Related
So my second replacement of this galaxy s still got the ass-paining GPS problem. I had to phone orange again complaining the problem. Orange refused to exchange a different phone for me and told me to go find samsung. But I insisted that the phone was a part of the service they provided, if I was not satisfied I would have to go to them. they finally agreed to give me a third replacement to see what's going on. I'm now waiting at home for the phone to come. Although I doubt I would see any difference on this one, let's say according to law I now have right to return this phone if it's still got the GPS issue.
After I spoke to Orange, I sent an email to samsung mobile uk to tell them the problem. Today I received an email reply:
"Thank you for contacting Samsung Electronics.
Regarding your case, kindly note that the phone needs to be taken to the nearest Samsung authorized service centre to be checked by an engineer as this may be a software issue.
You can follow the link below to locate the nearest Samsung authorized service centre based on your postal code. Kindly make sure that you have selected “Mobile phones” from the drop down menu.
http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/location/supportServiceLocation.do?page=SERVICE.LOCATION
Please note that if this turns outto be a hardware issue, the phone might have to be sent in for repair.
Our manufacturer warranty covers damage caused due to a manufacturer fault and excludes any damage caused by misuse. Please make sure that your phone has not been dropped or exposed to water."
Now I have 2 options. after I receive this final replacement, if it's still got the GPS issue, I can either ask Orange to return the phone and exchange,which I think would be quite tricky,but a good chance to succeed; or I can go to local samsung service and ask them to check and repair the phone for me.
I checked samsung service location, basically it's on every carphonewarehouse store, not difficult to find one near you. I think people with gps issue should really go to ask for repair.
I will keep update this thread until either the phone's got fully functioning GPS or the phone's been returned.
UPDATE: NO 6th replacement has been proved having GPS problem as well. Contacted orange again and they told me they will start an investigation on what's with this phone. Next monday they will call me back to provide a solution, either fix the phone's GPS or exchange me a different phone.
Today I went out on highway, tested gps on both galaxy s and orange san francisco, within 30 mins driving the orange san francisco worked like a charm, no delay, no flaw; galaxy s on the other hand, lost signal for more than 6 times, showed me driving out of the highway...really upset and thought it only fair if gps performance should be better on galaxy s due to much much higher price. Well it's opposite... I would be glad if monday they exchange me a different phone and put an end to the terrible experience i had with this phone...
I am on my fourth handset at the moment and it’s just as bad as my first. I have tried every combination of firmware and fixes but have seen little improvement.
I am now waiting for Vodafone to release their Froyo build officially and when flashed to this it’s going back permanently. Its blatant false advertising and misrepresentation to claim the i9000 is capable of running satnav apps properly. And yes I’m talking about full satnav not just Google apps.
Such a shame as I was so looking forward to CM6 on this handset.
Not exactly relevant, but "final solutions" aren't always successful
Someone needs to amend the title of this thread, as once again its very misleading!
SkinBobUk said:
Someone needs to amend the title of this thread, as once again its very misleading!
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Click to collapse
i'm not sure what's misleading? the solution is to send it back for repair or replace. no one can fix it on his own. you think you can come out a better solution than mine? welcome to try!
I had similar problems with Samsung galaxy S Unlocked sim free.
This is now a distant memory since the official upgrade to Android 2.2.
GPS works excellent.
Check in Samsung Kies, if your phone is ready for an upgrade.
ehe12 said:
i'm not sure what's misleading? the solution is to send it back for repair or replace. no one can fix it on his own. you think you can come out a better solution than mine? welcome to try!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't you think that if the solution was to simply exchange the phone for another that people would of done this allready, let alone the number of people on handset #4,5,6 and still their gps is not as expected.
Your title reads "Final solution", what you gonna do if samsung cant fix it? Do you have any evidence they can?
I dont wanna start an argument or cause any offence but the first thing people will think when they see that title is that contained in this thread is a solution to their gps problems. Instead all they will find is a post from you explaining what samsung and orange have advised.
Also you made another thread stating that the gps problems cannot be fixed by software, and yet in your first post in this thread you've put samsung think its a software problem.
You seem to be believing whoever u talk too and then posting it up for us.
If and when you do finally get a working gps then post away, but there is no need for misleeding posts, etc.
Have you guys tried this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=728611 ? It worked for me.
SkinBobUk said:
Don't you think that if the solution was to simply exchange the phone for another that people would of done this allready, let alone the number of people on handset #4,5,6 and still their gps is not as expected.
Your title reads "Final solution", what you gonna do if samsung cant fix it? Do you have any evidence they can?
I dont wanna start an argument or cause any offence but the first thing people will think when they see that title is that contained in this thread is a solution to their gps problems. Instead all they will find is a post from you explaining what samsung and orange have advised.
Also you made another thread stating that the gps problems cannot be fixed by software, and yet in your first post in this thread you've put samsung think its a software problem.
You seem to be believing whoever u talk too and then posting it up for us.
If and when you do finally get a working gps then post away, but there is no need for misleeding posts, etc.
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Click to collapse
I'm not believing anything ok? I did quote the whole email from samsung service, but I didn't believe the "software" part. What I'm trying to say is get your device back to samsung as soon as possible to have it fixed. If samsung cannot fix it? law says you can return it!
again as I'm saying, the quote from samsung service is just to remind people, contact their local samsung service to check the phone! why are you focusing on the mentioned "software problem"? OK even yes it's software problem, can you fix it? you obviously can't! then what? live with it? hell not for me! contact your local samsung service to get it fixed! that's the final solution to this GPS problem! all I'm saying is if you can't fix it, you have to send it to samsung service, and that's the only final solution!
also as you might be interested, the Orange staff I spoke to told me the following thing: when I sent my phone back, they didn't just accept everything I said, they did test the phone. According to their technician, there's something wrong with the integrated GPS.
can you fix the GPS? no you can't. I can't either. my solution will be send it to samsung so that they can repair it for me. why are you calling it misleading? my solution has a great chance to get the gps fixed!!!and if not, you've proved it's not fixable and you can return or exchange your phone!
