Call Quality - Xperia Z3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello,
I've gotten my Z3 in copper last week, and will send it back tomorrow to get a replacement. There are two reasons for that:
1. The display glass is either too small or wasn't put in centered. While I have no gap on the left side, there is a rather one on the right side. Aside from the aesthetic annoyance, it's large enough that it could compromise the IP rating, and I don't want to risk that.
2. Other people complained about call quality, which is what this thread is about.
I tried it with five different partners / phones. Four could hear me most of the time, with one I had to shout. All five said I sound muffled, like I'm talking through a pillow, or as if I wouldn't open my mouth when I speak. Two complained about compression artifacts ("Like an MP3 at 64 kBit/s"). One could make out rather well what I said, two required me to repeat what I say every twenty seconds. All five also said that my voice was very quiet.
Changing from LTE to UMTs and GSM changed nothing.
Turning off noise cancellation in the call settings changed nothing. Setting the mic gain from Auto to High made it not a single bit clearer, but distorted the sound.
Using a headset, everything was okay, though one person said that they still hear a bit of compression artifacts.
The funny thing is that when I used the Sony Recording App to check the mics, they sounded rather good (both of them, you can set it to Stereo and have the lower mic on one and the ambient mic on another channel). So I guess this has something to do with how the codec for telephony works while the microphones are physically okay.
Did anyone else have such problems? I'm waiting for the replacement handset and will check again. It's somewhat annoying, the Z3 is such a nice phone otherwise, but I couldn't use it for calling people.

Related

Audio output issues (missing sounds)

I get the very strangest issues with the line output of my ONE S C2. At some points during a lot of songs there are sounds missing and I know this because they're clearly audible on my desktop speakers. It's like they're very muted and waaaay in the back and sometimes they're completely inaudible. And it's not even that a whole channel is missing, say there's no sound for things panned right or left. It's sounds in the center. For instance, there would be this part that had drums, bass guitars and effects, and a very specific guitar is silent. Sometimes it's other sounds, like effects, or keyboards.
There was this one time when lint got into the headphone jack and I thought that was the reason, but I have since taken it out with a pair of very tiny tweezers. Now... it's true I don't know if I managed to get it all out since I probably didn't notice it until some time after it got in and I probably must've pressed it inside there, but I did take out a nice piece of lint. Oh, and the jack doesn't seem to fully enter the headphone jack.

Speakerphone (loudness, clarity)

