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Terrible speaker quality and distortion. Normal? or just defective?

So my Nexus 5's speaker is absolute garbage compared to my Nexus 5. the range is just non-existent and it has incredibly bad distortion during phone calls, and most music and videos.
Right now i'm ready to return the phone and spend another year with my nexus 4 over it, but before i do, i'm curious to know if mine might just be defective.
So to all the other owners, do you have distortion, pops and the like when making phone calls or having any audio through and how does it compare to your previous phones, especially any other Nexus 4 owners.
Right now my N4 sounds like my $150 desktop speakers compared to the N5.

neok44 said:
So my Nexus 5's speaker is absolute garbage compared to my Nexus 5. the range is just non-existent and it has incredibly bad distortion during phone calls, and most music and videos.
Right now i'm ready to return the phone and spend another year with my nexus 4 over it, but before i do, i'm curious to know if mine might just be defective.
So to all the other owners, do you have distortion, pops and the like when making phone calls or having any audio through and how does it compare to your previous phones, especially any other Nexus 4 owners.
Right now my N4 sounds like my $150 desktop speakers compared to the N5.
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thats horrible, lets hope they are defective because i get my nexus 11/06 that would be a huge deal breaker if the speakers sounded like crap. coming from an htc one

HRodMusic said:
thats horrible, lets hope they are defective because i get my nexus 11/06 that would be a huge deal breaker if the speakers sounded like crap. coming from an htc one
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Yeah that's why i'm posting because i find it incredibly hard to believe that the Nexus 5, in 20 god damn 13 had worse speakers than my G1 from 2008. And just to test, i broke out my G1, MyTouch 3G and Nexus One, and played the same ringtones on each. No distortion on any device but the N5.
The Verge even said in their review that they had distortion on the speaker which almost leads me to think this is normal, and unacceptable.

HRodMusic said:
thats horrible, lets hope they are defective because i get my nexus 11/06 that would be a huge deal breaker if the speakers sounded like crap. coming from an htc one
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all reviews are saying the speaker is terrible. same with the camera. but they're comparing it to 600+ dollar phones, you get what you pay for, the bulk on the 350 dollars is going toward the processor and screen

Enddo said:
all reviews are saying the speaker is terrible. same with the camera. but they're comparing it to 600+ dollar phones, you get what you pay for, the bulk on the 350 dollars is going toward the processor and screen
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That is true, but my $300 Nexus 4 from a year ago sounds 100 times better than my $400 (32gb) nexus 5 from this year.
And also the whole $700/$350 thing is kinda bull****. Though that phone does cost $700 to buy, it costs the same as what a nexus costs, usually around $150-$200 to produce. Google just cuts out all the middle men and carrier BS to get the price to be that low. Yes they do make sacrifices but my damn G1 sounds better than my Nexus 5, so that has nothing to do with cost.

neok44 said:
So my Nexus 5's speaker is absolute garbage compared to my Nexus 5. the range is just non-existent and it has incredibly bad distortion during phone calls, and most music and videos.
Right now i'm ready to return the phone and spend another year with my nexus 4 over it, but before i do, i'm curious to know if mine might just be defective.
So to all the other owners, do you have distortion, pops and the like when making phone calls or having any audio through and how does it compare to your previous phones, especially any other Nexus 4 owners.
Right now my N4 sounds like my $150 desktop speakers compared to the N5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's not just you, I thought it was me!
I came from an HTC One X and the call quality is terrible; a bit like what I imagine being a little bit deaf is like and when I'm playing a video or have a call on speaker, the thing buzzes and vibrates. Not good compared to my previous phone.

ugh. this isn't looking good. i really was hoping i was the only one. Hope we get a lot more replies here tonight.

