Why do I only get to change the volume in 5 steps?

[Android Central Question]

Hi,

When I connect my new Pixel 4a to my 1st generation Marshall Kilburn bluetooth speaker, I only get to adjust the volume on the Pixel in five steps: Off and four steps above. The volume bar on the Pixel itself continues a further 21 steps higher, it doesn't change the output volume on the speaker, though.

I've had the same problem on the BQ Aquaris X2 running on Android One (so essentially Stock Android as well). With any other Android phone running MiUI or TouchWiz (I've tried a Xiaomi Redmi Note 7, a Xiaomi Redmi Note 8, a Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro, and a Samsung Galaxy S5) I get normal volume controls on the Kilburn.
I also get normal controls on the Pixel and the Aquaris X2 when using any other bluetooth speaker or headphones.

Is this a known bug on Stock Android and are there any workarounds? It gives little to no real volume control on the phone and is really bothersome.

Thanks in advance for any responses!

 

[VidJunky]

Not sure how your question ended up in the Pixel forums without an account or a moderator's note saying the thread was moved but welcome to Android Forums.

I have a few questions as I'm not a Pixel user.

To clarify, you connect to a BT speaker and are able to turn the volume up 4 presses of the button or down 1 press, which turns the sound off altogether? However you can continue to press +Vol and see the indicator continue to climb but the sound does not noticeably increase?

When you adjust the volume, is the indicator different than when nothing is connected? On my Samsung my normal volume indicator matches my theme color but when connected to a BT device it changes color and shows the BT symbol next to it. Is your device like this? If not, what do you see? What do you see if you press the volume button and then use the drop down menu on the indicator? Do you see all of the volume controls? Is there one for BT in that list? Are you able to adjust just the BT volume? What is the result?

If you start out at full volume and connect to your BT device does the volume back down to something like 70% automatically? Again, on my Samsung, your options may vary, I have a setting for Media Volume Limit. Settings>Sounds and vibration>Volume>Media volume limit Using this setting I can have the device automatically adjust the volume whenever I plug in headphones or connect to a BT device. I also have a slider that allows me to set the limit I want to use or a tick box to turn the feature off. I've found on some devices that this can be disabled but will automatically turn itself back on when the device is restarted. Is something like enabled on your device?

Considering that we're talking about a BT speaker, one would assume that there are volume controls on the device. If you increase the phone volume to the max or something higher than where you notice a volume change and then increase the volume on the speaker, is there an increase? Is the increase more than if you had left the volume on the phone at its starting point?

I know this is a long way to go for me to say this but based on your second paragraph it sounds like there is a compatibility issue between the two. If each works as expected except when paired I feel like you've answered your own question. Why this would be is anyone's guess but my best advice would be to contact the BT device manufacturer or go to their web page and seek answers there. Here in a handful of Android Users you're not likely to find another Pixel owner with that device. Or you may find someone with that device but that is using a device that it works with. Going to the manufacturer's page you are far more likely to encounter another Pixel owner having a similar issue.