WF-1000XM4 Battery Drain Issue

[PureFlaws]

Hello, for the last year I've been using Sony's WF-1000XM4 Earphones, and during warranty period had almost no complaints to product. But last month or two - coin flipped. Earphones started overheating, for no reason. Due to overheat battery lifetime decreased several times. If usually I had 5-8 hours of playback time, but now - right earphone ~40min, left ~ 60-70min (time may very).

Factory resetting or any troubleshooting process didn't help.

I've tried to contact Sony Ukrainian call centre, or service centre, but didn't get any constructive response. Every proof I shared was ignored. Every link I've sent was denied.

Sadly seems that on Sony Ukraine's opinion warranty period = product life span

Service centre says they would not help because headphones are out of warranty, although this problem is not on my hands, just a defective batch.

Don't know why, but still have last hope for some miracle, such as out of warranty replacement, or something like that.

Anyone got any ideas what should I do, to save earphones and money spent?

[dietervonkhan]

There is no software-side solution to this, the only way to fix it is to manually replace the battery yourself (I've seen tutorials and was considering doing this myself), or contact sony customer services who will replace the buds but only if you spend weeks complaining. I was happy to do that and got mine replaced twice (both outside of warranty), however your experience may differ.

I'm still using mine, post 2nd replacement, had I not been able to get them replaced in both instances I would have sworn off sony entirely.

[MaggieGreene]

@RichDP If it goes below 80% within 30 minutes, it means that the battery needs to get inspected by the engineers. Contact the service centre on 01656867347 or scs@sony.com to arrange a service.

[RichDP]

Thanks @MaggieGreene, noted! 

[WyrdRaven]

I had an identical issue last year for an out of warranty battery
issue with my WF-1000XM4s. I contacted Sony service center, they
quoted me £30 for the repair and it took about two to three weeks from
posting it to them to get it returned with a new battery installed.

[gareth71]

Hi dietervonkhan... can you tell me more about how you managed to get Sony to offer this replacement/repair for you, please? Who did you contact who finally agreed to a replacement?

I've go a pair of XF-1000XM4 which are three years old, with the same problem (right bud goes from fully-charged to dead in 45 mins), and they're flat-out refusing to acknowledge the issue or provide any support. First-line support have escalated to CRO who aren't budging... yet... but I'm not going to let this go.

[dietervonkhan]

After emailing back and forth numerous times I was eventually put in touch with the Customer Relations team who agreed to make an exception.
My advice is not to take no for an answer.
cro.en@eu.sony.com

[gareth71]

Thanks for responding. Private message sent...

[WyrdRaven]

If you can't get Sony to provide a free swap then you can go through
the out of warranty support page:

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/articles/00244641

select headphones, and pick the "No, I'm very certain that my
headphones need repair:" it will direct you to your nearest service
center, where there will be a means of either phoning or emailing so
get a service ticket. They will want you to return your headphones to
them and will give you a quote for the repair. In my case it was £30,
which I paid and the repaired headphones were returned about three
weeks later in perfect working order.

Best of luck,

Steve

[gareth71]

Thanks, I'll bear it in mind - but I'm not going to give up on my quest for a FOC replacement. They've very clearly set a precedent by going down this route for other users similarly affected.