Broken earpiece?

[Peter_H]

Hi

I have recently bought a Xperia P and it is working good so far, except for the "problem" of bad sound quality when I call someone. I don't know how to explain it but the earpiece speaker in the phone sounds broken, as if it would be to loud volume even though I am using low call volume.

I'm a bit scared of this because a this sound was in my old Motorola Defy and that one I had to sent in for repair due to broken earpiece speaker.

Anyone else experienced any this issue?

[suze]

You can test the earphone by accessing the Service Test menu.

Tap the Phone icon and with the dial pad enter

*#*#7378423#*#* (spells service in text speak)

Then Service Tests and then Earphone.... it should play some speaking, some piano type music then an annoying tone.  If this doesn't sound nice and clear (just tested on my P and it sounds fine) then I would suggest getting the device looked at by a technician or maybe speak to your retailer/carrier with a view to exchanging the device if its very new.

Let us know how you get on.

[Peter_H]

Thank you for your answer.

I have just tried the test in the service menu. But the volume of the test sounds is extreamly low compared to in-call volume even though I turn up the volume to max. I can't hear anything wrong using the test, but I can still hear "cracking" sound or how to explain them. Almost only on female voices because male voices usually is darker or more bass.

I just compared with my wifes Xperia Ray and calling my Bank's phone service, auto replay with female voice. I can clearly and perfectly hear the voice on the Ray but on my P I hear bad noice when the voice reach it's highest frequencies.

[suze]

I would contact your retailer/carrier with a view to getting the phone either looked at by Sony or possibly exchanged as its quite new.

You could also ring Sony direct, the number is available from this link

Contact info – global contacts - Sony Smartphones (Global UK English)

You could try running a software repair first tho, it sounds more like a hardware issue but you never know.... it can't hurt to try.  Obviously this will wipe your phone so make sure you have backed up or synced your important information.

[Peter_H]

I talked to my retailer yesterday. They say there is no bad earpiece speaker, it is the background noise from the mobile network. So I did some more testing yesterday when I got home after talking to them, and I can still hear the broken speaker when I call someone.

Another thing, if it would be background noise from mobile network then it would also be there when I use headphones or the loudspeaker but it is not.

The phone was bought the 14th so it is less than 7 days old.

[suze]

I would contact Sony direct if your retailer isn't being helpful.  As you rightly say if it were network noise then it would be present when using the head set.

Also it would NOT be present when doing the service test.

I guess you could go back through to your retailer and ask to speak to someone in higher authority.  Out of interest what country are you in / what retailer did you use.

[Peter_H]

I am from Sweden and I bought the phone from Media Markt here in Sweden. Unlocked phone not bound to any operator.

I just did a factory reset and a repair using Sony PC Companion, it did not help. And I have also tested my new MicroSIM card in my old Motorola Defy (using an microSIM adapter) and I can't hear any cracking sounds on the recorded lady voice when I call my Bank's phone service.

If I lower the volume on the phone the bad noise disapear. And that is fine as long as I'm not in an area, like walking on the sidewalk when cars run by, when I have to turn up the volume to near max to hear the other person. Then the broken sound appears so I can't really hear the person in the other end anyway.

The sound is exactly the same I had on my speakers when I was younger and played way to loud so the treble speaker broke.

EDIT: Another thing, in the service menu total call time is 372247:08:19 is that hours:min:sec?? if so thats like 42 years.. I'm not even that old ><</p>

[suze]

I would try Sony direct from the global contact list I linked above.  My phone is about 10 days old now and I have just tried calling my carrier (who I know has recorded female voice) and there is slight crackle which I think can be put down to poor signal here but on the speaker test the clarity is excellent.  Have also just tested with earphones and despite it not being comfortable with the sound fully up the quality is fine for my ears. 

[Peter_H]

I went back to my retailer and explained everything once again, even though I spoke to the same person. Anyway I got my phone replaced

I have made some calls and the sound quality is way better, the cracking noise is there very low only on max volume. The biggest difference is that I don't have to use max volume even in loud places because the volume is high enough on lower settings.

Not only that part is different the phone feels faster in menus (maybe just my imagination.. after all it's the same software and hardware) and have (at least at work) better 3G connection. 

The screen is way brighter/whiter even though I use the same auto and energy save settings on screen brightness.

The plastic (antenna?) below the glass stripe with the Xperia logo fits way better and is more solid.

The lights in the glass strip is visible, way brighter light from them than on my "old" phone.

Less noise when I listen in headphones with no music... although that doesn't happen a lot

[suze]

I am delighted that you got sorted out and that you are happy with your new phone.  Well done for being persistent, clearly the handset you had originally had an issue.

Now enjoy your phone!