Having issues/problems with microphone on my samsung galaxy s10 plus

[androidforlif3]

So i purchased the Samsung galaxy s10 plus back in april 2019, have used all the different features the phone could possibly have to offer and havent had an issue since. My microphone issue began last week around the ending of april 2020. Didnt think to much of it, as people were telling me they were having trouble hearing me and i would assume because of bad reception. Until just acouple days ago had 3 calls back to back and they all had issues hearing me on the their end, unless i turned on the speaker where they would be able to hear me crystal clear. So i decided to do some research for solutions online, came across troubleshooting ideas, tried them all, still nothing. Going to list them all, if you believe i missed out any let me know. Because my last resort is to contact samsung and hopefully get a new phone or this one repaired.
(The response i get from everyone is, the only way they hear me is if i place the call on speakerphone. Otherwise i sound very faint, and i cut in and out at the same time when i speak)

Cleaned both mics on top and bottom
1. Tried restarting phone
2. Hard reset phone
3. Clear cache and data on all Bixby and bixby related apps, then reset phone
4. Start up in Safe mode, still having issues with mic unless on speaker. So i ruled out the fact that it would be a third party app causing the mic to malfunction.
(Oddly enough i placed a call on an App called "what's app" and didnt have any issues talking regularly and didnt have to place the call on speakerphone. This made me to believe it might be the network settings.. soo)
5. Reset network settings.. still nothing
6. Went into Recoverymode, wiped cache partition.. nadaa, same crap.
(So i went over all the apps i recently downloaded, got rid of em, made sure my phone had the latest software update which was installed 2 days ago.. kinda suspect.. anyway, went through all the steps again. N nothing.)
7. I have now backed up everything and factory reset the phone and still the same issue. Now...
8. Contemplating on smashing this thing against the wall.
9. Decided not to smash against wall...

Someone tell me what is wrong with this thing, and dont tell me its the hardware!

 

[mustang7757]

You can take a look at this thread

https://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s10-s10-plus/956502-s10-plus-microphone-issues.html

 

[mustang7757]

Also you using a case ? Have you tested without one ?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! The primary mic is either blocked (e.g., by lint clogging the opening) or it's faulty. If you've already tried cleaning out the mic opening and it still doesn't work, then it's time to bring it to a repair shop (or contact Samsung, if it's still under warranty).

 

[VidJunky]

Wow. Yeah I'd say you were pretty thorough. I'm actually impressed as a new member being in the know about all of those things and your approach. While I want to agree that it seems like a hardware issue, the WhatsApp call has me perplexed. I have two more tests for you before the wall or repair center.

The dual mics are for stereo sound when recording. Try recording a short video where you say left into the left speaker and right into the right speaker. Then don headphones and see if they both sound equally coming from each channel.

Hopefully the result for the first test is that everything sounds the same, if so the second one is to try a different dialer app. Where I'm stuck is did WhatsApp work because it's a different type of dialer/calling platform/app, none of those quite embody what I'm getting at but I'm sure you understand, or did it work because it utilizes all of the mics for calls? If I'm not mistaken WhatsApp also does video calls so it may just use all of the mics by default, in which case it would be no different than using the speakerphone, which we know works. However what if there's an issue with the stock dialer/phone app? Following that line you could clear the cache and data for the phone "app" but one would think that would have happened naturally when the device was factory reset but maybe resets don't give that kind of individualized attention to each and every app. So maybe some individual attention is needed. Or circumventing it by using a different app and getting something else from the Play Store.

So what if it is the app...? If clearing the data and cache don't cut it but using a different app works... you have a work around but is that enough? I'd sure like to know how this works out, so please post back.

 

[B. Diddy]

It'd be easy to test the WhatsApp issue by calling someone with WhatsApp and putting your finger over the secondary mic opening at the top of the phone. If they can't hear you when that opening is covered, that would mean WhatsApp uses the secondary mic for calls.