Sony WF 1000XM4 Left Earbud draining 10 times faster than right

[Thommy]

Like the title states, my left earbud randomly started draining extremely fast.

I suspect the 2.0.1 firmware.

I bought these in Denmark on February 17 last year and now they are essentially worthless as I can only use the left earbud for about 40 minutes.

 

I have since moved countries to Japan, so I don't know what to do about warranty now 😞

I have a attached pictures showing the battery drain using both over about 1 hour.

Sony please respond.

 

[TheMaze]

Hey @Hughmcmahon 

I think it's to contact Sony support team for this issue

[Hughmcmahon]

Thanks. Called Sony support UK but no joy. They have no knowledge of any software issue and because my XM4s are over a year old, the only option is return for repair. Not an economic option.

I'm not convinced this isn't a software problem, though, so I'll explore (or wait for) alternative versions. Love these earphones, so don't want to write them off yet, and they're too expensive to replace without being sure that's the only option.

Regards,

Hugh

[tjb370]

Hi @Hughmcmahon 

Sony are very well aware of the battery drain issue, don't let them tell you otherwise, you only have to read the myriad of posts from the UK and globally, on Reddit and elsewhere - good place to start is here https://tinyurl.com/3w49n7e9 and then search the site! 

it's a long read but hopefully there are posts which will help you, the more recent ones are towards the bottom! Certainly helped me, and I didn't even have my proof of purchase, but had registered my buds and had the credit card receipt/statement. Mine were 2years 1month and about 10days old when the battery drain issue started. I had registered them when I purchased them so I think I had extended warranty (2yrs). After a battle with Sony resulting in what they referred to as a "favourable resolution" quote of £134 to replace the buds, I eventually got them to replace them for free! Some folk, as you'll see from the thread above got a similar result but were charged just £34. 

Don't give up! Good luck!

[Hughmcmahon]

Thanks tjb370, that's helpful. I'm not optimistic but I'll try again.

[SuperMarioY]

I have now reached the stage where left earbud is practically of no use. Sony doesn't want to know, Amazon customer services also doesn't want to know. All because Sony messed up their firmware update refusing to take responsibility. However, timing couldn't be better... I am planning to replace my Pioneer plasma screen with 77' one. I was going for Sony A95L QD OLED but I read excellent reviews of LG G4. Now that Sony ***** me off so royally, which one do you think I will get, any guesses? As for replacement of Sony's earbuds junk, it looks like Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 4. Nice to have known you Sony.

[PaulGUden]

I have an equivalent problem with the right ear bud. It goes from 100% to 0% in about 10 minutes making the earbuds effectively useless. I bought them on Amazon.es in May 2022. I have not used them for a while, but took them on holiday only to discover this issue. Has anyone sorted it out successfully with Sony? If so, how? They cost me €189 and this is clearly not an acceptable product if it fails after such a short time.

[SuperMarioY]

To my knowledge there is no fix for it. People have reported that changing the battery works but I will not try that, too much hassle and I just don't want to have anything to do with Sony any more. Did some research and earbuds to give the best sound quality seem to be Senheizer so I will go for that.  

[SatoruGojo]

@PaulGUden, in that case, you should contact the support team directly to help you with that.

[PaulGUden]

Thanks. I have since done that. I am a couple of months out of warranty so they say I'll have to pay for a repair. From comments on here and elsewhere, the problem seems to be of Sony's own making so I am disappointed in their response to say the least. It seems like a scam. Ruin the product and then make the customer pay. I'll see what else they have to say, but it may be a more cost-effective in the long run to buy new ear buds from a more customer-friendly brand.

[jibladzea1975]

I have the same issue with my left earbud the problem started recently. Any sollutions to fix the problem?