Nexus 6. 0 for 2. Horrible phone.

[Derek Randall]

Was so excited to finally leave Samsung. I didn't care about having no IR blaster. The sound was so awesome compared to any device out there. But when I put my Nexus 6 on my left ear the screen stayed on. So whenever I talked on the left side I hung up on my calls, hit mute, hit 222222 etc. Right side works fine. I returned the first phone and received my next one 3 days later. Then 2 days after that the same problem happened again. I called Motorola and they said they are having proximity sensor problems in tons of Nexus 6's. So everyone make sure you return this piece of junk within your 14 day trial period. And do not buy one on Ebay or Craigslist as you will be out of luck trying to return. Thanks Motorola for getting my hopes up. Now I have to go back to Samsung and cup the back of the phone with my hands just to hear a song, I can't believe there isn't more choices in 6 inch phones for ATT. Should I go back to the Iphone or get the Note 4?

 

[Golfdriver97]

Counter question: Have you tried locking your screen (clicking the power button once, similar to shutting the screen off) when you are on a phone call?

 

[maverick7526]

Was so excited to finally leave Samsung. I didn't care about having no IR blaster. The sound was so awesome compared to any device out there. But when I put my Nexus 6 on my left ear the screen stayed on. So whenever I talked on the left side I hung up on my calls, hit mute, hit 222222 etc. Right side works fine. I returned the first phone and received my next one 3 days later. Then 2 days after that the same problem happened again. I called Motorola and they said they are having proximity sensor problems in tons of Nexus 6's. So everyone make sure you return this piece of junk within your 14 day trial period. And do not buy one on Ebay or Craigslist as you will be out of luck trying to return. Thanks Motorola for getting my hopes up. Now I have to go back to Samsung and cup the back of the phone with my hands just to hear a song, I can't believe there isn't more choices in 6 inch phones for ATT. Should I go back to the Iphone or get the Note 4?

Must be your phone. That sucks man. I've had mine for about a month and its fine.

Posted via THE Nexus 6!

 

[con5150]

If it means anything side by side comparisons between the Nexus 6 and the Note 4 the 6 won easily with the speaker sound...Note 4 generally scored better with comparison on making use of the screen size...but speaker quality seems to be a big thing for you ?, I am listening to SiriusXM on my Nexus 6, it's loud and sounds great , can't imagine going to another phone that does not match up with this.... The HTC M8?, lacks the size though....perhaps see what the HTC M9 brings ? ,sucks you had these problems

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Greg C]

Was so excited to finally leave Samsung. I didn't care about having no IR blaster. The sound was so awesome compared to any device out there. But when I put my Nexus 6 on my left ear the screen stayed on. So whenever I talked on the left side I hung up on my calls, hit mute, hit 222222 etc. Right side works fine. I returned the first phone and received my next one 3 days later. Then 2 days after that the same problem happened again. I called Motorola and they said they are having proximity sensor problems in tons of Nexus 6's. So everyone make sure you return this piece of junk within your 14 day trial period. And do not buy one on Ebay or Craigslist as you will be out of luck trying to return. Thanks Motorola for getting my hopes up. Now I have to go back to Samsung and cup the back of the phone with my hands just to hear a song, I can't believe there isn't more choices in 6 inch phones for ATT. Should I go back to the Iphone or get the Note 4?

That sucks you're having that issue. I have had absolutely no issues with mine. I would try once more before you give up on the Nexus 6. I came from the Samsung Galaxy S5 and I'm not looking back. Give it another try... that's my advice.

 

[Kwdan]

Was so excited to finally leave Samsung. I didn't care about having no IR blaster. The sound was so awesome compared to any device out there. But when I put my Nexus 6 on my left ear the screen stayed on. So whenever I talked on the left side I hung up on my calls, hit mute, hit 222222 etc. Should I go back to the Iphone or get the Note 4?

Yes, go to note 4..that is clearly the better phone for you. It's a great device.

 

[Lee_Bo]

I guess I'm part of the elite group of folks who got their N6 and haven't had any issues. Sorry to hear that yours hasn't met your expectations.

 

[jsr1973]

I'm having the same problem, doesn't matter what side I hold the phone on the screen doesn't turn off. This happens about 95% of the time. I talked to motorola about it (I bought it from them) and the guy told me to put the phone in safe mode because it could be a third party app I installed thats causing the problem, that did nothing. Now i'm waiting for a call back.

 

[jsr1973]

I'm having the same problem, doesn't matter what side I hold the phone on. Talked to Moto (I bought it from them) about it and the guy had me put my phone into safe mode because he said it could be a app i've installed and that did nothing, now i'm waiting for a call back.

