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?

[adrian_vg]

After the last update at least for me the  problems in cold temperatures (Sweden, -7 to 0 centigrades) seems to have subsided a little.

The unprovoked volume changes as well as Google Assistant triggers still happen, but less often it seems like.

Maybe Sony is getting there.

[brownmeteor]

Same problem here in Switzerland.  And it happens within the working Temp range, e.g., around 1-3 degrees Celcius.  This is an infuriating problem.  It is ridiculous that Sony would have the balls to put the lower temp limit at 0 degrees C and not inform half the world that lives in places that goes below that.  It should have been screamed off the roof tops.

Come on Sony.  Fix this.

[Cochlea]

Somewhat tangential but Audio-Technica is coming out in March with the ANC900BT to compete with Sony and Bose.  If they finally got their noise canceling up to par, this could be a great alternative as most of their headphones sound great (more audiophile qualify).  If it gets good reviews I will likley purchase and try to get Sony to refund these (or give the to my wife who doesn't use them outside really).

For what it's worth my replacement Sony set hasn't had quite as much of an issue as my original as I've posted before.  The panel stops responding and on rare occasions will fritz out but resetting usually fixes the problem.  It's still annoying as I always have to worry about it when I change environments but they are more usable than the first set.  I'm still very disappointed in Sony for not being more transparent and not offering better solutions.  It is clear to me that despite what they say, this is affecting units variably and they should really replace everyone's headsets with functioning ones.

[K1ng_Bread]

Beyerdynamic is coming with a pair as well, Lagoon I think it's named, anyway the prices should be way more agressive and we should have more choices by the end of the year.

I will probably make a switch if Sony doesn't fix this issue or offer some kind of replacement to make up for it.

[Waggas]

Problems occur here in Finland too.

Track restart, skip, Quick Attention Mode, touch sensor unresponsiveness. Sometimes they occur in as warm as 5-7 degrees Celsius but I have been using them in negative temperatures too. The colder it is the sooner malfunctions begin - sometimes as soon as three minutes after walking from warm to cold. In addition when you walk back from cold to warm problems may appear, like headphones going totally haywire by skipping tracks and trying to activate voice assistant. I have also noticed battery life is not what is promised, haven't done exact timing but it's more like 20 hours, which I believe some review(s) in Youtube have also measured. On the other hand, charging doesn't take the estimated three hours, more like two. I've not updated yet. Headphones were acquired at the end of November.

The biggest annoyance is the involuntary activation of the Quick Attention Mode (hand over touch sensor) which pauses the music and amplifies outside noises. After some time in the cold this mode may be activated and remains activated as long as I stay in the cold. So there you are, instead of listening to music, walking like a stupid bugger with your almost 400 euro headphones listening to amplified traffic sounds and other people...The mode usually deactivates after being in warm for few minutes. Also turning headphones off and on again fixes this Quick Attention Mode problem - until next time that is.

Another problem in the cold is swipes don't register. It's hard or impossible to get any swipes to go through - the sensor goes totally numb and turning the headphones off and on again may not help every time, if ever. The temperature and times you try affect the result.

Clearly Sony screwed up big time. And time will show if they have the spine to make it right. Other than the obvious problems the cans are great and personally would prefer them over competition for their sound, battery life, fast charging and usability, i.e., touch sensor instead of buttons.

[pepite_]

Seriously Sony now, could we have some information? We will not let it go until Spring and the disappearance of these issues, and then remember all about it next fall, when it might be too late to claim the warranty?
This is outrageous communication from Sony.

[thebigrace]

Well, I'm glad I found this thread but also incredibly frustrated that I found this thread.  

I've been having this problem with my headphones for the past couple of months, thought it was a problem with my phone.  Same exact bs as everyone else is talking about, will go in to ambient mode, become completely muted, randomly activate siri (i dont even know how to activate siri on purpose), will skip tracks, change volume---basically become useless in temperatures below 40 degrees f. 

It doesn't look like there's a solution or public acknowledgement by Sony other than an e-mail on the first page?

Will definitely keep this thread bookmarked for updates.  

[K1ng_Bread]

This morning I had my headphones under my hoodie outside and didn't had any issues, then has soon as I removed the hood it started to freak out. The difference of temperature with and without the hood was probably just a couple of degrees.

Also I've just started getting a weird static sound from the right cup at random intervals, mostly does it while I'm on the bus back home. Haven't found a fix for that yet, think it might be bluetooth interference of some sort (does it with or without ANC)

[Dmoney21]

Disappointed that no Sony reps have indicated a permanent fix for this or atleast say we're all SOL and should not expect any changes to address the cold temp issues so I can rid myself of any hope and relinquish myself of this forum and future Sony products.

[johane73]

I'm to am quite dissapointed with Sony on this. After having a few "good days" when it was really cold (less than -10c) it has been really bad the last two days when its closer to 0c.

A official response to this would be appreciated.