We seem to have differant understandings of the world solution.
Fair enough samsung might be able to fix it. But i doubt it as everybody else would have done the same thing or samsung would have released some sort of press release.
And yes if they cant then you should be entitled to a refund/exchange, etc. But that aint a final solution in any sense of the word.
so youre exchanging the phone over and over and hope to have a better gps? did not realized by now that they all have fhe same gps and they all work the same so still exchanging? is the world going nuts?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
SkinBobUk said:
We seem to have differant understandings of the world solution.
Fair enough samsung might be able to fix it. But i doubt it as everybody else would have done the same thing or samsung would have released some sort of press release.
And yes if they cant then you should be entitled to a refund/exchange, etc. But that aint a final solution in any sense of the word.
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Click to collapse
well in my opinion, I paid for a fully functional phone, if even the manufacturer cannot fix it, there is no way I can accept it and return/exchange it is the only solution for me.
maybe you think this is not a solution, but it does solve my problem.
so far I don't know how many have sent their phones back, but I think it might be a huge number.
bilboa1 said:
so youre exchanging the phone over and over and hope to have a better gps? did not realized by now that they all have fhe same gps and they all work the same so still exchanging? is the world going nuts?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
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as there are many people claiming that their GPS work flawlessly, also someone claimed manufacturing dates may decide the quality of the phones, I am trying to prove either of them. even these aren't true, at least I prove that this issue won't be fixed by exchanging phones and I get my legal right to force the phone company to exchange/refund the phone for me. Also if many people do the same thing, the number of returned phones would become so large that samsung might finally have to admit this and file a recall.
this is harmless to all consumers, why not?
So why do several people have a good GPS in their SGSes. If it were hardware problem, how does it come that some people can change phone for 4 times and not get any better results and others have good GPSes from the start? I start to lean towards the idea that the SGS GPS is not great but normal. People have the idea that the phone should have an equally good GPS as for example the screen witch is superb. Well they start to test the GPS and depending on several parameters (not the weather as seems to be a common misunderstanding) the GPS breaks down or they could not get an instant position within 1-2 meters (which is impossible with a cold or semi cold start if you do not have a cruise missile handy). They start fiddling around and mess up the GPS so it do not work at all.
The urban canyon problem that many refers to is a problem that even the high end dedicated GPSes have (look for reviews on the net). They are of course better then the SGS but heck you bought a phone not a GPS.
I do not say that there are no faulty SGSes out there. But so what there have been 7 million sold and there must be some. I also think that the SGS may be hiding the full potential somewhere deep in the hardware and it can be unlocked by some low level upgrade of the GPS. However I am content with the normal function of the GPS and of course I hope that future upgrades can make it better.
However there are evidently some trolls in these GPS forums which you can see if you reading all the mails. However there are not many, but they are rather irritating, in the sense that they will not listen to arguments and even if you show them a good track (which have been posted several times) they will deny it and accuse the user of incompetence instead of trying to find out why there phone is broken.
milsjg said:
So why do several people have a good GPS in their SGSes. If it were hardware problem, how does it come that some people can change phone for 4 times and not get any better results and others have good GPSes from the start? I start to lean towards the idea that the SGS GPS is not great but normal. People have the idea that the phone should have an equally good GPS as for example the screen witch is superb. Well they start to test the GPS and depending on several parameters (not the weather as seems to be a common misunderstanding) the GPS breaks down or they could not get an instant position within 1-2 meters (which is impossible with a cold or semi cold start if you do not have a cruise missile handy). They start fiddling around and mess up the GPS so it do not work at all.
The urban canyon problem that many refers to is a problem that even the high end dedicated GPSes have (look for reviews on the net). They are of course better then the SGS but heck you bought a phone not a GPS.
I do not say that there are no faulty SGSes out there. But so what there have been 7 million sold and there must be some. I also think that the SGS may be hiding the full potential somewhere deep in the hardware and it can be unlocked by some low level upgrade of the GPS. However I am content with the normal function of the GPS and of course I hope that future upgrades can make it better.
However there are evidently some trolls in these GPS forums which you can see if you reading all the mails. However there are not many, but they are rather irritating, in the sense that they will not listen to arguments and even if you show them a good track (which have been posted several times) they will deny it and accuse the user of incompetence instead of trying to find out why there phone is broken.
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I did GPS test fairly and equally. I have another coupla phones, san francisco, hero and touch diamond. I use them all at the same time. SGS is the only one has problem. Clear?
the 4 SGS I got all have the same issue, in the mean time my other models (san francisco, hero, touch diamond) all work great. Does this make sense to you how bad GPS on SGS is? So I replace it 3 times, so what? I just need it to be as good as my other phones. is it too much to ask?
milsjg, we dont expect sgs gps to be better than a dedicated gps device such as tomtom.We just want it to be as gps of some other phones, even some 2 years old nokia phones are much better on that. Thats the problem
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
ehe12 said:
I did GPS test fairly and equally. I have another coupla phones, san francisco, hero and touch diamond. I use them all at the same time. SGS is the only one has problem. Clear?
the 4 SGS I got all have the same issue, in the mean time my other models (san francisco, hero, touch diamond) all work great. Does this make sense to you how bad GPS on SGS is? So I replace it 3 times, so what? I just need it to be as good as my other phones. is it too much to ask?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But why do lots of people have fairly good GPSes? You have to try to answer that question before you are pursing your answer. I have a fairly good (not exceptional missile good) GPS and I have posted several good tracks using different programs.
I also not an idiot and VERY familiar with GPS and programming. I do not mean to insult you if you are not trolling but just telling everybody that all SGS has a faulty GPS because you have had bad experience is not special good idea if you want to keep out of the trolling zone. I just searched for Iphone "GPS problem" on the net and found several links to GPS problems on the iPhone. So recommending from your experience to buy for example iPhone or any other phone in order to be happy with the GPS is very dangerouse.
