The one thing that is different between AirPods (any earbud to be fair) and previously wired earpieces is the fact that the former needs to be charged on a regular.
This comes with the demerit that, as time goes on, the lithium-ion batteries degrades.
This makes the charging time shorter and shorter with the battery lasting shorter and shorter. The maximum capacity of the batteries determines how long your AirPods last.
How long does AirPods battery last?
When fully charged, you can get up to 30 hours of listening time, or up to 20 hours of talk time on your AirPods before having to charge it.
Your AirPods can get up to 6 hours of listening time (up to 5 hours with spatial audio enabled) with 3 or even up to 4 hours of talk time on a single charge.
The figures vary slightly if you’re using an AirPods Pro.
However, you can optimize your charging to increase your time length. Optimized Battery Charging is designed to reduce the wear on your battery and also improve its lifespan by reducing the time that your AirPods Pro and AirPods spend to fully charge.