Microphone noise cancellation goes haywire when leaning back - Nexus 5X Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Has anyone been on a phone call with their 5x, reclining or lying down for a minute, when the other person complained that your voice suddenly cut out, became muffled, and/or sounds "robotic"?
This is easily reproducible on two new 5x's I bought a month apart. In fact, it's so easy to reproduce that I'm surprised that I haven't (yet) found a thread here on XDA about it. I guess since so few people use their phones to actually talk anymore, and since it only happens when reclining, people probably just chalk it up to bad reception and forget about it.
But there's a thread on the Google support forums and one reddit comment from more than a year ago about it, suggesting to me that this has been happening since the 5x was released. That's not reassuring me about the chances of this being fixed, which is frustrating since the call quality switches from great to terrible entirely based on posture, so it ought to be fixable in software, right? The Google forum thread describes a workaround of disabling the "fluence" noise cancellation entirely, which is not ideal.
(I can't include links to the threads since this is my first post.)

cxseven said:
Has anyone been on a phone call with their 5x, reclining or lying down for a minute, when the other person complained that your voice suddenly cut out, became muffled, and/or sounds "robotic"?
This is easily reproducible on two new 5x's I bought a month apart. In fact, it's so easy to reproduce that I'm surprised that I haven't (yet) found a thread here on XDA about it. I guess since so few people use their phones to actually talk anymore, and since it only happens when reclining, people probably just chalk it up to bad reception and forget about it.
But there's a thread on the Google support forums and one reddit comment from more than a year ago about it, suggesting to me that this has been happening since the 5x was released. That's not reassuring me about the chances of this being fixed, which is frustrating since the call quality switches from great to terrible entirely based on posture, so it ought to be fixable in software, right? The Google forum thread describes a workaround of disabling the "fluence" noise cancellation entirely, which is not ideal.
(I can't include links to the threads since this is my first post.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I’m having similar issues, although I never tested whether it might have anything to do with how I’m holding my phone. For me, it’s mostly when I’m having phone calls in my room that people complain to me I that I'd sound like I’m underwater, or standing a million miles away from my phone. Never had anyone tell me those things when I'm talking on the phone outside.
First thought it would be a network issue, but recently had a few Skype calls where the same thing happened.
Just out of curiosity, does your phone’s compass lose its calibration quite often as well?

Google Maps asks me to calibrate the orientation of the phone pretty regularly. A friend of mine with a 5x said that his orientation is always off by a certain amount.
Still, I think the phone can probably be in nearly any orientation while held against someone's ear, so it shouldn't be trusting that to switch into this cancel-almost-everything noise cancellation mode. I'm not sure that there is any use case that is well-served by the way the microphones behave in this mode.
Please try making a voice call and recline for about a minute, and see if the problem repeats itself! You can send feedback about the device in the Settings -> About section.

cxseven said:
I'm not sure that there is any use case that is well-served by the way the microphones behave in this mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, true. That's why I thought it would be a hardware issue and considered sending it in for repair.
I'll let you know about how my phone behaves when I lean back when I get the chance to do that during a voice call.
EDIT: Sorry, started Googleing around only now. I came across the reddit-thread you mentioned, plus a couple other articles that mention poor call quality with Nexus 6P and 5X devices. All of them suspect it's a software issue, but it looks like it's been around since at least late 2015.
https://www.reddit.com/r/nexus5x/comments/4askst/nexus_5x_microphone_not_working/
http://indianexpress.com/article/te...sers-complaining-of-poor-call-quality-report/
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/having-nexus-6p-microphone-issues-170254603.html

I just ran a test. My problem, as silly as it sounds, has apparently been that I don't usually let my phone touch my cheek when making voice calls. I hold the speaker against my ear, but then point the rest of my phone away from my face. When I press the phone against my cheek, everything works as it should. Figured it out by calling my Nexus via Skype.

um.z said:
When I press the phone against my cheek, everything works as it should.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen other people report that, and my 5x's also drastically muffle my voice the instant they're not touching my face, but they both ALSO do that after leaning back for a few moments, regardless of how firmly the phone is pressed to my face. Does yours not do that?

cxseven said:
Does yours not do that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tested it again and I'm sorry, but noise cancellation doesn't go rampant on mine when I lean back. It's all been as it should.

um.z said:
Tested it again and I'm sorry, but noise cancellation doesn't go rampant on mine when I lean back. It's all been as it should.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which Android version are you on? Also, did you try lying down, or just leaning back a little? I thought the problem must be widespread because it's been happening on two different phones I ordered a month apart.

