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?

[IamNic]

Hello @Aleksunn,

this is a forum where customers help other customers - Sony never replied to any post here.

If anything, a moderator - like me - does write a ticket to support and the support either gets in direct contact with the customer or a statement is released.

Since in this case Sony has already issued a statement, I doubt you will see any other form of official reply in this thread.

- Nic

[Aleksunn]

Can engineers from Sony give u or someone comments? Or you write Sony and take no answer?

[IamNic]

Hello @Aleksunn,

as I said - Sony issued a statement back in December: https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/wireless-headphones-bluetooth-headphones/wh-1000xm3/artic...

- Nic

[johane73]

Nic, whilst I understand what you are saying I cant help but being a bit annoyed by the answer from Sony.

It has made the decission for me, I will be taking my headphones back next week and hope that the shop will refund me in full seeing as they sold a pair of headphones that doesnt work in Sweden where I live.

The response from Sony came after I bought them, and I was not informed by the shop (who probably didnt know about it) or Sony that they are useless outside when the temperature is close to or below 0c.

The "fix" of turning them off and on again sometimes only work for a few minutes.

[IamNic]

Hello @johane73 

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@johane73  schrieb:

I cant help but being a bit annoyed by the answer from Sony.

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I don't doubt you are dissatisfied with the answer, yet I can't give you anything else.

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@johane73  schrieb:

I will be taking my headphones back next week and hope that the shop will refund me in full

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I don't have any problem with that, hopefully you get a full refund. 

- Nic

[mruddo]

Think I'm going to give it about a week to see what, if anything, Sony offer to re-assure me they can do something about it - otherwise I'm sending them back too.

Of course, the weather's looking better this week, so it may not be cold (or windy) enough to trigger the problems! However, even if we had a mild winder, and no further problems through spring, summer & autumn, I know I'd be kicking myself next winter when the XM4 model is out, and my XM3's are playing up again!

[johane73]

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@johane73  schrieb:

I cant help but being a bit annoyed by the answer from Sony.

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I don't doubt you are dissatisfied with the answer, yet I can't give you anything else.

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@IamNic  I understand this and my annoyance isnt aimed at you.

[pepite_]

Should we all contact Sony support through the online form then instead (one more time I guess for many of us who already did that) ? 
What woul be the best way we can put some pressure on Sony to release some info (and a fix hopefully)?
@IamNic do you have any suggestions?
cheers

[rage1977]

The Sony statement is slightly wrong as it assumes this only happens in 0C or below temperatures  It does not. It stretches to upwards of 6-7C in my experience. 

However it is correct in that it does seem linked to temperature differences. Wind also exacerbates the problem. 

Personally I use my hood now during winter and that has helped a lot for me. It also seems to have stabilized a bit in general with just daily use for a while. 

This is in no way fixed, I have just found my own way to cope with this problem so I can continue using this very expensive product despite Sonys incompetence and excuses. 

[mruddo]

Should we all contact Sony support through the online form then instead (one more time I guess for many of us who already did that) ? 
What woul be the best way we can put some pressure on Sony to release some info (and a fix hopefully)?

Please log the issue with Sony if you're having problems. Chances are many will only ever use their headphones indoors, others might live in warmer climates, and some will just put up with it. The more of us that report the issue, the more likely they are to take it seriously. Press articles (like the one in The Verge) will hopefully pressure them further. 

The response I got from support was vaguely encouraging (i.e. it didn't just point me to the article about switching them off and on again). They've promissed to get back to me on conclusion of their investigation - but who knows when that will be? I've asked if they've any idea on timescales, so will see what they say. I'd imagine that internally they'll know already whether a firmware fix will sort this, or a recall/alteration is required.

The Sony statement is slightly wrong as it assumes this only happens in 0C or below temperatures  It does not. It stretches to upwards of 6-7C in my experience. 

However it is correct in that it does seem linked to temperature differences. Wind also exacerbates the problem. 

This is my experience too - if it realy was only sub-zero temperatures then it would be almost forgivable, but if I leave home, the office, or a reasonably warm train and step outside on a cold day it's pretty much guaranteed Google Assistant or Quick Attention mode will kick in within a minute or so.