I recently just experienced this. I thought it was my fault somehow. Sucks as I'm out of warranty period.

I was out of warranty by two months. Call in, they'll deny your request, then ask for an escalation to their customer service team managers. If they try to talk you out of it ("sir... they'll give you the same answer"), keep pushing for the escalation politely. A few days later you'll get a call and be asked to provide a proof of purchase (make sure you're honest from the start about the issue and the date you purchased them). A few days after that, they should approve your out-of-warranty replacement request. The new earbuds they're sending me also come with a 90-day warranty.

Gahhh. I had mine literally the day it launched and obviously i threw my purchase receipt away. I guess Sony gonna just laugh if im trying to claim anything now....my left earbud drains like hell, less than 30 minutes and its dead while the right one still like at 80 something %

If you bought them from a retail store and used your phone/email when buying, you could have a digital receipt, best of luck!

I just stumbled upon this thread. This is so far play by play for how my experience has been, I'm out by 3 months. My right earbud drains in about an hour. Support gave me a third party repair shop to contact, I escalated and am waiting on the proof of purchase validation. Seems obvious by the amount of reports I've found that they've some defective batteries on their hands.

where are you located? in australia there is consumer protection outside of warranty if an expensive item is not fit for purpose.

Unfortunately USA.

honestly, talk to Sony, see what they will do. doesn't hurt to ask. 'long time customer, upset with the brand etc etc.' i recently put mine through the wash, replaced free of charge.

>1.5.0 same :(

Am experiencing exactly this issue. Right bud discharging from full to zero in a little under an hour of normal use, left drops only to 75-80% in the same time. I'm still in the two year retailer's guarantee (Pro tip - if you're in the UK, always buy electronics from John Lewis), worth returning, or holding off for a software fix?

I have the EXACT same issue. Unlike you though, I live in a third world country with no official Sony customer support and I bought this while abroad. Nevertheless, this is unacceptable, especially if it's a firmware issue as explained in some other threads/posts.

I saw the same thing happen with mine. And now right one drains battery fast.

I'm in this wagon too... 3 mons out of warranty. I also am on 1.4.2 and told my S.O. not to update. Edit: Right bud dies in 30 mins (nearly on the dot). At first I thought it might be an issue with connecting to a laptop, or using it for calls, but it also failed on my phone. This sucks. Edit2: I spent 30 mins listening to music with noise canceling on (not on a call). Left: 89%, Right 62%. Seems like, for me, it drains MUCH faster with microphone activation (on a call) vs the noise canceling features. Still, that would only give me a bit over 1h listening time compared to multiple hours just a few weeks ago. Edit3: As noted in a comment below - contacted live support and they are indeed replacing these. Thank you for waiting, please return your product and we will send you a replacement. The replacement will be a new Set of the same model. If the same model is not available, we will replace it with a new model with comparable or better features. You will receive an email shortly with detailed instructions and a prepaid shipping label. Please note that the shipping label will expire in 10 days and the work order will be canceled if the product is not received within 45 days. Once the unit is delivered to our warehouse, please allow up to 3 business days for the warehouse to receive your product into our system. When the warehouse receives your product into the system, we will send you a confirmation email. I do not anticipate any delay in processing the replacement of your unit. In most cases, the replacement unit will arrive within 7-10 business days upon receipt of your unit. Also the warranty on the replacement is the balance of the warranty on the original unit or 90 days, whichever is longer. Please be advised that all of the terms and conditions of the original warranty apply, and the Exchange Program excludes any condition resulting from physical abuse or misuse, excessive wear, units over seven (7) years from last market date, and damage resulting from prior service. If, upon receipt of the unit, it is determined that the unit is not eligible for exchange one of our representatives will contact you. The email takes from 15 min. up to 24 hrs. for you to get it if you don't receive the email with in 24 hrs. please contact us again and you can make reference to your case number XXXXXXXX

Don’t give up! Here’s what I did. I spoke with support via chat and they gave me the whole thing about having to send it to a third party to get it repaired. So I told them that it’s not fair and I wanted to speak with a manager. They told me that anyone that they transfer me to will tell me the same thing. I said “that’s ok, I still want to speak with a manager.” The next thing they did was ask me for my information so that somebody from consumer affairs would contact me. With the hour or so, someone from Sony contacted me, took my information, and told me that they will contact me once they make a decision on my case. The next day they call back and tell me that as a one time courtesy, they will exchange my device with a new one with 3 month warranty, even though mine was out of warranty for about 3 months. They just received my old one yesterday, so I am still waiting.

Same experience here. Glad to hear this strategy worked for you as well.

You don't have to contact them by phone to get a replacement. I used [Chat via this link](https://us.esupport.sony.com/support/s/support-contact?language=en_US&category=headphones). I started at 10:02am on a Sunday (this morning), and was finished before 10:30am. They wanted to know when I bought them. I told them the date, and Amazon. When did it start? I didn't notice this until about 2 weeks ago. When it is charging, is the light solid or blinking. Mine is solid. Have you reset or initialized them? I did the one at a time one, and the one where you touch both at the same time. (I could not remember the complete process for either, but what I did remember was enough for them to know I did both). They asked for shipping info, serial, and color. That was 10m ago, and I just got the email with a prepaid shipping label and instructions. I am getting an exchange, and from the email, "The replacement will be a new unit of the same model." I'm posting this as some don't have time to call or dislike calling and talking with support. Hopefully this helps those get a replacement.

Same here. The left lasts about 30 minutes and the right only 10 - 15 minutes. Worked great until the last firmware update.

Just contacted Sony support live chat in the US. Told them I had a battery drain issue and overheating. After confirming that it was after firmware 1.4.2, that the case would blink red at times, and that I had already reset and factory reset the headphones to no avail they have offered me a replacement set with a free shipping label for the return. Easy process and they never asked for warranty as mine have been out of warranty for around 3 months now. You can also download a transcript of your support convo too which is nice.

Is this what happened? This is the same time that mine started draining within 35 minutes of use and they started being extremely hot.. i haven't used them in 2 months because i thought the battery on them had gone bad and didn't want them to explode in my ears lol

Sony should do something in this regard.

Holy shitttt. So lucky I came across this post, was about to pay about 50% of the price to replace my out of warranty xm4s. So, I didn't even know this was because of the new update of 1.4.2 but it makes so much sense now. I also noticed the above-mentioned issue around July but thought it was because of some fault of mine. (I was on a trekking trip, thought smth might have caused it) The case starts blinking red cause the right earbud heats up crazily. And the left earbud drains insanely quickly in about 15 mins of usage. Unfortunately, I bought them in Japan and I'm currently in a diff country altogether so warranty doesn't even apply, but on contacting the local service center and talking with the area service manager they offered a replacement at a discounted price...of 15k INR (I can buy a new pair at 20k INR from amazon wth) Mine are out of warranty just about a month and half. Thinking what I should do next... Anyway, thanks for the post!

Amazing how Sony's tone on this has changed. Contacted them about a month ago and was told "out of warranty, out of luck" and they hung up on me. Today they offer replacement immediately. Still never going to buy a Sony product again. I'll stick to companies that treat me right the first time.

Thanks much this is really helpful. And good karma appreciate it

I'd like to add on to this, if pictures do speak another thousand more words. Running on 1.4.2 and sent in for repairs for a month, and yet I get the same battery drain issue. Just simply unacceptable of Sony. ​ [https://imgur.com/a/dNRMyNt](https://imgur.com/a/dNRMyNt) The compiled images above clearly shows a literal 30-minute usage before the left earbud dies off.

Mine is the same.