Related

Weird NOISE/crackling during call - DESIRE HD - HELPPP

Hello , i recently bought the Desire HD, and havent been experiencing any problems with it except of one quite annoying.
When im in a call, either outgoing or incoming, the speaker makes a weird crackling noise.
This happens always, and happens on both the phones speaker, and loud speaker (depending on which is selected during call), and headphones(when connected). Ive searched the forum, and some people have been experiencing a sort of problem, but not on the same device.
any help is very much appreciated thank you
I can verify that I'm experiencing the same with my Desire HD.
We discussed this issue already in the german "Android-Hilfe"-Forum. This buzzing, crackling noise seems to affect a small number of desire HD's. Mine was affected too. All the devices have been changed on warranty with no costs for the customer in germany. No matter from which provider they were bought.
Edit: BTW: Wrong Forum, I think. Could an Admin move this thread please?
Thanks for the quick replies guys, appreciate it
Hi All,
My Desire HD has started doing this today too! Really gutted. What has HTC UK support been like this on it? Replacement or repair, and how quick? I dont want to be without a phone long! Is this a widely recognised problem, apart from this thread I dont see much on it. Im wondering if the buzz comes from a loose LED flash cover vibrating caused by the speaker?
Thanks very much
I have the same and I thought it is the proximity sensor opening and closing.
Are you guys sending it back for replacement or are you going to live with it?
i have the same problem it sounds like the earpice is short circuiting for 1/10 second
i dont know is it a general problem or only limitted to our handsets
and if we update the radio version is it going to disappear or not
any help is appreciated
mohamedgam said:
i have the same problem it sounds like the earpice is short circuiting for 1/10 second
i dont know is it a general problem or only limitted to our handsets
and if we update the radio version is it going to disappear or not
any help is appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sent 2 support cases to HTC at the same time. The one was for tjis issue and the other for something else. The other one was answered next day but for that one, not a word. Does this tell you something?
didnt understand you sir.
mohamedgam said:
didnt understand you sir.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I say that: I contacted HTC support in regards to this but haven't received a reply. But, I have received replys for other cases. And this doesn't sound good.
i have the same issue
Issue with noise
I recently replaced my DHD due to a similar issue. I found if my hand palm was making contact at all with the SIM.SD Card cover, ie the antenna I would get an extremely high pitch feedback sound. Also if phone was on charge the crackle sound was audible.
Orange were great and replaced the original handset straight away at no cost but the replacement also appears to have the same issue. For the moment I'm considering contacting HTC direct but i'm not sure as otherwise I love the phone, and truly believe it is the best on the market.
I think the issue might be resolved if i get a outer protective cover so I'm going to try that first, and not use the device while on charge.
Would be good to know if others have had these experiences.
MikeinCambs said:
I recently replaced my DHD due to a similar issue. I found if my hand palm was making contact at all with the SIM.SD Card cover, ie the antenna I would get an extremely high pitch feedback sound. Also if phone was on charge the crackle sound was audible.
Orange were great and replaced the original handset straight away at no cost but the replacement also appears to have the same issue. For the moment I'm considering contacting HTC direct but i'm not sure as otherwise I love the phone, and truly believe it is the best on the market.
