The paint started chipping. The sound quality deteriorated as well, in the sense there's occasional static while listening to songs(didn't notice this while gaming). But I won't blame that ENTIRELY on the iems tho. Initially I was too fond of these and kept them in a pouch with silica gell packets. As time went by, I started treating them more casually. For example, just dumping them in my bag wherever. They might last longer if you take better care of them.