Database Info

[Q] 3 Mic holes on the backshell?

Regarding the 3 small holes on the back of the Sensation.
My guess is 2 mics for stereo recording with video and one for noise cancellation for calls.
Any case that blocks these, like the TPU from Amzer, would be a fail.
Is that the purpose of the 3 small holes on the backshell?

As far as I can tell they are for noise cancellation, but sounds feasible to be for recordings.

I thought they are there for the antennas....

Should be easy to figure out. I would but I don't have a Sensation yet.
Block one with something like a piece of tape. Record a video and see if you loose a channel. Repeat the same process for the other 2. If you loose right audio on one, left audio on another an nothing on the third, first two would be for stereo audio and 3rd for noise cancellation.

Antenna! Take the cover off and lose all signal... The hole are how the metal tags are connected to the case, kind of like riveted to the case. Looks like one deliberate hole near the speaker though

Neville.Holland said:
Antenna! Take the cover off and lose all signal... The hole are how the metal tags are connected to the case, kind of like riveted to the case. Looks like one deliberate hole near the speaker though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. Of course we know the antennas are built into the backshell.
Although, have you ever seen a phone with holes for the antenna?

if you look at the pics at the bottom of this review it'll confirm that their for the rivets holding the antenna contacts. also seems the US version has 1 more contact point than the EU version, by the speaker.
http://www.slashgear.com/t-mobile-sensation-4g-review-03156640/
my question is where would the second mic be?

Yup I can confirm the there are two holes that hold the connectors for the antenna (or at least the two coppery parts on the cover. The one near the speaker is just a hole, with plastic underneath it, can't say for sure if this is for a second mic that makes the video stereo..

atticus182 said:
Yup I can confirm the there are two holes that hold the connectors for the antenna (or at least the two coppery parts on the cover. The one near the speaker is just a hole, with plastic underneath it, can't say for sure if this is for a second mic that makes the video stereo..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in the link I posted you can see on the US version that one is also used for an antenna connection. I wonder why the US version has 1 more connection than the EU one.

even the standard HTC produced Sensation rubber cover I bought from the TMO store has all those holes covered except for the one near the camera lense. If I had to guess, I'd say the other holes are purely for the antenna anchors, while the anchor for the lense is also a hole for a mic. That one could certainly be for noise cancellation during phone calls while doubling as a mic for the right stereo channel

If you take off the back cover you can see where every hole is, there is a corresponding antenna anchor point... Why is this in debate?
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

6 holes in the backcover...
There are 6 holes total in the back cover of the T-Mo version of the HTS Sensation. I can confirm that the rubber cover I bought at a T-Mo store covers every one of those holes except for the one above the camera lens.
Taking the cover off I can see most of them are just anchor connections for the antenna contacts.

xnifex said:
in the link I posted you can see on the US version that one is also used for an antenna connection. I wonder why the US version has 1 more connection than the EU one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because US one is 4G, maybe?

tinky1 said:
Because US one is 4G, maybe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not really 4G, it's HSPA+ like the EU. Yay marketing

I spoke to HTC support and they clarified that obviously they are there for the antennas and also as air vents. The one above the camera and at the very bottom are mics. 2 for stereo recording.
They did say that all holes should be uncovered. Ironic, since the Body Glove case I bought at TMo covers up 4 of the holes, while many online I've noticed do indeed leave those hole uncovered.

Interesting about the air vents. I also have the Body Glove case as well and all the other cases at T-mobile have all the holes covered except the Mic above the camera.
I believe the case mate case actually covers every hole.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Tapatalk

5 holes on back cover?

So I've been trying to figure out what all the holes on the back are for. I'm sure one is a Mic but what about the rest? Thanks
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

The one at the very bottom is a mic hole The 2 towards the bottom and the 3 one the top are rivet holes for the antenna connections holes but the one on the very top also acts as a hole for the stereo mic and noise cancellation. .

broken89 said:
The one at the very bottom is a mic hole The 2 towards the bottom and the 3 one the top are rivet holes for the antenna connections holes but the one on the very top also acts as a hole for the stereo mic and noise cancellation. .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

The 2 holes towards the bottom of the case seem unnecessary, leading me to believe that they could potentially be a water detection system. In the event that the phone gets dropped in water, these two holes would be some of the first areas to get wet, it would be pretty easy to detect a short between the two pins and disable the electronics inside if such a situation is detected, possibly saving your device from permanent damage.
Now I haven't tested this theory, mainly because I wouldn't want the device to log such a situation if that is how it works, but it would be relatively simple to test if anyone is willing to give it a go .

Most holes on back are where the copper connectors are under the cover..
Breathing holes I assume..

this topic has been covered a plethora of times!

smashpunks said:
Most holes on back are where the copper connectors are under the cover..
Breathing holes I assume..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly...
I contacted HTC the day I got this phone....
Straight from the horses mouth....they are antenna rivets AND vent holes.

why is that ??? why holes ?? i havnt seen this sh*t on any other phone!!!!
thats ugly

B-Man2005 said:
why is that ??? why holes ?? i havnt seen this sh*t on any other phone!!!!
thats ugly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And this is why I suggested that perhaps they may be specifically designed for water detection, it would be trivial to have the hardware shut itself off if there is no resistance between the two leads to prevent permanent water damage... Just my two cents.

so, couldn't someone put a paper clip or needle in there whilst the cover is on the phone to see if it turns it off?

