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After going through two sets of earbuds I can confirm that these are NOT designed to work as hands free.
Actually got this confirmed by Sony Support via email.
In Swedish:
"...men mikrofonen är designad för den aktiva ljudisoleringen. Inte för att vara optimal vid telefon samtal..."
In English :
"...the microphone is designed for the active noise canceling. It's not designed to be optimal for phone calls".
There you have it!
This is going back and it's not ok that Sony hides this fact and says "Hands-free calling with HD Voice" on that package.
I have the same problem. The advertising and some of the reviews say how clear the calls are? They must be using special models for reviewers only as mine are useless for calls. Sound is muffled, no voice feedback to yourself so you end up shouting and still cannot be heard by the caller.
If they are not meant for calls why show pictures of people on the adverts obviously taking calls. Why even have the functionality when its absolutely useless.
What the hell!?!? Sony, are you for real? I bought these to be my end-all, be-all headphone for my iPhone. Now I'm hearing ON A FORUM that a feature I based my purchase on (Hands-free calling with HD Voice) is a lie? Why aren't more people outraged by this? What do you intend to do about this, Sony?
I am able to use them for hands free calling, but the connection drops out every time during the call. Today for the first time, I was able to keep them connected while I was on a call for 37 mins. So clearly it is possible for them to be used for a calling headset. What do you need to do to complete this feature, Sony? I suggest you do it, or refund all of us that bought them to be used not just as music headphones but for hands-free calling as your packaging suggested!
Hello @BigSwede72,
you received a reply by a support agent - it is not a statement by Sony, just saying.
This makes your post subject very "click-baity" in my opinion.
The "better" statement is this:
Your voice is heard from the headset through the headset’s microphone (Sidetone function). In this case, ambient sounds or the sounds of the headset operation may be heard through the headset, but this is not a malfunction.
From the following help-article: https://helpguide.sony.net/mdr/wf1000xm3/v1/en/contents/TP0002289892.html
Though it is quite different from "...the microphone is designed for the active noise canceling. It's not designed to be optimal for phone calls".
The emphasis in that statement from my point of view (if it is a correct translation) would be on the "not [...] optimal" which is quite different to "doesn't work for calls" or "is not designed for calls".
- Nic
Honestly "Nic", I don't care if you think my post is "click-baity" or not. The fact is I got the information directly from the official Swedish Sony Support. If that is not official enough, then I don't know what is. The fact is after using two different headsets, and they both had equally worthless call quality I think it's prudent to warn other users that are going to use them for phone calls. When the support personal can't hear me sitting in a quiet room then it's definitely something wrong with the design.
Have you even tried them yourself?
...or are you just defending Sony regardless?
I don't really care anymore as I have moved on to another brand that have shown a real interest in their customers, like answering emails and such.
Hi @BigSwede72,
@BigSwede72 schrieb:
Honestly "Nic"
why the quotation marks? I am sure your real name isn't "BigSwede72"!?!?
@BigSwede72 schrieb:
The fact is I got the information directly from the official Swedish Sony Support. If that is not official enough, then I don't know what is.
Press releases and help articles (as the one I linked) are official enough - not what one Sony employee told you...
@BigSwede72 schrieb:
When the support personal can't hear me sitting in a quiet room then it's definitely something wrong with the design.
Maybe the microphone on the headset wasn't even used in that case? In the help articles there is the mention of some phones not automatically using the headsets mics for calls. Have you considered that option?
@BigSwede72 schrieb:
Have you even tried them yourself?
No, I don't think there is - I am very active on this community (and the r/sony subreddit) and I am sure I would know by now if there was a "bad call quality" issue as bad as you make it seem to be.
@BigSwede72 schrieb:
...or are you just defending Sony regardless?
I don't defend Sony, I just pointed out that your post is based on - in my opinion - unreliable information which you blow up bigger than it is.
@BigSwede72 schrieb:
I don't really care anymore as I have moved on to another brand
If that statement were true, you wouldn't have made this post. Nevertheless - good luck with whatever brand you choose.
- Nic
The quotation marks are there as I ... quoted you!?
...so if you buy a car and the manufacturer says in its brochure that it has a fuel consumption of 5L/100km and you discover that it's closer to 10L/100km. You then contact your local manufacturer representative and they admit that the information in the brochure is NOT accurate and the real figures are closer to the ones you are getting... you wouldn't take that as an official statement as it's not in an press release?! Come on!
Sony will never make a press release saying that their latest headset have crappy call quality.
What do you mean "Maybe the microphone on the headset wasn't even used in that case" ?
I called the support with that very headset (twice with two different headsets in fact) and the result was the same. They kept asking me to repeat myself as they couldn't hear me. And that was in an quiet environment. Poor volume and constant mutes and drop outs reported by everyone I called. I tried several thing recommended like factory reset. Turning on or off NC. Repairing. FW upgrade. Even removing the phone app and repairing them again.