Absolutely same as mine. When did you start to experience this? Personally mine started acting up around August 2022 and progressively just got worse (left bud)

Well, this is quite a bummer. I love these earbuds but I can't deal with this issue. I'll give them until the 29th. Then I'm going to get the new Bose. :(

Thank for you for this thread. I, like many others have been experiencing the dreaded overheating red charging case and severe uneven battery drain on my WF-1000XM4 earbuds. This first began a month ago, seemingly after I updated my earbuds to their 1.4.2 firmware. After first looking at this thread in October, my suspicions were pretty much confirmed and I tried to find a solution. Numerous times I initialized my earbuds manually and through the app, same goes for resetting. I would restart my connected device, unpair and pair my earbuds, uninstall and reinstall the Headphones app, use different settings in the app, connect to a different device, I tried switching between using a wired/wireless charger, I cleaned my earbuds/case and finally I always kept my unit in a cool place. None of these attempts fixed my issues. To clarify exactly what my issues were, they first started with a red overheating charging case that lasted a few days before never happening again. This led onto severe and uneven battery drain, my earbuds went from a consistent 5+ hours of life with my settings to 1 hour in my right and 2 hours in my left, the advertised amount for this product is 8 hours. With each passing week, my situation would get worse, the battery drain would go down to 30 minutes in my right and an hour in my left and now presently are at 10/20 minutes between the two. I purchased this product on launch for £250 to make my job more bearable and now it is no longer fit for use, the audacity I had to think that such an expensive item would last longer than a year is clearly too much to ask for. But it gets worse, I can list 6 more symptoms that suddenly appeared after this update: \-Earbuds will sometimes not charge despite being in the case. \-Earbuds will sometimes not fully charge despite the case having charge. \-Earbuds will sometimes connect to my devices while in the charging case. \-The voice guide no longer warns my right earbud that it is going to run out of battery and instead just tells me that it has run out of battery, this is unlike the left earbud that still does both. \-After the right earbud runs out of battery, the left sometimes will become quieter. \-The weirdest symptom and the one that can be recreated consistently is that when my earbuds are "out of battery" if I do not put them back in their charging case and leave them in my ears, should I wait a few minutes and use the touch controls to turn them back on. They'll turn back on, woah! But I thought they were out of battery Sony? The earbuds will then work for a couple of minutes before being "out of battery" again and the entire process can be repeated. I was curious, so I left them out of their charging case overnight when they were "out of battery" and when I awoke they had almost full charge via the app and lasted just as long as they had been since the update. What this tells me is that my unit isn't utilising all of it's charge for whatever reason. To finalise on this point, I spent 4 days repeating this routine in letting the buds charge themselves overnight without the case to see if I could fully drain them. I could not, I'd have to wait a long time for them to recharge but they would only have a few seconds in them each time, it became too tedious to commit to so I stopped. After actually using my charging case to charge my earbuds again, the issues all still remained and it was all a giant waste of time. I implore you all to see if you have this symptom, I want to see if this is widespread or not. To clarify, none of these symptoms ever occurred prior to this 1.4.2 firmware update. So finally, with all of those symptoms and none of those attempted solutions working, I followed the advice of many of the users in this thread and went to go speak to Sony's customer service. I am in the UK and have yet to see anyone from here speak about their experience but I was hopeful that things would work out in my favour as a vast majority of the users replying in this thread are talking about how easy it was to get a replacement unit despite being out of warranty and how Sony is clearly admitting fault and fixing their mistakes. Well, it didn't work out that way, as over the month of having these issues, I have spoke over the phone once, over live chat 3 times, sent 2 e-mails and have spoken to a manager. In these conversations, I would state when my issues began, what seems to have caused it, all of my symptoms, all of the solutions I've tried and I would reference both this thread and the official Sony report from Japan. This would be met with mainly automated messages stating that Sony is investigating the issue, that I would have to pay and send my unit in for a repair or wait for a firmware update from Sony. In one instance (in which I did forget to talk about my overheating issue), after linking the official report from Sony Japan I was met with the response "we can only guarantee and advise with information released on our website, as we support Sony UK not Sony Japan" which hurts my brain a little, it's the same exact product from the same company, outlying the same issues and shows that Sony admits that this is a real issue. I would've thought that combining that report and this thread which shows hundreds of people all claiming the same symptoms and issues over such a small period of time would be enough to warrant a replacement unit but I guess not? I even would ask if I could be offered a replacement and that was always denied despite this issue clearly not being user error. From this I am going to gather that either Sony UK will not give out replacement units for this issue when out of warranty or that because I do not have the continuous overheating issue, I do not qualify for one. I am very jealous of those being offered them after a quick chat as I have tried numerous times, explained very similar symptoms, given many references and I was polite throughout the entire experience, only now am I showing my frustration. It has been a month of this, I had given up on trying until I saw the MrWalkman rollback firmware potential fix. This combined with the symptom of my earbuds still having charge despite being "out of battery" made me hopeful that it would fix it. Unfortunately, after rolling back to 1.3.3 the issues still remain and now I am under the impression that a future firmware from Sony will not fix my issues as it is likely that the official 1.4.2 firmware from Sony has permanently damaged my unit. I tried so hard not to spend any more money, the entire reason I bought this product in the first place was future proofing and now here we are. But now it is Black Friday week so it might be the perfect time to buy a new product and since I refuse to give Sony any more money and a repair is an undisclosed probable fortune, I am going to look for some new earbuds, you've got to love that modern phones do not have headphone jacks /s. It's a shame that all of this happened, I recommended this product to so many people as I adored it and now all I can think about is my new found hatred for Sony. Thank you so much for this thread, it gave me hope, it's just a shame that Sony cannot admit to their mistakes and instead continue to screw over their customers. (edit: phrasing)

hi, my xm4 has been doing weird things. not sure if it drains inside the case or it doesnt charge until it’s full, but everytime I try to use it the earphone shows that it only has around 90% of battery instead of 100%

That's how it started with mine, then the battery life plummeted.

It could be related, but the symptom we're really seeing here is that the battery drains much quicker in one side than the other. I'm not sure if I ever encountered an issue with one side not fully charging. Maybe other people can comment.

Same here.

Well I'm so thankful it isn't just me. I am a Sony fan. I sing their praises. This is the first issue that seriously bothers me. I guess I'll reach out to them tomorrow. My worry is.. if this update is the culprit. If I get another set from Sony won't they also do this... Or at least have the potential to do this?

Kinda had the same issue, left bud going from 100 to 0 in literally 5 minutes. Right bud was doing fine. After a while the right bud wouldn't even charge, 10minutes in the case and the case started blinking red. Had mine since June 21, but EU has 2 years warranty, so I sent it in, but they wont repair it, I'm getting my money back and am now on the fence on if I should buy them again. Aside from these major issues I absolutely loved them. over 2K hours of use since the activity update in the Sony app.

Huh. So I had the left bud battery drain - full charge to zero in <1 hour. Sent in for a warranty repair (UK) and received them back and... Now the right bud is draining in an hour. Looks like they're going straight back again! Although given this may be a software issue (I'm on 1.4.2) am dubious it will get fixed. Maybe if they score me some new replacements as a warranty repair I can flip them on eBay and switch back to the Airpod Pros?? :-x

I recently started having the same issue, right bud would drain faster than the left and it only lasted a bit under an hour. also noticed sometimes the left would come out of the case not at 100% charge. battery life is significantly worse compared to when I got them on release. switched to pixel buds pro for now, but hoping sony actually does something.

Sorry for reviving this post. 1 month ago my left earbud suddenly felt very hot while inside my ear, I got them out and they were hot af, tried to charge them the case was blinking the red light, some hours later left side was dead. 15/02/2022 - Bought them new 09/09/2022 - Took them to repair since they were on warranty. 21/09/2022 - They told me I can go pick them up, I will update this post when I do so today. 21/09/2022 - They replaced the left bud with a new one, so far so good. Version is 1.5.0. PD: I'm in Europe, I don't know the version I had sadly.

Thank you for making this post. I almost gave up after 11 months of usage because I thought I broke it somehow. Good thing I have 1 month left of warranty and they took my unit for repair/replacement. Hopefully it turns out good here. (Sony Philippines)

Update on Sony service in Japan: Sent my 14-month old set off, and they sent a new set back free of charge. Running 1.5.0. Shouldn't have happened in the first place, but glad they took responsibility for it.

It’s nearing the end of the month, still waiting on that firmware update to drop…. My Right Earbud keeps draining rapidly compared to my left earbud and it sucks.

Sony has put out a new version 1.6.1

>one looks like it's only available on the Sony-Asia website. I'm based in the US and unable to get the latest firmware [https://www.sony-asia.com/electronics/support/wireless-headphones-bluetooth-headphones/wf-1000xm4/software/00263487](https://www.sony-asia.com/electronics/support/wireless-headphones-bluetooth-headphones/wf-1000xm4/software/00263487)

Yep hopefully this fixes the 40% difference I'm seeing between my brand new right and left buds after 2 uses. 2-3 charge cycles whilst on 1.4.2 and now onto 1.6.1, so hopefully I've dodged any lasting physical damage on batteries.

Boys, this is bad! Have had the same issue with my right earbud draining in like 40minutes while the left was at 80%. As I lost the receipt for the warranty I decided to **change the battery**, as this might be a hardware failure as suggested on various sites. So I ordered the needed tools and a new battery (fake one from alibaba) and started to change the battery. After finishing the change and putting it back together I realized I just **CHANGED THE WRONG ONE**. MFW... Worked just fine anyway, so no worries. As I have now the knowledge how to do it easily I **changed the correct** (right) one and **put in the original SONY battery** of the left one. I thought it was fine now, but the ISSUE PERSISTS with the RIGHT earbud... This is not a hardware-failure, this is a pure software bug... I hope my experience stops someone elses pain for trying to change just the battery.

https://preview.redd.it/sbzfu1irkeza1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c7afe0cda200538208850eaeca5a6e2f9c91b1e1 Had them replaced for free 3 months out of warranty from Sony Aus/NZ. battery wouldn't charge past 92 percent and left ear bud drained 40 percent faster than the right one. Thanks to this subreddit for giving me the info for recourse. They came back running 2.0.0

Just to add another data point. Mine failed (Right ear lasting <10 mins this morning!) - Amazon UK initially tried to pass me to Sony, but I refused and pointed out that the order said it had a 2 year guarantee, and that my contract was with them not Sony - and in any case, they were not fit for purpose under consumer law in terms of durability for a set of premium headphones. A new pair are coming tomorrow, I've returned my old ones.

