WH-1000XM3 headphones behaviour in cold environments

It has recently come to our attention that our WH-1000XM3 headphones can occasionally display unpredictable behaviour when subjected to sudden and significant temperature changes. As a result, you may have experienced symptoms such as sudden volume changes or tracks skipping.

Although our WH-1000XM3 headphones meet all necessary quality standards, we understand the inconvenience that can be caused by such behaviour. We continue to conduct a thorough investigation, but wish to ensure that you, our valued customer, have a workaround available to limit such symptoms, and want to highlight this product’s specifications.

Design & specifications

The WH-1000XM3 model is designed to function optimally between the temperatures of 0°C and 40°C.  Although it can and will function beyond this temperature range, performance may be impaired. One way this can manifest itself is by reacting inconsistently to sudden and significant temperature changes from warm (e.g. a heated room) to very cold (e.g. outdoors in winter below 0°C).

Does that mean I can't use my WH-1000XM3 outside when it's freezing?

Should you be confronted with the behaviour described above when switching between the significantly different temperature environments of European winters, please be aware of this simple workaround: turn your headphones OFF and ON again — this simple act of rebooting resets certain parameters within the device and will solve any unpredictable product behaviour.  

We want to thank you for your understanding. Please consider bookmarking this page or installing our Support by Sony mobile app for any potential updates to this article.