 

[cozzy123]

Works fine on my nexus 6

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[bnice]

Sorry, but I'm not experiencing this issue.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Jeremy8000]

when I put my Nexus 6 on my left ear the screen stayed on. So whenever I talked on the left side I hung up on my calls, hit mute, hit 222222 etc. Right side works fine.

A couple of things lead me to think the proximity sensor issue you're experiencing isn't a hardware flaw, but rather one of design.

First off, having two consecutive devices with the same 'defect' is highly unlikely. Second, if it's consistently working on one side, but not the other, it sounds like a variable of how you're using the phone rather than the function/malfunction of the sensor itself (though that doesn't rule out a possible contributory issue of sensitivity).

The proximity sensor is on the top left side of the phone. Because it's not centered, a user holding in the same relative position against either ear could experience different results as follows: If you tend to hold the top of the phone against the middle or lower part of your right ear, your ear is against the top left of the phone - essentially covering and triggering the sensor. If you tend to hold the top of the phone low against the middle or lower part of your left ear, your ear is against the top right of the phone - the sensor may not be close enough to you to trigger it. I tested this and in the right position (not the way I personally hold the phone, but not an 'unnatural' position either), I was able to consistently replicate the results you indicated.

If this is how you hold it, try (for purpose of verification) holding it a little higher to see if that makes a difference - that might confirm if this is the cause.

If so, it's an ergonomic flaw in the design for which few enough people have been affected that it may have slipped under the radar in initial testing and development. It's worth noting that an issue of this type wouldn't historically have been a concern on smaller, narrower phones, but could becoming evident as they've enlarged. Perhaps a better solution would have been to mount the sensor more towards the sensor.

 

[brosko]

A couple of things lead me to think the proximity sensor issue you're experiencing isn't a hardware flaw, but rather one of design.

First off, having two consecutive devices with the same 'defect' is highly unlikely. Second, if it's consistently working on one side, but not the other, it sounds like a variable of how you're using the phone rather than the function/malfunction of the sensor itself (though that doesn't rule out a possible contributory issue of sensitivity).

The proximity sensor is on the top left side of the phone. Because it's not centered, a user holding in the same relative position against either ear could experience different results as follows: If you tend to hold the top of the phone against the middle or lower part of your right ear, your ear is against the top left of the phone - essentially covering and triggering the sensor. If you tend to hold the top of the phone low against the middle or lower part of your left ear, your ear is against the top right of the phone - the sensor may not be close enough to you to trigger it. I tested this and in the right position (not the way I personally hold the phone, but not an 'unnatural' position either), I was able to consistently replicate the results you indicated.

If this is how you hold it, try (for purpose of verification) holding it a little higher to see if that makes a difference - that might confirm if this is the cause.

If so, it's an ergonomic flaw in the design for which few enough people have been affected that it may have slipped under the radar in initial testing and development. It's worth noting that an issue of this type wouldn't historically have been a concern on smaller, narrower phones, but could becoming evident as they've enlarged. Perhaps a better solution would have been to mount the sensor more towards the sensor.

You would think they would have dual sensors or something to get feedback from 2 spots on the top of the phone to ensure the screen shuts off.
Also I'm sure the op was smart enough to physically cover the sensor with his finger to verify if it was functioning correctly or not.

 

[Jeremy8000]

You would think they would have dual sensors or something to get feedback from 2 spots on the top of the phone to ensure the screen shuts off.
Also I'm sure the op was smart enough to physically cover the sensor with his finger to verify if it was functioning correctly or not.

Things often become self evident only after they've been discovered the first time. It's probably never been an issue in the past, with smaller phones - or if the sensor had been centrally located. I'll agree that going forward, presuming this is the cause, they'll do something like that to avoid the problem impacting even the few that it does.

His testing or not testing the sensor with his finger to see if it works (which is not something he said he did - he only indicated an issue holding it on one side that didn't occur when holding on the other) wouldn't be relevant to presence of an ergonomic design flaw. As I said, in this case it sounds like it is not faulty hardware, but an error of design that failed to account for an issue that would only really surface with very, very large phones.

 

[brosko]

Things often become self evident only after they've been discovered the first time. It's probably never been an issue in the past, with smaller phones - or if the sensor had been centrally located. I'll agree that going forward, presuming this is the cause, they'll do something like that to avoid the problem impacting even the few that it does.

His testing or not testing the sensor with his finger to see if it works (which is not something he said he did - he only indicated an issue holding it on one side that didn't occur when holding on the other) wouldn't be relevant to presence of an ergonomic design flaw. As I said, in this case it sounds like it is not faulty hardware, but an error of design that failed to account for an issue that would only really surface with very, very large phones.

