Anyone else having bluetooth-headset sound quality issues with the ONE?

[kwitel]

I had been using my Motorola HX550 with my blackberry for years, and it worked amazingly well.
I got the One yesterday and everyone is telling me that the sound is now horrible and that I ahve to change the headset.

I wonder if its just the pairing of my particular BT headset with the One or if others are having sound-quality issues with their BT headsets too?

 

[kwitel]

Wow... surprised no one else is having issues with "hollow" sounding BT.
If you have had any problems, please share.

Thanks again.

 

[bloo0153]

I use a Plantronics Voyager 510. Can't say it works any better or worse than on my previous phones. However, the bluetooth in my car doesn't work very well. It cuts in and out.

Overall, still a way better bluetooth experience than with my Galaxy Nexus.

 

[cadzilla74]

I have an LG jaw-type for phone calls and it sounds fine both sending and receiving. I made a point of asking people how calls sounded for the first few days and got no complaints. I also use MotoROKR S305 BT headphones for music (and calls) and the only thing I have noticed with them is if the music source has a good quality and tonal balance to start with then the Beats EQ colors the sound too much for my taste and I turn off Beats. From other sources the Beats amp/EQ adds a decent volume boost and a relatively decent equalization curve so I do use it just not all the time.

To the OP ... Are you saying the sound you're hearing is bad or the person on the other end of a call says you sound hollow? If what you hear is the problem try adjusting the volume on the phone or turn off Beats. If it's the other way around then I'm not sure what to say except to experiment with it some more. Does this happen on every call to everyone? It is possible the mic in your BT has a slight output or impedance mismatch to the One but if what you hear on your end is OK this is unlikely to be the cause.

Hope you get it worked out.

 

[bigoldthor]

No bluetooth problems with numerous headsets. Perhaps your headset is just old, not sure. But didn't you say you had been using it for years? Other than flashing it with a software upgrade, not sure what to tell you. BT headsets can be purchased for little money nowadays, so maybe you could try a cheap one. Or try a friend's to see if it has the same problem.

 

[Gator352]

Every BT I use with the ONE sounds great but....

If I use Google search as default (which most BT uses) BT volume drops to half each and every time. Such as, I hit the call button and when it says "speak name or number", it's so low I can't hear it but I wait for faint beep and I say "call Michelle on mobile"....then it says "call Michelle on mobile? Say OK or cancel"...still so low I can't hear it and have to wait for faint beep. As soon as it connects...if it connects...I hit the volume button to raise volume to max.....It's a PITA cause sometimes I loose track where it's at and I say something and it cancels the process. This is using all my BT's (HX550, CommandOne, Sliver II, Samsung HM3300, HM7000) that this happens to.

Motorola's My Motospeak works with the CommandOne now. It didn't before. I just bought the Sliver II (CommandOne fell out of ear and went flying and broke) works great with My Motospeak....only if the CommandOne is still paired. Go figure. But My Motospeak is the only app that works great!! Samsungs app for its BT's suck terds.

 

[daddio211]

I've tried both Plantronics Voyager PRO (a few years old) and a Plantronics Voyager Legend (brand new). Both sound like crap, but both sound absolutely PERFECT on my wife's iPhone5.

With both headsets on I can hear fine but the distant party consensus is that the MIC is way too hot, causing severe distortion. HTC support says "find a headset manufacturer who has tested their headset to our phone." BS.

 

[Mitrix]

I get the exact same problem. Just bought a new headset and my fiance (iPhone 5s) can hardly understand me. When its paired to the iPhone instead the headset sounds great from my htc.
Can I ask if you've changed Roms and what radio your using?

 

[daddio211]

I haven't switched ROMs, maybe others here have. So much for our promised September update, eh?

 

[daddio211]

I just had 4.2.2 pushed to my phone and I updated. No change in BT sound quality.

In searching I did find this interesting article that's nearly a year old: Android 4.2: IMPORTANT information - Open Garden Discussions on Open Garden Community

Here's the pertinent information that the author wrote in November 2012:

Android 4.2 completely rewrote the Bluetooth stack. Essentially everything changed. It appears that Google did it to support multiple logins in Android.

This new Bluetooth implementation is conceptually fine, but very immature and full of bugs. With Open Garden 1.4.9, nominally, Android 4.2 is supported, but because the Android side is buggy, many users (of Open Garden and of any other app that uses Bluetooth) experience problems. - See more at: Android 4.2: IMPORTANT information - Open Garden Discussions on Open Garden Community​

And WHY, Google, are we STILL suffering through this? I don't know for certain that this is indeed a BT stack issue, but have gathered from people much more knowledgeable than me that it is. I also have not seen it addressed as an upcoming fix for future versions. Anyone know? Insider info maybe? Bueller?

 

[James Windsor]

I've tried:

Plantronics Backbeat Go
Plantronics Voyager Legend
Jawbone ERA

All suck with the HTC One. I have to use a wired headset if I don't want people to complain that I sound like I'm in a tunnel, or like a robot. On my end the sound cuts in and out with lots of crackle thrown in for good measure. Wish they would fix this, the headsets sound fine with all my other devices (MacBook Pro, HP laptop).

