Airpods 3 have very low volume no matter what i try.

The longer that I use my airpods 3 the quieter that they get, at this point even on max volume if there is any background noise, even just water running from doing the dishes the volume is so quiet that I am unable to understand the words while listening to an audio book. When I first got them i wore them while I mowed the lawn and they were loud enough that i could hear what was coming from them with the lawn mower running at around 2/3rds volume. I recently upgraded from an iphone 13pro max to an iphone 16 pro max, it has gotten far worse since I did that. It is sometimes like the volume turns itself down without me touching the volume buttons and even though the volume level on the phone appears to be the same as it was before.

I searched up this issue both on this forum and on google and have tried all the different things that different articles have recommended without any luck.

I have confirmed that there is no wax build up in the air pods, i still tried cleaning them in the recommended way but that didn't help

I turned on personalized spatial audio, which helped briefly but the volume reduced back to its previous level by the following day.

I tried disconnecting the airpods from my iphone, resetting them and reconnecting them without any difference.

There is no longer any ear tip fit test that i can find in ios 18. I did try to buy some silicone tips in case the speaker was not directed at my ear drum but while that seemed to help slightly at first now it is like it is even quieter than before with them on.

I bought the airpods 3 right after they came out. Do airpods wear out after a few years and need to be replaced or is there some kind of program running in the background that automatically reduced volume the longer you use the airpods?

At this point i am about ready to get something else. When I bluetooth any other ear buds or headset to my phone i do not experience this issue.

Thanks for any help you can give.