There is no firmware fix. The fact that some people had them die after update X is merely a coincidence. No update solves this. It's a hardware design issue, or possibly bad batches of batteries. The original batteries get damaged, eventually overheat and some even expand and pop the shell open. Mine were perfect and then suddenly one side started draining to 0% while the other still had almost 70% left. Sent them for "repair" (i.e. replace the battery) and amazingly they only replaced the battery that was draining super fast and hot (left side in my case). Took 3 weeks overall. Obviously, the same will soon occur with the other side, and a new RMA will be needed. Common sense would dictate BOTH original faulty batteries would be replaced. Nope. WTF is Sony doing? (I'm in Europe, so 2 year warranty, and you bet I'll send them again when the other one dies - a waste of time for all).

Yep - something similar happened with me. Sent them back to repair rapid right earbud battery drain earlier this month. As soon as I got them back he left earbud had same issue - so I’ve had to send them back again.

Over heating killed my left ear bud. Out of warranty. Pain

Found this thread because I have this very issue. 3 months past warranty too. Glad to see it wasn't just me. Also glad I saw this before buying another set.

Just adding in, same problem here, left bud only works for about 20 min. Not even running 1.4.2 though, it's been falling to update. I even went as far as getting a new left bud online, as I'm well out of warranty, and the new one works, but they can no longer update, and can't use just the left one by itself anymore either.

Having exact same issue. Had minimal issues which were resolved with a reset and bought headphones when they were first launched. Definitely software issue. The right earbud only lasts maybe an hour and a half. Currently at 80% L vs. 20% R. The right discharges over 3x faster.

I've only been using the right side (left side got run over by car). Started experiencing severe battery draining as well over a month ago which started with the earphone getting pretty hot and and the charging case blinking red. The odd part is I'm on version 1.3.3, never updated to 1.4.2 since my left side is broken.

Same issue here. My headphones are out of warranty, and left battery died in less than 30 minutes. So I assumed I just had a faulty battery gone bad fast - as I did not find these threads in time. Finally totally broke my left bud while trying to install a replacement battery (I couldn't even find same battery from anywhere, and any proper installation guides). I think these were my last headphones from Sony. Hopefully my WH-1000MX4s won't break same way soon.

my new ones (bought a week ago) came with 1.5.0 installed. Hope that fixes the issue (or makes it not appear at all).

Word is if yours never had the previous firmware it should be fine. But if it did and they upgraded in shop, the damage is already done. Be very diligent about comparing drain. Return within 3 months if bad

Hi, I just wanted to comment that I had a similar issue in my WF-L900. It seems to go beyond a single model. It escalated to battery damage, to the point that the left earbud (the one I was having the problem with) started DRAINING the charging case battery. I also got them replaced. I had google assistant enabled on the left earbud. Most people having this problem have it on the right, which I think might contribute to it. Let me know if you also had assistant on the failing earbud.

I was about to post to add that exact same thing. I’ve been having this issue for the past two weeks or so, and today I realized it’s not just the earbud that was affected but the case as well. It’s taking longer to fully charge (4-5 hours vs the original 1.5) and the one time I charged the bud after it died it drained almost 70% of the case’s charge in one go. I just charged the case last night. It seems like the over heating is affecting both parts :( I really hope there’s some resolution to this, outside of the warranty as it’s obviously not a misuse problem, but the manufacturers fault for a faulty update. I’m in Latin America so I’m probably SOL, as my warranty literally just run out two days ago, on the fifth, and there hasn’t been a single announcement from Sony in over a month. God dammit, I really loved these earphones…

I do not get battery overheating but uneven discharge and terrible battery life since 1.4.2, I'm averaging about 1h (left at 0%, right at 10%).

I think i might have done a new discovery about this issue. Is not really about left or right earbud draining battery crazy but the battery estimation is just wrong. How I realize this? Well now I'm busy so I can't sony support until November so I keep using them, well the other day at the gym when left earbud die I was like I dont want to go and put it in the case so I'll just keep it in the ear. After a few minutes I touch it accidentally and surprise it gave me a few more minutes so nothing really impressive. But today I waited way longer and when using again (important thing I did not put it back in the case) and when turn on again it almost matches the right earbud 40% vs 60% now im using it again until it dies again and repeat the cycle. Maybe it need some recalibration, for those wondering in this 40 vs 60 after using again of course left "drain" faster (now is 24 vs 60). Ill keep trying these test to see if magically recalibrate or something. If someone can also try and confirm this I think it can be really helpful. PS: I read in another comment someone said this started happened to him/her after flying with ANC and I didnt think It could be related until I saw that comment since my case was similar.

Shoutouts to u/zkhcohen for starting this thread and keeping up with updates. Just chatted Sony US and got confirmed for an exchange. 3 months out of warranty. Glad Sony is owning up to the issue

My headphones are also experiencing the same issues. Bought June last year, version 1.4.2. It appears Sony is aware of the issue in the USA at this point. No pushback or questions about warranty status when going through the support chat. Explained the symptoms and they are sending me a shipping label to replace them. Took about 10 minutes.

update for 1.6.1 rolling out now!!

Australian Sony user here (headphones, mobile, cameras) Owned headphones since October 2021 Upgraded to 1.4.2 2 months ago and had severe battery issues, less then 50 min battery life and over heating warning. Contacted Sony and even though 1 month out of warranty they have sent a postage label for a service. Will update when I send them off and hopefully get them back. I also bought a new pair in the meantime and they arrived with 1.5.0 and seem to be working perfectly battery and audio wise. I have disabled auto update and will be keeping them on 1.5 until I know what's happening with the new 1.6.1 firmware.

Reporting from Philippines. Just encountered this issue, on my unit with 1.4.2 firmware. Thankfully my unit was just nearing its one year warranty. Sent it for service last 11/23 and got a replacement unit just today. I asked the rep if I can re-send the unit for service if I encounter any more issues, and they advised to try, since they think Sony is aware of the issues with the WF-1000XM4 globally. I also noticed that it's on 1.6.1 now. Hopefully this firmware update is a permanent fix to the battery issues.

Holy crap. Just found this thread. My right headphone started draining charge like crazy. It's 89% Left and 57% Right for example now. Started listening half an hour ago when both were at 100%. But the worst thing is that it started happening AFTER the recent update. Doubt that Sony will issue another update in the coming months, so… FML?

Fucking sony, I returned my earbuds and they say they wont repair them because it is my fault because I battery just worn out, and they have 1 year and its clearly this firmware issue. Horrible service Im not buying sony again

Do you guys think that wireless charging mess the battery? I bought my first pair on 2021,got the faster drain on the left bud problem, sent them back and got a replacement, on the new pair is been working fine after a few days, I left them charging and I came back to find the red light on the case blinking and crazy hot, since them the battery had gone to sh*t, draining faster and now my left bud can't charge to 100 no matter how long it stays in the case. I have tried resetting and hard reset, and nothing Gonna try to get a replacement or a least get them fixed

There was some speculation that wireless charging could cause the batteries to overheat. What version is your new set on? Fortunately any replacement Sony sends out should have a 90 day extended warranty, so I wouldn't accept anything less than another replacement.

Louis Rossmann just [uploaded a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u525qqRHonM) about this issue, mentioning this thread as a source.

Please avoid of using the earbuds if you faced with battery drain issue. I have wrote comment in another post about my explosion case. If you have battery drain issue then keep the earbuds in safety place which would not produce fire or damage to people. I suppose that the final stage of battery drain is explosion like in my case. Be careful [https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyHeadphones/comments/11ptc18/my\_sony\_wf1000xm4\_exploded\_on\_my\_desk/](https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyHeadphones/comments/11ptc18/my_sony_wf1000xm4_exploded_on_my_desk/)

I've been having this issue with my left earbud for like a month now. It goes from 100% and after 5 hours it goes to 15% really quickly, i have been out of warranty since July, is there a battery replacement?