The Htc Hero link below may clarify my point. Read if you dear because you have a faulty GPS on your Hero according to the link and there plenty more of that on the net. Get the drift?
http://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/27731;jsessionid=B0162F04F9DF9DCFFFC245A792A481BA.app2jive1
milsjg said:
But why do lots of people have fairly good GPSes? You have to try to answer that question before you are pursing your answer. I have a fairly good (not exceptional missile good) GPS and I have posted several good tracks using different programs.
I also not an idiot and VERY familiar with GPS and programming. I do not mean to insult you if you are not trolling but just telling everybody that all SGS has a faulty GPS because you have had bad experience is not special good idea if you want to keep out of the trolling zone. I just searched for Iphone "GPS problem" on the net and found several links to GPS problems on the iPhone. So recommending from your experience to buy for example iPhone or any other phone in order to be happy with the GPS is very dangerouse.
The Htc Hero link below may clarify my point. Read if you dear because you have a faulty GPS on your Hero according to the link and there plenty more of that on the net. Get the drift?
http://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/27731;jsessionid=B0162F04F9DF9DCFFFC245A792A481BA.app2jive1
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Click to collapse
I don't know to be fair. That's why I keep asking my contract provider to replace it for me. I thought if that's something about luck, replacing it as many times as I can could finally get me a working one. But... so far I have 4 in a row all bad GPS. Guess I'm just not lucky at all...
Other than replacing it, I don't know what else I can do to solve this problem. I like this phone and not until final stage will I return it. So far I'm just trying so hard to get one with good GPS. If you have any positive idea please let me know. I only care about this phone's GPS, the link you posted has nothing to do with my GPS issue.
milsjg said:
But why do lots of people have fairly good GPSes? You have to try to answer that question before you are pursing your answer. I have a fairly good (not exceptional missile good) GPS and I have posted several good tracks using different programs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
also where are you? I'm really curious how good your phone's GPS is. If you live in UK, would you mind come over to my place and show me?
I live in Manchester. If anyone has a SGS with fully functioning GPS, could you contact me and let me see how good your GPS is? I'm really interested to know if "Good GPS" really exists.
Sorry Sweden, However try to get hold of a phone with a different operator. Did not htc have a specific problem with Telestra (I do not know
If I spelled it right)
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
I was just wondering for those that have the Bell version of the Atrix, how many of you guys are experiencing muffled outgoing voice quality?
I am so far on my second one and it is still muffled regardless of what noise suppression option I use.
I am thinking of exchanging for a third one but I'm not sure if I will just get another dud or not.
For those that do not have this issue, what is the manufacturing date on your Atrix? I think its that date on the side of the box. Both phones I have gotten had the date 3/1/2011.
Are there any possible remedies to this problem?
I am suffering from muffled call quality, but I'm on AT&T. Ive never had this problem on my other phones in the same exact area. I would like to know whether or not it effects all phones, and if I should exchange it.
Casing
My buddy bought an atrix the other day and he said he could hear me clearly out of my atrix but his was horribly muffled, but then I asked him what case was using, I had him remove the poorly designed case I think it was the bodyglove model,so if anyone is using a poorly designed case and they have this issue consider this variable. As soon as he took off the case his voice was perfectly clear and before it was muffled and unclear
I can only speak on behalf of my AT&T Attic experience, but im sure it is not too different in the voice quality issue.
This 'muffled' voice issue is a well documented and widespread issue. You may want to check out the motorola forums, where there exists a thread with hundreds of replies about this issue.
I experienced this poor call quality with 2 Atrix phones. Only on my second exchange (3rd phone), did I get a unit that did not suffer from the call quality issue. As a side note, turning off noise suppression did nothing to aleviate my call quality problem (as it might be suggested by some).
This issue has also been discussed in length here on XDA.
My advice, keep exchanging units until you find one that does not have the muffled call quality. (Talk about QC on Motorola's part!)
Good luck!
I guess I'll try exchanging for a third one and hopefully third is the charm.
I've had this problem intermittently since February 22nd. I kept it, thinking a software update would help. The last update did not help. Here's what AT&T did for me. Nothing. Because it was intermittent, I couldn't reproduce it on demand so they wouldn't warranty it. They wanted a hard reset, I had already done that and it didn't help so I refused to do it again. I have two of these and made it pretty clear the other one didn't suffer the issue. You gotta love these "scripted" calls where these people aren't allowed to use their brains and just provide some good old fashioned customer service.
So I had to send it back directly to Motorola for repair. That means no phone in the mean time.
AT&T should decide if they will warranty products or not. Pretty half assed experience. But I suppose I'll do better by sending it directly back to Motorola.
-James
I had the same problem done many test on with different cases and then done some researching after doing all that i found a setting on the phone. and it fixed it. Settings/ Call settings/ Noise suppression/ then choose off. i have done several tests with the 3 different settings and that seemed to fix it now everyone i talk too says they hear me clear again.
I have had this issue since I got the "phone". I say "phone" because it's basically unusable as a phone, unless you use speakerphone and hope they can make out what you're saying, good luck trying to give a chinese order. Took me 15minutes last night because my bluetooth headset was in the truck. I went through 3 different people trying to give my order to before one guy could FINALLY understand me after practically having to scream my credit card number at him 16 times. Once you pair a headset and use it however, it's fine.
There are hundreds of people complaining about this and Motorola just keeps telling people they fixed it in the latest update (two updates ago).
Do some google searches for "atrix call quality" and the like, you'll actually be surprised at how many people have returned phones and went with something else entirely. Getting a new phone does nothing to solve this issue for most people. Sadly, the majority of consumers don't realize their phones are affected and just chock it up to just phones generally being bad, not realizing how good it *SHOULD* sound.