Proper etiquette aside (hint: don't use speakerphone while doing your "business" in a public bathroom), rate this thread to express how you think the Xiaomi Mi 5's speakerphone performs. A higher rating indicates that you love it: it's loud and it's clear.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
it's loud, but on max volume there's a lot of distortion, contacted Xiaomi, they sayed that's normal (i don't think so, maybe faulty batch, mine's 64GB white one). Overall, loud, but not clear enough.
How is the sound quality through 3.5mm jack?
killbox said:
How is the sound quality through 3.5mm jack?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great and loud, loudest from all phones i had. Check gsmarena review for more details
Anybody tried to cover one of the speakerphone holes? I've tried mine, and sounds from the left ones are small compared to the right ones. I looked into the holes, and it seems that something covered the left holes from the inside. I've attached a picture of it.
vegasphinx said:
Anybody tried to cover one of the speakerphone holes? I've tried mine, and sounds from the left ones are small compared to the right ones. I looked into the holes, and it seems that something covered the left holes from the inside. I've attached a picture of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same for my phone, seems to be normal
vegasphinx said:
Anybody tried to cover one of the speakerphone holes? I've tried mine, and sounds from the left ones are small compared to the right ones. I looked into the holes, and it seems that something covered the left holes from the inside. I've attached a picture of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the left hole probably contains mic and no speaker and also for symmetry
loud and clear
loud and beautiful
Sent from my MI 5 using XDA-Developers mobile app
The speakerphone is very loud and clear, it's amazing to have the combination of both
In test the loudspeaker is quiet good
Source: G******A
vegasphinx said:
Anybody tried to cover one of the speakerphone holes? I've tried mine, and sounds from the left ones are small compared to the right ones. I looked into the holes, and it seems that something covered the left holes from the inside. I've attached a picture of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey mate,
That is not the speaker hole. That hole for the mic and this phone comes with the single speaker (just mono not like stereo).
Headphone
I have no problem with the speakerphone sound, but the headphone out could be a lot better, lots of background noise with sensitive in ear monitors. That said, other "flaships" like the LG G2 suffer from the same problem...
Which ROM are you using? Do you have VoLTE in your country?
I am using CM 13.0-20161211-NIGHTLY.
The speakerphone sound is pretty loud and clear, but my friends tell me my mic is pretty bad while I'm using the speakerphone.
I think my problem is ROM dependent rather than a hardware defect.
I am planning to revert to MIUI soon, I will keep you posted.
I got crackling and broken loudspeaker, tried to flash another ROM but the issue persisted :crying:
I flashed MIUI Global Stable ROM.
The speakerphone now works fine on phone calls.
I still got issues on Skype calls though (it occurs only on Skype).
i got htc one m8 now, and planning to upgrade to this phone, what do i need to expect about sound quality?
strikereg said:
I have no problem with the speakerphone sound, but the headphone out could be a lot better, lots of background noise with sensitive in ear monitors. That said, other "flaships" like the LG G2 suffer from the same problem...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm afraid it's your headphones mate. The phone is very clear and proper tests (through GSMarena) show that it has the lowest distortion of any phone on the market (conparable to Sabre DACs), not to mention it's decently loud too, something phones like the G2 can't boast. That said, I didn't like the sound signature (how the output is shaped), so I replaced the audio driver with Viper4Android and disabled Xiaomi's driver altogether. I suggest you try that and see if that works for you?
xdadevet said:
I'm afraid it's your headphones mate. The phone is very clear and proper tests (through GSMarena) show that it has the lowest distortion of any phone on the market (conparable to Sabre DACs), not to mention it's decently loud too, something phones like the G2 can't boast. That said, I didn't like the sound signature (how the output is shaped), so I replaced the audio driver with Viper4Android and disabled Xiaomi's driver altogether. I suggest you try that and see if that works for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In a way it really is the headphones, for being such good IEM
They cost more than the Xiaomi Mi5. Problem is, good IEM are generally very sensitive, so they need a good quality source, with no background noise.
Sorry but it the Mi5 really has bad sound quality. Way worse that any iPhone.
I've given up and went and bought an IPhone 7. No problems there, of course.
strikereg said:
In a way it really is the headphones, for being such good IEM
They cost more than the Xiaomi Mi5. Problem is, good IEM are generally very sensitive, so they need a good quality source, with no background noise.
Sorry but it the Mi5 really has bad sound quality. Way worse that any iPhone.
I've given up and went and bought an IPhone 7. No problems there, of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also prefer IEMs for their sound quality. Which ones do you use? Also, check out this website and run the tests, it's quite fun and revealing: http://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php
See the attached screenshot. There shouldn't be an audible distortion difference between the Mi 5 and iPhone. And unlike the iPhone, you can actually change the audio driver to suit your preference.
Edit: Looking at the numbers you can see that the Mi 5 has quicker frequency response, lower noise level, higher dynamic range, less harmonic distortion, less intermodulation distortion, and less stereo crosstalk than an iPhone 6s. There is not a single thing you can measure where the iPhone does better yet you call the Mi 5 "way worse". I don't have an iPhone on me so I can't verify it myself, but output should be identical.

(Ring)tones only from bottom speaker?