Only one speaker?
On mine I noticed only one side is playing the music? anyone else?
I'm hoping it's something like a mic and speaker... and not a deffective

Aydthird said:
On mine I noticed only one side is playing the music? anyone else?
I'm hoping it's something like a mic and speaker... and not a deffective
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thats correct. one side is the speaker and one is the mic. evidently this is normal practice on the iphone and many other devices. I just found out today.
Hows your quality though?
Two things i hear the crackle/pop on guaranteed is the ringing of a phone call and for some reason Lindsey Stirlings Crystalize, the first 30-40 seconds. lots of other examples but those two are the easiest and most noticeable i found.

neok44 said:
So my Nexus 5's speaker is absolute garbage compared to my Nexus 5. the range is just non-existent and it has incredibly bad distortion during phone calls, and most music and videos.
Right now i'm ready to return the phone and spend another year with my nexus 4 over it, but before i do, i'm curious to know if mine might just be defective.
So to all the other owners, do you have distortion, pops and the like when making phone calls or having any audio through and how does it compare to your previous phones, especially any other Nexus 4 owners.
Right now my N4 sounds like my $150 desktop speakers compared to the N5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aydthird said:
On mine I noticed only one side is playing the music? anyone else?
I'm hoping it's something like a mic and speaker... and not a deffective
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just got my white 32gb N5 today and indeed mine is suffering from similar issues. At first I was thinking my right speaker was DOA but I later learned it's not a speaker at all and is a mic - the N5 is a mono device. So, I played some music, an audio book and tried out some ringtones. A pop was audible on some ringtones and the audiobook. The sound gets pretty distorted when at the top two levels. I wonder if the pop is down to the audio coding because now I've downloaded higher quality files, the pop has gone away and distortion not quite as bad at high levels. Yet to try out a phone call over the speaker.

I've tested some music at 320 bit rate and hd video on youtube and the play store and same issues. and then no issues at all on the nexus 4.

Great I was so excited to purchase my first nexus phone. Ugh
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

You know, I was at Pete's Coffee last night with my girlfriend and 2 people were talking next to us about this exact same issue. A man in his early 30s was talking to a buddy of his about the Nexus 5, and naturally, I zoned out from what my girlfriend had to say overheard their conversation.
They were talking about the Nexus 5 and how one of them who had the phone loved it, except he said the speaker was very poor quality.
Hopefully mine does not have this issue when it arrives this Thursday.

The Nexus 5's speaker is actually pretty darn good. Not quite HTC One level but damn close. It uses the same chip technology the HTC One has but only has a mono speaker on the bottom edge instead. It should be MUCH better than the Nexus 4, the Galaxy S4, or similar.
If it is sounding distorted, it is quite possibly a damaged speaker or chip, and should be RMA'ed. Reviews (unlike what some whacko said) have actually been pretty positive about the speaker.

Vincent Law said:
The Nexus 5's speaker is actually pretty darn good. Not quite HTC One level but damn close. It uses the same chip technology the HTC One has but only has a mono speaker on the bottom edge instead. It should be MUCH better than the Nexus 4, the Galaxy S4, or similar.
If it is sounding distorted, it is quite possibly a damaged speaker or chip, and should be RMA'ed. Reviews (unlike what some whacko said) have actually been pretty positive about the speaker.
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Your now the second person i've seen to say that it's good. How much have you tested it though? phone calls? loud movies? music?
I want to keep this phone, or at least get a replacement, but i got about 5 people with me saying they have similar issues so it's getting harder to imagine that it's a defect.

My sound is pretty faint. I'll be lucky if I hear a text or call
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

I have played music from a couple different sources at full volume and I haven't heard any distortion.

I actually just watched a full review of the phone here in the General section, and he says the speaker is absolutely great! although he does not ever test in the video.

Been using mine all day. A bit of music and a fair few YouTube video and I've not noticed any problems at all. Nowhere near as loud as the Note 2 I'm coming from, but few phones are as loud as it. So far I'm happy with speaker quality
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Well since some of you do not seem to have this issue I'm going to hope those of us with it just have defective units and i'm going to exchange mine.
If the one i get has the same issues though, i'll be sticking with my Nexus 4 for another year.

