WH-1000XM3 Terrible call quality (background noise)

[mustafa.arif]

I have just bought these headphones and the audio quality on calls is terrible. People I speak with on the phone report that the microphone is dampening my voice, making it sound echo-ey, whilst at the same time picking up ambient noise. Indeed, most report that the ambient noise is clearer than my voice! I'm not tryign to make calls in a particularly noisy environment - just a regular office.

Any ideas?

[hjs8hshi23]

Hello mapowel62,

Don't get the Sony XM3. They're rubbish. The only premium thing they have is the price.

I wish I went for the Bowers & Wilkins ones. I'll never buy anything Sony again (In fact I'm such an unhappy customer that I also avoided their TVs and got a 65" LG TV).

• they seemed good in the shop but the call quality is worse than cheap £10 bluetooth headphones.
• talk on the phone with friends and family is frustrating.
• with firmware updates the audio quality and noise cancelling quality also seemed to get worse
• NOT A PREMIUM SUPPORT. They didn't care
• I had to send them back and took almost 2 weeks to get them back (and I don't think they were insured or tracked), they said they fixed the problem but they didn't (they just wasted my time)
• I asked to give me technical details about what they replaced/fixed. The woman on the phone said they'll ask their technician and call/email me back. I never heard back from them
• it's CHEAP PLASTIC. After less than a year a bit of plastic above the left cup already broke. So much for premium headphones.

Avoid the pain, get a product from a company that at least pretend to care, uses decent material and uses decent software.

The only great thing about this headphones is the profit margins Sony is making on such a cheap piece of plastic with buggy software and probably cheap electronic components. Avoid.

[arhaifa]

Their little brother are impossible to use for calls also. Just a shame

[da_vidgf]

These headphones were a huge disappointment to me as well. Noise cancelling is decent and the sound quality is good, however they're completely useless for phone calls, something I wouldn't expect from a product with this price. I'm considering returning them and getting the Bose QC35 ii, has anyone tried them?

[arhaifa]

Pure shame. Yes the qc35 are perfect. And reliable.You will love them. I use them for commuting, plane and for calls they are unbelievable. You can talk in a noisy place without problem. If the Sony were half as good...

[NoDecaf]

I don't think I've ever been this torn about a product, on one side I find the active noise cancelling making a real difference when working in the office, but on the other hand, I'm forced to hand my old headset around my neck and use the mic boom on that for teams/skype calls... It just sounds like I'm in a tunnel under water when I do the call check, or talking to anyone...

[downy8]

If you have the app on your phone delete it, this makes a big difference......

Sent from my iPhone

[AndyMall]

I agree, as pure headphones these are fabulous, but to make calls they are dire...when you use Bluetooth, but I found that if you use the cable the call quality is much better... worth trying. 

I suspect a lot of owners bought these for their noise cancelling and music performance but now find themselves working from home and are underwhelmed by their ability on conference calls.

I'm afraid that I also must agree with those posters who have been less than complimentary regarding Sony support,   this must be a known issue but they were pretty clueless, they eventually accepted they were defective (hardware) ... which I doubt, given performance using a cable and pretty universal feedback, so I got them replaced.

[Fjtom77]

Maybe people are just being overly picky? I have the WH-1000XM3 and my
calls are perfect. I have asked repeatedly to the person on the other side
if they can hear me ok, if my voice is muffled or sounds robotic and
everyone says it's clear. I havent had a single complaint about call
quality.. obviously I can hear them well on my end too. I have even tried
to talk almost whispering and people can still hear me ok.

Thank You
Francisco Santiago

[ITgenius26]

That isn't true! There are separate mics for the call audio and for the ANC. They aren't occupied during a call.

[AndyMall]

Hi, Sounds exactly like my experience. I did not buy these to make calls and was really impressed by their ANC and sound quality, then with Covid and working from home I tried them for conference calls and was repeatedly asked to switch back to using my phone- my voice was really muffled and difficult to hear, even without background noise.

I raised the issue with Sony support who asked me to do a few things that I had already done (check firm ware, try with ANC on and off etc.) but they eventually accepted there was a fault and asked me to send them for repair. As the headphones were only a couple of weeks old I returned them instead. I planned to go for another headset, probably Bose, but I found some  old Jabra headphones which worked well for conference calls - so I decided to go back to the WH-1000XM3s and just use them for music, so bought a mother pair -  Interestingly the new set are much better for calls and perfectly usable - and the ANC is a benefit in noisy house.

So, (from my experience) there is a fault with some of these headphones that impacts call quality - if you buy a pair - and I would absolutely recommend them based on sound quality, ANC, comfort etc. - check their call quality - I found the easiest way was to call my mobile and leave test voice mail messages, and if there is an issue get them changed.

I think this is why some people have issues and others do not.