So I noticed this morning that my tones only play from the bottom speaker.
I was searching for a ringtone and found one that played nice and loud when I previewed it (from both speakers)... copied it to the ringtone folder, selected it in the sound preferences and when it played it was WAY quieter because it was only playing out of the bottom speaker!!
What gives?
i remember my old sony z3 and z5 did the same, both with front stereo speakers and inly the bottom one played ringtones
Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk
so annoying.
byproxy said:
So I noticed this morning that my tones only play from the bottom speaker.
I was searching for a ringtone and found one that played nice and loud when I previewed it (from both speakers)... copied it to the ringtone folder, selected it in the sound preferences and when it played it was WAY quieter because it was only playing out of the bottom speaker!!
What gives?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is totally normal. All dual speaker phones do this for both ringtones and speakerphone calls. Once we gain root access, someone needs to find the right line of code in the mixer paths XML file to activate the second speaker.
PuffDaddy_d said:
This is totally normal. All dual speaker phones do this for both ringtones and speakerphone calls. Once we gain root access, someone needs to find the right line of code in the mixer paths XML file to activate the second speaker.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My HTC One M7 played ringtones, notifications, and speakerphone calls from both speakers and my ZTE Axon 7 plays from both speakers as well. So no, it is not a thing all dual speaker phones do.
J-Pod said:
My HTC One M7 played ringtones, notifications, and speakerphone calls from both speakers and my ZTE Axon 7 plays from both speakers as well. So no, it is not a thing all dual speaker phones do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My HTC 10 doesnt. Ringtones only from the one speaker
I'm pretty sure it's to idiot proof the phone to prevent people from putting the phone to their ears before actually answering the phone thereby potentially causing damage and a lawsuit due to the significantly louder signal the speakers play when ringing. My iPhone X and Galaxy Note both kinda do the same thing except on the Note 9 some sound does come out of the top speaker unless the proximity sensor detects any nearby objects (like a face) which is the clever way to do it really.
J-Pod said:
My HTC One M7 played ringtones, notifications, and speakerphone calls from both speakers and my ZTE Axon 7 plays from both speakers as well. So no, it is not a thing all dual speaker phones do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So out of hundreds of phones, the two non standard and ancient phones you can find to back up your opinion is all you've got?
All RELEVANT phones do this. They aren't relevant.
DareDevil01 said:
I'm pretty sure it's to idiot proof the phone to prevent people from putting the phone to their ears before actually answering the phone thereby potentially causing damage and a lawsuit due to the significantly louder signal the speakers play when ringing. My iPhone X and Galaxy Note both kinda do the same thing except on the Note 9 some sound does come out of the top speaker unless the proximity sensor detects any nearby objects (like a face) which is the clever way to do it really.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the only thing I've found online as well that makes any decent sense. The whole proximity sensor thing sounds great, I wonder why more companies don't do that for all the non-media sounds.
DareDevil01 said:
I'm pretty sure it's to idiot proof the phone to prevent people from putting the phone to their ears before actually answering the phone thereby potentially causing damage and a lawsuit due to the significantly louder signal the speakers play when ringing. My iPhone X and Galaxy Note both kinda do the same thing except on the Note 9 some sound does come out of the top speaker unless the proximity sensor detects any nearby objects (like a face) which is the clever way to do it really.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iPhone does use both speakers for ringtones/notifications/alarm. I have iPhone XS, I also had an iPhone X, great sound from both speakers. I don't understand why Google limits the phone like this, not only it only uses the bottom speaker but the sound quality is decreased a lot when comparing the sound coming when it's ringing to playing exactly the same sound with a media player on the phone.
Fille84 said:
iPhone does use both speakers for ringtones/notifications/alarm. I have iPhone XS, I also had an iPhone X, great sound from both speakers. I don't understand why Google limits the phone like this, not only it only uses the bottom speaker but the sound quality is decreased a lot when comparing the sound coming when it's ringing to playing exactly the same sound with a media player on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that's the case then they probably updated it. I sold my iPhone X for a Note 9 and much prefer the sound of the Note 9. The XS is a bit louder but the Note 9 has a much more balanced sound with a pleasant tuning, which is reflected in sound measurements on Notebookcheck from both phones. It also confirms the lower peak volume of the Note 9.
