Wouldn’t it be nice if Apple’s handy AirPods jibe with your Samsung S21? Pairing the device with your Android smartphone can spell tons of convenience for you: listening to quality music seamlessly and making calls without lifting your handset.
The best part’s AirPods can be easily paired with your Samsung Galaxy S21 by pairing them close to each other. With Bluetooth doing its job, pairing these two should be a walk in the park.
And here’s more. In this post, we’ll show you in full detail how to pair AirPods with Galaxy S21/S21+/S21 Ultra, so we encourage you to read thoroughly till the end so you can enjoy a seamless audio experience in no time.
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Duration | 40 seconds |
| Things You Need | A Samsung Galaxy S21 phoneAirPods with the charging case |
How to pair AirPods with Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra
Turn on pairing mode on the AirPods to pair it with a nearby Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, or S21 Ultra device. Initiate pairing by turning on Bluetooth on your Galaxy S21 phone to scan for the AirPods.
Once the devices are paired, you can use the AirPods to listen to music on your Samsung Galaxy S21 like any other Bluetooth earbuds or headphones. Or, for that matter, receive calls.
| NOTE: Pairing Apple’s AirPod with an Android device means you won’t be able to use the AirPods full functionality. For instance, you won’t enjoy Siri and other controls when pairing with Android. |
But never fear. Read below for the step-by-step instructions on pairing AirPods with Galaxy S21/S21+/S21 Ultra.
Turn on pairing mode on your AirPods.
Activating AirPods’ pairing mode makes them visible to Bluetooth devices, such as Android phones and TVs, or iOS devices, such as iPhones and iPads. Once in pairing mode, initiate the Bluetooth pairing on the other device.
Follow the steps below to activate the AirPods’ pairing mode:
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 3 |
| Duration | 7 seconds |
- Open the lid on the charging case while the AirPods are inside.
- Press/hold the setup button behind the charging case.
- Keep holding until you see the status light on the charging case flashing white.
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Note: The status light may be located in the front or the inside of the charging case, depending on the AirPods’ model.
The white status light indicates that the AirPods are now visible and ready to pair with other Bluetooth devices. If you own an AirPods Max, you should use the steps provided below:
Use the steps below to put the AirPods Max on pairing mode:
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 3 |
| Duration | 7 seconds |
- Take the AirPods Max off of their smart case.
- Press/hold the noise control button on the right ear cup.
- Keep holding until you see the status light below the right ear cup flashes white.
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With that out of the way, the next step is to pair AirPods with a Galaxy S21 series smartphone by accessing the Bluetooth settings on your phone.
Turn on Bluetooth on your Samsung Galaxy S21 phone.
The pairing needs to be manually set up through the Bluetooth settings on your Samsung Galaxy S21 phone. This is the same process when pairing with other wireless earbuds or earphones.
Follow these steps to turn on Bluetooth and connect with the AirPods:
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 8 |
| Duration | 15 seconds |
- Open Settings.
- Click Connections.
- Click Bluetooth.
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- Toggle the Bluetooth switch on.
- Give it a few seconds to scan for available devices automatically.
Note: You can click Stop to cancel the automatic scan if it’s taking too long and manually start a new scanning process.
- Click Scan if your phone didn’t detect the AirPods.
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- Select/click your AirPods from the list of available devices.
- Click OK to confirm the pairing request.
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With that, you should be able to successfully pair AirPods with Galaxy S21/S21+/S21 Ultra. If you want to unpair and disconnect both devices, you can do so by retracing your steps back to the Bluetooth settings.
Follow these steps to disconnect your AirPods and Galaxy S21 phone:
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 5 |
| Duration | 10 seconds |
- Open Settings.
- Click Connections.
- Click Bluetooth.
| | |
- Toggle the Bluetooth switch on.
- Click the gear symbol beside your AirPods’ device name.
- Click Disconnect.
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Wrapping Up
That’s everything you need to know to pair AirPods with Galaxy S21/S21+/S21 Ultra so you can use it to listen to music or answer phone calls. Making it happen shouldn’t be a tall order with all the pictures and steps above.
But a little reminder: Some nifty features, like asking Siri for volume controls or questions, won’t be supported on Android devices. Still, it’s worth the effort, as Apple’s AirPods have dominated the headphone market by a wide margin.
FAQs About AirPods
AirPods can be paired and used with the Samsung Galaxy S21. The Apple AirPods are Bluetooth devices, which means they can connect with many other compatible devices, such as laptops, PCs, Android TVs, Smartwatches, and many more.
However, some of the AirPods’ features aren’t supported on devices outside the Apple ecosystem. As such, connecting the AirPods to a Galaxy phone will not allow the user to use Siri or configure the touch commands.
AirPods doesn’t support Google Assistant natively, even when paired to an Android device. You can only do this using a separate third-party application like Assistant Trigger, which requires payment before fully utilizing all of its features.
Many features are unusable when connecting your AirPods to Android devices. Below is the list of some features you won’t be able to use.
1. No need to pair.
AirPods is fully compatible with iOS devices. To connect both devices, you don’t have to pair the AirPods to an iPhone or iPad manually.
Once you open the lid of the charging case while the AirPods are inside, the iPhone or iPad will automatically detect it, and a connection pop-up will appear on their display screen. From there, all you have to do is click the connect button.
2. Siri
The most prominent feature you’ll miss when you use AirPods with Android devices is the ability to summon Siri. Siri helps change audio controls or adjust music volume, check the battery of the AirPods, and answer any questions you ask.
3. Touch Controls
The AirPods’ double-tap command is customizable on an iPhone or iPad. You can change this command so that it can either play or pause songs, skip songs, or even call Siri.
Once with AirPods, Android devices are stuck with the default command of playing and pausing audio.
4. Ear Detection
The ear detection feature automatically pauses your music when the AirPods are taken off and resumes when they’re put back on. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work natively on Android devices.
The only way to access this feature is to download and install a separate app that unlocks this feature for Android. However, spending extra to use a feature that’s supposed to be there already doesn’t feel right.
AirPods won’t connect to your Samsung Galaxy S21 if they’re not in their charging case. You also need to make sure that they have a remaining battery left.
Once you’ve confirmed these things, click the setup button at the back of the case and wait for the LED indicator to flash a white light before scanning them with your Galaxy S21.