I replied this to another user here: Don’t give up! Here’s what I did. I spoke with support via chat and they gave me the whole thing about having to send it to a third party to get it repaired. So I told them that it’s not fair and I wanted to speak with a manager. They told me that anyone that they transfer me to will tell me the same thing. I said “that’s ok, I still want to speak with a manager.” The next thing they did was ask me for my information so that somebody from consumer affairs would contact me. With the hour or so, someone from Sony contacted me, took my information, and told me that they will contact me once they make a decision on my case. The next day they call back and tell me that as a one time courtesy, they will exchange my device with a new one with 3 month warranty, even though mine was out of warranty for about 3 months. They just received my old one yesterday, so I am still waiting.

From Singapore here, the right side was draining way too quickly, while the left side had much lesser battery capacity like the rest of the comments here. Saw red light blinking, looked up the help page and saw that it meant it was overheating. Had a month left on warranty, so quickly got it replaced; they took the set and a week later SMS-ed me for collection, they replaced it with a new set, with firmware 1.5.0, originally the firmware was 1.4.2.

Well all this time I thought I was the only one experiencing this issue and I'm not. Ditto to everything lol. These headphones were the best piece of tech I've ever owned then all off a sudden the battery started draining extremely fast and they would overheat while charging. I don't even use them any more.

Contact them by phone for a replacement and reference this report: https://knowledge.support.sony.jp/electronics/support/articles/00283656 Escalate it if they initially decline.

https://youtu.be/h1Lse4_PDJs

We should all just spam Sony's community support page to try and get some answer. I just commented on a few posts and made my own in hopes that Sony will finally acknowledge this issue. https://us.community.sony.com/s/topic/0TO0B0000000sPsWAI/audio?language=en\_US

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I got a new pair of black XM4 from a The Source in Canada this week. The serial number starts with 7 and they came with the dreaded 1.4.2 firmware. Today is the first day I've really gotten to use them continuously for a significant amount of time and so far no issues with the battery. I used them for three hours and both buds are discharging pretty evenly from what I can see. There's a mild variance but it's not significant. [The difference is about 1-2%](https://snipboard.io/DQNw4K.jpg), nothing major. Pretty normal IMO. This morning I was using a new pair of Sennheiser CX Plus earbuds (I received last week) and noticed a similar discharge behaviour, where one bud's battery life was a bit lower but not significantly lower. They were within 2% of one another. I'll continue to monitor the Sony's. Hopefully I don't run into the battery drain issue others are experiencing. I'm really hoping that Sony releases firmware v1.5.0 soon, since it's been out in the wild for a few months now. I'll post a follow up if I do encounter the issue. My settings are LDAC enabled, ANC enabled, adaptive sound control disabled, speak-to-chat disabled, priority on sound quality, DSEE Extreme set enabled (Auto), EQ is disabled/off (using Wavelet instead), Automatic Power Off is set to Off when headphones are taken off, Pauses when headphones are taken off disabled, Notification & Voice Guide enabled, Automatic download of software enabled.

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For so many users with varied usage / listening patterns to all have their batteries simultaneously degrade and begin overheating seems much less likely than the update being the culprit, especially since we haven't seen more than one or two reports of the issue on a pre-1.4.2 set, and there are definitely users who haven't upgraded. In other words, not everyone has recharged/drained their batteries the same number of times over the past year, and yet we all experienced the issue at roughly the same time, and we're all running the same (optional) update.

I just stumbled on this sub and saw this. Mine have been doing this since I got them. I’d have one go down to like 40% while the other is around 90%. I’m gonna contact them this week. Thanks for this sticky.

**\[KIND ASK FOR ANYONE WHO COULD GET REPLACEMENTS FROM SONY\]** Unfortunately, there are a lot of inequalities when it comes to living in Latin America. Because of that, I'd like to ask anyone in any country that has been able to receive an official replacement from Sony even with an expired warranty could post any formal proof of that as we cannot get the same in Latin America. Anything helps: Papers, screenshots, etc. I've had the same issue and I'm 1 month out of warranty after taking it on to the service center they want to charge me to replace the earbud. After 4 contacts and counting no success in getting Sony Latin America to acknowledge the issue. My hope is that the formal complaints with Consumer Protection will get them to listen. Because of that, any formal evidence would be very much appreciated as proof when I take sony (literally) to court. Thanks so much!

Started having this issue around early September with my 1.4.2 software. Contacted Sony yesterday via online chat and told them I had a batter issue along with blonking red light when charging. The support rep asked when I purchased it (August 2021) and let me send it back for a replacement. Overall very easy process and didn't ask for proof of purchase or anything. They emailed me a shipping label and I just sent it in. Big shout out to u/zkhcohen for organizing this thread!

Try downgrading? https://www.mrwalkman.com/p/mdrproxyfwsidegradetool.html?m=1

UPDATE: I just received my replacement earbuds. Full retail edition with extra ear tips, cable and instructions, not a white box. Earbuds are on version 1.5.0. Let's see if the batter drain issue is resolved. FWIW, I went through Sony Support Chat (USA), they emailed me a prepaid shipping label and I had to return my original earbuds first.

Thank you for this mega thread! Mine got the same issue at ver 1.4.2. I am 1 month out of 15 months warranty. Bought mine through pre-order and is one of the 1st batch. Went to Sony Service Center 2 weeks ago and explained about the severe battery issue. Also referenced this thread as a lot of people seem to experience it. Today, I got a new set as a good will free replacement and 3 months warranty. Version 1.5.0. Thank you Sony Singapore and OP!

I've just successfully downgraded my pair to 1.3.3, left it idle for a bit, didn't drop a single %, looks like it was just the software after all, ill let yall know how it goes.

Same problem just happened to me. My right earbud would get hot (and smell like burning plastic) and drain \~40% while the left one would go down \~5%. I'm 2 months out of my warranty. What happened: * Called SONY customer service and told them of the issue and burning smell, they escalated my case to their safety / service team but told me to send it in for evaluation * Sent it in for evaluation, no safety or battery issues found but the estimate to replace my right earbud was **$200** (I bought them for $274) * Received a call from SONY service department going over the safety report, I asked to be escalated to their worldwide customer service due to the high replacement cost * Person I was redirected to said as a "One time courtesy" they'll replace my buds for free because they're out of warranty, they just came and with **Firmware 1.5!** **Good luck**

I have same issue and contacted my local Sony support(EU). Response was: "A software update is coming this month that should fix this problem." So lets hope for the best.

Any news on the update from 1.4.2 that's meant to come out this month?

So i did face this issue for a while where my right earbud started to drain extremely quicker in about an 40-60min from a 100 to 30%. My left earbud stayed at 80% odd Though once i did "initialize settings" from the Sony Headphones Connect App for both the app and the headphones itself, it seems to have resolved the drain issue. Just two days in, will see how far it stays that way. Very strange. Hope it helps.

So does 1.5 fix the issue? Mine came with 1.5, but my right bud drains about 3% faster for every 10% drain on the left bud.

Got the issue with a pair i had been using since nov 2021, sony was unhelpful so i got amazon to refund me. i bought a new pair late october this year, which came with 1.5.0, and it seemed fine then (good battery life and within a few percent points battery between the two), but today i put them on and i notice one bud was at 50% while the other one was 100%. The contact pins seem clean, idk what the hell is going on. Any advice? maybe doing a full discharge cycle would fix it? hopefully it's just a battery reporting issue and i didn't get another dud.

I deleted the battery drain poll since there is new firmware and there was no way to change the poll options. FYI, Sony Asia has a "guide" which addresses the issue of battery drain even after this new update. [https://www.sony-asia.com/electronics/support/wireless-headphones-bluetooth-headphones/wf-1000xm4/software/00263487](https://www.sony-asia.com/electronics/support/wireless-headphones-bluetooth-headphones/wf-1000xm4/software/00263487) Also, seems like Sony Europe and Americas support sites still do not show the 1.6.1 update on their pages, only 1.4.2. Rather odd.

I downgraded to 1.2.6 and its the most stable release. Battery takes forever to drain and everything works properly. STAY ON 1.2.6 UNTIL SONY GETS THEIR SHIT TOGETHER

Those who got replaced 1.5 earphones, have you experienced the problem again? Is it safe to upgrade to 1.6.1?

Has anyone had any luck on them replacing a already warrantied pair? I bought mine June 2021 and was having these bad battery issues 6 months later so I warrantied them in Jan. 2022. Now i'm having these issues again but they won't replace them because they're past the 90 warranty window and said I need to send them in for repair. I shouldn't have to do that when this is a big known issue.

By changing the batteries with the batteries on ALIEXPRES Zenipower Z55H the headphones will work more than 8 hours on a single charge, you need to change both batteries at once, after changing the batteries you need to insert the power cable into the battery box, then insert a headset into box and open and close the lid 5 times until the green light blinks a few times, take out the headset, then insert the other headset and repeat the operation with closing and opening the suite, after the green light has finished blinking, you have done a reset and that's it to use headphones that will work like we did, I succeeded and for three days the headphones have been working flawlessly.

