Sony WH-1000XM3 Muting in the Cold

[bugzy3188]

Is there a way to turn off gesture control on the 1000XM3s? It barely works in optimal conditions and when standing outisde in cold weather they will consistently register swipes (even though nothing has touched the headphones), either turning volume up/down or skipping tracks and after about 1 minute they will mute as if I am holding my hand over the right ear. Any suggestions?

[rage1977]

I'm still waiting for a fix or some official word on this before I act on anything. 

[Woundsinmysalt]

A lot of misinformation in previous posts - stop making ***** up.

The official(!) word from Sony technicians is they are working on a solution. They say it WILL be fixed and they recommend all owners to be patient. They will announce updates as soon as they have any.

Of course this is really poor from Sony but if they claim it WILL be fixed at least you can afford to give them a chance to fix it within a reasonable amount of time.

If for any reason it will not be fixed you still have warranty.

Wierdly enough I had no issues walking home today. I always have problems but today was an exception. The only thing changed was "Sound Quality mode". I switched to Priority for sound quality instead of stable connection. Can anyone with minus degrees test if this helps?

[Cochlea]

I'm confused.  What misinformation is there from prior posts?  Everyone is just sharing there experiences.  I have talked to Sony Technical Support and Customer Relations in the US multiple times and no one has said anything about a fix or being patient.  Basically they just keep giving me the option to replace the unit and they report there is no refund on the warranty (it's possibly to ask for a "buy back" which I assume is similar to a refund but is not guaranteed).  Anyway, I'm on my second unit.  I have always used "sound quality mode" on both units.  Both units have had this issue depsite being told by one Sony Support member that only some units have this issue and that they were sending me a unit that did not have this issue.  I will admit the replacement unit performs better but still has the problem occasionally.  Today, for example, I was in windy 32F weather.  It seemed to be working but then touch controls stopped responding (which I can tolerate as long as it doesn't skip songs or activate voice control).  However, after I went on to a heated bus, after about 1 minute while listening to music, the touch panel all of a sudden activated repeatedly and skipped 7 songs in succession rapidly, then paused.  So sometimes it is temperature changes in either diretion that seem to cause the problem.  

Anyway, none of this is "misinformation".  It's my experience with my headset and with Sony.  If you have a link to any official annoucement from Sony about a fix coming etc, please provide it.  If this is something you heard from one support technician you talked to, then it's a little less reassuring.  They are not always consistent in the information they provide on an individual level.

[skatsman]

I tried different connection modes, no difference. Although in theory "Quality Priority" uses more power and therefore might produce more heat. 

I'd like to see how Sony is planning to fix it. Distribute earmuffs?

[Dvoradikal]

Mine came broken like literally out of the box, which had been deleigerd by courier on a cold day in Northern England and was therefore freezing. Ever since I've had intermittent usage of the touch controls no matter the temperature, reducing to full on statis at anything less than 10C. I haven't experienced it fritzing out much, only occasionally and for short periods of time. 

Another thing I've noticed is whenever I out my full hand over the earcup, when activating quick attention mode for example, the touch controls also fail, only allowing me to enter quick attention and literally nothing else until a reboot. When they're slightly warmer this happens slightly less often, and it happens less often if I only gently rest my hand. This has led me to conclude it's change in temp, as opposed to just low temp in of itself, that causes a problem (warm hands against cold earcup).

To say I'm disappointed so far is an understatement, you really expect better than this from a premium brand like Sony.

[Aven760]

Hey guys,

I just talked to a technical Rep from Sony Canada, and the result is very DISAPPOINTING. Basically they said the moist in the cold weather would cause the issue and we should wipe the touchpad before we use it. Technically THERE IS NO SOLUTION FOR THIS ISSUE.

They admitted the design flaw but refused to refund, leaving us to pay for the mistake they made.  We really should try together to make louder noise. This is the first headphone I get from Sony after few satisfying Bose QC headphones, and this may also be my last one, as the customer service and the way they treat us are terrible compared with Bose.

[gabby131]

Just tested this with a brand new unit purchased December 1st week.  Minus 11 on my area with a bit of wind.  My first steps out the building, the tap and hold to cancel noise cancelling kicked in.  Restarted the device and no more issues until further 5 minute of the rest of my walk until my destination.

Went in a store, still have headphones on, and no issues after the sudden change in temps.

After another 5 minutes inside the store, I checked if all touch controls are properly working and they're all fine.  Went out fack in the cold and after a few steps, tap and hold for Google Assistant randomly kicked in.  I said "what's the weather" and responded properly.  No more issues after that on the rest of my walk, until I got inside to my desk.

I would say that, unfortunately, I found this normal.  I had a few touch controled headsets/headphones from other manufacturers and cold temperatures make the same issue on those units.  Those are not "Sony/Bose priced" units, but they also have the limitation on low temperature.  Some confirmed that the previous generation (1000xm2) did not have this.  Too bad that Sony did confirm this is a flaw and nothing they can do about it.  I like the headphones, really, so I'd absorb the expense and this issue.

In my situation, it seems like the first sudden change from warm to cold temps triggers this issue, then it won't occur again after I entered somewhere warm and go out again.  I am a regular commuter, with walks of about 15 to 30 mins in total everyday (bus stops and picking up the mail).

Though disabling the touch controls on bluetooth and wireless functions would be handy if Sony can implement.

[Woundsinmysalt]

So, in other words there's no fix for this and they are only bull*****ting.

Shut up and take my money, Bose!

[i.alder]

Just seen a reply from sony.

Their advice is when you move from a warm to cold environment, turn the headphones off and on again.

This resets parameters inside the headphones.

can you try this?

I havent bought a set of xm3's yet. I would like to know if this works before buying.

I'll post the web URL when I find it again.

Thanks.

[i.alder]

Just seen a reply from sony.

Their advice is when you move from a warm to cold environment, turn the headphones off and on again.

This resets parameters inside the headphones.
can you try this?

I havent bought a set of xm3's yet. I would like to know if this works before buying.
I'll post the web URL when I find it again.

Thanks.