Samsung Galaxy S4 volume issue

[xzShootZx]

About 5 minutes ago, the volume on my samsung galaxy s4 phone got low of a sudden. Putting earphones in, the volume is normal, it's when the earphones are not in, the volume is extremely low. I turn up the volume to the loudest it can be (remember, my earphones are not plugged in, it's just the phone alone) and still, I can barely hear the music at all. It's that low. Is something wrong with my phone? Is there a way to fix it? Please help! Thanks for replying ^_^

 

[UJ95x]

You sure you're not covering the speaker grill with your hand or maybe if you have a case on it? I was talking on the phone a few days ago and I kept putting my hand over the mic and thought I was dropping calls

 

[Veronica Davis]

I have a sound/volume issue with my S4 as well. I have the S4 on the Verizon network. Since the 4.3 upgrade, my volume has been set to a very low level. I've tried several ways to reset the volume an even downloaded apps to increase the volume nothing works. I know the speakers are not broken on the phone because out of the blue the volume starts playing really loud then just as quickly goes back to the low level. This really sucks hard, as I really liked the S4 until this last update. I also have issues with phone calls and the speaker. After 4 minutes the speaker goes off. I know because I check the time duration of the call each time it happens. If I continue the call, the speaker goes off again at random intervals of time, but the speaker button remains highlighted. Very odd and a pain in the rear. Notifications for email and text messages are also very very low. I know how loud this phone used to be and is still capable of being if the issue with sound in the latest update would be corrected. As of tonight, I'm thinking of buying a used HTC One on ebay to replace this phone.