You would think that with something as big as releasing a phone worldwide they would have discovered this beforehand if there was ANY way that the sensor wouldn't register while placing the device up to your ear to talk .

He insinuated (at least that is what I gathered from it) that the sensor itself was bad and that it was not sensing the presence of his body thus not shutting off the screen. Aside from ergonomics, whether the sensor is bad (the actual function of the sensor itself) or not can be tested by simply covering it up. Very simply that would prove if it is a defective sensor or just bad placement of the sensor on the device with pertaining to him and his particular preference of placement of the device to his ear while using it.

Edit: re reading his post he said that Motorola told him they were having problems with the proximity sensors on tons of n6s. That would indicate that not all of them have problems, meaning it is defective hardware on certain devices and not a general design flaw.

 

[TraderGary]

If it's of any help in determining proximity sensor function versus production date, my Nexus 6 was purchased on the release date. My proximity sensor works as it should on either ear with no problems or failures.

 

[Jeremy8000]

He insinuated (at least that is what I gathered from it) that the sensor itself was bad and that it was not sensing the presence of his body thus not shutting off the screen. Aside from ergonomics, whether the sensor is bad (the actual function of the sensor itself) or not can be tested by simply covering it up. Very simply that would prove if it is a defective sensor or just bad placement of the sensor on the device with pertaining to him and his particular preference of placement of the device to his ear while using it.

Edit: re reading his post he said that Motorola told him they were having problems with the proximity sensors on tons of n6s. That would indicate that not all of them have problems, meaning it is defective hardware on certain devices and not a general design flaw.

Technically, you inferred it, he didn't insinuate it. He said he had problems with two consecutive phones and the description of his problem matches up more to an ergonomic issue than issue of hardware performance - unless he holds the phone considerably closer to one ear than the other. I agree with you that it would be a very simple process to test the sensor in the manner you described, but the OP never gave any indication that he had tried that, regardless of how logical a step it might appear to be, so it should not be presumed. He only gave reference to the issue as he experienced it and that it was consistent on one side, but not the other.

If Motorola reps are indicating that a number of people have had problems with the sensor, that does not automatically mean that the sensor itself is faulty, precluding the possibility that the issue stems from the way the phone is held. And I'm not saying that the latter is necessarily the case, but the position-based symptoms he described would not surface any differently whether you held a finger from your left or right hand over the sensor, where identical positioning against left or right ear can cause it to occur.

If that's the case, should Motorola have caught it? Certainly. Does the fact that they should have mean that it's not worth speculating that they might not have? Definitely, especially when the issue maps up more to that likelihood than to one of hardware.

 

[brosko]

He said tons of phones had problems with their prox sensors not tons of people had problems with the placement of the prox sensor on the phone. This leads me to believe that there is a hardware problem on a batch of phones, and that was his problem. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe not, but this is what I took out of his post.

Maybe the op can chime in an elaborate a little more as to what moto told him?

 

[Robbie317]

Very rarely have I seen a MFG say "We've seen this issue in tons of phones/devices." Even if it's an issue with TONS of phones they will usually try and say it's not wide spread even when it is.... I took delivery of mine November 19 and I have not had any issues with mine.... The thing has been flawless.. It's been by far the best phone I've ever owned... The Nexus 5 was pretty good but I never could say "Man this is the best." it had it's draw backs but was so cheap for what you got.

Not to say there are not issues with some here and there.... Stinks to hear anyone is having an issue with their device...

I had to call my voice mail and hold mine up to my left ear since I NEVER hold my phone to my left ear and mine is not having this issues.. But it could be due to my over sized head.... Just extremely happy with mine.. Felt Motorola/Google did a superb job this go around with the Nexus...

 

[Jeremy8000]

He said tons of phones had problems with their prox sensors not tons of people had problems with the placement of the prox sensor on the phone. This leads me to believe that there is a hardware problem on a batch of phones, and that was his problem. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe not, but this is what I took out of his post.

Maybe the op can chime in an elaborate a little more as to what moto told him?

Whatever hardware issues may or may not exist with some Nexus 6 proximity sensors, I submit that it is highly unlikely that that issue is the root of his problem, for the simple fact that it consistently works when held to one side of the face, but not the other. I've seen other threads elsewhere indicating this exact same issue - works fine against right ear, but not left - which lends support to the theory about off-center sensor location being the culprit. If a rep indicated that they've had issues with the sensor, it's likely that that is based on their having received calls reporting issues by customer, and not that Motorola has directed them to advise as such (which would be very, very unlikely), and those customer-reported issues could as easily be from placement as from legitimate hardware flaw.