EDIT: Forgot to mention I have an AT&T Atrix and bought it directly from them.
dosmac said:
I have had this issue since I got the "phone". I say "phone" because it's basically unusable as a phone, unless you use speakerphone and hope they can make out what you're saying, good luck trying to give a chinese order. Took me 15minutes last night because my bluetooth headset was in the truck. I went through 3 different people trying to give my order to before one guy could FINALLY understand me after practically having to scream my credit card number at him 16 times. Once you pair a headset and use it however, it's fine.
There are hundreds of people complaining about this and Motorola just keeps telling people they fixed it in the latest update (two updates ago).
Do some google searches for "atrix call quality" and the like, you'll actually be surprised at how many people have returned phones and went with something else entirely. Getting a new phone does nothing to solve this issue for most people. Sadly, the majority of consumers don't realize their phones are affected and just chock it up to just phones generally being bad, not realizing how good it *SHOULD* sound.
EDIT: Forgot to mention I have an AT&T Atrix and bought it directly from them.
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Not all Atrix units are affected by this problem. I returned my phone twice and only on the third phone, did I not have any more call quality issues with the "muffled" sounding voice calls.
BTW, as a side note, the first two phones were from the same batch of phones(same store, etc..) The third, and finally usable one, was from a different batch.
My guess is that entire manufacturing batches came out with this problem.
wirednix said:
Not all Atrix units are affected by this problem. I returned my phone twice and only on the third phone, did I not have any more call quality issues with the "muffled" sounding voice calls.
BTW, as a side note, the first two phones were from the same batch of phones(same store, etc..) The third, and finally usable one, was from a different batch.
My guess is that entire manufacturing batches came out with this problem.
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Click to collapse
So, then this is looking more like them denying a quality control issue :/ great. Is it hardware causing this issue? Or just oversensitive noise-cancellation software? I don't think Motorola even knows.. haha
mudd_cat23 said:
I had the same problem done many test on with different cases and then done some researching after doing all that i found a setting on the phone. and it fixed it. Settings/ Call settings/ Noise suppression/ then choose off. i have done several tests with the 3 different settings and that seemed to fix it now everyone i talk too says they hear me clear again.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip. Highly appreciated. Didn't know this was possible.
dosmac said:
So, then this is looking more like them denying a quality control issue :/ great. Is it hardware causing this issue? Or just oversensitive noise-cancellation software? I don't think Motorola even knows.. haha
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Click to collapse
I would venture to say that it's either hardware or a deeply rooted software issue. If it was just a SIMPLE software problem, then flashing different SBFs would technically get rid of the problem, maybe? Have you checked out the thread on the Motorola forums? It's insane.
Anyways, yeah. It's a major QC problem. I had other problems: 1. My LED flash would turn on, stay on for about 10 secs and then one of them would start flashing and eventually turn off. 2. Another problem with the phone's LCD behaving really erratically at different times of the day. 3. The muffled voice. All these are hardware problems that should not have made it out of the factory.
jmacdonald801 said:
I've had this problem intermittently since February 22nd. I kept it, thinking a software update would help. The last update did not help. Here's what AT&T did for me. Nothing. Because it was intermittent, I couldn't reproduce it on demand so they wouldn't warranty it. They wanted a hard reset, I had already done that and it didn't help so I refused to do it again. I have two of these and made it pretty clear the other one didn't suffer the issue. You gotta love these "scripted" calls where these people aren't allowed to use their brains and just provide some good old fashioned customer service.
So I had to send it back directly to Motorola for repair. That means no phone in the mean time.
AT&T should decide if they will warranty products or not. Pretty half assed experience. But I suppose I'll do better by sending it directly back to Motorola.
-James
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Click to collapse
Did you get your warranty replacement phone back yet? Did it fix the problem? I just sent mine in today to get warranty replacement, this better fix the voice problem...do not want to have to send another one back on my dime!!!
jank0023 said:
Did you get your warranty replacement phone back yet? Did it fix the problem? I just sent mine in today to get warranty replacement, this better fix the voice problem...do not want to have to send another one back on my dime!!!
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Just got it in the mail. I'll report back in a few days. They did actually claim to have replaced two parts and sent back the same unit.
On the plus side, once they got it, it only took them 3 days to fix it and they fedexed it back overnight.
-James
One day after the repair. About 10 phone calls, none were garbled or suffered low volume on the receivers end. So far.
I think I'm glad I sent it back to Motorola for an actual physical repair instead of risking getting a refurb from AT&T that might possibly suffer the same issue.
-James
Hmm that's interesting. I have given up on getting new replacements after the 3rd showed the same problem. I may consider going the repair route.
yes, but on AT&T
Is anyone else still having this issue? I haven't made enough phone calls to realize the problem until now. I'm running on CyanogenMod so I don't have the noise suppression feature to turn off. Would they still repair an unlocked phone? I've been making more calls lately and it is driving me nuts.
In relation with this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1067473, I have now recieved confirmation of a serious wifi problem from the danish support section at Samsungs.
I think it deserves its own thread (or else I'm sure people will tell me otherwise).
My mail loosely translated:
...
I have bought the GT-I9100 samsung galaxy s2, and I'm convinced that it has a critical wifi issue. When holding it "normally" i.e. covering the lower back part of the phone, it either completely looses connection, or the signal deteriorates significantly. Also called "grib of death".
...
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Their answer (also loosely translated):
This is a problem that is currently being handled, and we are putting a great effort into fixing it as soon as possible. A official press conference will be held as soon as the final solution has been found. When this happens, you should of course contact your dealer, and continue from there.
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My post in the other thread describing the problem can be seen here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=14420373&postcount=206
Have anyone else recieved answer from support regarding this issue, or heard anything relating to it?
I just tried death gripping my whole phone (Both hands) in a variety of different ways and couldn't get it to drop from 3 bars :/
Omg holding the phone with 2 fingers boosts the wifi signal by 2 bars... Cant be an software issue right?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Hollow.Droid said:
I just tried death gripping my whole phone (Both hands) in a variety of different ways and couldn't get it to drop from 3 bars :/
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Have you about the possibility that it doesn't count for all phones? Maybe it's related to certain batches...
