Bluetooth earbuds keep disconnecting: causes and fixes
Distance and your body
Bluetooth has a short range: in open space, usually around ten metres, less through walls. The human body, which is mostly water, blocks the signal too. A phone in your back pocket with the buds in your ears means the signal goes through you, and the sound may cut out, especially in the bud on the far side.
First try: move the phone to a front pocket or your hand, on the same side as the main bud. Often that fixes everything.
Interference
Bluetooth uses the same 2.4 GHz band as many Wi-Fi networks, microwave ovens and other wireless devices. In crowded places such as metro stations, airports or concert halls, hundreds of phones and earbuds talk at once, and the sound may skip briefly.
What helps: keep the phone close, switch off Bluetooth on devices you are not using and, at home, do not stand next to a running microwave or the router.
Battery and power saving
A bud with an almost flat battery may disconnect before it switches off. Put the buds in the case for a few minutes and try again.
The phone can be at fault too: battery-saving modes sometimes close background apps or throttle Bluetooth. If the sound stops when the screen goes off, take your music app out of the battery-saving list.
Too many devices
Earbuds remember the devices they have been connected to. If the tablet or the laptop at home also has Bluetooth on, the buds may connect to them instead of the phone, and the phone seems to have lost the link.
With multipoint buds such as the Pro2, two devices can be connected at once; the sound goes to whichever is playing. If it moves by itself when you do not want it to, pause playback on the other device or disconnect it.
Resetting the link
If none of the above helps, set the link up from scratch. In the phone's Bluetooth settings, choose the buds and tap "Forget this device" or "Unpair". Put both buds in the case and close the lid for a few seconds. Open the case and pair them again, as the first time.
If one bud still will not connect, the buds can be reset to factory settings; the exact steps are in your model's manual.
One bud is silent
Often the silent bud did not charge: its contacts or the case's are dirty. Wipe them with a dry cotton bud, put the bud back and check that it charges.
Check the left-right balance in the phone's accessibility settings too: if it has been moved to one side, one bud sounds very quiet. And clean the driver mesh: wax can make a bud seem dead.
Step by step, in short
Bring the phone close to the buds and take it out of your back pocket. Charge the buds a little. Switch off Bluetooth on devices you are not using. Take your music app out of battery saving. Clean the contacts on the buds and in the case. If it still does not work, forget the buds on the phone, put them in the case, close the lid and pair them again. As a last step, the reset in the manual.
In the car and on public transport
In a car, the buds may connect by themselves to the car's audio system if they were paired with it, and the phone seems to have lost them. If you want the buds, disconnect them from the car's menu or switch off the car's Bluetooth.
On the metro and bus, with many phones and earbuds close together, brief cuts can happen. Keep the phone close and, if you stream, download music or podcasts in advance so a weak mobile signal does not stop playback.
Every model is in the shop, under true wireless earbuds.