Why Sony Headphones Keep Disconnecting

This guide is for Sony headphones or earbuds that connect and then skip, cut out, drop the connection or switch themselves off. If they never connect in the first place, the Still not working? list below points to the right page, and every other Sony fault starts from Sony headphones fixes.

The fixes here quote Sony's own Help Guides, model by model, because the setting names differ between the WF-1000XM5 earbuds and the WH-1000XM5 and WH-1000XM6 headphones. For AirPods, Galaxy Buds and other brands, use the cross-brand guide for headphones keep cutting out.

Why Do My Sony Headphones Keep Disconnecting?

Sony headphones keep disconnecting for seven reasons named on Sony's "Sound skips frequently." and power pages, in the order the fixes below take them:

• A sound-quality-first mode. Prioritize Sound Quality is the WH-1000XM6's default, and Sony says to pick [Prioritize Stable Connection] when you hear "only intermittent sound".
• Your body, metal or a wall between your phone and the headset's antenna.
• Wi-Fi, running microwaves or crowds, such as "train station premises or on a crowded train".
• Two devices at once, through multipoint.
• Another Bluetooth device on your phone, such as a smartwatch, or Service Link in the app.
• Low latency or LE Audio: on the WH-1000XM6, [Low latency] is an LE Audio connection with "a lower connection stability".
• Auto power-off after 15 minutes of not being worn, which looks like a dropped connection.

Two things only look like a fault. Speak-to-Chat pauses or mutes your music when you talk, and Adaptive Sound Control can pause it for a moment; Sony says neither is a malfunction.

How to Stop Sony Headphones Disconnecting

These fixes follow Sony's "Sound skips frequently." pages in order, with reset and initialize last.

Fix 1: Turn On the Stable-Connection Mode

1. Open the Sony | Sound Connect app and set the sound quality mode to [Prioritize Stable Connection] on the WH-1000XM6 or WF-1000XM5, or to "Priority on stable connection" on the WH-1000XM5.
2. On the WF-1000XM5, if your phone lets you choose the codec between SBC and AAC, set it to AAC.

The WF-1000XM5 already starts on the stable mode; the WH-1000XM6 and WH-1000XM5 start on the sound quality mode. Sony adds that intermittent sound "may still occur" even with the stable mode, depending on your surroundings, so keep going if the skips continue. How SBC, AAC and LDAC differ is covered in Bluetooth Codecs Explained: AAC, aptX and LDAC.

Fix 2: Keep the Phone Close and in Line With the Antenna

1. Clear the path: Sony lists "a part of the body, metal, or a wall" between the headset's antenna and your phone as a cause of dropout, and moving the phone closer to the antenna may help.
2. On the WH-1000XM5, if your body is between the phone and the headset, "put the Bluetooth device in the same direction as the antenna of the headset". On the WF-1000XM5, keep your hand off the phone's antenna area.

A phone in a back pocket puts your body between it and the headset, the first condition on Sony's WH-1000XM5 list.

Fix 3: Move Away From Wi-Fi and Microwaves

Move away from other radio sources. Sony's WF-1000XM5 guide lists wireless LAN, "microwave ovens in use" and places crowded with other wireless audio devices or people, such as a busy train. The same guide gives two phone settings: connect your phone's Wi-Fi in the 5 GHz band, and turn Wi-Fi off when you aren't using it.

Fix 4: Check Multipoint

1. Turn off [Connect to 2 devices simultaneously] in the Sony | Sound Connect app (the WH-1000XM6 label), then test with one phone. Sony's WF-1000XM5 guide says that with 2 devices connected "it may be easier for the sound to skip".
2. If the sound jumps to the other device at the wrong moment, turn off the notification and operation sounds on that phone, or lower its volume.

A third device also bumps one of the two: Sony's WH-1000XM6 guide says the connection with the other device "will be disconnected". How the feature works across brands is in multipoint causing earbud dropouts.

Fix 5: Disconnect Other Bluetooth Devices and Service Link

1. Disconnect a smartwatch or any other Bluetooth device from your phone; Sony's WF-1000XM5 guide says this "may improve the symptoms".
2. Turn off Service Link in the app. Sony's WF-1000XM5 and WH-1000XM5 guides both say this "may reduce the amount of audio dropout".

WF-1000XM5 earbuds on an LE Audio connection need one more change: in the app, select [LE Audio connection setting for headphones], then [Classic Audio only (conventional connection method)], and set [Prioritize Stable Connection] again. The background is in LE Audio and Auracast on earbuds.

Fix 6: Check Auto Power-Off

Sony headphones that go silent after a quiet spell may have turned themselves off. The WH-1000XM6 and WH-1000XM5 "automatically turn off after 15 minutes of not being worn", and you can change that in the app. WF-1000XM5 earbuds turn off after about 15 minutes out of your ears, and the WF-C510 turns off "After 15 minutes of Bluetooth disconnection". Turn WH-1000XM6 headphones off before you pack them, because Sony says wearing detection "may react incorrectly" in a bag. Button steps are in How to Turn Sony Headphones On and Off.

Music Pauses When You Talk? That's Speak-to-Chat

Speak-to-Chat pauses or mutes your music when you speak, and Adaptive Sound Control can pause it briefly when it adjusts noise canceling; Sony says neither is a malfunction. Disable Speak-to-Chat in the Sony | Sound Connect app if the pauses bother you.

Fix 7 (Last): Reset, Then Initialize

Reconnect first: put the earbuds in the case, close the lid and take them out again, or close unneeded apps and restart your phone. If the skipping continues, reset Sony headphones, which keeps your pairings, then initialize them, which deletes every pairing so you pair again.

Sony Earbuds vs Headphones Cutting Out

Sony's earbud and headphone guides give different first moves, so check which column matches yours:

	Sony earbuds (WF-1000XM5)	Sony headphones (WH-1000XM5)
Where the antenna is	In each earbud	Built into the headset
Sony's first fixes	Rotate the earbuds in your ears, then try AAC and [Prioritize Stable Connection]	Set "Priority on stable connection"
Phone position	Move the phone closer to the earbuds; keep your hand off the phone's antenna	Put the phone in the same direction as the headset's antenna
Settings to change	Multipoint, Service Link, LE Audio to Classic Audio only	Service Link

On the WF-1000XM5, Sony says "audio dropout may be improved by rotating the headset", depending on the shape of your ear.