I think the issue might be resolved if i get a outer protective cover so I'm going to try that first, and not use the device while on charge.
Would be good to know if others have had these experiences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whatever you decide, contact HTC so that they know and work on the problem. As I said, I contacted them but never received a reply which means that they are aware and have no solution.
MikeinCambs said:
I recently replaced my DHD due to a similar issue. I found if my hand palm was making contact at all with the SIM.SD Card cover, ie the antenna I would get an extremely high pitch feedback sound. Also if phone was on charge the crackle sound was audible.
Orange were great and replaced the original handset straight away at no cost but the replacement also appears to have the same issue. For the moment I'm considering contacting HTC direct but i'm not sure as otherwise I love the phone, and truly believe it is the best on the market.
I think the issue might be resolved if i get a outer protective cover so I'm going to try that first, and not use the device while on charge.
Would be good to know if others have had these experiences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That must be a different issue. I hear that noise via BT headset when I don't even touch the phone. I believe it's due to the sound frequency change during a call and the low quality speaker cannot handle. It's like using a high wattage amplifier on a low quality speaker and expect to hear deep bass sound. I guess you all know the result of such sound.
I'm also experiencing this problem. Sent the phone in and got it back but the problem is still there. They changed the motherboard and the loudspeaker but that obviously didn't fix the problem. So now I probably have to send it back again.
i just hope this problem can be fixed with software..
hi all,
in my case occasionally during call's even whit sound volume low a ear the person talking with " extremely high pitch feedback sound".
It's a very good phone but that problem is starting to annoying me.
i allready send a email to htc portugal and their response was to send the equipment to the repair center
in you opion what should i do? send to repair?
Thanks
Have you tried enabling the SRS improvement? It can be done in the music player. It made the crackling sound during calls in my device disappear...
Originally posted by iopy Have you tried enabling the SRS improvement? It can be done in the music player. It made the crackling sound during calls in my device disappear...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try this and post back...
What I'm experiencing, when I'm on hold with my service provider (Vodafone AU) I can hear the normal on hold music then at random intervals just for a half a second or so the music cuts and there's an annoying crackle noise. Sometimes there is no noise for a while then there can all of a sudden there can that crackle noise every few seconds. Like another person has said for me if I change to loudspeaker it still does the crackle noises and turning the volume down doesn't help. I've tried taking my hand off the phone but it still happens. I have noticed a few times the reception bars icon, drop a bar or gain a bar when this noise happens so maybe there's a link?!? By the way I'm running LeeDroid 1.4.1 (wich is based on HTC's 1.72.405.3 ROM). Also I'm running the Jan 17th Radio version: 12.39.60.19U_26.06.04.06_M.
Right. This could well sound daft but try it anyway! Someone on another forum said it worked for him (her?) and it worked for me with a Nokia E71. The speaker was 'crackling' so I did the usual googling. The answer was, for me, to suck really hard on the speaker a couple of times. Basically the diaphragm gets put out of place and the 'sucking' gets it back.
Try it and see! Though it won't fix the 'feedback-type' noises I'd guess but I find most of those are specific to a particular call. Either call back, or get them to call you back, and all is well.
HTH
Dave

