Bad call quality

kuass · Apr 13, 2014

Hi...

I got a xperia z2 prototye. model 6503.
Everything is working fine, except the call quality. i can hear and understand very well, but the other person has echoes, and very bad sound..
When I use a heatset, there is no problem. and it is almost good, when I put the phone on the table, with speaker on. The problem is worst, when I hold the phone on my ear..

Is it a hard- or software related problem?

I´m now on 17.1.A.2.55

THX

g4rvd4 · Apr 13, 2014

Since others have not complained about this issue, it looks like a hardware issue. Maybe your microphone is faulty?
Take it to Sony and get it checked.

kuass · Apr 13, 2014

I did some voice recording, and it is brilliant.

g4rvd4 · Apr 13, 2014

Try turning off the noise cancellation feature during calls, and see if there's a difference.

nikola1970 · Apr 13, 2014

Well it's a prototype so who knows...

Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk

jiggyb21 · Apr 14, 2014

I have a very similar issue I posted about in my thread...

kuass said:
I did some voice recording, and it is brilliant.

As you read in my thread my voice recording is anything but brilliant......what did you use for your testing?

g4rvd4 said:
Try turning off the noise cancellation feature during calls, and see if there's a difference.

I first became concerned when I recorded an outgoing message for the phone's default answering machine...As a test I download a voice recording app that let me turn off noise suppression/cancellation.

It brought it from unusable to usable, still not good. But I think your suggestion is a good one, I just don't see why a software tweak improves on something that seems more like a hardware problem. I say that because I can't find a single thing on the web aside from these two posts stating any concerns about it.

This is killing me...turning off noise cancellation only improves the quality in that particular app. Turning it off in the Call settings didn't change anything. I can't record an acceptable answering machine greeting no matter what I do.

EDIT- I also have unlocked my bootloader and thusly lost my DRM Keys... OP has a prototype Z2, perhaps something there?

MuRpHyNiGHtLonG · May 20, 2014

Same problem here, and mine is not a proto

my nephew and my gf got Z2 too, and same problem...
we hear wel, they can't hear us clearly

BR4DOKYBrazil · May 20, 2014

Considering that the quality of sound that comes out of the speakers when we hear music, it sure is software problem! In Xperia Z was the same thing in its release!

Adevem · May 21, 2014

non proto:

when I'm on earpiece, the caller will always be breaking up. I'll have to disconnect and return the call before everything's crispy again. though there are times they'll complain of not hearing me properly. turning off the "background noise" option seems to help but they'll tell me it's noisy as fuuu.

lol hoping for a software fix I guess.

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk

strommy1966 · May 21, 2014

i have had a problem with people being able to hear me clearly ! if i let the phone even drift slightly away from my mouth people say they cant hear me or im breaking up ! ! i had a GS2 before this phone and never had a problem like this . this to me is a hell of a major flaw ... if you struggle to use a mobile phone as what it is designed to do .. then it aint worth a s**t ! i have to keep the phone pressed up against the side of my face all the time im using it ... i cant just wedge it under my chin like i used to do with the old phone. maybe if i root and install a custom ROM it would help this issue ???

jiggyb21 · May 21, 2014

strommy1966 said:
i have had a problem with people being able to hear me clearly ! if i let the phone even drift slightly away from my mouth people say they cant hear me or im breaking up ! ! i had a GS2 before this phone and never had a problem like this . this to me is a hell of a major flaw ... if you struggle to use a mobile phone as what it is designed to do .. then it aint worth a s**t ! i have to keep the phone pressed up against the side of my face all the time im using it ... i cant just wedge it under my chin like i used to do with the old phone. maybe if i root and install a custom ROM it would help this issue ???

First time I've seen my problem described to the letter. It's especially bad when I hold the phone with my chin and no hands. I turned off noise cancelation under phone settings and people stopped complaining however a few people complained of an echo... Lose, lose. Btw, I'm rooted with a custom ROM and nothing has changed.

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk

strommy1966 · May 21, 2014

jiggyb21 said:
First time I've seen my problem described to the letter. It's especially bad when I hold the phone with my chin and no hands. I turned off noise cancelation under phone settings and people stopped complaining however a few people complained of an echo... Lose, lose. Btw, I'm rooted with a custom ROM and nothing has changed.

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk

oh .. i thought rooting and a custom ROM would solve this problem ! i also have noise cancellation switched off .. but still if i let this phone drift even slightly away from my mouth , immediately people say im breaking up or they just cant hear me ? what the hell good is a damm phone that people cant hear you on ! i can hear them very clearly .. it must just be a crap microphone in the phone

neotoky · May 21, 2014

strommy1966 said:
oh .. i thought rooting and a custom ROM would solve this problem ! i also have noise cancellation switched off .. but still if i let this phone drift even slightly away from my mouth , immediately people say im breaking up or they just cant hear me ? what the hell good is a damm phone that people cant hear you on ! i can hear them very clearly .. it must just be a crap microphone in the phone

This worries me. I'm planning to buy the z2 but if people in the other end have issues hearing you then I might pass. It's a shame.

Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA Free mobile app

Bazooka Tooth · May 21, 2014

There should be a speaker voice enhancement option in the call settings menu, not sure whether you've tried this or not but might be worth a shot

strommy1966 · May 21, 2014

neotoky said:
This worries me. I'm planning to buy the z2 but if people in the other end have issues hearing you then I might pass. It's a shame.

Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA Free mobile app

i wouldn't of bought this phone .. trouble is you don't get to test the call quality or anything like that before you buy the phone ! yes now its easy to read this forum about the problems people are having . so wish i had waited and read this forum before i ordered mine. think i will be buying something else in the near future, and try and sell this one

goodpenguin · May 22, 2014

Maybe people should report this to Sony as I don't get any complaints from the receiving end so far. My only complaint is the sound quality of the voice in the earpiece is not rich. The voice lacks low frequency.