This signal drop confirmed. See previous posts.
jje
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
No offense, but I find what you posted from a support agent hard to believe. If the problem was significant enough to hold a press conference, any information regarding it wouldn't be shared with low-level staff. It also wouldn't be conducted in Denmark, it would be managed by Samsung Corporate PR. And Samsung is known to be extremely protective of communication. Just look at the original Galaxy S GPS issue. If they've found an issue that's good news because it means there will be some type of fix available. But based on what you've posted, I'm skeptical that its going to be some international event involving public communication. Time will tell.
BarryH_GEG said:
No offense, but I find what you posted from a support agent hard to believe. If the problem was significant enough to hold a press conference, any information regarding it wouldn't be shared with low-level staff. It also wouldn't be conducted in Denmark, it would be managed by Samsung Corporate PR. And Samsung is known to be extremely protective of communication. Just look at the original Galaxy S GPS issue. If they've found an issue that's good news because it means there will be some type of fix available. But based on what you've posted, I'm skeptical that its going to be some international event involving public communication. Time will tell.
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I can forward the exact mail to you if you want (though in danish - which you can google translate). I'm just sharing the information. You can do with the information as you please.
BarryH_GEG said:
No offense, but I find what you posted from a support agent hard to believe. If the problem was significant enough to hold a press conference, any information regarding it wouldn't be shared with low-level staff. It also wouldn't be conducted in Denmark, it would be managed by Samsung Corporate PR. And Samsung is known to be extremely protective of communication. Just look at the original Galaxy S GPS issue. If they've found an issue that's good news because it means there will be some type of fix available. But based on what you've posted, I'm skeptical that its going to be some international event involving public communication. Time will tell.
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here comes the voice of reason. I totally agree, an email support person would not be in possession of this info, or would not be allowed to share it.
kreoXDA said:
here comes the voice of reason. I totally agree, an email support person would not be in possession of this info, or would not be allowed to share it.
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That might very well be, but I still contacted support through the official Samsung website, and that is still the reply I got.
Some quick and dirty documentation (warning: in Danish):
BarryH_GEG said:
No offense, but I find what you posted from a support agent hard to believe. If the problem was significant enough to hold a press conference, any information regarding it wouldn't be shared with low-level staff. It also wouldn't be conducted in Denmark, it would be managed by Samsung Corporate PR. And Samsung is known to be extremely protective of communication. Just look at the original Galaxy S GPS issue. If they've found an issue that's good news because it means there will be some type of fix available. But based on what you've posted, I'm skeptical that its going to be some international event involving public communication. Time will tell.
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Btw Barry. I completely agree with every single word that you said. Would you rather I just kept the mail I recieved for my self?
Because a low-level support agent sent you an e-mail, it doesn't mean its true. There were numerous confirmations from Samsung support staff about the imminent arrival of a UK-NFC version of the SGS2 that never materialized. Coincidentally, LG staff in Denmark confirmed a fix for the O2X reboot issues was due out in two weeks. It was six months before it was released. Low-level staff are not typically reliable sources of information.
Regardless, there are quite a few people having Wi-Fi issues based on the number of posts so if Samsung is working on some type of fix that is good news.
There's a multi-page thread on the Sensation forum about the death grip effecting Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity that impacts the phone when held horizontally. It's because of the antenna placement. I have no doubt that as we shove more and more crap in to smaller amounts of space in dual-core phones signal is going to continue to be an issue. I don't know where the SGS2's antennas are but if you cover them you're going to lose signal. Short of an antenna you have to carry separately from the phone, where would you suggest manufacturers put the antenna of a small hand held device? No matter where its placed your going to occasionally cover it. Using Wi-Fi Analyzer I can't see a drop when I do what you suggest in your post. It's been posted that the Wi-Fi indicator in the status bar is inaccurate which you can see if you're using something like Wi-Fi analyzer as it reports very different results. So I'd urge people to use a third party app if they want to try to replicate what the OPs reporting.
DevonHartigan said:
Btw Barry. I completely agree with every single word that you said. Would you rather I just kept the mail I recieved for my self?
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Gosh no. The fact that Samsung Denmark acknowledged there's a problem is terrific news that I'm sure is going to make quite a few people happy. When you look at the Wi-Fi posts there's something strange going on with the SGS2. It's odd that some people have no problems and others can barely get a signal. Hopefully, based on what was shared with you, a fix is in the works. Let's all hope its software based which will be a lot faster and easier.
Firstly, I just forwarded the information that I recieved. Do with it as you please. I'm not saying anything about the truth value of it.
Secondly, there was a reason why I asked the question: "Have anyone else recieved answer from support regarding this issue, or heard anything relating to it?". As I wanted to confirm this rather wild reply from their support.
Also, I am not relying solely on the wifi-indicator. I installed two different wifi-tools, testing for many different parameters (trying to take a somewhat scientific approach).
And it is not only the indicator I'm relying on. The reason why I started suspecting a problem, was because my browsing speeds, and the android market loading speeds, varied extremely (and on several different routers). Even loosing connection completely many times.
I urge people to falsify the information I provided.
(but again, anecdotal evidence is always unreliable)
BarryH_GEG said:
... I don't know where the SGS2's antennas are but if you cover them you're going to lose signal. ...
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the manual says the antennas are in the lower 1/5th of the device. MOST smartphone manufacturers place antennas there these days (lower end of the phone), because that place is the farthest away from your brain when you hold the phone to your ear. I am sure you guys know this, I am just repeating a known thing.
kreoXDA said:
the manual says the antennas are in the lower 1/5th of the device. MOST smartphone manufacturers place antennas there these days (lower end of the phone), because that place is the farthest away from your brain when you hold the phone to your ear. I am sure you guys know this, I am just repeating a known thing.