Earprice crackling sound?

I've seen this mentioned on a different site but wanted to get some feedback from XDA folks. Does anyone else have this issue? There's a weird crackling while on calls when the screen is either on or off (speakerphone is fine). I also noticed that when not on a call, if you put it up to your ear and turn on the screen, you can hear a similar sound that goes away when the screen is off. I saw that this problem was also happening with the Nexus 4 at one point but the thread didn't seem to go anywhere, and a similar thread for the G2. I went and exchanged my phone today and this one actually seems worse.
I'm pretty sure I'm not crazy. If it matters, it's a Verizon model.
psycho_asylum said:
I've seen this mentioned on a different site but wanted to get some feedback from XDA folks. Does anyone else have this issue? There's a weird crackling while on calls when the screen is either on or off (speakerphone is fine). I also noticed that when not on a call, if you put it up to your ear and turn on the screen, you can hear a similar sound that goes away when the screen is off. I saw that this problem was also happening with the Nexus 4 at one point but the thread didn't seem to go anywhere, and a similar thread for the G2. I went and exchanged my phone today and this one actually seems worse.
I'm pretty sure I'm not crazy. If it matters, it's a Verizon model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have International version and I have the same problem. I discovered something that wasn't mentioned before. When you'll take off the back cover the crackling is gone. Please try and give feedback if it is the same with your g3.
Abagnale said:
I have International version and I have the same problem. I discovered something that wasn't mentioned before. When you'll take off the back cover the crackling is gone. Please try and give feedback if it is the same with your g3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Crackling is definitely still there without the back cover. The US variant doesn't have wireless charging, so maybe that part is causing the crackling for you?
edit: I found a couple of threads
http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g3/help/poor-call-quality-distortion-noise-t2808530
http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g3/help/q-poor-call-clarity-t2806744
No solution other than to exchange. Let's see what happens when I go back. I will go through all of their phones if I have to.
edit2: Went back to the store after work and they flat out refused to replace it because we couldn't reproduce it in the store. I'm starting to think it only does it when not in a full signal area. Stores have repeaters in them.
I am noticing a slight pop, crackling noise from the phone ear piece as well. I rarely use a phones earpiece...almost always use my Bluetooth(Voyager Legend).
I don't hear any of this when using my bluetooth headset.
It is very minor...imo....though just now, I was talking with a friend via the phone headset....and he said there seemed to be some "white noise every-time I spoke.
Same problem - ear speaker buzz / crackle
LG G3 with AT&T - on any and every call, the ear speaker crackles and buzzes so loudly it is almost hard to understand what the person on the phone is saying. This is my 2nd LG G3 in a week. First one killed the battery in 4 hours with very light use. This one battery is great, but now can't talk on phone. Speakerphone is perfect, Bluetooth in car is perfect, but that ear speaker on the face of the phone at the top is causing a huge problem. Any ideas?
i heard a crackling noise too, during calls, in ear speaker..
i have att version d850
Same here
During phone calls it's almost like the buzz/rattle muffles the voices of the individuals in speaking with. I love the G3 but as a teacher and basketball coach talking on the phone is very important to me.
Zhasty0001 said:
During phone calls it's almost like the buzz/rattle muffles the voices of the individuals in speaking with. I love the G3 but as a teacher and basketball coach talking on the phone is very important to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had this problem with the G2s but not with my G3. Have D851. Which model do you have?
Headphone cables with higher resistance will reduce the problems. This mostly happens when the volume of the phone is not at max. Try using a Fiio (20$) to connect to your phone, put the volume to max and enjoy clear (and even better quality through better amp) music/audio. The will be no more crackling whatsoever. If there should be, buy your Fiio at amazon.com or similar so that you can return it if it shouldn't work. I myself the the same issue and it got resolved by my Fiio. There's also other reports on a Fiio resolving this issue.

Water drop sound, normal?

