[SOLVED] Can't pair Sony WH-1000XM3 with PC using Asus BT400

[therealnps]

Hi, as in the title, I'm trying to pair my Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones with my PC (running Windows 7) using the Asus BT400 dongle. I've installed the BT400 drivers (from CD) and I have BT available but when I try to add a new device... it doesn't detect my headphones at all (yes, they are in pairing mode). It does detect my smartphone and some random devices I don't recognize (maybe neighbors'?). Tried rebooting, reinstalling the BT400 drivers, same result. Any ideas?

I've googled for this of course and found some threads about these headphones/this BT dongle but everyone had issues with connection/playback, no one seemed to have a problem with pairing itself.

 

[dwd999]

I'm not sure but one possibility is that your headphones are bluetooth 4.2 and your dongle is only 4.0. You might need a higher level dongle. Not sure, but just a thought for consideration.

 

[therealnps]

I'm not sure either. Surprisingly, Sony's website doesn't state BT's version. One webstore I found says, indeed, 4.2. However, one of the online threads I had googled was this: https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...tooth-headset-with-asus-bt400-dongle.3542902/ and it seems to prove that these headphones can work with this dongle.

 

[dwd999]

FWIW if you go to this webpage, click Specifications, scroll down and then click the little box that says See all specifications, an overlay box appears where you can scroll down to the Bluetooth version which says 4.2. But understanding the differences in bluetooth versions is beyond me.

https://electronics.sony.com/audio/headphones/all-headphones/p/wh1000xm3-b

Unfortunately this may be one of those problems where you won't know the answer until you can borrow or buy a bluetooth 5 adaptor.

 

[therealnps]

Even if these headphones support BT 4.2, does that mean they CAN'T work with any lower BT version? I would think they should.

 

[therealnps]

Problem solved!

So it was my mistake but kind of Sony's too. It turns out I was never putting my headphones in Bluetooth pairing mode. Because in (at least) some of Sony headphones to enable BT pairing you have to turn them on, then press and hold the power switch for about 7 seconds. But the thing is, after about 4 seconds you will hear "power off" and the headphones will turn off. The trick is to keep holding the power switch DESPITE THAT and then they will eventually turn on again and enter BT pairing mode. Counterintuitive, to say the least.

But to make matters worse, it turns out I was able to pair my headphones without any problems with both my smartphone and my laptop DESPITE never entering the BT pairing mode. Apparently, these devices can make do without it. But the Asus BT400 adapter can't.

Anyway, once I enabled the BT pairing mode my PC finally detected them, paired and connected.