Regarding the Pixel 3 well, I haven't had enough hands on with it to comment but from what I heard the speakers were very powerful albeit with slightly less definition which I guess is the point at the end of the day when you want your phone to be heard... Then again from what you guys are saying it doesn't ring very loud...
Since you have an XS can you confirm whether covering the sensors on the front turns off the top speaker when the phone is ringing?
DareDevil01 said:
If that's the case then they probably updated it. I sold my iPhone X for a Note 9 and much prefer the sound of the Note 9. The XS is a bit louder but the Note 9 has a much more balanced sound with a pleasant tuning, which is reflected in sound measurements on Notebookcheck from both phones. It also confirms the lower peak volume of the Note 9.
Regarding the Pixel 3 well, I haven't had enough hands on with it to comment but from what I heard the speakers were very powerful albeit with slightly less definition which I guess is the point at the end of the day when you want your phone to be heard... Then again from what you guys are saying it doesn't ring very loud...
Since you have an XS can you confirm whether covering the sensors on the front turns off the top speaker when the phone is ringing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had every iPhone since they implemented dual speakers and the sound for incoming call/notification have always come from both speakers, nothing new at all. That is something that's bothering me a bit when switching to android, you have two speakers why not use em both for ringtones, alarms and so on.
It just seems to lower the volume for both speakers when covering the sensors.
Fille84 said:
I have had every iPhone since they implemented dual speakers and the sound for incoming call/notification have always come from both speakers, nothing new at all. That is something that's bothering me a bit when switching to android, you have two speakers why not use em both for ringtones, alarms and so on.
It just seems to lower the volume for both speakers when covering the sensors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my opinion I think it is very dangerous to the ears for the top speaker to not turn off with the proximity sensor, as I have been in a situation where I was showing my friend a song I was working on, the phone volume was down low and he was holding the top of the phone near his ear and I got an incoming call. That would have hurt his ear if it was the iPhone. I think it is very clever that Samsung use the proximity sensor to protect our ears from these mistakes. Especially if you're on a call on Facebook then you receive a cellular call through the phone in which case it cancels the Facebook call and rings through the loudspeakers. Again that would be damaging to the ear. Then again I don't Apple has ever really followed hearing protection regulations as they have no volume limit or warning by default on the iPhones with earphones as opposed to Android where you get a message turning it up to high volumes. Again, my Note 9 is plenty loud when it rings in normal situations. I'm not sure about the Pixel 3.
DareDevil01 said:
In my opinion I think it is very dangerous to the ears for the top speaker to not turn off with the proximity sensor, as I have been in a situation where I was showing my friend a song I was working on, the phone volume was down low and he was holding the top of the phone near his ear and I got an incoming call. That would have hurt his ear if it was the iPhone. I think it is very clever that Samsung use the proximity sensor to protect our ears from these mistakes. Especially if you're on a call on Facebook then you receive a cellular call through the phone in which case it cancels the Facebook call and rings through the loudspeakers. Again that would be damaging to the ear. Then again I don't Apple has ever really followed hearing protection regulations as they have no volume limit or warning by default on the iPhones with earphones as opposed to Android where you get a message turning it up to high volumes. Again, my Note 9 is plenty loud when it rings in normal situations. I'm not sure about the Pixel 3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like I said, it's very low when you're either looking at the screen or covering the sensors. So it's a non issue, can't damage your ear. And to be honest it's not a very common scenario to hold your ear against the earpiece if you're not talking on the phone.
Fille84 said:
Like I said, it's very low when you're either looking at the screen or covering the sensors. So it's a non issue, can't damage your ear. And to be honest it's not a very common scenario to hold your ear against the earpiece if you're not talking on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I mentioned,
I can't speak for the Pixel 3 but the Note 9 rings plenty loud with alarms and calls etc unless the proximity sensor is triggered. It only dims the top speaker tho. I would agree with you about the the ear against the speaker if it wasn't for the all too common scenario of being on a Facebook messenger call with the earpiece then a cellular call comes through, interrupting the messenger call and ringing through the speakers... I do agree with you that the Pixel shouldn't just permantly turn off the top speaker for calls and alarms, that just seems silly. They should utilize the full potential of the speaker system...
2022 Did someone already found a way for dual stereo speaker ringtone for our pixel 3? Google really always loves to mess up.