Hi guys! I recently bought my Oneplus 5t. To make sure everything is okay I had a question.
My Oneplus 5t is working very well, I really like it a lot. I only discovered one thing. When using vibration when the speaker is on you hear besides from the normal vibration sound another very little sound. Now this sound is not that bad, and you might not even hear it. But i was wondering if this is a normal sound.
Fot instance when you unlock the phone. When unlocking you hear a little unlock sound. After this sound the speaker will be on for around 1 or 2 seconds. You'll hear almost nothing, but when placing your ear against the speaker you hear a little static sound. This is normal and on ervery phone, and goes away after a couple of seconds. This is because for your speaker to work you''l need some eletricity going trough it. Again, you almost don't hear this and it's very normal.
When this sound is on and you press for instance the home bottom. The phone will vibrate, if you do this a couple of times fast after unlocking, when the speaker is still on, you''ll hear that little sound I was talking about before. After a couple of seconds, when the speaker is compelety turned off, you don't hear the sound anymore when virbating.
So my conclusion is that it's probably the phone vibrating when the speaker is on, and this (due to how the phone is made) makes a little rosonance with the speaker. I knot for a fact that they moved the vibration motor on the 5t to the bottom off the phone, so it's next to the speaker. Again it's almost no sound and you'll only notice it if you're very carefull. I just wanted to check if my conclusion is right and there is no problem with the phone itself.
In the following video I demonstrate te problem. I will play some music and then let the phone vibrate. From second 2 to 5 you'll hear the 'water drop' sound. The speaker is now still on because it takes some time for the speaker to totaly 'rest' (again this is normal and on every single phone with a speaker). After second 5 the speaker turns totaly off however, and now you'll hear no more water drup sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi8mvO5qNYo
I've also contacted Oneplus Support wirh the video. They said that their devices had it too and that it was a normal sound. What do you guys thinks?
Read here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-5t/help/strange-vibration-noise-t3710431
And here:
https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/vibration-on-the-5t.695633/
In my eyes OnePlus has done some sh** with this. Same like the "upside down" screen in OnePlus5.
Edit: don't get me wrong. I love the 5T and I cannot think of using another smartphone. But I know oneplus and they will say:"It's normal behavior Blabla"
Baldesarra said:
Read here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-5t/help/strange-vibration-noise-t3710431
And here:
https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/vibration-on-the-5t.695633/
In my eyes OnePlus has done some sh** with this. Same like the "upside down" screen in OnePlus5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply man!
I've seen both treads (made the OnePlus one myself haha). Also got answer from the technical support of OnePlus who analysed my video more times and told me they noticed the sound but it's normal and in their phones too.
I agree that they did not totally think this one through. The vibration motor is just to close to the speaker.. They should have put in the same location as the 5.
But well I guess it's just getting used to. Many people don't ever noticed it I guess, for instance, when you turn on 'sound on tap' you can't even hear it, and it sounds pretty normal if you don't know better.
I'm glad that it's not a hardware malfunction, but it's some getting used to. Further than that, it's an truly amazing phone..
floristevito said:
Thanks for the reply man!
I've seen both treads (made the OnePlus one myself haha). Also got answer from the technical support of OnePlus who analysed my video more times and told me they noticed the sound but it's normal and in their phones too.
I agree that they did not totally think this one through. The vibration motor is just to close to the speaker.. They should have put in the same location as the 5.
But well I guess it's just getting used to. Many people don't ever noticed it I guess, for instance, when you turn on 'sound on tap' you can't even hear it, and it sounds pretty normal if you don't know better.
I'm glad that it's not a hardware malfunction, but it's some getting used to. Further than that, it's an truly amazing phone..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's your post on OnePlus? Haha didn't knew that
Yeah you're right, this phone is amazing. Hopefully we get used to it and we won't notice it anymore.
At first I thought it was an issue with only my phone. I was going crazy haha
Baldesarra said:
It's your post on OnePlus? Haha didn't knew that
Yeah you're right, this phone is amazing. Hopefully we get used to it and we won't notice it anymore.
At first I thought it was an issue with only my phone. I was going crazy haha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah same man.. I was afraid I had to get it in for repair..
I think many people don't realize it because it's so little? I mean when you do notice it and you're like us (worried if you're new phone might be broken) you'll know. But otherwise the sound is pretty normal I guess?
Glad that it's okay

Microphone issue - which microphone is the main one?

Hey XDA!
I've during the past couple of weeks been getting complaints over my call quality from receivers. Now, as it's getting colder outside and I tuck my phone under my hat while making a phone call, my friends could no longer stand the horrible sound my phone was making.
After some research, having used WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, the built in phone call app - all same result.
I've come to the conclusion that my phone uses the back microphone (the one inbetween the camera and the flash) at all times. When I called myself from my friends phone, the quality is poor. It's really bad. I can hear echoing, I hear people several meters away who aren't talking to the phone, talk.
My phone should be using the bottom microphone, right? I cannot imagine this is the standard quality of the phone call.
I bought my 5T on release, so around 1 year ago now. I'm on 8.1.0, latest update, no root.
What should I do and how should I proceed? Tried making a thread on the official OP forums but I don't have the permission (I did just create an account there so might take some time before I get that permission).
Thanks!
Hi I'm having the same issue. Did you resolve your problem?