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Not to change the subject, but you'll find this amusing.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1096021#
The Sensation has a crappy signal and users will get tumors. At least we only have a crappy signal
BarryH_GEG said:
Not to change the subject, but you'll find this amusing.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1096021#
The Sensation has a crappy signal and users will get tumors. At least we only have a crappy signal
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Thanks I find solace in jokes like this, just so I do not feel too pissed about SGS2. My old Captivate used to be more reliable and worked better on AT&T. Probably 50/50 the fault of Samsung (build quality) and AT&T (signal strength). Here is hoping AT&T-customized version comes out soon and I can sell my SGS2. Yes I know it may be limited and restricted, but at least it would have the main functionality optimized and tune: network signal reception.
Nordic Hardware just did a comparison test of Wi-Fi on the SGS2 and the Sensation. A lot of it was focused on the Sensation death grip issue but they ran a slew of comparison tests in a lab environment which should prove interesting. You'll have to use Google Translate to understand it. Here's the link...
http://www.nordichardware.se/testla...are-med-hoeg-upploesning.html?start=8#content
I'm death gripping my buttocks while laughing at this thread.
Weak Wifi signal?... my ar$e!
nobnut said:
I'm death gripping my buttocks while laughing at this thread.
Weak Wifi signal?... my ar$e!
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Stop trolling.
kreoXDA said:
Here is hoping AT&T-customized version comes out soon and I can sell my SGS2. Yes I know it may be limited and restricted, but at least it would have the main functionality optimized and tune: network signal reception.
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They both should have the same radio so when it comes out maybe we'll see things improve just by copying the APN settings and other tweaks. I came from T-Mobile so I don't know I'm crappy.
One thing I've noticed though. I got the phone a Case-Mate Tough Case which is like a cocoon. I also got a PDAir gel that just arrived. There's a funky cut-out on the upper right corner so I e-mailed them wondering why. They said (in Chinese-English) that it was for reception. My phone definitely downloads faster naked or with the PDAir case than the Case-Mate case. It's anecdotal but it seems the phone definitely doesn't like to be covered.
Hey everyone, I know this is going to be a lengthy post but do please read on and feel free to post your thoughts.
Here's the story... I have had my Galaxy S II for 4 weeks now and every phone call I have made & received has been problematic. Everybody I spoke to was complaining about poor quality, an echo to be more specific, they reported their own voice was being echoed back but the call is always fine on my end. What this means is the call is almost impossible to hear for the other person and they end up calling me back on another phone, its driving me mad and it really is a big issue so I decided to get it exchanged with the company I got it from (Dial-A-Phone). I only arranged the exchange today so I have to wait 3 - 5 days for the bag to arrive to post it back in.
In the meantime I was looking online to see if anyone else had this problem and I can across a thread on AndroidForums (Can't post a link here because im a new user). So it looks like it's not just me its actually a lot of people and seems like it's most Galaxy S II's! Reading the posts on the thread its clear to see that the problem only exists when a case is on the phone and that is exactly what I have been finding (I have a CaseMate Gelli).
So this is now making me think exchanging it will be pointless as the new unit will most likely be exactly the same... I did some more looking around and was pretty shocked to find how many people have this issue. I simply searched Google for "Samsung Galaxy S2 call echo" and there are a lot of results, they are all the same issue just on different forums and posted by many different people.
So my options are as follows: Not use a case which I don't want to do because I want to protect this expensive phone, take it out of the case everytime I get a phone call but that is not practical in any way! people have also said to turn off Noise Reduction when a call connects but again I don't want to have to hit "Menu" > "NR" everytime I answer or place a call! Other people say that putting tape over the Noise Reduction mic and cutting bigger mic holes in the cases makes the problem better... But once again I should NOT have to do this! I should be able to use the phone with all functions normally with a case as protection, especially as this is one of the best phones of the year, costs about £500 and none of the other brands such as HTC have problems like this!
A friend of mine who also has this issue showed me an Amazon.co.uk case review entitled "The FACTS about the Galaxy S2 echo problem & the Case-Mate Tough Case" (Again; Can't post a link) but another person who has had the issue and Samsung even tried to cover it up by discontinuing their own case because it was uncovering a problem with their flagship phone.
Anyway that's probably enough on the subject but I just thought this needs to be brought to people's attention and I am also stuck on what to do, As I said I should not have to do any silly workarounds or not use a case, and exchanging it is 99% certain to be pointless... All I can think of is get the replacement phone brand new, don't open it and sell it on eBay brand new then buy a different phone like a Galaxy Nexus for example. But it does annoy me because I love the Galaxy S II, it's a great phone in every way, its just this that ruins it.
Finally, what do you guys think I should do?
Thanks for reading this and feel free to contribute, I just think this needs to be brought to light instead of just secluded in various forums, afterall, its a phone and if the phone calls are useless it's not going to be very good for many people.
You really should search the SGS2 threads before posting. This issue is old news and if you search you will find tweaks to solve the problem.
Edit: But if you reply you will get your post count up a bit
I never had this problem since i bought it, but it's a scary thought since i am doing a lot of calling with it.
I just talked to my G.F. she said my voice comes threw like butter, no problems on any end.
But i do use a plastic casing for my Sgs2, maybe the metal case that you use is the problem my friend, why not try the plastic one's?.
Can't speak for anyone else, but I've had absolutely no issues with call quality either on my end or the person I've been speaking to. None of my friends who have a SII have complained about it either.
Now it may seem like a lot of people are complaining on forums, but Samsung have reportedly sold 10 million units according to an article on Cnet in October. How many complaints have been made in comparison to that number? I doubt it will be as high as 0.1%. So to claim that it "seems like it's most Galaxy S II's!" is a bit over dramatic. Have you really seen about 8 million (that to me would roughly equate to most), different users on one forum? Keeping in mind that it probably the same people moaning on the different forums.
Personally I'd say go for the replacement, the SII is by far the best phone I've ever had. Yes like any electronics there's going to be issues, but I'd be willing to bet the call echo issue is for a small minority of handsets.
