Question Android Car Radio and Anroid Smartphone - Blueetooth Loudspeaker issues

[Adams.Poland]

Hello there! ;-)
I've got a problem with Android car radio (no-name Chinese product with Android 10... Chinese, but from sort of middle price range. Generally a decent piece of electronics... just saying ;-)) and its Bluetooth Loudspeaker system. The Smartphone (relatively modern POCO X3 NFC with Android 12) is only paired with Android Car Radio via Bluetooth (I'm not using Android Auto... That's a long story!) The point is, loudspeaker system works, but sounds quality is simply awful.

1. I've downloaded sounds recording app to test the mic... I recorded my voice and played it aloud - the sound quality was VERY good. So, I assume my case is not about damaged mic.
2. I wanted to explore advanced Bluetooth options in smartphone's Android Developer Mode. However, there was quite a lot of them, I decided to keep with default values.
3. When I talk via smartphone I don't have any reception issues... So that's not the point here!
4. Finally (perhaps that matters?) I don't have sim card inserted into Android Car Radio. I always use my smartphone as a wi-fi hot spot while I'm driving, usually I don't complain about this solution (another long story ;-)).

Can anyone suggest what my be the reason of terrible sound quality? At this point I don't have idea how to solve it. I could send it back to the seller, but I really think it's not a hardware issue. So, if the seller would send me a new radio, I might experience the same trouble. What would You recommend? If I missed something, I will clarify ;-)

 

[SpookDroid]

Do all sounds from the radio come out with bad sound, or just the ones from your phone when connected? Not sure how this particular radio works, but if all sounds come out like that, have you checked the actual speaker connections? If the device is connected to your car audio system via BT, check that the connection to it on the Android radio is set as MEDIA and not just as phone/headset (the latter has very bad audio quality to account for better connection/less latency). Same thing if the only bad audio comes when connecting to your phone.

 

[Adams.Poland]

Do all sounds from the radio come out with bad sound, or just the ones from your phone when connected? Not sure how this particular radio works, but if all sounds come out like that, have you checked the actual speaker connections? If the device is connected to your car audio system via BT, check that the connection to it on the Android radio is set as MEDIA and not just as phone/headset (the latter has very bad audio quality to account for better connection/less latency). Same thing if the only bad audio comes when connecting to your phone.

No, generally the sound is alright, problem is only with bluetooth loudspeaker calls.

I'm pretty sure that Android radio is as "phone/headset" (there is such icon next to device name on the bluetooth devices list). The funny thing is, I don't know how to change it. I mean, I was afraid to change anything in developer mode of smartphone, whereas "normal" pairing via bluetooth reveals very little configuration options. I was not able to change to "MEDIA". How can I do it? Can You help with it?

 

[SpookDroid]

If the device supports the Media profile, it would show up right away in the BT connection settings (no developer mode needed). However, it seems that you only have issues with phone calls, which is not uncommon... Like I said before, for calls, audio gets processed/routed differently, and that depends on both the radio unit controlling the speakers and the device processing the call. Not much you can do about the quality there, unfortunately, and most of it does have to do with the controlling unit (i.e. your car).

 

[Adams.Poland]

However, in developer mode (of android radio) I can see many settings: Audio LDAC Codec Selection/ Bits Per Sample settings / Sample Rate / Bluetooth AVRCP Version...
I can see similar options in developer mode of my android phone. As I mentioned before, I did not change these options because I did not want to check it via "trial-and-error", I think it's a bit too complex to handle it that way... Are You 100% it cannot be fixed?

"Not much you can do about the quality there, unfortunately, and most of it does have to do with the controlling unit (i.e. your car)."

Controlling unit? Do You mean my android phone in this case? When I call with this phone when I'm not in the car the sound quality is alright. Are You sure I cannot fix it? What about replacing a phone? Would it help?

 

[SpookDroid]

The controlling unit is whatever is connected to the speakers and managing the 'phone' audio profile (in this case, I presume it's your Android car radio). Unless THAT has any settings to modify the audio output of CALL audio (not media), changing phones would not improve things. I do not know what the developer options do, so can't offer insight on whether that would help or not, but I suspect those options have more to do with media audio than the 'basic' transmission used for calls.

 

[Adams.Poland]

OK, thanks a lot! However, I'm not closing this thread yet... maybe someone will add something more here. But still, thank You a lot! ;-)