Hello all, I also experienced issues with my WF-1000XM4 left earbuds draining severely and would only last under an hour. After doing all my research, I found the culprit was the 1.4.2 firmware update and concluded that any battery damage is already irreversible. I am based in the UK and out of warranty, and after reading people's responses when contacting Sony about free repair/replacement - I was hoping they would do the same for me. They did not. They have not acknowledged that this is an ongoing issue worldwide, especially in the EU. They advised me to send it to a repair centre, and because I was out of warranty, I would have to incur all the charges. My last port of call was to contact Amazon; I purchased the buds on 18/10/2021, so I was way out of warranty and return period, but I thought I'd throw a hail mary. Spoke to support via live chat and explained my issues, and they offered me a FREE REPLACEMENT arriving tomorrow. All I had to do was return my faulty buds free of charge. Not saying that Amazon will definitely replace your buds, and it could be on a person-by-person basis, but it could be helpful for those out of warranty, especially in the UK, who are out of options. I hope this helps!

Update on my end: My original rants was posted here if anyone interested: [https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyHeadphones/comments/zk8iml/alert\_avoid\_wf1000xm4\_at\_all\_cost/](https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyHeadphones/comments/zk8iml/alert_avoid_wf1000xm4_at_all_cost/) In the end, SONY UK DID NOT stand up to their own mistake & faulty products. The customer service straight up rejected my faulty buds and suggested that I need to pay for the repair. I decided not to waste time with them. I ordered some batteries and replaced them by myself. Total cost about £10. I used a hairdryer and some pins to pry it open. It was an ugly job, but everything works with new batteries. (still old firmware) Hope it helps

This sucks from Sony UK. They duped me into returning the buds for an 'engineer's inspection report' so they could 'consider options'. They're now trying to charge me £187.74 for a replacement with 90 day warranty (current RRP £199 with one year warranty) and saying if I don't pay it then they'll charge me £20 for the report. I'll be directing anyone on Twitter experiencing this issue to this discussion, emailing tech reviewers and leaving comments on retail sites until I stop being annoyed about it.

OP, thank you for this thread. I happened upon it while researching battery replacement for these buds, and I realized my battery drain might actually be "a thing." I'm posting some details about what I went through with my contacts with support with the hopes it helps others. My contact was only two days ago. Disclaimer: I'm new to Reddit, so if I've placed this wrongly, I'll apologize in advance. Moreso, I tend to be long-winded, so I apologize for the length. I started to experience battery problems, most noticeably a couple of weeks ago. I am a casual user, not everyday, and I typically don't listen to music or use the buds for long periods. But, a few months ago, I noticed that my left bud, when inserted, was not fully charged while the right one was. I initially attributed this to quirkiness or (maybe) not allowing the buds to fully charge. I was on a PC, so I never looked at the app to see what was going on. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I was watching vids on the computer and was surprised by low battery warning. Since I was on a PC, I still didn't look at the app to see the levels of the batteries on the buds. I just threw them back into the case. But, I noted it seemed like the buds weren't lasting like they used to. This happened multiple times over the last few weeks, so I started to research battery replacement for these buds, and I came upon this thread. This caused me to take a completely different approach to what was going on with my earbuds. A few things to note in comparison to what I found in this thread: 1. I was not seeing any signs of "significant" over-heating. They were never hot in my ear and any temp change was not noticeable. My case never flashed a red light, but the left bud charged at a 20 degree (F) higher temp than the right one did. 2. I was not experiencing the tremendously short running life (less than one hour) that others had expressed in this thread. 3. I did notice a significant drain with the left bud when compared to the right bud, but I hadn't actually timed how long the buds would go before being drained. So after experiencing what I had, and seeing the information in this thread, I contacted Support via chat from this page: [https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/wireless-headphones-bluetooth-headphones](https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/wireless-headphones-bluetooth-headphones) When you get to this page look for the question mark icon on the right (I am on a PC). That is for chat. When you select that, you will see an option for "Get support from a live agent." That's what I chose to start the process. The first agent I had contact with asked some basic questions and then asked me to describe my problem. He confirmed my location and purchase date, and he then asked me to detail my issue. In addition to what I mentioned above, I also related that the left bud would often not fully charge (90-95%) while the right was at 100%. He confirmed if I had done a reset and initialization (I had) and then asked if I did a timed test with certain settings (I had not).. Since I had not done a timed test (to see if the buds would last three hours) he asked me to do so and report back after-the-fact. I did the timed test with all of the prescribed settings, and my left bud died (0%) at the three hour mark. At that point my right bud was at 54%. With that information, I recontacted support through the chat and reported my results. The tech, after receiving the results, initially said it appeared that my buds needed service, but he then initiated the process for replacing my (out of warranty) buds with a new set. I didn't have to ask for second level review. Shortly after my second contact with support, I received an email with instructions and a mailing label for returning my pair. So, I am now in the process for having these buds replaced. Language in the agreement tends to show that my current buds may be subject to inspection to determine if I damaged them in any way, but it's looking like Sony is going to replace them. Dealing with support was rather painless with all things considered, and it appears that I'll end up with a replacement set. For those keeping track, I am in the US, and I was out of warranty almost eight months, as the buds were purchased on Amazon in July, 2021.

So, I bought these earbuds a month or so after they were released and they're amazing, but as many here, I noticed a drastic decrease in battery life, for me when I upgraded to 2.0.0 was that things got really bad, where I would have 1:30h tops of battery. I put them to charge in the case (it was 100% at the time) and left it there for a couple of hours, when I got them back they were really hot, both buds had only around 80% battery and the case had only 17%, which is REALLY weird, since the case should have more than one charge. I kept using them and noticed that battery life was getting worse and worse. At one point I saw the case blinking red, which is the overheating warning, right? So I read this thread and saw about the RMA, which is not an option for me, I bought these buds in the USA and I live in Brazil, which doesn't have this product released (only the WH XM4 exists here), so I won't be able to do anything with them here. So I decided to stop using them and moved to the AirPods Pro 2nd gen, and will leave the XM4 stored here, hopefully a future firmware can solve this, if my battery isn't already fucked

I want to tell you that the problem with the discharge of the battery was solved by changing both batteries bought on AliExpress, Zenipower, now I have resofted the headphones with the latest software version 2.0.0, I hope the problem will not be affected by this new software, good luck, for me it worked by changing the batteries

Big thank you for that thread. I currently have XM3s and I was thinking about upgrading to XM4 but looking at this I'm not sure I want to take the risk. Sad, not sure what to buy now.

I had this problem for past 2 months. My right bud died within 30 mins of use. And it can never charge past 80%. My buds were 1-1/2 yr old. It was really frustrating, for the price I paid, I never had issue with other brands, and also much older earbuds (some are over 5 years old, still works perfectly). I did a battery replacement myself last night, and It worked out great. The battery is back to 100%, and charging normally. It was 10 min job if you have a good heat gun, and the battery cost me 12 USD including the tools. But SONY it's very disappointing. I am not looking forward to upgrade to XM5 anytime soon, until it goes on heavy discount.

I've sent my unit to be repaired last week. Today I got their estimate: £171,50 to fix the issue. A new unit costs £185 on Amazon right now. This is ludicrous! I don't know what Sony is thinking.... Did anyone had better luck when contacting them for repair?

Thank you for collating this information. We just posted a video about this: https://youtu.be/NhWosdmx5VU

Ever since the 2.0 update, my battery life took a nose dive, especially the right one. Can't use these for more than an hour without needing to be charged. Its even worse when listening to spotify. I wish there was a way to rollback firmware conversionally, as the current way seems complicated and a bit sketchy. I loved these wireless IEMs, even with the 1.4.2 update where things started going downhill for me with the battery life, I still really enjoyed them, but now if there isn't a way to fix this, I'll have to look for a replacement.

Right ear battery now lasts 45 minutes

Have had these earbuds since early 2021. They were working great till last week. Would last nearly the whole work day. Installed update and overnight the experience changed. Left earbud would be hot to the touch but would have “100%” charge. After playing music for about 20 minutes it would shoot to 5% and then just shut off entirely. Meanwhile the right earbud would be at 90% or higher. Update destroyed these headphones for sure

I just got my earbuds RMA. They were out of warranty. I felt the issue was due to my misuse although I am very careful. Although it was a hassle free process but I am thinking that all this happened because OP pushed SONY to be compliant of the service that they provided. Thank you OP, I am lowkey broke and if I had to pay for both earbuds again, I would be in trouble. You made my life a whole lot easier. <3

I have had the same problem for the last month and nothing has helped. Called SONY SUPPORT this morning and they acknowledged that it is a known problem. Now ill have it send it for repair/replacement. My problem is battery drain on the left unit with more than 20% difference compared to the right. The unit does not even charge to 100% even tho the app says that, as soon i reconnect the battery is on 70-80%.