I use the samsung official case, vented back cover, not the best protection but i never mess with noise reduction, volume on my end is normally set half way (otherwise the whole world can hear both ends of my conversation) and it has worked perfectly fine, clear as crystal since day 1.
After getting a drink spilled on mine, and subsequently replacing the charge port PCB which also houses the microphone and speaker connectors, i can tell you that there are clear variations in hardware, although minor, still significant enough to potentially be a problem.
It may be totally unrelated but if you search general for "charge port problem" you can see the discussion on different hardware revisions.
Failing that, the easy test is to try this without your case on, also try lowering speaker volume during call and try even blocking the NR mix hole, if nothing fixes it, then its clearly a hw problem and so should really be replaced by Dial A Phone or Sammy.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
ajh94 said:
So it looks like it's not just me its actually a lot of people and seems like it's most Galaxy S II's!
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Yep, i agree. Quite cleary most GS2s are faulty because some people have mentioned it on a forum. Nevermind the other 10 million people that havent. Lets generalise anyway
As mentionned, old news. Workaround posted on multiple threads. Alot of people just deactivated noise reduction in the dialer... Next caller please!
skimminstones said:
Yep, i agree. Quite cleary most GS2s are faulty because some people have mentioned it on a forum. Nevermind the other 10 million people that havent. Lets generalise anyway
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^^^^
This.
And I've had my SGS2 since May and also use the Case-Mate Tough Case. But thanks for bringing this major issue to light that appears to effect you and maybe three other people.
BarryH_GEG said:
^^^^
This.
And I've had my SGS2 since May and also use the Case-Mate Tough Case. But thanks for bringing this major issue to light that appears to effect you and maybe three other people.
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LOL! Yeah dude, I've been using the phone for 7 months now, no issues of this sort at all. Had a hard case, moved to a soft case a few months later (it was a gift) and all my calls have been fine
ajh94,
So you have eliminated the possible issues originated from the network operators?
No problem here, too.
Yeah I have the same problem but seem to have mostly fixed it.
I removed the rubber housing the microphone as it seemed to be blocking the hole and made the microphone hole larger by wedging a small screwdriver in it.
But I agree with some of the other posts, there are ship loads if threads on this topic. I have posted specifics of my fix on one of them.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Wasn't aware of this problem at all.
Had mine since May, been using a Casemate "Barely There" since September, no problems at all here.
OMG.... my SGS-II must be faulty as I didn´t receive any complaints from my callers since I got my SGS-II in May
skimminstones said:
Yep, i agree. Quite cleary most GS2s are faulty because some people have mentioned it on a forum. Nevermind the other 10 million people that havent. Lets generalise anyway
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not being funny but do you think everyone who owns phone looks at forums reports problems or even notice them. Example nice lady where i work thought her sII was perfect, I looked at it showed her pink spot and yellow tint on screen she hadent noticed and wasent that bothered tbh but point being it was there yes its wrong to generalise but arent you doing the same ?
tonnytech said:
not being funny but do you think everyone who owns phone looks at forums reports problems or even notice them. Example nice lady where i work thought her sII was perfect, I looked at it showed her pink spot and yellow tint on screen she hadent noticed and wasent that bothered tbh but point being it was there yes its wrong to generalise but arent you doing the same ?
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Click to collapse
So a nice lady showed you her new phone to you and your natural reaction was to show her "faults" with the phone that she hadn't even noticed?
Let's make sure we eliminate the network operator before creating such bold statements as "major issue". I know tons of people that own this phone at not any of them have reported this issue. Trust me, I'd here about it if there was one.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
So is there a fix for this? Because my phone does the same thing when i receive and make calls. I know someone said to lower to noise.reduction on the dailer. But no clue where to find or how to do that. Thanks.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Solutions:
- Send it to the service center, they should replace the mic with a newer revision.
- Disable Noise Reduction. It's only available during a call and cannot be disabled permanently (Unless phone is rooted, see below), so you have to manually disable on each call.
- You can disable it permanently if your phone is rooted, by using VillianTweaks 1.3.1. There is a fix by LeoMar that supposedly work.
- Use a cover that doesn't cover the top and bottom sides. I've heard that the Case-Mate Barely There cases work, haven't tried it though.
Check this thread for more details.
I have the same problem and my phone is currently at the Samsung service center, though they seemed clueless about the problem so I'm not holding my breath.
tonnytech said:
not being funny but do you think everyone who owns phone looks at forums reports problems or even notice them. Example nice lady where i work thought her sII was perfect, I looked at it showed her pink spot and yellow tint on screen she hadent noticed and wasent that bothered tbh but point being it was there yes its wrong to generalise but arent you doing the same ?
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Click to collapse
Thats my point. Do you think of the 10million GS2s sold that they all have a "major fault" because of a few people mentioning it on a forum?
The vast majority of mobile phone users dont use forums to either report a fault or not to. Using a forum as proof of anything is ridiculous.
If there was a "major issue" do you not think it would be all over the news with 10million units sold? How many of the new nexus phones were sold before the volume bug was reported everywhere?
Let's get all the "that's what she said" jokes on the table and ready to go...
I switched my Essential phone from Verizon to Sprint and upon taking out the SIM card, I stuck the ejector tool in the microphone hole, which is literally RIGHT next to the SIM card tray. There is a post on reddit about this happening on the Galaxy S8 and the consensus is that it isn't a big deal. Well, I felt a definite click and then it went in even further after that supposed click. Crap. Also on the iFixit teardown, they mention this and what a poor design choice it was. So, anyone done this yet?
