Nexus 5 microphone issue?

Perry Blake

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Total Bummer-Sauce with my new Nexus 5!!!

Got my luscious new Nexus 5 today and everything was sweet until tried to make a phone call. I called my wife to test the AT&T network. Phone call wasn't dialing...I waited a few seconds...Still nothing. I then put the phone on speakerphone and promply hear my wife screaming obscenities at me about always calling and never saying anything or paying attention to her or something like that.

Anyways, I call google and they apologize and say they are sending a replacement in 3-5 days. Isn't that about the biggest bummer news ever? I'd feel bad, but this phone is so sweet, people are just gonna have to deal with my calls on speakerphone until the replacement comes.
 

cdd543

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Re: Total Bummer-Sauce with my new Nexus 5!!!

Got my luscious new Nexus 5 today and everything was sweet until tried to make a phone call. I called my wife to test the AT&T network. Phone call wasn't dialing...I waited a few seconds...Still nothing. I then put the phone on speakerphone and promply hear my wife screaming obscenities at me about always calling and never saying anything or paying attention to her or something like that.

Anyways, I call google and they apologize and say they are sending a replacement in 3-5 days. Isn't that about the biggest bummer news ever? I'd feel bad, but this phone is so sweet, people are just gonna have to deal with my calls on speakerphone until the replacement comes.

Dang that's lame. I assume you rebooted it, tried a hard reset, etc.
 

Perry Blake

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Re: Total Bummer-Sauce with my new Nexus 5!!!

Hard Resets and factory resets to no avail. So sad. At least they'll send a replacement pretty soon.
 

digink

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Re: Total Bummer-Sauce with my new Nexus 5!!!

Are you without a phone? Did you have to send your back before you got your replacement?
 

Perry Blake

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Re: Total Bummer-Sauce with my new Nexus 5!!!

Not without phone, but google just stated that my expected replacement phone will arrive in 3-4 weeks and that I can return the defective phone when my replacement unit arrives. Essentially, Google just told me, "Sorry we've sent you a defective phone, please wait 3-4 weeks as punishment". Total bummer. I'm gonna wipe the defective phone between my hind parts before I sent it back for sure.
 

thehabsonice

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Hey guys, I just got my nexus 5 yesterday. Everything is fantastic besides one thing, the most important thing, making phone calls. When I'm talking on the phone others tell me they cannot hear me. This is odd as I know the nexus 5 is supposed to have a decent mic. Has anyone else had this issue? I even tried to looking for the mic because I thought something was blocking it. I'm guessing the microphone is inside the right speaker grill. Am I wrong.? Can anyone help me with this please? Thank you. Is anyone having the same issue?
 

optimus

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I'm having the exact same problem. People saying they cannot hear me. I have to put the call on speaker phone for them to hear me. Did you end up fixing the problem?
 

KentuckyHouse

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Thank god, it's not just me! My wife keeps complaining that it sounds like I'm in a hole when I'm on the Nexus 5. If I switch to speakerphone, she says it sounds normal and she can hear me much better.

Should I get it replaced or is this just normal for this phone?
 

Deedzy

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Same issue here. Seems intermittent as only some people have trouble hearing me.
If I switch to speaker is seems okay, but that isn't always convenient.

Update
I tried holding the phone horizontal and speaking directly into the microphone and it seems better.
So it probably wasn't the speakerphone making it better but the way the phone was oriented.

Maybe just a volume issue which will hopefully be fixed with the update which has started to roll out.
Not available to me yet.

Update after speaking to Google
They asked me to factory reset the phone and that seems to have fixed the problem for a while, but back to muffled on phone calls and Keep recordings.
Video recordings are okay as is Smart Voice Recorder. Maybe its an app I've added?
 
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imjimmy

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Nexus 5: Phone Calls using earpiece (Microphone and Speaker) problem

Hi Guys

I have a black Nexus. It has been great in everything except placing and receiving calls. I don't use a headset just the phone directly. But whenever I call someone, people tell me that they can barely hear me. To fix that I literally have to move my mouth right next to the microphone and even then the voice is barely ok. I almost have to shout. People tell me that I sounded much louder on my own phone.

Also while hearing people on the phone the voice is too low. I use the volume control app and have the IN CALL volume on FULL. 5/5. Still I barely hear the other person and if it's noisy outside I cannot. Contrast to my previous phone in which I had to go down to 50% volume otherwise it was too loud.

Is this a defective unit? A hardware issue? Do I need to ask Google for replacement? I am loath to do that since the phone has been amazing in everything else. It's fast as hell and the battery life is super.

I wanted to know if any one has the same problem and whether it might be fixed with a software update or is it just a hardware issue and something wrong with my phone?

Thanks in advance.
 

Gekko

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Re: Nexus 5: Phone Calls using earpiece (Microphone and Speaker) problem

i use my iPhone headset 99% of the time to talk on the phone and it works great. but the couple times i used the built in microphone on the bottom of the phone - i got complaints that the other party couldn't hear me. there was at least two other posters here that had the same problem (others couldn't hear them when they called) .. once ended up asking for a replacement. i'm not sure what happened in his case. i hope we just need a software patch and that it is not a hardware problem.

here are the two problems -

http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-5/330550-total-bummer-sauce-my-new-nexus-5-a.html

http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-5/332164-nexus-5-microphone-issue.html
 

N4Newbie

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Re: Nexus 5: Phone Calls using earpiece (Microphone and Speaker) problem

Do keep in mind that the phone's microphone almost certainly has a volume-limiting circuit. Therefore, the more loudly you speak, the more the mic is going to clamp down. You should be able to speak in a completely normal voice and be heard on the other end.

Having said that, is the phone in a case? If so, the design of the case may be interfering with the sounds being able to actually reach the microphone - have you seen how small the mic hole is on most modern phones? Just look at the one for the secondary mic on top opposite the headphone jack... Try making a few calls without your case (if any) and see if that makes a difference.
 

Gekko

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Re: Nexus 5: Phone Calls using earpiece (Microphone and Speaker) problem

1. i believe the voice microphone is on the bottom by your right hand and the sound speaker is on the bottom by your left hand (the large grilled areas - one for each mic and speaker ie not stereo) so i don't see how a case would affect it.
2. i just did some testing calling my other line and leaving a voicemail in a slow moderate volume normal voice and i can confirm that my iPhone headset mic left a much clearer voicemail. the internal Nexus 5 message was static-y, crackly, muffled, and not that great. but it was audible and understandable.
3. there is a known problem with audio out sound with the Nexus 5 (music) (per the AC gang) that appears to be software related as it only affects some audio sources but not all sources. PERHAPS there is also a bug with the microphone audio input as well?

what is everyone else out there seeing (hearing)???