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PowerBeats 3 dead after 5 months of use?

V

vistokid

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 26, 2007
658
434
I got a pair of PowerBeats 3 for Christmas. I literally used them for a few hours a week maximum (gym only - 3 workouts a week). All of a sudden they won't power on anymore. Like bricked completely. Took them in to my local Apple Store and they said they're a dud, they have to ship them back and I'll get a new pair in a week.

Is this common? Any one else experience the same issue? I had PowerBeats 2 and never had an issue at all.

I wish I could buy AppleCare Plus for these things. My confidence isn't very high on this product. They cost a lot of money for something that might be dead within a year.
 
I have the PowerBeats 3 and they are used even less frequently than yours. You do know that the Apple Store handles repair/replacements for Beats products, don't you?

Make an appointment and I am confident they will replace them. I also wish we had AppleCare Plus for them.
 
jbachandouris said:
I have the PowerBeats 3 and they are used even less frequently than yours. You do know that the Apple Store handles repair/replacements for Beats products, don't you?

Make an appointment and I am confident they will replace them. I also wish we had AppleCare Plus for them.
Click to expand...

I took them in to my local Apple Store yesterday. They ran some hard reboot on them and said they're toast. Ordered me a new pair. Still sucks that it will take a week so I'm without headphones at the moment.
 
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Well at least you get new ones. Odds are your 1 year warranty will start when you receive the new ones. Pretty sure they don't refurbish these.
 
jbachandouris said:
Well at least you get new ones. Odds are your 1 year warranty will start when you receive the new ones. Pretty sure they don't refurbish these.
Click to expand...

I highly doubt I'll get a fresh warranty. They just took the headphones so I'm expecting a white box with only headphones and the same warranty. Another year would be great.
 
vistokid said:
I got a pair of PowerBeats 3 for Christmas. I literally used them for a few hours a week maximum (gym only - 3 workouts a week). All of a sudden they won't power on anymore. Like bricked completely. Took them in to my local Apple Store and they said they're a dud, they have to ship them back and I'll get a new pair in a week.

Is this common? Any one else experience the same issue? I had PowerBeats 2 and never had an issue at all.

I wish I could buy AppleCare Plus for these things. My confidence isn't very high on this product. They cost a lot of money for something that might be dead within a year.
Click to expand...

I got some for my birthday in February. My wife got them at Costco. The first pair went back in about 3 weeks. Connectivity issues. The second pair went back after 6 weeks. Same problem as yours, no power, would not charge, would not turn on. I got our card charged back at Costco and went to Best Buy across the street and got the BeatsX. The PowerBeats3s were $150 at Costco, and the BeatsX were $150 at Best Buy. So I came out even... until the next day when Amazon ran a sale on the BeatsX for $100, and Best Buy matched their price. Stopped by on the way home, and got $50 charged back to my card.

That said, I have read about the power issues you and I suffered being known on the PowerBeats. Thus after 2 pairs being returned, I wasn't going to take the chance again at at third dud. The BeatsX seem to be holding up.
 
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I had a pair replaced a few weeks back as the remote unit stopped working - they'd randomly invoke Siri or put the volume up to max without any way to turn it down.

I've had a replacement pair for a few weeks. I charged them fully yesterday, got up to run today and they were at 5% battery. This had happened previously with the original set, but upon doing a reset, the battery was showing at 100%.

That's not worked today, so I've done a reset, charged them up and now they won't connect to my phone. I'm in two minds as whether to ask for them to be fixed or for a refund.

I went through three pairs of Powerbeats2 in a year before getting a refund, but I thought the design tweaks to the 3 meant they'd be more reliable. Initially they were, but I'm not convinced at all now.
 
Another repair setup with Apple....

Edited to say.... Seems like these things are a very common issue with the 3's after all. The more you look the more topics pop up on this mainly on the Apple support forums. Looks like the headphones, or more likely the remote, just aren't sealed well enough.
 
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jbachandouris said:
Make sure to update the post so I know what to expect if mine go bad. Good luck!
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Update as promised. Took them to my local Apple store for a genius appt. They did a hard reset on it and confirmed they were dead. Sent them off and ordered me a new pair. I am going to pick them up this afternoon. I'll let you know what they say about the warranty once I get them.
[doublepost=1497538039][/doublepost]
ascender said:
I had a pair replaced a few weeks back as the remote unit stopped working - they'd randomly invoke Siri or put the volume up to max without any way to turn it down.