I can't notice any ill effects just yet. Voice still sounds clear on the other end and the microphone appears to be functional. I emailed Essential and asked about this, and they told me I may experience poor call quality on the other end and I may be unable to use voice search. To me, this = broken microphone. I asked a few more times if this would be a costly repair and if the microphone can actually be damaged, but they just told me to "monitor it going forward." Not very helpful. It seems to be working fine, but something definitely happened where I felt a click and then it went in further. So I wonder what the heck happened? Anyone else done this yet? Let this be a warning to those who are quick to stick the SIM card tool in the first place it fits
-Collin-
Does seem like odd placement, but is it just me or is it pretty intuitive that the Sim card hole is the one that's inside the Sim tray and not the one outside?
My guess is you pierced a piece of fabric that was acting as a guard from dust and to reduce harsh frequencies.
m3lover1 said:
Does seem like odd placement, but is it just me or is it pretty intuitive that the Sim card hole is the one that's inside the Sim tray and not the one outside?
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Well of course I agree looking at it now, but in less than great light and when in a hurry it is a fairly easy mistake. Or I'm an idiot. I accept both scenarios as likely
tw1tch175 said:
My guess is you pierced a piece of fabric that was acting as a guard from dust and to reduce harsh frequencies.
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Maybe you're right. The microphone appears to work fine, but it still bothers me to know that something may have happened. I'll continue to "monitor" as Essential suggested.
-Collin-
I think they designed it that way for the sake of symmetry lol
flakko86 said:
I think they designed it that way for the sake of symmetry lol
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Wouldn't surprise me!
Pay attention. All sim holes are inside of the Sim tray. I've never seen a single tray where the ejection hole is not built into the tray.
It has to be there because it can't be close to the speaker.
Couldn't put it up top because of the magnets, may interfere with the sim
CollinFX45 said:
Let's get all the "that's what she said" jokes on the table and ready to go...
I switched my Essential phone from Verizon to Sprint and upon taking out the SIM card, I stuck the ejector tool in the microphone hole, which is literally RIGHT next to the SIM card tray. There is a post on reddit about this happening on the Galaxy S8 and the consensus is that it isn't a big deal. Well, I felt a definite click and then it went in even further after that supposed click. Crap. Also on the iFixit teardown, they mention this and what a poor design choice it was. So, anyone done this yet?
I can't notice any ill effects just yet. Voice still sounds clear on the other end and the microphone appears to be functional. I emailed Essential and asked about this, and they told me I may experience poor call quality on the other end and I may be unable to use voice search. To me, this = broken microphone. I asked a few more times if this would be a costly repair and if the microphone can actually be damaged, but they just told me to "monitor it going forward." Not very helpful. It seems to be working fine, but something definitely happened where I felt a click and then it went in further. So I wonder what the heck happened? Anyone else done this yet? Let this be a warning to those who are quick to stick the SIM card tool in the first place it fits
-Collin-
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Click to collapse
I just did the EXACT same thing. I heard two click/pop sounds pushing tool in. Now I hear high pitch noise on the other end of a phone call.. I was done listing the phone for sale also, and was taking the SIM card out because I was placing the phone to the side
Waiting to hear back from Essential to see if they can help with replacement mic...
Worst part is, I remember reading this thread when I first was interested in purchasing the phone and though, "no way I would do that".
UPDATE: I'm still an idiot. The phone appears to be fine. It happened to be my girlfriends pixel 2 with a high pitch noise in the earpiece (to be addressed in software update says duder googler support)
I did the same. I'm. An idiot. Nothing bad seems to. Have happened though...
Ditto, did this too and have not noticed any adverse affects. Even heard the "pop" noise.
Lol I did the same thing but I did it at Best buy when I was returning the phone. Lesson learned and got a replacement anyways.
[emoji90] Happens
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 05:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:25 PM ----------
Elvis_Stojko said:
Ditto, did this too and have not noticed any adverse affects. Even heard the "pop" noise.
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Lol I too heard the pop noise
I also did this, and felt like a tool. No issue with that phone since doing it though.
God damn, just did the same thing to my brand new PH-1. Should I return it?
karagiozakos said:
God damn, just did the same thing to my brand new PH-1. Should I return it?
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There have been multiple posts on Reddit about this. Someone reached out to an Essential team member who basically said they suspected users may do this and designed the mic at an angle so nothing could be stuck down to damage it. Doesn't even affect the IP rating apparently.
They are very responsive to customer emails if you'd like personal confirmation.
I also did this yesterday right when I got the phone before I even powered it up or took a second look I put the simtool in the wrong hole... My heart stopped after the pop sound and after I realized what I just did... However I have made plenty of calls and ask everyone how I sound and no complaints. So I assume it's no big deal still really sucks I didn't spend that extra second to see where I was sticking it...
On a side note this phone is amazing and I must have bad eyes because every photo I take is flawless. Not sure what is up with all the bad hype of the subpar camera. I have no issues with it!
LoL. just did it too. made me upset at first , then I got angry with essential for poor design....
now I'm overwhelmed by how many people this happened to
Yeah, add me to the list.. jeez, wish I had read this post FIRST.
When I got the phone at Best buy the lady wouldn't let me help her with it... She said people had been sticking it in the wrong hole and damaging the phone. I thought to myself ? Wrong hole? Of course after thinking, thats what she said lol.. if not for her forward thinking I may have done the same thing and potentially caused some unwarranted pain.. pun intended
I've emailed them about this...
"Sarah (Essential Products)
Nov 17, 12:32 PM PST
Hi There,
Thank you for contacting us.
We have had a few people inquire about this, and thankfully our developers also thought the location may be an issue. Our development team created a specific shaped canal for the microphone hole. This prevents the mic from being damaged by any foreign object that may be put in the incorrect spot. It would not be possible for the mic itself to be damaged from the SIM tool, but the canal itself may have been.
If for whatever reason an issue with the microphone arises, we would recommend you go back to Sprint. They will be able to provide you with the best steps to move forward.
I appreciate your time, and hope you have a great day!
Sincerely,
Sarah
Essential Customer Experience Team"
It's not funny...but I feel much better now since I'm not the only one who did that. I keep blaming myself for not being careful enough!!
Merry Christmas and good luck to all!!