Question Earpiece/loudspeaker quality

Hi,
how is the loudspeaker quality for people who already own the phone?
For me the speakers are not that great. Especially the top one in the earpiece. Calls aren't that great and listening to voice messages or even videos and music is just ok.
I get scratching in the top one pretty early. It depends on the audio quality/source but sometimes it already scratches around 60% of max volume. Especially in calls and voice messages.
It sound very good. Less bass then my s21U, but still ok. Calls are very ok too.
So no scratching for you?
I have got an S20 here and it definitely has a better sound quality with less distortion/scratching...
I was quite impressed. Especially in flex mode when both speakers face forward. Definitely one of the highlights of this phone if you ask me.
So no scratching when listening to voice mails on higher volumes? Just tried video and there the quality is fine. It is voices where my speaker struggles.
The sound Quality if better (subjectively) than my S21+, which I traded in. Less tinny and no distortion so far on loudspeaker call in flex mode.
So in my experience the speakers especially the one on the top is worst than the ones of the S20 which is sad.
One thing I noticed in addition to the bad sound quality is that the speaker grill of the earpiece doesn't cover the 3 holes completely. I am able to look through the holes. The grill only covers a part of the holes. Haven't seen this before. Can anybody confirm this or do I indeed have a faulty product?
I will try to describe this as best I can and you can decide if this is the same thing or if yours appears to be missing parts.
I have the three holes. Inside them, there is what looks like plastic coming from the top that covers about half of the opening. If I angle the phone to see into the gap, there is another cover under it.
twistedumbrella said:
I will try to describe this as best I can and you can decide if this is the same thing or if yours appears to be missing parts.
I have the three holes. Inside them, there is what looks like plastic coming from the top that covers about half of the opening. If I angle the phone to see into the gap, there is another cover under it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I guess than it's supposed to be like that. Looks a bit weird to me.
How is the sound quality on your end? The quality itself is ok for me, what annoys me is the distortion I get pretty early around 60-70% of max volume depending on the audio. Especially calls, video calls and voice messages get distorted really quickly. Video and music mostly seem to be fine.
Cris7ianO said:
Ok, I guess than it's supposed to be like that. Looks a bit weird to me.
How is the sound quality on your end? The quality itself is ok for me, what annoys me is the distortion I get pretty early around 60-70% of max volume depending on the audio. Especially calls, video calls and voice messages get distorted really quickly. Video and music mostly seem to be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't made any real calls yet, but everything else seemed normal. I should probably test that before the return period runs out. I'll let you know.
twistedumbrella said:
Haven't made any real calls yet, but everything else seemed normal. I should probably test that before the return period runs out. I'll let you know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Feedback is appreciated . Voice messages in Whatsapp for example, same for Whatsapp and Duo video calls and phone calls as well... Distortion and scratching in the upper range coming out of the earpiece/upper speaker.
I have to decide if I keep the device until Saturday. It would be great if a few more people who own the phone could give some feedback regarding the loudspeaker of the phone during voice and video calls and voice messages
Sounds defective. Just finished testing and it was not only clear, but loud. I know with previous phones, I couldn't hear a thing at any less than one step below the max volume. I had this one at half and it was just as loud. If you happened to start at max, it's possible a speaker blew out. The thing they never tell you is that they aren't truly meant to run at that volume for anything more than a minute or two.
twistedumbrella said:
Sounds defective. Just finished testing and it was not only clear, but loud. I know with previous phones, I couldn't hear a thing at any less than one step below the max volume. I had this one at half and it was just as loud. If you happened to start at max, it's possible a speaker blew out. The thing they never tell you is that they aren't truly meant to run at that volume for anything more than a minute or two.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback. What confuses me is that I get the distortion only in calls or voice messages. No problems when listening to music or videos.
Cris7ianO said:
Thanks for the feedback. What confuses me is that I get the distortion only in calls or voice messages. No problems when listening to music or videos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have heard rumors the speakers are separate between the two, but I'm not sure.
I know Samsung tends to send phones to be repaired over replaced, even when it just released last week. Hopefully they don't give you any trouble if you decide to flat out return it, though.
twistedumbrella said:
I have heard rumors the speakers are separate between the two, but I'm not sure.
I know Samsung tends to send phones to be repaired over replaced, even when it just released last week. Hopefully they don't give you any trouble if you decide to flat out return it, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah the service is ridiculous. I love Android and use it for years for various reasons. But these encounters with bad service drag my mind towards apple. I already contacted Samsung. They offered an exchange. But I have to send in my flip first. As this is currently my only phone due to sending my S20 in for the trade-in I will not be able to do that. I am using the phone with dual sim for private and business purposes. I will try to force Samsung to send me a new one prior to sending mine back. If they don't accept I will withdraw my order and get something else. The trade-in might get me into trouble as it seems. Will never purchase over Samsung directly again. Never had issues with Amazon or apple...

