Sony WF-1000XM3 Truly Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones with Mic (Used - Very Good) - £39.89 - Sold by Amazon Warehouse @ Amazon

I bought these headphones a few months ago at ~55gbp and it was well worth it. This is a steal at this price.

Bear in mind there is a high chance these come dead on arrival. What will happen is that they dont turn on, dont charge and if they do "charge" the red lights on the top of the ear pieces will flicker.

Please see my PSA below on how to fix this. If you are in any way mechanically inclined, its an incredibly easy fix.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi folks,

This is a PSA post for everyone. As I said I received my two "Like New" units but they would not pair and no blue lights. The symptoms were that they would glow red in the charging case but, crucially, the lights on the earbuds were basically flickering.

I am an electronic engineer myself so was not happy to just return these as I had a sneaking suspicion this was a small issue. I have taken my earbuds apart and figured out the issue. The issue is basically that the battery inside has dropped below the cutoff voltage, in my case 7mV. What this means in practice is that the case/earbud cannot charge the batteries as to it it thinks the batteries are not connected (0V).

To fix:
- Take apart the earbud. You can use your fingernail to pry off the cover.
- Below you will see two screws. Remove these screws.
- Take off the black piece of plastic. The battery is connected to this.
- Get an AA battery. Touch the positive of the AA to the bottom of the ear bud battery. This is the side that touches the circuit board in the ear bud.
- Get a piece of wire and touch it against the negative of the AA and the TOP of the ear bud battery.
- Hold this for a couple of minutes.
- Put the battery back into the ear bud. Screw down the screws.
- Place the earbud into the charging case. The red light should come on and be solid instead of flickering.
- This now means the unit is charging the battery.
- Let it charge for an hour or more.

If you have a multimeter, test the voltage of the earbud battery initially - it should at close to 0V.

Once the battery in the earbud goes over roughly 3V the earbud will become alive. You can check this because once you remove the earbud from the case it will instantly start flashing blue.

I believe this issue is 90% of all the issues and virtually none of these earbuds have anything defective apart from an overly discharged battery.

Best of luck to everyone!

Edited to be more truthful based on comments below.

These seem like a safer bet since batteries can be replaced.

Most wireless earbuds are ewaste within years of use, their batteries get absolutely hammered if you think about it. They are nonstop in a charging case gaining charge or in your ear losing charge.

Don't buy used is my general recommendation, you'll never know if 'very good' means the battery still is good but for these you can replace it so should be fine. (edited)

Is there much difference vs the xm4

Good price. Getting a bit old now. No hires audio (edited)

I always had issues with my XM3 falling out until I replaced the tips with some memory foam ones.

Now they work perfectly and don't budge even with lots of movement in the gym.

New tips also resolve any personal issues with 'used' earphones.

These sound fantastic, and the ANC is phenomenal.
BUT
For some people, the fit of these, NO MATTER WHAT buds/tips you get, is not good. It's not about excess ear wax, but more to do with the shape of some people's ears and jaws. Reddit has years of threads on this issue. People so worried that 'excess wax' is causing the issue. It's not though. It's the design of the earphones.

Has anyone a link to replacement batteries? As mentioned above, I've bought these before and were DOA but a fool and his cash are easily parted so I'm gonna order another pair and try the battery trick mentioned above. Failing that, I'll order spare batteries if the charge doesn't hold.

I ordered these before on a previous deal but were DOA. I took another punt this time around and like others' have said, the box wasn't in great shape but this time both buds are charging and were wax free. I haven't tried to pair them yet but I'll leave them on the charge for a while.

Can I ask, does the red light turn blue in either the case or buds when they are fully charged? And should the red light flash to let you know the case is charging or is it just a steady red light?

The electronic equivalent of buying used underwear. You would have to be mad.

Just bought some refurbished pristine huawei freebud pros from an ebay seller for 45 as I lost my case the other night on a walk these are probably better but too ugly, and they're actually massive

A decent price but I've hated these head phones since buying them. Manageable for sitting perfectly still but any movement and they'll be falling out.

Got them today. Box was filthy on top but looked brand new inside. Left earbud flickering red in the case, dead on arrival. Right earbud charged up and works fine. Tried the above comment of taking the cover off and holding an AA battery to the terminals, did it with 3 batteries and left charging for an hour. Light has stopped flickering but still not turning on when out of the case. I’ll attempt one final look in the morning to see if an overnight charge helps, if not they’ll be returned tomorrow.

Used- very good.

Translation. Not too much ear wax.

Mine were 'Used - Very Good' and arrived DOA indeed, with the Left earbud red LED flickering in charging case. Didn't try the AA battery trick

I bought these on the last deal for around £50. They were DOA and had to send them back. I notice a fix above but really these were advertised as Used - Like New so really should have worked out of the box. Loads of others on that deal complained the same and almost every pair had a problem.

I'm really tempted by the XM4s on here at £150 but I'm trying to talk myself out of them. I've never spent more than £40 on a pair and I generally have to replace a pair every 6 months with heavy use (Podcasting while I work.)

Received mine. Spoke to customer service about the packaging quality being off (even though it's warehouse) got a £10 promo credit

Complementary ear wax  
 

The charging case is HUGE

There are two "Used - Very Good" options,

Small (less than 1/4" x 1/4") cosmetic imperfection on the front of the item. Small (less than 1/4" x 1/4") cosmetic imperfection on the top of the item. Small scratches on the sides of the item (up to 1/2 in.). Small scratches on the back of the item (up to 1/2 in.). Accessories may have cosmetic damage. Item is in original packaging, but packaging has damage."

vs

Minor cosmetic imperfection on the interior of item. Item will come in original packaging. Packaging will be damaged.

I wonder which one you guys op for?

What's the difference when they say minor imperfection on interior of the item or accessories may have cosmetic damage?

I've had these for almost a year. Battery is awful, just under an hour