The battery doesn’t last as long as you thought. Familiar story. This is one of the questions we get most often, and usually the reason is something other than a faulty battery.
What does "battery life" actually mean?
When we — or any other manufacturer — state battery life in hours, it’s measured under certain conditions. For Valco headphones, the stated figures are measured with ANC on, at moderate volume and room temperature. In other words, lab conditions, not a festival field in February. And here's the good news: if you listen at a reasonably low volume with ANC off, the promised battery life can even double.
In reality, a bunch of things affect battery life:
- Volume — This is the biggest factor. At full blast the battery drains much faster than at half. Physics, can’t be helped.
- Noise cancelling (ANC) — ANC consumes a surprising amount of power. Valco's stated figures are measured with ANC on, though, so turning ANC off only extends the battery life further.
- Temperature — Lithium batteries don’t like freezing conditions. If you’re listening at -15°C, the battery will give up earlier. In summer, everything works better.
- Bluetooth codec — aptX Lossless and other high-quality codecs consume more power than basic SBC/AAC.
- Battery age — Lithium batteries age. After a couple of years, capacity may have dropped by 10–20%. This is normal for all lithium batteries, whether it’s headphones, a phone, or an electric scooter.
How to get the most out of your battery
- Turn the volume down — Try dropping it a couple of notches. Your ears will thank you and the battery will last longer.
- Turn ANC off when you don’t need it — You don’t need noise cancelling on the couch at home. Save it for the plane and the office.
- Charge properly — Don’t keep the headphones on the charger for days on end. When the battery is full, unplug the charger. Lithium batteries don’t like hanging at 100%.
- Don’t drain to zero every time — The sweet spot for the battery is roughly 20–80%. You don’t need to be exact, but don’t always run it to empty.
- Store sensibly — If you won’t use the headphones for a long time, leave the battery at about half charge. A battery left empty can be permanently damaged.
How long should the battery last?
Roughly for Valco products:
- On-ear and over-ear headphones (VMK series): Around 30–55 hours depending on model and settings. Less with ANC on, more with it off.
- In-ear headphones (NL series): Over 6 hours on a single charge without ANC and about 4.5 hours with ANC on; with the charging case, total listening time is up to 17 hours.
- Speakers (Nordell series): Around 3–15 hours depending on the model and volume.
These are indicative. If the volume is cranked and ANC is blasting at full, the numbers will be smaller.
If the battery is really dead
If battery life has dropped to a fraction of the original and none of the above helps, it may be a faulty or worn-out battery. In that case:
- During the warranty period (24 months): Send us a message at info@valco.fi. Include your order number and describe the issue. The repair folks in Kajaani will take care of it.
- After the warranty: For the VMK headband models we have a repair service: the battery gets replaced and you get an extra year of warranty from the repair onwards. NL earbuds and Nordell speakers are not repaired, but broken ones are recycled into spare parts. Because we don't throw stuff away.
Every repaired device is a small win against electronic waste. And a big step toward that Death Star.