Main microphone not working

Hello, hope everyone is doing well.
So all of the sudden the main microphone on the bottom of the phone stopped working. So I can only talk now using earbuds or on speakerphone, and ran the diagnostics which said contact samsung, who put me in touch with some third party.
Does anyone know if it's something I could repair myself or do I have to take it in to be fixed and about how much would each cost.
The only phones I have repaired before ha a straight class no curve. And no longer have a precise digital hotplate.
Or are there a another things I should be considering here? I have tried to look to see if there is dirt or anything but even using a jewelers loupe I couldn't really see anything.
Thanks in advance!
SpectraSoul said:
Spoiler: Post
Hello, hope everyone is doing well.
So all of the sudden the main microphone on the bottom of the phone stopped working. So I can only talk now using earbuds or on speakerphone, and ran the diagnostics which said contact samsung, who put me in touch with some third party.
Does anyone know if it's something I could repair myself or do I have to take it in to be fixed and about how much would each cost.
The only phones I have repaired before ha a straight class no curve. And no longer have a precise digital hotplate.
Or are there a another things I should be considering here? I have tried to look to see if there is dirt or anything but even using a jewelers loupe I couldn't really see anything.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What happened before the "all of the sudden"?
If there was dirt in the inlet channel to the microphone, the microphone should pick up muffled sounds during the propagation of a strong acoustic wave.
What produced the message on the screen you attached?
If it's a hardware defect in the phone then you won't fix it yourself cheaper than at a service center, because you don't have spare parts and experience.
Usually immediately before the repair you should be informed of the cost. Calculate if it is cost-effective for you. Sometimes after such repairs there are further problems, because the main cause has not been removed
If it was blown or had a puncture, deformation or dirt then yes there would be some distorted sounds but I have tried recording audio in other apps.
There is a very short like disconnection click when recording out of that mic. Doesn't happen when I record from the other mic. But does make the same click of I start voice recorder but then no voice.
Didn't drop it or get it or get it dirty. Maybe I got a little moisture on it whenever I take a shower, but really not much, and the mic sealed. If it was the pcb board for the mic, that's like 15-20 on eBay, and if it's the actual mic like wiring, or driver I would just need the part number for the mic.
The image on the screen is from when you go through: Device care, then diagnostics. It gives the options to test all the functions that make your phone usable. I did then I reformatted. Did the tests again.
Yes you are right they said they couldn't give a price but maybe around 150.
I just sort of like fixing things yet have never attempted removing curved screen and without precise temp control I would worry about the battery.
I have most the tools and have removed flat screen glass on a 3d printers base hot plate. But because of the curve I wonder if it would need something to hear the edge at the same time.
I'm also on workers comp right now trying to save some money and curious if anyone has had a similar experience or at least had success fixing hardware problems or curved glass phones
Also just figured out that I can use my earbuds with bixby but can not get bixby or google to do voice to text through my Galaxy buds
Oops sorry last night I changed pages to check something and thought my post was deleted

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