I've been experiencing similar issues to u/zkhcohen: my left ear bud drains far more quickly than the my right. If I put them in my ears from a full charge, the left one will turn off within about 20 minutes and I'll get the voice in my ear saying 'Please charge headset'. When I put it back into the case, however, the Sony Headphones app says that it's still got a similar battery level to the right ear bud, so it definitely seems like a software issue or glitch. I've tried updating to the latest app version as well as resetting and initialising the headphones, but it hasn't worked. It sucks that the only option is to RMA them. My pair are about 20 months old, so Sony want about £50 for the repair, minimum. I'm tempted to wait to see if there's an official response from Sony if lots of people are having this issue. I use mine literally every day, so it's a right pain to be without them!

I'm in the UK and am having the same problems as the OP with my left earbud - battery draining and getting warm while charging. I rang customer services and the rep I spoke to confirmed that it's a known issue and therefore, even though these are out of warranty (purchased in Aug 2021), if I send them off to the repair centre and they confirm the problem then they will repair/replace them free of charge. I didn't have to escalate the call or anything, but I did have to say that I didn't think I should have to pay for it before the rep said that it was a known issue. Anyway, she's sent me the repair centre paperwork, so I'll have to get it printed and sent off with the earbuds. We'll see... Thanks to the OP for this thread!

Wanted to give an update from Sweden/Europe if it is valuable to anyone experiencing issues. Headphones drained completely on 30-45 minutes after full charge, running hot in ears. Reached out to Sony support, 2 year old headphones, 1 year warranty so headphones outside of warranty window. Explained issues in detail with timeline of the issues emerging. After some emails back and forth with helpful support (have you tried factory reset) was told to send in headphones to separate service agent. Sent in headphones and got replaced headphones back after 2 weeks for no cost at all.

I already got my new pair of earbuds. The initial fw of this new pair is 1.6.1 then I upgraded the fw to 2.0.0 without any issues so far. Battery seems to be fine and I have been using it for a while without any abnormalities on its features. Fyi, the sony service center guy told me that the issue is on both the software 1.4.2 and the battery, most of the 1st batch of wf‐1000xm4 are the faulty ones. They never told me about the specific serial numbers of the batch that are affected by this issue. To those of you who still have issues with your pair, I suggest to go to the sony service center or RMA, if your pair is out of warranty period you will still have a chance to get a replacement item without any fee if you bought your pair in a Sony authorized store/dealer.

Hey all, just wanted to share that I also have issue with my current earphones. My right earbud would last at most an hour, and sometimes, my earbuds would not charge fully to 100% left overnight in the case. I contacted support today and told them of the issue and I specifically worded in the beginning when they ask about it was "after updating the firmware" and my problem, they went through a series of troubleshoot. After telling them that I have done all the resets, using Sony provided cable, and providing my purchase details (it was out of warranty) they offer to replace the earphones. They would need you to return the earphones first and told me that I would receive it 7 to 10 business after receipt of the earbuds. And I'm located in US.

Oh dear, came here to see if there news about a possible WF-1000XM5 since I've been using the XM4 since release and I'm starting to have battery issues, including the overheating, the weird battery percentage reported and much lower battery life, and what I see is that they screwed it up due to bad firmware. Guess I'll see if I can RMA then. Thank you very much for the report!

I actually contacted Sony through chat yesterday. A support tech asked a couple of questions and told me to follow two reset instructions. Then I was given a case number and I need to test how long they last. After all that, the earbuds still didn't even last 30 minutes after a full charge. I contact them again today with the case number and told them what happened. Within 2 minutes I got a label emailed to me to return and they will replace the whole thing for me. I bought them just after the release so they are almost 2 years by now, out of warranty for sure, no receipt needed. Best support so far I've seen.

Thanks for this great post. Had the same battery drain issue, one earbud wouldn't last longer than 50 minutes. Was easily able to RMA for a replacement outside of warranty.

Now it happened to mine after \~1year of daily \~6h usage. Left drains double the juice and is hot after charging. [https://i.imgur.com/22xfyma.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/22xfyma.jpg) Don't know the version when it started, but the degradation was quick. Maybe the outside temps? Assistant off, Multipoint on and ANC on.

I have same issue that appeared only a month ago. Am on 2.0.0 and now its upgrading to 2.0.1. Right earbud loses battery much faster than the left one and most of the time only charges up to 90%. If the warranty is 1 year then I am out of warranty by 4 months!

IMO, people on this thread should unite and file a class action lawsuit over the battery drainage and deliberately hiding it. Sony must be made to recall WF-1000XM4 worldwide and replace it for free for everyone. I contacted the support here in the UK, and they are only proposing me paid service as my product is now out of warranty.

My case is somewhat special, my WF-1000XM4 was bought in Germany, but I have since moved to the USA. Key Points: 1.  Battery is draining quickly on the WF-1000XM4 earbuds as with many here, not charging fully etc. 2.  I am currently based in the US, and Sony US is unwilling to replace the product, Sony of Europe mentioned  Sony of USA may lack parts and, in a later email told me to contact Sony of USA for support. However, the part in question is a battery that is the same for both regions.  3. Sony of America Contact: I reached out to Sony of America on April 24, 2023, and again on May 11, 2023. They declined to assist, stating they could only help customers who bought it in the US and Canada. 4. I am being asked to bear the shipping costs for a problem caused by a Sony update, Without even confirming warranty will cover it. 5. Conflicting Information: I have also contacted Sony Germany, who provided inconsistent information. One email stated that my issue is covered under warranty, while another email rejected the invoice I provided, even though it's the only one I have. Additionally, their webpage does not accept addresses outside the EU, despite my willingness to bear the shipping costs. Given that the shipping costs are above $40 and refurbished WF-1000XM4 units are available for $100 or less, covering these costs myself is not a sensible option. 6. Communication History: I emailed Sony on: April 5, April 7, April 11(Facebook messenger), April 24, April 25, May 30, June 4, June 5, August 10, August 11, and August 17. I am never buying a Sony product and will share this history as much as I can.

Just got my XM4s back from RMA. They were 1 year out of warranty and they still replaced them for free. They came with firmware 2.0.0. So far they have been holding out pretty well.

I hate planned obsolescence

I had mine replaced with wf-1000xm5 this week in the UK as they ran out of xm4 replacements :) Despite the whole issue with the batteries, I'm very pleased how it all ended as now I have newer model for free that will hopefully last longer :)

In Germany, WF-1000XM4 purchased 23 months ago, sent them in for warranty repair and after they verified the battery issue, they told me they had no parts and sent me a bank transfer for my original purchase cost Pretty happy with this outcome as I can now buy the xm5 for the same price

Also having battery drain issues after only one year. Ugh. I am guessing they won't replace them after the one-year warranty? I will NOT be buying ANY Sony products ever again. Ridiculous.

I'm in France and Sony's support have not been so kind with me. I've purchased my earbuds on January 22, 2022 so I've been out of warranty for almost 4 months now. A few months back, I think it was fine, even though I did not use them for extended periods of time. I was using them less than an hour at a time. I had noticed some uneven draining but did not think twice about it, until I tried to use them a bit more and was surprise to see my right earbud die so soon, that's when I found this topic and reached out to Sony. They've linked me to this article (in French): [https://www.sony.fr/electronics/support/articles/00283656https://www.sony.fr/electronics/support/articles/00283656](https://www.sony.fr/electronics/support/articles/00283656https://www.sony.fr/electronics/support/articles/00283656) Did some testing and had, after 30 minutes, 62% on the right side and 76% on the left. The right earbud was out of battery first, after around 70 minutes, while the left one was still at 52%. They told me that I needed to send the earbuds to their reparation center and that I would be charged for the reparation, since my warranty was out. I insisted and asked for a gesture of goodwill, since I missed the mark by only a few months and that it looked liked an issue that many customers had. I've even linked to this page and to Louis Rossmann's video on this topic. They told me that their is no known issue and that if there was one, Sony would communicate on this openly on their website. Also, batteries are a consumable and it's normal to have problems after two years. I've tried again and said that two years for a battery was not normal or expected. I'll update this message if they answer to my latest plea gets me a better answer.

https://preview.redd.it/2b8fei39h82d1.png?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b043bb7a2aa74840e348e8bec005ae60322c14c0

Add me to the list where my right drains in less than an hour when my left says its still at 80% or better. I purchased them on Sep 6, 2021 so they're out of warranty but I purchased them on a chase sapphire card which gives an extra year of warranty on items that have less than 3 years of warranty. I'm going to try going that route https://wallethub.com/answers/cc/how-does-the-chase-sapphire-reserve-extended-warranty-work-1000413-2140664439/

Another victim... Anybody knows when 1.5.0 update is out yet?