K_Hismoom · May 22, 2014

goodpenguin said:
Maybe people should report this to Sony as I don't get any complaints from the receiving end so far. My only complaint is the sound quality of the voice in the earpiece is not rich. The voice lacks low frequency.

On my handset I constantly have hissing noises during a call and voice breaking up intermittently, but not when I'm on speaker or headphones then it's all crystal clear.
Mine is 14W16 and I've already had it replaced but the problem is still there (replacement device also 14W16).
Does anyone else experience this?
I've already disabled/enabled microphone noise suppression and speaker voice enhancement, but to no effect.

EDIT: My third device (also 14W16) still has this problem, maybe a faulty batch or is it probably a software problem?

EDIT2: Seems to be a software related problem. I have flashed the new 17.1.1.A.0.402 rom and it's almost perfect now.

Guillaume59000 · May 26, 2014

It seems like a recurring problem...

Hi Guys,

Here's my post on Xperia Care (3 threads dealing with this specific issue):

"I've had the exact same issues since my very first call. I am pretty sure it is a hardware issue and not software or use-related (my phone has never been in contact with water, the issue started in an "out-of-the-box" context and ALL the people I've had over the phone guessed that I changed for a new one just because they could not hear me as clearly as with my former HTC HD2 which I'm starting to deeply regret for this basic use of calling for a phone!).

Searching over the web and through this forum, you can find many people complaining about this problem and saying that a standard exchange did not solve it: would it be a batch problem?? For info, mine is a simlock-free purple model bought in Germany.

Another thing, using noise cancellation is even worse according to my callees so I guess I'll never use this feature, then... All details provided by you guys are described by my friends when I have them on the phone: hissing, hearing me in the distance (muffled sound), hearing their voice in echo (bad Z2 speaker=>mic interaction), vibration (resonance/vibration due to the phone design itself??), hearing like intermittent wind gusts and very very bad sound when I hold the phone between my cheek and shoulder...

As if this would not be bad enough, now the camera application does not record sound anymore when filming (it used to be OK before updating to newer version through PC Companion). Instead of proper sound you hear constant hissing. After a lot of tests I've realised that it now uses the noise cancellation mic instead of the primary one. When running a mic test through Xperia diagnostics menu you can hear back that hissing and no sound at all. Doing the same test through the *#*#7378423#*#* menu gives a different result since I can hear the recording perfectly well (because it is using primary microphone)."

After rebooting my phone, the secondary mic is now working. This leaves me very puzzled now: would it be a software issue in he end??

I'm phoning French Xperia Car hotline tomorrow, keep you posted.

Cheers

SooSpecial · May 28, 2014

Guillaume59000 said:
Hi Guys,

Here's my post on Xperia Care (3 threads dealing with this specific issue):

"I've had the exact same issues since my very first call. I am pretty sure it is a hardware issue and not software or use-related (my phone has never been in contact with water, the issue started in an "out-of-the-box" context and ALL the people I've had over the phone guessed that I changed for a new one just because they could not hear me as clearly as with my former HTC HD2 which I'm starting to deeply regret for this basic use of calling for a phone!).

Searching over the web and through this forum, you can find many people complaining about this problem and saying that a standard exchange did not solve it: would it be a batch problem?? For info, mine is a simlock-free purple model bought in Germany.

Another thing, using noise cancellation is even worse according to my callees so I guess I'll never use this feature, then... All details provided by you guys are described by my friends when I have them on the phone: hissing, hearing me in the distance (muffled sound), hearing their voice in echo (bad Z2 speaker=>mic interaction), vibration (resonance/vibration due to the phone design itself??), hearing like intermittent wind gusts and very very bad sound when I hold the phone between my cheek and shoulder...

As if this would not be bad enough, now the camera application does not record sound anymore when filming (it used to be OK before updating to newer version through PC Companion). Instead of proper sound you hear constant hissing. After a lot of tests I've realised that it now uses the noise cancellation mic instead of the primary one. When running a mic test through Xperia diagnostics menu you can hear back that hissing and no sound at all. Doing the same test through the *#*#7378423#*#* menu gives a different result since I can hear the recording perfectly well (because it is using primary microphone)."

After rebooting my phone, the secondary mic is now working. This leaves me very puzzled now: would it be a software issue in he end??

I'm phoning French Xperia Car hotline tomorrow, keep you posted.

Cheers

Any update on this? I just got this phone for my fiancé and it seems that she's having the same issue. I can't hear well.

Must have something to do with positioning the mic and how far it is from the mouth. More than a design problem than a hardware one methinks.

Guillaume59000 · May 29, 2014

SooSpecial said:
Any update on this? I just got this phone for my fiancé and it seems that she's having the same issue. I can't hear well.

Must have something to do with positioning the mic and how far it is from the mouth. More than a design problem than a hardware one methinks.

Hi SooSpecial,

Xperia Care had no explanation about this; they advised me to file a standard exchange procedure with the seller, which I did.

I'm now waiting for my new device, hoping I won't have the same problem anymore.

If not, I would ask for a refund and go for a G3 instead. That would be a pity because I really like the Z2.

I'd advise you to have your girlfriend's handset changed asap, otherwise you would have to go for a repair procedure w/ Sony, which may take approx. 1 month, leaving you without any replacement smartphone if it was a simlock-free one...

FYI, this problem has also been reported on Xperia Care Forum in 3 threads on Frandroid (french forum) and on some customer reviews on Amazon (as far as I know).

Good luck with that

Bad call quality

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