I have this happen periodically, and I’m not sure what exactly causes it.
My left Airpod plays at full volume. The right one is maybe 1/3 to 1/2 volume, maximum. It seems that sometimes wiping it off well fixes it, sometimes not.
I’m feeling like there has to be something that’s getting gunked up, but I can’t find the gunk. They look very clean.
Any place in particular on the Airpod that I should be looking? Any tech tricks to getting them “back to normal”?
Have you tried taking the bud off (it pulls off and clicks back on pretty easily) to see if the AirPod is the problem vs. a blockage in the bid? Just thinking you could put the bud-less AirPods to your ear to see if the sound is different?
Is it on a Mac? For me, the audio balance keeps going to the right every few days.
Are you talking about the regular Airpods? As far as I’m aware they’re one solid piece of plastic.
Nope, it’s an iPhone.
did you try to unpair and pair again the aripods?
Yup. Unpaired, re-paired, nothing. Tried that several times. Rebooted the phone a few times.
Also tried the weird trick suggested by a different website where you unpair & re-pair with the intermediary step of adjusting volume all the way down. Cleaned the Airpods numerous times.
Left side still works. Right side is still quiet.
My PowerBeats Pro & other headphones work fine in both ears, so it doesn’t feel like an issue with Bluetooth itself on the phone.
And I know…I have PowerBeats Pro. I don’t really need the Airpods anymore. 
But I just like the Airpods because they’re less obtrusive for certain circumstances, and are more useful for “always have them with me” headphones. So not having one side working is irritating.
Mine goes to the left…bizarre…
For what it is worth, I have the same problem. I fixed it once with a thorough cleaning. That doesn’t seem to work anymore and might just have been a spurious fix before.
I’ve reset the pairing, tried using them with my kid’s iPhone, and fiddled with the audio settings. Nothing seems to help. Maybe they’re just getting old?
Sorry for not having a solution!
That’s kind of where I’m at. Maybe they’re just getting old. 
When my original AirPods got old, the right one also got quiet. I figured this was because I typically use only one AirPods at a time (phone calls, podcasts) and probably pulled out the right more often than the left. However, it was not an intermittent problem – it was always like that.
This is the trick we use at the Apple store…
Anti-static brush to loosen up any debris from the speaker, mic and both air holes. Then use “Sticky tack” (Amazon or office supply stores sells it for mounting a poster on the wall without damaging the paint) to remove earwax or other gunk from all locations noted above. I roll the sticky tack in my hand first. Push it and pull it off repeatedly. Then use an IPA wipe (70% or higher) on the entire AirPod. Clean the other one while you are at it. If you are concerned about liquid from the IPA wipe, use some compressed air in the 2 small air holes. Just a quick blast or two. Do NOT use it on the speaker or Mic. You can end up packing in the gunk more. Wipe with dry micro fiber cloth and test them. Repeat if needed.
If sound is still poor… you can get it replaced via AppleCare or an Apple store near you (if open). Please be patient if you call AppleCare because they are overloaded with other callers resulting in long wait times. If your AirPods are out of warranty, you can still get it replaced for a cost or consider an upgrade to a new pair.
Hope this helps!
The post is a few months old, and the Airpods are long gone at this point. I tried the cleaning roughly as you described, reported it to Apple, and they wouldn’t do anything because I was a month or two outside the warranty.
The whole experience was bad. Bought the Airpods, wanted to buy Applecare because I know how these things work, and the sales guy at the Apple store told me it wasn’t available. 3-4 months in, I had this same problem. They replaced both. Then a month or two after the initial warranty expired, the right one stopped working. I realize I was outside the warranty on the original purchase, but it’s kind of ridiculous to me that the replacements didn’t even last a year themselves.
Very happy with my PowerBeats Pro - but not keen on ever buying Airpods again.