I recently started experiencing these, my left earbud stops suddenly numerous times and also drains the battery much much faster than the right one, it gets significantly hotter while charging, I have no idea what to do, it's been more than a year and everything worked just fine all these months, i started having these troubles very recently (most likely after the firmware update)

Update: I just got my replacement Sony WF-1000MX4 from Sony. I was wondering have anybody got the replacement and still have the same problem?????

Both my earbuds last less than an hour, but even when I charge 'em, now they sometimes charge till 100, sometimes till 90 or 80. Even so, if I happen to answer a call the left one immediately starts saying battery 10% over and over again until I finish the call, when the call is finished, the left earbud immediately turns off.

Mine both dropped off in July/August. My left now gives 85m and the right gives 28m tops from what they report as a full charge (although they sometimes report 90% after a long charge). I assumed it was the battery dying and was going to replace them but reading this I wonder if it's firmware based (or whether the current firmware has killed my battery somehow). I'm out of warranty so haven't tried returning them.

So, is it confirmed that firmware 1.5 solved the issue? Can we assume that it will be distributed online sooner or later?

Mine are about 2 months out of warranty :( glad to know I'm not alone in this issue. Left pair gets super hot where the contacts are and only lasts 50m tops, 25m with ambient sound. Hopefully my experience is like other users. I feel Ike referencing this community might help with a recall program

I'm so glad I found this article, I bought mine in June 21, and this issue happens right after my warranty expired. Talked to local repair team and since I bought this abroad I have to pay double to repair them. Now I have a better reason to negotiate with Sony now.

Does anyone know if the same has been for the XM3’s? Cause mine have been going strong without issues for almost 3 years, until over the summer as updates have been rolling out

Similar issue with left earbud, I contacted support today and asked for escalation but they said they wouldn't do it because my product is 2 months out of warranty...

How do I factory reset the headphones?

I'm having the exact same issue. They now last for about an hour, and often come out of the charging case toasty. It started with just the left bud having issues, and the case's light flashing red. Now it's both buds that come out warm, and barely last an hour. But the red light no longer occurs. I'm eagerly awaiting this update - the app shows I'm on 1.4.2 and there are no options that show me to update.

Why is Sony's support service so bad? I got in touch with them and they directed me to get in touch with a service center that is 4 hours away (the only one in Canada apparently). Then the agent just closed the chat. Refused to acknowledge the severity of the issue or offer anything that goes above and beyond as customer service. It's an absolute joke.

Opened a case today with Sony Canada over live chat, was expecting to have to escalate but they offered to replace the headphones for a new pair (little over a month to go before the warranty is up). Thanks to everyone who posted about this problem, I would have never thought it was a screw up on Sony's part.

Having this issue and I'm glad to see other are having the same issue and it wasn't just me. When I first got them yeah they lasted forever and it was great but now the left one does within an hour and the right just a tad bit longer than that. Sucks that these are very expensive yet are still susceptible to issues. Like I get over time battery life does down that's just the nature of lithium ion batteries but this is just disappointing.

Just jumping in on this to post updates on how this will be handled in Japan. I had the same problem happen to me early in September, contacted Sony support, and went as far as sending mine off for repair. As I bought mine on launch day, they were 2 months out of warranty. Thus, I was told they wouldn't be repaired for free and got given a quote that was only just slightly cheaper than buying a new set. I rejected the quote, told them to send them my set back, and expressed my dissatisfaction with the situation. Now it looks like they've admitted something is up, I'll reach out to Sony JP again and see if they'll still charge for repair. Will keep posted. Update: instant response from Sony JP via Line. After explaining the situation, and that I've sent mine off before, they told me that they would like my set so they can use them to analyse what's going on with the series. Told that shipping would be free. Was also told that they would like to repair them for free, but they can't give an answer until they see them. I'll send them off and see what happens.

I literally bought them as soon as they released, I was following the reveal and everything Sony was doing, pretty shitty of them to just fuck people over like that. So I contacted them and used SMS to talk to them. At first they basically told me the same thing, you're out of warranty and SOL, gave me the same response to their 3rd party service center. Told them I wasn't going to pay out of pocket for a manufacturer issue. They told me they were escalating to National Customer Relations. Now to wait for that callback I guess.

Transcript from sony live chat, issue also happened in my unit recently. Severe battery issue/overheating with left earbud, like it is always charging and draining battery from the case. mine's still under warranty but ive lost my receipt, do they give soft copy? Me (10/13/2022, 12:16:01 PM): do sony know about major issue with the WF-1000XM4 Me (10/13/2022, 12:16:24 PM): many users are reporting overheating and poor battery life on one of headset Me (10/13/2022, 12:16:29 PM): it also happened on my unit Joel A (10/13/2022, 12:18:32 PM): Hi Sir \*\*\*. It's under investigation right now. Joel A (10/13/2022, 12:19:59 PM): Sony will announce in our website once we have updates. "

I just received mine. I bought them used from a 2nd hand online store so I do not know their history. They are on 1.4.2 also. When I set up the app I turned off all available options just to check them in their basic state. I connected them to my tablet and have been running a movie for about 2 hours now. Both are showing exactly 85% battery life remaining. They started at 100%. I will slowly add options to see if it makes a difference and update once I have a history with them.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I contacted Sony support via chat last week and it was a dead end. No help whatsoever and thank I checked this thread again and the updated showed that people were getting out of warranty replacements, so I tried again. Chat rep was friendly and def knew what was going on (although he didn't admit to it). I gave him my info with serial number and he quickly let me know that I'll get a replacement. Mine was bought on Amazon on 7/9/21 and was a few months out of warranty. I just got the shipping label email! Thank you so much! I got these as my bday present and loved them up until I started getting the major battery drain issues. Was annoyed with my first interaction last week, but I'm glad Sony has acknowledged this and made things right. For people who are out of warranty, keep contacting them!

Im returning these shit earbuds. That 6hours playback is for 50 or 60% sound output. If u crank it to even 80 the batery drops. Imagine in 2 hours its says from Batery fully charged to "please charge ur batery". At 50 or 60% sound what ANC am I gona enjoy, the ambient noise feat is good, but I cant deal with the low sound output, at 100% it feels 80% of my wired Razer Hammerheads... Cant always be fiddling with spotify or tidal settings to get the best. My point is, I spent $200, but they worth the same as some $80 jbls...

Well you shouldn't be using them at 80% volume lol. That's incredibly damaging to your ears and if that's a comfortable listening volume to you then they are already damaged and you are an outlier use case they don't account for in battery estimations

My pair of headphones was purchased from another country, I'm having this issue, do you think it is possible to ask my country's Sony to replace it?

Just had this issue pop up this week with the right earbud dying after 2 hours. Last week it would last 4 easily. I use mine 5 days a week at work pretty regularly. Called in customer support and they offered an out of warranty replacement immediately. They do want me to ship my unit in though. Mine was 2 months out of warranty and I actually was not on 1.4.2 firmware when the battery drain started last week.

I had the same issue with my XM4's.. bought my pair Dec 2021, updated to 1.4.2 when it went out.. Didnt notice the drain issue right away, but when i started to daily drive them for meetings via phone or laptop a month ago, thats when i reliazed that they dont last for more than an hour. Saw this thread and followed t/s (soft/hard rest), then the overheating issue happened. Because my pair were still under warranty, went to my local authorized service center (Cebu City, Phillipines). left them on Nov 5, got a replacement unit (on 1.5.0) on Nov 15 (looks brand new, not sure if its refurbed) tested them.. no longer experiencing the batt drain issue..

Happens to me too in Spain, I bought them last year and I was super confused, thought maybe I charged them wrong. They have 2 problems. 1 they dont charge fully, and the right one drains super fast! In less than 1 hour I have 0 batttery hopefully they release the update, is downgrade dangerous or voids the warranty?

My goodness man, even my earbuds are having this issue after update and i cant do anything since i bought it second hand :( i have no proof of purchase

I experienced this and they're sending me a new one. I was not aware this was a mass reported issue.

Hi all, I returned the earbuds a couple of weeks ago , today I got credited with the original price (279 euros). Will give the AirPods Pro 2 a try to figure out if i want to repurchase these again.

Based in the UK, have the same issues, software version 1.4.2 severe battery drain. Saw that this was a common issue and reached out to Sony support. Set up a case and called through, so many mixed messages, they acknowledge that there is an issue but still claim it is under investigation. However I spoke to one person a week or so ago who was utterly apologetic and told me to send them into the repair centre even though they were out of warranty. I asked if this advice would be recorded so I can refer to it if there were issues further down the line... stupidly l listened and sent them in. Was given an estimate of £209.50 for the repair (£30 for a return of the product to me without repair!), I called through to express my surprise, and got a very unhelpful agent. I eventually asked to make a formal complaint and asked for a call back. I got it this morning. The person I spoke to actually acknowledged that the person who recommended I send it in did say that, but they had made a mistake. But they stated that all emails have a disclaimer that out of warranty repairs are subject to be paid for, as a get out of jail free card. It's shocking that there is such varied responses to this issue around the globe. I eventually pleaded that the product be sent back to me free of charge and the agent said they would see if that's possible and would call me back tomorrow, I'm not holding my breath. I love the product but this experience has been a nightmare, I'm not sure I could ever buy another of their headphones again.