Active noise cancellation performance

On YT I've saw that U11 has active noise cancellation. Can somebody tell me how well it works? I'm thinking about changing my current phone to U11 and it's one of points which I want to check before buying.
Sent from my SM-G9200 using Tapatalk

It is decent with included headphones.
There are quite a few threads and opinionated people around here so you can check them, but for me it's the best phone soundwise you can currently buy.

sojkin said:
On YT I've saw that U11 has active noise cancellation. Can somebody tell me how well it works? I'm thinking about changing my current phone to U11 and it's one of points which I want to check before buying.
Sent from my SM-G9200 using Tapatalk
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Don't expect miracles

I think it works quite well. Only works while playing music (unless someone develops around that).
Sent from my 2PZC5 using Tapatalk

sojkin said:
On YT I've saw that U11 has active noise cancellation. Can somebody tell me how well it works? I'm thinking about changing my current phone to U11 and it's one of points which I want to check before buying.
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Basically the U sonic earbuds would tune themselves as per your ear canal on the first plug-in (just takes a couple of seconds). The noise cancellation is effective, not as efficient as Bose headphones in terms of noise cancellation.. But yes sound is the best on any phone available today (people do like sony phones audio as well )

mathrania said:
Basically the U sonic earbuds would tune themselves as per your ear canal on the first plug-in (just takes a couple of seconds). The noise cancellation is effective, not as efficient as Bose headphones in terms of noise cancellation.. But yes sound is the best on any phone available today (people do like sony phones audio as well )
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I don't mean to be blunt, but that is not true at all

Galactus said:
I don't mean to be blunt, but that is not true at all
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What part is not true? You mean the Sony phone thing i mentioned :victory:

mathrania said:
What part is not true? You mean the Sony phone thing i mentioned :victory:
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The sound on the U11 isn't the best on a phone today lol

How it looks in comparison to LG G6 with DAC? I'm deciding which one to buy. Sound quality is one of major points to take decision.
Sent from my SM-G9200 using Tapatalk

sojkin said:
How it looks in comparison to LG G6 with DAC? I'm deciding which one to buy. Sound quality is one of major points to take decision.
Sent from my SM-G9200 using Tapatalk
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Korean LG G6? then the LG G6 will win, no question.

Speakers?

My Pixel XL is pretty much on it's last legs, I cracked the back, I have screen burn, it's overheated on me and it just generally feels sluggish. Everything is pointing me to get the One Plus 6 apart from the speakers - I have read and watched people say that the speakers are just tinny and don't sound great.
This could be a deal breaker for me, as I do listen to music on the phone and watch videos without headphones and/or casting - roughly about an hour or two a day.
I'm trying to decide whether I should go cheap with the One Plus 6 or whether I wait for the Pixel 3 XL.
I read someone on twitter state that an update fixed speakers sounding tinny - now I know this is hardware so nothing will really change - however can someone confirm that the speakers have got better via an update? As the videos I have watched and more than likely created when the device was released (pre-update).
I used to root my device left right and centre at any chance I could get - but due to work commitments and generally less free time to when I was younger, I don't want to have to mess around rooting, applying patches for Android Pay and other apps with Xposed just to improve an audio hardware issue - as I suspect some of you will point me to Viper4Android.
Thanks in Advance!

The speaker is fine, sounds better than the Pixel XL, slightly lower quality than OP5T because of the waterproofing

Yeah, I could even end up getting the OnePlus 6 and then buying the Pixel 3 XL later down the line. I just didn't want to get to the phone and then be so disappointed by the speaker that I send the phone back in accordance to their 15 day return policy.

Can I use any wired headphones with OnePlus 6?

Hi all,
I'm all excited because I'm finally getting rid of my iPhone and I will buy the OnePlus 6 Midnight!
Before I do, I want to ask if I can use any wired headphones with mic with the OnePlus 6?
I'm asking because I had the OnePlus One back in the days, but unfortunately the mic didn't work for any wired headphones, unless it was the original OnePlus wired headphones. Pretty lame!

My wired headphones aren't from OnePlus and work like a charm.. no problems here
Sent from my OnePlus6 using XDA Labs

The only thing is to have the headphones.

Hitman478™ said:
My wired headphones aren't from OnePlus and work like a charm.. no problems here
Sent from my OnePlus6 using XDA Labs
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And the mic is compatible as well?

Sure, headphones incl. microphone work.
Hard to imagine they didn't on the Oneplus One. You sure it wasn't a hardware fault or buggy ROM that caused it?