If you really look around you'll see plenty of comments regarding the poor call quality even on this forum, so either you're not "active" enough on these boards or you are not wanting to see it. The reason you don't see even more comments about it is that people are using them as pure headphones, not as headsets i.e. they listen to music on them which BTW they do very well. It also can be that there are bad batches out there but when Sony tells me in writing that the microphone is not optimized for phone calls , only for NC, then it sounds like they have made a poor design choice.
I don't agree that the information is not reliable. It's from Sony support, if you can't trust them who are you gonna trust in this matter? A press release trying to sell the product? Made by a marketing firm?
My statement regarding moving on is true, and you are not the one to judge that. I have moved on to another brand as it seemed that Sony didn't really care. That doesn't mean I will not defend my standing when challenged by someone that have not experienced the problem, or even used the product. Someone that is claiming that my statement is false as it did not come in a pressrelease or help article.
The other brand I bought is working just fine, thank you.
Have a nice day!
Hello @BigSwede72,
@BigSwede72 schrieb:
The quotation marks are there as I ... quoted you!?
it just seemed weird that you out them around my name instead of the beginning & end of the quote as it is usually done. I was just interpreting something into this which was probably not your intention - sorry for even asking.
@BigSwede72 schrieb:
you wouldn't take that as an official statement as it's not in an press release?!
Yes, since a local dealer still doesn't speak for the entire company.
@BigSwede72 schrieb:What do you mean "Maybe the microphone on the headset wasn't even used in that case" ?
I'm just trying to help/troubleshoot. Since I don't have any info on which steps you already performed or what you tried so far, I will cling to every piece of info I can find in the manual/helpguide to assist you.
Yesterday I read a quote, that it can happen, that the micrphone of the WF-1000Xm3 may not be used as "input" for a call in rare cases. Then the phones internal mic is used which could cause similar issues than what you are experiencing. But I can't find it anymore today - maybe I misread.
Here is something else I found nevertheless:
You can enjoy a hands-free call with a smartphone or mobile phone that supports the Bluetooth profile HFP (Hands-free Profile) or HSP (Headset Profile), via a Bluetooth connection.
Have you done the above?
@BigSwede72 schrieb:
If you really look around you'll see plenty of comments regarding the poor call quality even on this forum, so either you're not "active" enough on these boards or you are not wanting to see it.
That depends on what you call "plenty" - but if you want to gather all the posts and link them here, I would be very happy.
@BigSwede72 schrieb:
The reason you don't see even more comments about it is that people are using them as pure headphones, not as headsets i.e.
I doubt that statement is true - if you have the headphones in and receive a call, I doubt any one would remove them from one/both ears to use their phone directly. So if the issue was not related to settings (which is what I suspect) but to a general hardware flaw, there would be a huge wave of complaints.
@BigSwede72 schrieb:
It also can be that there are bad batches out there but when Sony tells me in writing that the microphone is not optimized for phone calls , only for NC, then it sounds like they have made a poor design choice.
This is also a possible option - do you still have your WF-1000Xm3 so you could send them in to the support so they can investigate? That would be very interesting.
@BigSwede72 schrieb:
but when Sony tells me in writing that the microphone is not optimized for phone calls , only for NC, then it sounds like they have made a poor design choice.
Sorry, but Sony didn't tell you that they are not optimized for calls - it was one support agent. In my eyes the statement you received is not worth as much as you make it out to be.
@BigSwede72 schrieb:
I don't agree that the information is not reliable.
You don't need to agree with me - I just want to discuss with you, since I disagree with your opinion.
@BigSwede72 schrieb:
hat doesn't mean I will not defend my standing when challenged by someone that have not experienced the problem, or even used the product.
I see - so anything I say has no value in this discussion, since I don't own the product. That is a very interesting point of view. Why would I purchase a product which I wouldn't use? I prefer the WI-1000X series over the WF-1000X, that is the reason I own them instead of the xm3 you are using/have used.
In most cases there is no need to own the product, since most solutions can be found in the manual/helpguide and I just wanted to help as well as inform you that I disagree with you in terms of how "official" the statemnt is you received.
@BigSwede72 schrieb:
The other brand I bought is working just fine, thank you.
Have a nice day!
I am sincerly glad to hear that.
Have a nice day as well.
- Nic
I am really upset with this ear blue tooth earpods that I bought for my better half as a gift.But unfortunately I see no use of it while traveling i cant even talk to him as the nouse is so disturbing. I really feel u lost my money I am really upset about this. I never expected this from sony
Due to the form factor of the headphones and the placement of the mic, it's prone to picking up noise on calls. Noise Cancelling isn't effective on phone calls too, it only works when listening to music.
You can still make sure that you're getting the best the headphones have to offer by updating the firmware using the Headphones connect app.
Win_88