I've had a replacement pair for a few weeks. I charged them fully yesterday, got up to run today and they were at 5% battery. This had happened previously with the original set, but upon doing a reset, the battery was showing at 100%.

That's not worked today, so I've done a reset, charged them up and now they won't connect to my phone. I'm in two minds as whether to ask for them to be fixed or for a refund.

I went through three pairs of Powerbeats2 in a year before getting a refund, but I thought the design tweaks to the 3 meant they'd be more reliable. Initially they were, but I'm not convinced at all now.
Click to expand...

That's interesting. It's a lot of money for a 1 year (or less) investment. Would have expected a few years of use out of them. Did you get a refund for the PB2 from Apple? I bought mine from Best Buy so I'm sure there's no chance I can return them now. I also did not opt for the extended warranty which I'm kicking myself for.
 
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No, I bought my PB2 from Dixons who refunded me without any questions at all. The downside was that because I'd bought them from Dixons rather than Apple, the only option available for repair was to send them away.

I've now made a Genius Bar appointment for the weekend as I really don't want these anymore and it would appear form my own experience and others that its going to be a case of repeated replacements until I run out of warranty and then have to buy a new pair.
 
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vistokid said:
Update as promised. Took them to my local Apple store for a genius appt. They did a hard reset on it and confirmed they were dead. Sent them off and ordered me a new pair. I am going to pick them up this afternoon. I'll let you know what they say about the warranty once I get them.
[doublepost=1497538039][/doublepost]

That's interesting. It's a lot of money for a 1 year (or less) investment. Would have expected a few years of use out of them. Did you get a refund for the PB2 from Apple? I bought mine from Best Buy so I'm sure there's no chance I can return them now. I also did not opt for the extended warranty which I'm kicking myself for.
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I think they have a one year warranty. I have taken several items back to Best Buy within the warranty period and got a refund or a store credit without issue. This would include Jabra earbuds that crapped out after 6 months and and Android tablet that came apart after 9 months (got the store card and used it on an iPad that day). All I had to do was show them my receipt and give them my card to charge back. If you are a Best Buy rewards member, you can pull your old receipts from their website.
 
I took my PB3 back to Apple today and they offered a refund or exchange which I thought was great service. I tried out a pair of BeatsX and decided to give them a go. The remote sits differently from the PB so I'll see if it's any more resilient.

Fit wise the BeatsX even without the wingtips were much more snug and isolated more sound than the PB.
 
Beats brand are junk plain and simple. My kids have had the over ear wired and wireless, I’ve had UR and beats X. Every pair has broken or malfunctioned. A $300+ set of over ear headphones should last a good while. The only good thing about them is the W2 chip, and there are only a select few that care about cross device pairing.
I’ll never own another beats anything.
 
Had my Powerbeats 3’s replaced 3 times.
Same problem with each pair, the battery won’t charge past 18ish% and randomly turn off mid workout which is infuriating when you are in the middle of a workout. They would turn back on after about 10 mins but die moments later.
Current pair seem to be doing ok, beats are trash though
 
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The biggest (pleasant) surprise with AirPods is how resilient they seem to be. I've been using them as my main headphones since they came out and they've stood up to all weathers and as much sweat as I can throw at them (sorry, too much information).

Yes, I had to add those silicon earskinz things to them and I'd much prefer them to be proper in-ear bud designs, but the reliability and no-cord freedom trumps everything to be honest.
 
ascender said:
The biggest (pleasant) surprise with AirPods is how resilient they seem to be. I've been using them as my main headphones since they came out and they've stood up to all weathers and as much sweat as I can throw at them (sorry, too much information).

Yes, I had to add those silicon earskinz things to them and I'd much prefer them to be proper in-ear bud designs, but the reliability and no-cord freedom trumps everything to be honest.
Click to expand...

I wish Airpods would fit my ear. The fit is just too loose for me. Have always had that problem with Apple buds.
 
Well, my PB3 started acting up. Remote not working. Sometimes the power won't turn off. Out of warranty exchange through Apple is $99 and they have to mail mine out and then send me the replacements after they receive mine.

$99 for a repair?!?!? I can get brand new ones for about the same price. Crazy.
 
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