Fat Ronaldo said:
And the mic is compatible as well?
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Yes it works well.. Sorry i never had a oneplus one but on 5 and 6 the same wired headphones are working perfectly

Fat Ronaldo said:
Hi all,
I'm all excited because I'm finally getting rid of my iPhone and I will buy the OnePlus 6 Midnight!
Before I do, I want to ask if I can use any wired headphones with mic with the OnePlus 6?
I'm asking because I had the OnePlus One back in the days, but unfortunately the mic didn't work for any wired headphones, unless it was the original OnePlus wired headphones. Pretty lame!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Buy boat bassheads or senhieser One they have good support on op6

Thanks for the info!
Regarding the OnePlus One - this one wasn't compatible with other headphones (the sound worked, but the mic didn't). It was really a shame so that's why I wanted to be sure before buying OnePlus 6

Fat Ronaldo said:
Hi all,
I'm all excited because I'm finally getting rid of my iPhone and I will buy the OnePlus 6 Midnight!
Before I do, I want to ask if I can use any wired headphones with mic with the OnePlus 6?
I'm asking because I had the OnePlus One back in the days, but unfortunately the mic didn't work for any wired headphones, unless it was the original OnePlus wired headphones. Pretty lame!
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Click to collapse
All headphones work.
But don't buy Midnight Black. Buy some of the limited and exclusive color, like Silk White, Avengers, and Red.
It seems to me that those are least prone to defects.

nabbed said:
All headphones work.
But don't buy Midnight Black. Buy some of the limited and exclusive color, like Silk White, Avengers, and Red.
It seems to me that those are least prone to defects.
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What?! Is that the general picture? Because Midnight Black is exactly the one I'm planning to buy this afternoon.

nabbed said:
All headphones work.
But don't buy Midnight Black. Buy some of the limited and exclusive color, like Silk White, Avengers, and Red.
It seems to me that those are least prone to defects.
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Click to collapse
Based on what?

FKy85 said:
Based on what?
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Sign up for Oneplus official community forums.
Asian users are livid with the abundance of bugs. I don't have those, though I have a few.
European and American users are far and few between in reporting bugs.
Therefore, it seems like those who aren't Asian, European, and Americans are very likely to get a nice bug-free limited edition phone that works 101% of the time.
Enjoy!
Is a joke. Limited edition phones seem to have fewer defects in my observation.

I actually want to report a bug but I don't know where I can. Sometimes phone loses totally signal and screen locks itself. It does not bother me.a lot as it doesn't happen so much but would be interesting to know what causes this.

has audio recording quality improved?

Hi
I would like to know about the quality of the microphones in the pixel 3 regular please, I read here on XDA that now there is stereo recording, I also read the phones come with three microphones now, can someone please report on the quality of audio recording? Better yet with demonstrations?
Thanks a lot!

Haven't seen anything official but people have reported that its stereo now.

milan187 said:
Haven't seen anything official but people have reported that its stereo now.
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I thought it was always stereo. Only iPhones recorded in mono for the longest time.

Pretty confident last Pixels where mono.
I think Samsung and others may have done stereo longer.
PuffDaddy_d said:
I thought it was always stereo. Only iPhones recorded in mono for the longest time.
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Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Very few if any tech reviewers appear to have tested this, but from the videos I've seen its tinny and poor quality again
https://youtu.be/S9qNHYtNsik

I can no longer trust tech reviewers to truly dive into any analysis of how these phones perform. They all rush through the same talking points to get their review published first. They read more like a press release, touting new features, instead of a genuine review of those features.

Here's a review/comparison. The pixel 3 comes in a little way into the video.
https://youtu.be/9cCwL-i7N7g
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Here's a direct comparison with the iPhone. The pixel is terrible. How could they ship something this bad?
https://youtu.be/CQZo9SKj1zI

Stereo now but still seems far away
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 04:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:25 AM ----------
They tend to focus on pics not videos.
scoobiesnacks said:
Here's a direct comparison with the iPhone. The pixel is terrible. How could they ship something this bad?
https://youtu.be/CQZo9SKj1zI
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Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Yup, seems to be horrible. Not so much an issue for me.
For Video-people, at least now you have the possibility to connect an external mic: Pixel 3 to finally let you use external mic when recording video

YES, JUNK AND TRASHY LIKE BEFORE. WTF DO I STILL BUY THIS STUPID PHONE!?!?!? Should have waited for the reviews....