Nexus 5x - Why is my left channel audio only working?

[AC Question]

Nexus 5x - Only left channel audio working...

Hi, my Nexus 5x has started to only play the left channel of audio. Its most obvious when listening with earphones, as nothing comes out the right ear. Even without earphones though, I can hear that the right channel is missing, so this eliminates the earphones as being the problem. It is also not specific to an app - I use Google Music to play music but even demoing the alarm clock or ringtone, the audio only comes through one channel.

Anyone else have this problem? I'm reluctant to do a factory reset, especially if this doesn't resolve the issue.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Do other earphones do this as well? Have you checked the headphone jack for any debris or damage? Use a can of compressed air to blow it out, or a damp toothpick to root around.

Remember that the 5X has only one mono speaker, not stereo speakers. The first 5 things to know about the Nexus 5X | Android Central

 

[benhaube]

Re: Nexus 5x - Only left channel audio working...

My N5X has a pretty stiff headphone jack. I had this issue with a pair of my earbuds and found they were just barely pulled out a little. I had to use extra force to get it the rest of the way into the jack and both channels worked fine after that. I've found that this only happens with some of my headphones too. Some of them don't take that extra force to insert.

Posted via the Android Central app on my Nexus 5X with Project Fi

 

[shauno2]

Thanks for your responses (I'm the original thread author, but I've made an account now).

B. Diddy - I appreciate its a mono speaker, but surely this should still combine & play the 2 channels of a stereo track? As I hear it, any instruments / vocals specifically channelled to the right are missing completely. Yes I've tried to clean out the headphone jack, there doesn't appear to be anything in there (I've only had the phone a month, so wouldn't expect there to be a build up of debris).

benhaube - I've tried 'forcing it' in further but it already looks like its in as far as it can go, and gives a pretty satisfactory click to suggest its in correctly. I've tried other earphones but the problem remains.

 

[B. Diddy]

That's very strange. Try wiping the cache partition, which won't erase any personal data. The steps for the 5 should work for the 5x: http://forums.androidcentral.com/nexus-5-rooting-roms-hacks/352008-guide-nexus-5-recovery.html. On the 5, the process takes about 5-10 minutes, so be patient.