Cases without proper holes cutouts..important?

Hello,
I want to buy a sensation case but it does not have the proper hole cutcuts on the back. The only cutouts the case has are the camera and the speaker.
if any of you are using a case with only these 2 cutouts, could you tell me if phone signal, 4g signal, mic, speaker, etc or anything else are affected?
greatly appreciated

i havent had a problem with them after on week of use, but just to be safe, i drilled holes where they should be

Solidus_n313 said:
i havent had a problem with them after on week of use, but just to be safe, i drilled holes where they should be
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the reply, but if you drilled the holes then your case does have all the cutouts

it does now, but for the first week, i didnt have any issues...
i just did it cuz i was bored, and more as a precaution just in case...
mind you i never used the gps or wifi w/o holes...but i bought the 2 pack, one black (drilled), one opaque white (stock)...if you want, i can check the performance, but as it stands, there was no difference...
ive heard that all cases w/o holes are going to be discontinued, but that may have just been verbal diareah in the sensation thread :/

The only sensible answer is it depends on the case material. For any given case the only way to know is to try it. If it works then fine. If not, then drill holes if they're covered.
HTC says the holes should be uncovered, but none of us know exactly why. For a mic it's pretty obvious. For the others who knows. But drilling is easy and cheap, so for most cases a fix shouldn't be a problem.

c19932 said:
Hello,
I want to buy a sensation case but it does not have the proper hole cutcuts on the back. The only cutouts the case has are the camera and the speaker.
if any of you are using a case with only these 2 cutouts, could you tell me if phone signal, 4g signal, mic, speaker, etc or anything else are affected?
greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does anyone know what the holes actually do?

isharma said:
Does anyone know what the holes actually do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't seen a diagram showing the function of each one. Some are mics, either for input or noise cancellation. Others are likely antenna related. It's hard to imagine that HTC would go to the trouble of putting them there if they don't serve a useful purpose. Covering some or all may not cause big problems, but it's not likely to help either.

I have the official Tmobile silicone case and it doesn't have any cutout for the little holes...and it seems to be just fine.

govtcheez said:
I have the official Tmobile silicone case and it doesn't have any cutout for the little holes...and it seems to be just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I have the same case. Except mine does have one hole cutout above the camera.
Here's my observations that I posted in another thread:
moto211 said:
I've been noticing that most of the cases that are available only have the hole above the camera, even the ones sold by T-Mobile. So, it got me wondering, do the other holes serve any purpose? I took the back cover off and can immediately tell that the hole above the camera serves a purpose since it has a grommeted pass through in the inside housing. So, its good that every case I've seen has that hole cut out. The other four holes have no pass through and appear to only be there as rivet/mount points for the antenna contacts. So, after seeing that, I'm less concerned that even reputable manufacturers like otterbox are not including the other four holes that seemingly serve no active function.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App

The hole above camera is noise cancelling mic,that is the only important hole,so I had to drill it on my Case Mate Tough.They were the first proper company with hard case for Sensation,so they rushed a little bit with design,others like Otterbox and Seidio are making cases with that hole only.

Guys, EM radiation passes through silicone and plastic. There should be no need for holes on those materials. If you had a case made of metal, then you would need MORE than a hole anyways as EM radiation doesnt radiate in rays...Go into your bathroom and close the door. Plenty of material to be in the way of the EM radiation that is your signal. Still can make calls?
Also, there is no noise cancellation mic. There is no noise cancellation at all on this phone. The second mic is for stereo sound recording. I know alot of you wont agree, but looking up the specs, I found no mention of noise cancellation. (Only stereo sound recording).
If there were noise cancellation, people wouldnt complain about me being in the wind while talking to them. ;-)
Matt

Hmm if i'm not mistaken, two of them are for ventilation, one for noise cancellation mic, and the rest are for the antennas, the one for antennas has no use though, its only there to fasten the connectors.

Microphone Question

I have the white LG G3 and I noticed a speck on the down volume button. It looks like like a tiny pin hole thats in one of the dimples. I was just wondering if there is supposed to be a microphone there or do I just have dirt in the dimple?

jbrothman88 said:
I have the white LG G3 and I noticed a speck on the down volume button. It looks like like a tiny pin hole thats in one of the dimples. I was just wondering if there is supposed to be a microphone there or do I just have dirt in the dimple?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dirt or something in there.. .if its actually a hole you might look into that. the MIC's are at the TOP and BOTTOM of phone. Beside IR BLASTER and the Headphone Jack.

Tweakecho said:
Dirt or something in there.. .if its actually a hole you might look into that. the MIC's are at the TOP and BOTTOM of phone. Beside IR BLASTER and the Headphone Jack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thanks! I know of the microphones at the top and bottom. I guess I need to try to get the dirt out of the dimple.

dot on top of s8+

When I researched the phone before I got it I was under the impression it did not have an ir blaster. So what is the dot on top of the phone? Cases even have cut outs for it. I thought I looked everywhere but no answer not even in the manual.

It is probably a microphone.

flight01 said:
When I researched the phone before I got it I was under the impression it did not have an ir blaster. So what is the dot on top of the phone? Cases even have cut outs for it. I thought I looked everywhere but no answer not even in the manual.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As dhorgas said, it's a microphone. It's the noise cancellation mic that works in conjunction with the main mic at the bottom of the phone.