Anybody else get a faulty call mic?

[BAMM]

I've had my Xperia Ion for about 3 months now or since it released in the U.S., and so far it's been an awesome phone EXCEPT for the actual "phone" capabilities just until recently. Whenever I am on the phone with people now, my mic muffles, decreases the volume, or totally mutes audio on the other end of the call, so no one can really understand me, unless I'm on speaker phone which even sometimes doesnt work unless I speak really loudly and I can't always do that because I'm in college and often times in public. Was wondering if any of the other Xperia Ion owners experienced this and if you have, were you able to remedy it yourself?

I asked Sony Support about this and they said I would need to send it in for repair. I really want to avoid this because there would be just TOO many settings, backgrounds, apps, and app settings to readjust if I sent my phone in and got it formatted and repaired. If I do unfortuantly have to do this, how can I smoothly and most efficiently backup my phone's internal contents? And also how do I go about sending my phone into Sony?

[Petter]

I haven't heard about such an issue before at all.

Have you tried with other SIM-cards then just one? Sometimes these kinds of issues also are related to the SIM, even though it might sound strange.

Anyone else that have experienced the same, or any likewise, issue?

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[GingerSnap]

I've had this issue too. Mine is actually to the point where I'm about to send it in for repair. I tried factory resetting the phone, but it still doesn't work. In phone calls, no one can hear me speak and the google voice search won't work either. I installed the sony System Monitor app and tested the microphone. When it plays back what it recorded, if I turn the sound way up I can hear me, but it's very faint. Mine started out with the muffled sound where people could barely hear me, then got gradually worse. If I'm on speaker phone and yell into the mic people can somewhat hear me, or if I use a pair of headsets I am crystal clear [which further makes me mad that the phone didn't come with a pair =( ].

I suspect that it might be somekind of a problem like some Xperia phones had before, but I don't know. If the main microphone is getting the same power that a headset is getting, then it probably isn't amplifying the sound enough. Another thing I thought might have been the problem was the "reduce background noise" setting, but I turnned that off and still it had no effect on the microphone.

I'll send mine in and see what they find out, but that could take a few weeks for them to fix it and return it to me.

[BAMM]

Yeh I might be sending it in too, I took out the SIM card and re placed it back in like the support guy suggested so I'm gonna test that out today. But where did you find the Sony System Monitor app? I couldn't find it in the market, Yeh though mines acting exactly like you described. Let me know regardless how the results turn out for your phone after the repair.

[GingerSnap]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sonymobile.androidapp.functiontester

I thought it was called system monitor. Lol. Anyways, its an okay app. I used it mostly to check battery temps (which I suspect may be a related issue since mine can get up to 45°C (113°F) at times.)

[BAMM]

Hey so I discovered the problem (atleast I think) for the faulty mic. The mic hardware itself wasn't the problem, what the support guy said was along the lines of what caused the mic to be bad. It was simple too: the SIM card in the back was a little loose. I opened up the card slot of the phone and noticed the SIM card was protruding a little more than normal from its slot so I took it out and placed it back in securely then rebooted my phone. The next call I made, I was competely clear, hah could be heard once again. So try that if you haven't fixed it yet.

[leonapuli87]

i'm having the same problem too. thank god i have a compatible headset but video recording won't record audio through the headset. i ran theselftest on the phone and i can confirm that the microphone does sound muted but come out loud and clear using the secondary microphone.

i'm tempted to send in the phone but i do not have a back up phone and i honestly don't see myself without a phone for a minimum of 3 weeks.

i have taken out and re-inserted the sim tray with a reboot after and still the same. i read on other forums that a gasket type with adhesive to the metal microphone array may have melted and now blocking the array.

this is my 2nd ion and i am past the 30 day return for the store. as stated before, turning in my phone and not having a phone for that long is not an option. unfortunately, almost all the cell phone repair stores in my area do not service the new xperias under sony.

i'm tempted to open up my phone just to place that gasket back or completely disregard it but, there isn't any assembly breakdowns especially for a phone with a sealed battery.

food for thought, for a flagship LTE phone, sony should of known that the phone could get hot and possibly melt some of the adhesives especially if the adhesive is on a metal part.

[abhi_jain]

I'm also facing the same problem

[RBen]

I also got the same problem : nobody can hear me while on phone.

Is it more likely to be a software problem or a hardware one?

I have tried everythinh mentionned above...

[error303]

My microphone just died. Factory reset did nothing. Resetting SIM cards or using a new SIM did nothing. Service Menu test shows that the secondary mic works but not primary. I called Sony since my phone is still under warantee and was told it could be two weeks to fix my phone, not counting shipping time, so I could be without a phone for up to three weeks.

Is there anybody who has a good tip on how to fix this? I travel all the time for work, so not having a phone for awhile would be almost impossible, and I'd really hate to buy a new phone for a few weeks just over this.

I can't believe that if this is a wide spread problem there's no solution other than 'ship it back and wait a few weeks'... any one have any solutions at all?