take tan and watch the lid go two shades deeper than the base.

Does the lid still open fully? Yes. The hinge area is cut away rather than wrapped, which is what lets the lid fall back the way it does without the cover.

Can I take it off again? Yes, though it is a firm fit by design. Work one corner loose rather than pulling from the middle.

Does it survive a washing machine? No, and neither do the AirPods. Check pockets.