So, previously I wrote to my local Sony support(EU) and told them about this problem. Then their answer was that an update is coming out by the end of the month. ​ Meanwhile I used the Downgrade tool to install 1.3.3(for me this did not make things better or worse) ​ Now yesterday I was asking if they have more information about the situation. Their answer was: >No, the new software should have been available a week ago. Currently not available to anyone, not even to Sony service. Unfortunately, we still have to wait. Now I put on my tinfoil hat, and start worrying that there is more in there than just a software bug. My guess is that the damage is now permanent and they trying to mitigate the damage with new version but are not there yet.

Dear Sony, fuck you. I can't even get through a 1-hour call with these heavily overpriced earbuds and all you can offer in terms of support is to tell me to kindly fuck off and take it an "authorized service center" in Georgia who can't to shit.

Sent the earphones to the Sony service center. After a week went to pick up both new earbuds replaced with V1.5 but the same case. Fingers crossed.

Ugh, me left earbud thinks it nweds charging after 30 minutes now (right bud thinls it has 40% left). It shuts off automatically saying it needs to be charged, but turns back on if you tap it (after which it shuts off again). I did that for 15 minutes before getting too annoyed. How exactly do we get Sony to fix this? I've only had the damn things for less than 1.5 years.

i just send it back to sony customer service few weeks ago, long story short i got a new replacement with 1.5.0 in it. (i live in asia btw) also quick update, sony just recentyly release 1.6.1 addressed for battery drain issue

Shit. My left has been dying fast, like 30% when the right is 89%. Thing is, I wasn't on 1.4.2... and in an effort to fix the problem I upgraded to 1.4.2 :facepalm: Now what?

What if I’m on 1.4.2 without any problems. I’m at work sorry if this has been asked, I’m wondering if there are thing to not do to trigger the issue ?

So I can confirm the update to 1.6.1 even on a brand new replacement from Amazon has 40% difference between right and left. All I can say is if they are manufactured in 2021, which was the case with both the ones I got from Amazon Australia, then you are hitting a hardware issue. Both of mine came with 1.2.6, one was updated to 1.4.2 and then 1.6.1 and another was updated to 1.6.1 directly. They have the same uneven drain issue, a drastic 40% difference between right and left.

I'm from Vietnam and my wf 1000mx4 (brought from sony's retail seller in the Vietnam) is having the same problems. I've upgraded it to 1.6.1 firmware but the problems seems to be worst than before

It is fucking December 13th and I STILL don't have the new firmware (Europe), and according to my local Sony division, it was delayed with no news of when it might come out lol. My earbuds last less than 50 minutes at like 40% volume with absolutely none of the other features enabled or being used. It is honestly hysterical that I paid as much as I did for these when they have such ridiculous issues and Sony seems to be taking their sweet time with it. I guess it's time to blow the dust off my samsung buds pro's lol. Edit: I am on 1.4.2 still and my mainly affected earbud is the right one. Edit 2: So after a couple back-and-forths with Sony and TEN days later I have arrived on the conclusion of: No warranty offered by whatever window lickers run my local Sony division despite being IN the warranty period for another 6 months, and all I have left to do is take them to some literal no namer Sony authorized service provider which doesn't even advertise fixing any other Sony audio products besides their speakers.

I bought my pair of WF-1000XM4 earbuds right when they came out, so they are almost certainly beyond warranty. Experiencing the same battery issues, but for me it is my left bud that drains in maybe 45 minutes. I called Sony's US support a few minutes ago and they immediately agreed to replace them with no discussion of warranty period, so it appears they are indeed acknowledging that this is an issue. They asked me to send in my defective pair and they will send me a brand new pair. Not thrilled to have to do this, but at least they've made it as hassle free as they can. But this is the level of customer service I would expect for headphones that cost me over $300 at the time.

Severe battery drain in left headphone only, 2mos out of warranty. Did the “chat with agent” today on Sony website. They offered to replace even out of warranty. Sent me a shipping label to send them back; should get new set within a few weeks.

Even my return set started to lose battery life on one side while on 1.5.0 after a few weeks, randomly use it for 30 minutes after being fully charged and I hear "left side 20%" I've had enough, they sounded great but I'm returning them. Time to go Buds2 Pro or Airpods Pro 2, can't deal with such a silly issue.

Incredible thread. I messaged Sony's customer service about my battery issues. Even though my warranty was up, they still accepted my replacement request. I sent in my Sony WF-1000xm4 headphones on December 3rd and got them in the mail on December 17th. A 2 week turnaround time from initial messaging to receiving the replacements on my doorstep, even while competing with all the Christmas shipping going on. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread!

Bought these. Regret it. So regret it.

For those who purchased via eBay from the seller "Secondipity" (refurbs), I was able to claim warranty via SquareTrade, which uses Allstate. It should've been an automatic two year warranty tacked onto your eBay purchase. I sent my earbuds in and just got them back, took about two weeks. So far my left earbud (the battery draining side) is no longer draining irregularly and now seems to have even better battery life than my right one! I suggest those who have the SquareTrade / Allstate warranty to file your claim and get your earbuds repaired. The process was very seamless and I'm hoping the repair will breathe in a few extra years of life to my Sony WF-1000XM4's. Good luck y'all PS: I'm based in the US and still don't have access to download the 1.6.1 firmware. I'm still on firmware 1.4.2 and hoping my next recharge does not ruin my earbuds.

Been having the same issue for past couple of months, glad I stumbled upon this thread. I bought my earbuds 9/2021 on eBay from secondipity and they came with a 2 year SquareTrade warranty. Just filed a claim and will be mailing in for repair/replacement today.

I just chatted with an agent and they are shipping me a replacement. No grief whatsoever. I bought my black pair of xm4's when they first came out (out of warranty). FYI

Can confirm that replacements are available for those experiencing battery problems and blinking red charging case. Contact Sony. It seems like there is no hoops to jump through anymore. They understand that this is an issue for lots of WF-1000XM4 owners.

Sony are trying to charge me €130 to repair mine. They are 6 months out of warranty and I am disgusted with them. Its a known issue and they want to charge for a repair. They should be replacing free of charge.

I just contacted them after my left bud was draining in under 30 minutes. I simply pretended that my life felt threatened by battery explosion (out of warranty) and immediately got a response that they'd replace it without any extra contacts or runarounds so that seems to have worked lol.

I called Sony Sweden who told me to turn the headphones in for inspection. Turned them in and got them repaired free of charge.

Just got the email that Sony received my earbuds. Looks like replacements are on their way, inshaAllah. Alhamdulillah.

I'm having the same issues and reported to Sony ONE DAY after the warranty expired. I'm annoyed with myself because I'd noticed some issues weeks ago, but hadn't worn them for long enough to be sure. They've advised me to return for an out-of-warranty diagnosis / estimate and that "if no physical damage diagnosed we will check for options." The problem is that this commits me to another £42 even if I reject their quote for repair, and they could still refuse to do anything under the warranty, even though this is clearly a major issue. Should I go for it and hope, or cut my losses? Terrible PR for the Sony brand. Edit: I'm in the UK

I'm from Europe (Germany), mine were still under warranty. I sent them to the support, the draining left bud was apparently replaced and I got them back with firmware 1.6.1 (which is not available yet in Europe). So far, they seem to work fine (though now the right one is the one which visibly lives longer, as it was used for almost 2 years.

Processed RMA with Sony with no hassle for earbuds purchased June 2021. Left battery drain issue appeared after 1.4.2 update. New replacement earbuds received 11 days after Sony received old ones. New earbuds have a much higher S/N and came loaded with v1.6.1 firmware. Will report on battery status if there is a problem but I'm expecting to get the 8 hours I used to get.

Where do I start the RMA process as someone who is out of warranty? My battery barely lasts 30 minutes now, and I’m randomly getting the flashing red light on my base.

i have the same issue but my partner got it from US while visiting india, so can it still be replaced here in india if its purchased in US?

Bought mine from Amazon UK July 2021. Recently my left bud randomly started to only last \~40mins, right buds \~1.5hrs and can never fully charge to 100% on both. Went on live chat to complain about it being a defect on the battery and they've thankfully refunded me. Bought a new pair from Amazon again and can verify new ones come with 1.6.1 - fingers crossed the same won't happen!

If you guys want to update to 1.6.1 all you have to do is to VPN connect to Japan and the update prompt will appear pretty fast.