How To Pair Sony Wireless Headphones (Windows, iOS, & Android)

• At a loss on how to connect your Sony headphones up?
• Learn how to put your Sony Headphones into pairing mode
• Find out how NFC works and more
• Also, check out our post on the Best Headphone Brands In The World!

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Sony wireless headphones have become one of the leading go-to options for consumers and professionals alike for their high-quality sound, build, and reliability.

A fantastic choice if you’ve bought them, but you might be wondering how to pair them to your listening device. If you’re having trouble doing this, we’ve got you covered.

How To Pair Sony Wireless Headphones

Before attempting to pair up your headphones to any of your devices, we’d recommend resetting your Sony headphones.

This will avoid any complications when attempting to connect to a new device and effectively gives your headphones a ‘clean slate’. This process will vary slightly between models.

To perform the reset, just follow these simple instructions:

Reset Sony WH-1000XM4 Headphones

1. While on charge, press and hold the power and ‘Custom’ button for at least 7 seconds.
2. The headset will then initialize
3. Delete the headset from the list of Bluetooth devices on your iPhone, Android phone, or laptop

Reset Sony WF-1000XM3 Headphones

1. Ensure the headphones are in their charging case with the lid open
2. Hold your fingers to the touch sensors on both units for around 10 seconds until the red indicators start flashing. Release your fingers.
3. Check to see if the blue indicators flash four times. This performs a factory reset and deletes all pairing information.

Reset Sony WH-1000XM3 and WH-1000XM2 Headphones

The process will be the same here for both models:

1. Switch off the headset and ensure there is no USB cable connected to the headphones
2. Push and hold the power and NC/Ambient buttons for around seven seconds until the blue indicator light flashes
3. The headset will then initialize
4. Remove your headphones from your device’s list of connections 

Reset Sony WI-1000X Headphones

1. Disconnect the micro USB cable 
2. Turn off the headset
3. Press and hold both the power and play/pause buttons for around seven seconds
4. When the indicator light flashes blue four times a factory reset will be performed
5. Remove your headphones from your device’s list of connections

Of course, there are many Sony headphones on the market, and this is just a selection of them.

Generally, the process of resetting will follow a format such as this, however, if you are struggling refer to Sony’s instruction manual for the model you own, this can usually be downloaded directly from their website.

Now that we know how to reset a pair of Sony headphones, it’s important to understand that there are two ways of pairing to your music device:

Pair Sony Wireless Headphones Via Bluetooth

It’s safe to say that Bluetooth is a widely known method of pairing up headphones to music players or even phones to car stereos.

Bluetooth is one option for making your Sony headphones connect to your iPhone, Android device, or laptop.

Pair Sony Wireless Headphones Via NFC

NFC (or Near Field Communication) is, put simply, another method of connecting your Sony headphones to your device. 

This method is generally fast, and efficient and can let you do more than just listen to music, such as connecting and making transactions just by touching two compatible devices together.

We’ll talk about how to connect via NFC later in this article.

How To Pair Sony Bluetooth Headphones To Your Device

There are several different devices you might want to connect your Sony headphones to, with various methods to complete the connection.

The pairing process may differ slightly between the many Sony headphone models, but the process will usually follow the below steps to enter the headphones into pairing mode:

1. With the headphones off, hold down the power button for a few seconds until the headphones power on
2. Once you hear the power tone, keep holding the button until you hear the pairing tone (this should cause the LEDs to flash red and blue)

How To Pair Sony Headphones To iPhone

1.  With the headphones correctly in Pairing Mode, open the ‘Settings’ app on your iPhone
2. Scroll down to ‘Bluetooth’
3. Locate your headphones on the available list of devices
4. Tap on the headphones to complete the connection

How To Pair Sony Headphones To Android 

1. With the headphones in pairing mode, open up ‘Settings’ on your Android phone
2. Locate and select ‘Bluetooth’
3. Click ‘Pair New Device’
4. Locate your Sony headphones and tap on them to complete the connection

How To Pair Sony Headphones To Laptop

1. In the search bar, search for ‘Settings’
2. Select ‘Devices’
3. Select ‘Bluetooth And Devices’
4. Ensure Bluetooth is turned on
5. Click ‘Add Device’
6. Select ‘Bluetooth’
7. Select your headphones, and this will complete the pairing process

The process will be the same on a Windows laptop or PC.

How To Pair Sony Headphones With NFC

To pair your headphones via NFC, you’ll need to make sure your phone is NFC compatible. If you’re unsure, refer to the manufacturer to check or check for the NFC logo on your headphones.

How To Use NFC On Android

To ensure NFC is enabled on your Android device, follow these instructions:

1. Open ‘Settings’
2. Click on ‘Device Connection’
3. Select ‘Connection Preferences’
4. Select ‘Enable’ NFC

In order to then connect to your Android device, make sure the phone is unlocked and then simply hold the NFC logo on your headphones in direct contact with the phone.

If the devices haven’t been paired via NFR before, a pop-up message will appear asking you to connect.

Can I Use NFC On iPhone For My Headphones?

NFC is available on iPhone. However, you won’t be able to use this function for connecting your headphones.

NFC isn’t purely for listening to music and can be used for other applications such as Apple Pay. So yes, your iPhone (if a later model) will have NFC inbuilt, however, it can’t be used for pairing your Sony headphones or Sony wireless earbuds. 

Before you go, check out our guide to the 9 Best Noise-Canceling Headphones For Tinnitus!