Unfortunately I have excessive battery drain in the left earbud of my Sony WF XM4 set. I really like these earbuds and I am going to at least try to fix them. Has anyone here done any thing like this before?

It makes sense, honestly, that the left runs down faster than the right, I use just the left at work all day everyday and only use the right at home maybe once a week. The left lasts 2.5 hours, the right lasts six or more.

    • owatnext@lemmy.worldOP
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      3 days ago

      I don’t use Amazon, but I found a set similar to this and ordered it. When it shows up, I’m gonna take the plunge!

      • James R Kirk@startrek.website
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        3 days ago

        Nice, I was very close to buying a new pair of headphones so happy that a $25 purchase and an hour of work brought them back.

  • taxon@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Replaced mine 6mo ago following this guide

    Go head and replace both while you’re at it.

    2pcs ZeniPower Z55H Battery (0.29Wh) and a tube of E-8000 multipurpose adhesive should cost about $25 on ebay.

    Here’s a decent video tutorial as well.

  • jol@discuss.tchncs.de
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    7 days ago

    This is why my next pair of earbuds will be from FairPhone. But surprisingly my current ones have lasted me years already without the batteries suffering too much.

    • owatnext@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 days ago

      Looks like a solid choice, but they’re really big. I’m not meant to be listening to music at work so I need to be able to hide them under my hat or hair.

      • jol@discuss.tchncs.de
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        7 days ago

        Sounds like a very niche requirement. They are not big, but definitely bigger than others. You have to sacrifice some size if you’re not glueing everything together like other brands do.

    • Coldcell
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      7 days ago

      Just looked at these and the ethos seems great. If the audio is high quality I think these will be my next too.

  • curiousaur@reddthat.com
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    7 days ago

    I had these and had the same battery problem. I ordered some replacement batteries and replaced the one that was having issues. They were great again for a while. Then the other one started having issues. Then I accidentally damaged the ribbon cable while taking that one apart. Now they’re junk. I’m still pissed about it. It would have been so easy for them to make replacing the batteries easy.

    • owatnext@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 days ago

      Unfortunately they make obscene money selling these, and allowing the user to replace the batteries easily does not equal selling more sets. Your average user would likely just purchase a new set.

  • Sprocketfree
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    7 days ago

    I had the same ones. reached out to Sony and they sent me a full refund about 3 years out of warranty. Worth a shot.

    • owatnext@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 days ago

      I’ll see what Sony says, but they weren’t bought from Sony so I’m not sure how receptive they’ll be.

      • Sprocketfree
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        7 days ago

        if you still have the receipt. mine were off Amazon and I was blown away by zero questions asked. Just a check.

  • egonallanon@lemm.ee
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    7 days ago

    I tried this on my XM5s and it’s doable but very fiddly I find so I ended up breaking mine. Though if your more patient than I was doing it you’ll probably be fine.

    • owatnext@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 days ago

      I’ve done phone batteries, controller batteries, stuff like that. Hopefully that gives me a leg up.

  • Shawdow194@fedia.io
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    7 days ago

    I’ve seen individual buds for sale on eBay

    I prefer to repair when possible to avoid ewaste but the XM4s are a bit older and you can probably snag a replacement bud for around the cost of repair

    • owatnext@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 days ago

      I saw a junk one on eBay for like $9. I was thinking of practicing on a junk one before attempting on my still nice-ish ones!

      • Shawdow194@fedia.io
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        7 days ago

        Yeah if you get lucky between both of the parts youll be able to make one work

        Be mindful though most of the time they are defective it is the battery. Take my word, ive literally got a box full of defective units…

        • owatnext@lemmy.worldOP
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          7 days ago

          That box is really sad, to be honest. Never to be used again. I’m determined to not add mine to such a box lol. Thanks for the help.

  • nomad@infosec.pub
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    7 days ago

    Tried and failed. Turns out the problem is often the contact that turns off the bud when back in the case. Not charging properly, discharging in the case etc. Bought some pixel buds and they are already lasting twice as long as the Sony ones did, at half the price and comparable quality. Never going back.