 

[daddio211]

No news since Jason Mackenzie's Oct 29th announcement stating 4.3 was again delayed. I still have yet to confirm that this is being addressed in 4.3, I only know that VZW, HTC and Google are all aware that "a problem exists with the Bluetooth Stack" in 4.X, and that it would be "addressed soon." I've not heard specifically when, but I'm HOPING that 4.3 solves it.

Personally I'd rather wait for 4.3 if it does indeed solve this than get useless features and wait for 4.4 to release in 6 more months. We should actually be receiving a discount on our monthly service while they sort this crap out!

 

[Chris Sanders]

I too have this issue. Motorola H720 and Platronics Legend. I may have tried another Platronics that failed too. The issue is the outgoing sound quality. Incoming is fine. Not using bluetooth head pieces is certainly a kick in the shins. Anyone find a headpiece that does work well?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[daddio211]

One person posted that their Motorola Sliver worked great, but I read others that have had issues with theirs. Don't know if it was on this forum or another, sorry.

 

[OnTheGoInLB]

I had been using the Motorola Elite Flip with my HTC Incredible, and it worked flawlessly. Now that I have recently upgraded to the One, the BT (with the Elite Flip) works horribly. Everyone says they either can't understand me, or it's scratchy and hollow sounding. I have tried two different Elite Flips with my phone, and am having the same results. Sure would be nice to have a solution!

 

[daddio211]

I read on another forum that booting the phone into "safe mode" was advised. This, of course, was by VZW tech support suggesting that some 3rd party app was causing the issue, and booting in "safe mode" would eliminate those 3rd party apps. Safe Mode - HTC One®

I haven't bothered trying it as the very first thing I did with my HTC One was pair my headset. I can't imagine why VZW, who knows there is an underlying issue, would waste our time with the suggestion. Maybe someone who has more time than I do can try it and see if they have any success. If you do, please post results here!

 

[Craig T1]

I'm really upset as my HTC has been the perfect phone until now... I have a Voyger Ledgend BT headset which has worked perfect with the Iphone and still is when I connect it to try it out, but on the HTC it's crackly, bad background noise and the people can not really hear me on the other end.

I sent it back and Plantations where so nice to send me a new one and same problem perfect on Iphone and not on HTC one.

I called HTC and they said to bad I need to keep trying BT headphones and it's not there problem.

Since I moved from the Iphone to the HTC one it's been great but since I spend hours a day on the phone and depend on a headset I'm going to have to swap back if I can not get this fixed.

I have read so many forums and this is common I see.

HTC really need to get the BT sorted as this is a major issues for business users of this phone.

Great replies here and hope I can try one more headset as I don't want to move back to the Iphone as the HTC is much better...

 

[daddio211]

I'm officially disgusted. Verizon pushed another 4.2.2 update to my phone overnight and the Bluetooth stack issue has NOT been addressed or resolved. (HTC6500LVW_1.10.605.15-1.10.605.10) They did, however, do the following enhancements:

• Internet accessibility for the visually impaired in now supported

• Update to ISIS Mobile Wallet

Neither of which make a bit of difference to me, but I hope some of you see these benefits.

So although many of us here (and countless others) have made VZW aware of the issue it STILL hasn't been addressed.

MIC (transmit) volume WAY too high!!!

Again, I'm not saying this is specifically VZW's fault, but because that's where we purchased our phones VZW needs to be held accountable. Whether it's them or Google, VZW is our vendor who sold us equipment advertised to work in a manner in which it does not. Going on THREE MONTHS without a solution (or even a promise) is completely unacceptable.

 

[dlongar]

After my last htc phone (thunderbolt) fiasco with Verizon and getting to new software releases.... I now have an htc one. Where the Bluetooth is unusable. I'm sick of Verizon's saying its htc and htc saying verizon just won't release the fix..... This is my last htc phone. Nothing but problems that this crappy company cannot fix. I was charged for an upgrade by verizon, but this phone has been a downgrade.

 

[daddio211]

UPDATE!!!

I complained multiple times in a medium where I thought I would get a response, and finally did.

I won't (yet) reveal the details but I want you all to know HTC is now aware of the issue and is working with me as the guinea pig to resolve this issue. They've gone to the effort of duplicating my phone (hardware/software) but couldn't duplicate the trouble. They're NOT giving up and saying it's not their fault either! They're working with engineers in Taiwan to address this and hopefully a solution will be available soon. I've had multiple phone calls from them today requesting information and samples. I will do some traces for/with them tomorrow.

I believe they are committed to fix this and do so quickly. I have a lead engineer's email and direct number and he's answered every time. I won't reveal much more than this for now as I want to give HTC the room to work without a bombardment of calls and emails to the department working on it. If they ask for others with the the issue or make a patch available I will most certainly post it here for you all.

I'll keep you posted as this progresses... fingers crossed!