Sony WH1000-XM4: Extremely poor call quality with Dell Latitude 5580

[Sam_FI]

Hello,

I'm having weird issue with my XM4's when connected to Dell Latitude 5580. Pairing and music listening works just fine, but trying to make calls is impossible because the Bluetooth connection in Headset mode is extremely unstable and I can hear only few words here and there. Same issue is with mic and it keeps breaking up non-stop.

I suspect there is a bug when trying to communicate with the built-in Intel Bluetooth receiver.

I tested following scenarios:

- Single-device and dual-device mode, no difference. Automatic switching works just fine.

- Headphones are updated with latest firware.

- Unpaired and re-paired, making sure that connection is not in LE-mode.

- Headphones work perfectly fine with other PC that has Realtek Bluetooth receiver, as well as with mobile phone.

- I tested two other earpods [Airpod Pro, Galaxy Buds] and bluetooth speaker [Anker Soundcore Boost] and those work fine with the Dell laptop, no issues making calls but would prefer using XM4s because I find earpods less comfortable.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this issue?

Thanks!

[HannahEd01]

Hey Sam_FI, I've seen this before, did you compare the Bluetooth versions? The headphones are v 5.0 that happens when your PC has a lower version. Let me know if this is the case.

[Sam_FI]

Since my original post, I have discovered that the Bluetooth issues also happen on my PC and behavior is actually very similar to what I see on the laptop, so I think it is not an issue with the Bluetooth adapter.

I found that if I keep pairing and unpairing the headphones, I can sometimes get clear microphone audio which will last until I either connect headphones to another device or turn them off. This happens with both laptop and my PC.

And as per your suggestion, I ordered a Bluetooth 5.0 adapter and also tested it, I see practical difference when compared to the old Bluetooth 3.0 adapter that I already had. Maybe the range is little bit better when listening to music but issues with call quality still remain.

Another quirk I've discovered is that on PC, the auto-stop does not work correctly. If I just take the headphones off, nothing happens and music keeps playing. If I stop the music manually by double-tapping, taking the headphones off actually resumes music and putting them on stops it. So I actually have to completely turn the headphones off to avoid massive battery drain when it keeps music on while I'm not wearing them.

[Sam_FI]

Update: It seems to be the issue is due to Wifi and/or BT interference. I drove to middle of nowhere to test the connection with my laptop and it worked flawlessly when there was no Wifi signals around. Also turning off the 2.4Gzh Wifi on my home router and using only 5Ghz helped enough where the connection is now stable when in single-device mode at home. However, using two-device mode is still not possible at home because I think the two bluetooth streams with all the interference from nearby Wifi-networks is making the headset connection unstable.

[HannahEd01]

Hi Sam_FI, thank you for the updates. I have to say two things here:

1-Sony doesn't guarantee the functionality of the connection while using an adapter.

2-The second issue (While using two-device mode) might be caused by the adapter compatibility.

Do you have the same issue using phones? Also, do you have the call quality issue on apps calls?