Headphones and earbuds · Sony
Owners keep these for noise cancellation on commutes and flights, and most who stick with them are satisfied overall, even as a chunk of the fleet deals with hinge cracks over time.
Noise cancellation draws clear praise: many owners say it blocks most background noise on flights, in loud offices, and around other people talking, and it is the reason several kept using the headphones daily.
Hinge durability is a clear complaint: a large share of owners describe the plastic stem around the hinge cracking or breaking, sometimes more than once, and several have had to send them in for repair.
Pick up to three. You get a page with just those, side by side, on the subjects owners raised.
Once the new-headphone feeling fades, the noise cancellation is what keeps earning its keep: owners mention using it to cut office chatter, block gym noise, or just get quiet on a commute, and it stays a daily habit rather than a novelty. Comfort and fit settle into routine for some, though it is not universal: several owners never got a seal or fit that worked for them, and either lived with it or moved on to something else.
Sound quality is where opinions split even after living with the headphones a while. Some owners are fully satisfied with the sound out of the box or after EQ tweaks, but others spent real time trying to fix a sound they still describe as muddy or bland, and a few returned the headphones over it. What owners had to adjust to most is watching the hinge: multiple accounts mention handling the headphones a little more carefully once they became aware cracking was a known issue for this generation.
The noise cancellation and the core listening experience keep working for most owners long after purchase, and several long-term accounts say they are still happy with the headphones after extended use. Battery life is split: some owners get long stretches out of a charge without issue, while others report problems, though the sample here is not large enough to call a clear pattern either way.
The hinge is the recurring failure point. Owners describe the plastic housing around the hinge cracking, sometimes on a first pair and again on a replacement, and the fix is usually sending them to Sony or a third-party repair service rather than a simple at-home fix. Customer support experiences around these repairs are mixed at best: several owners who contacted support for a defect were offered troubleshooting steps rather than a replacement, which left them frustrated with how the claim was handled.
Parts named in the 4 accounts that describe a failure
Counted from the owners who raised each subject, not from everyone. A subject is judged once at least 4 owners raise it.
21 more subjects came up from fewer than 4 owners each, which is not enough for a fair reading. To see how it stacks up, compare it with another machine.
The same owner, asked again at each point. Fills in as owners answer.
More in headphones and earbuds: Apple AirPods 4, Apple AirPods Pro, Sony xm4.
Counted from public accounts by people who said they own it, and summarised by Still Kicks in its own words. Not a manufacturer claim, a lab test or an estimate.
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