First Impressions of XIAOMI Mi Mix 3

I picked up a XIAOMI Mi Mix 3 from Micro Center today at what I consider a steal considering the hardware (USD $379.98) and after doing some quick research.
Micro Center is a two-and-a-half-hour drive for me and I was already there, so I didn't have the luxury of time for leisurely research. I usually spend weeks, not half an hour, making these decisions. But I used to be a commercial customer before I sold my business, and I made a lot of friends there, so they don't hassle me about returns; and since I was already there, I figured I'd try it out.
My initial impressions are mixed, but more positive than negative.
Positives
The build quality feels very solid. Actually, it feels like a Sherman tank. This is a pretty hefty phone. It has a quality "feel" to it, though. I also like the flat screen, although I guess that's a matter of personal preference. The included case is okay for now, but I ordered a more rugged one, a screen protector, and a leather holster from Amazon. I'm old, but active; and I don't carry a purse.
Functionally, the XIAOMI Mi Mix 3 supports AT&T's network 100 percent, as far as I can tell. That seems pretty amazing for a phone that technically isn't sold in the USA. I've had phones that were targeted to the U.S. market that had mediocre band and protocol support.
The radio reception is also the best of any phone I've ever used where I live, and I've been on AT&T for a long time and used a lot of phones. The LTE works great. I'm getting download speeds of around 50 Mbps, and I live in the boondocks.
The GPS reception is especially incredible, with TTFF of an amazing four seconds, two meter accuracy in 16 seconds, an average C/N0 around 46 dBHz using 32 of the 35 satellites it caught, with some coming in at 59 dBHz. That's pretty amazing for a phone. It's actually better than some airplanes I've flown.
I didn't mess with the cameras much (I don't really use them that often on any phone), but they seem very good to me. I break out my Nikon when I have serious photography to do, so I may not be the best judge of mobile phone quality. The cameras on the Mi Mix 3 seem perfectly adequate to me; but as I said, I'm no connoisseur of cell phone cameras.
The slider for the selfie camera is a nice feature if you hate the notch. I never cared about the notch, but it does bother some people. I also like that the slider stays in place magnetically (more reliable and durable than mechanical latches), although I do wonder whether that affects the magnetometer (assuming the phone has one).
In short, hardware-wise, I'm happy. The Snapdragon 845 is no slouch, and the rest of the hardware in the Mi Mix 3 seems to use it well. I consider it a bargain for the hardware alone.
In terms of performance, it's fast and crisp. I haven't put it through any strenuous tests yet, but It has a nice, fast feel to it.
Setup was completely painless, it auto-provisioned on AT&T with zero configuration needed, and Google and MIUI restored almost everything from Drive with no issues. Even my DND settings were carried over. It was really pretty flawless. The one exception was K-9 Mail. For reasons I neither know nor intend to bother looking into, neither the app itself nor the settings were migrated. I had made backups of everything anyway, so it was no big deal.
Negatives
I wouldn't say that MIUI is quirky so much as that I wonder what the point was of changing things around for no apparent reason. In other words, I don't think there's anything "wrong" with MIUI based on the few hours I've had the phone, but I wonder what advantage there is to it as compared to a stock Android. I can live with it, though. It's not so much a negative as a "just different," really, based on first impressions.
I also don't like the fact that there's no automated desktop backup software. I suppose I can build something easily enough, but there should be desktop backup. Or am I the only one who actually uses a computer anymore? I guess LG's [usually] competent backup software spoiled me.
I'll see if there's a generic Android backup utility out there for Arch Linux or Windows that syncs by WiFi before re-inventing the wheel. It's not rocket surgery; but coding for the sheer joy of coding kind of grew old for me decades ago. I never bothered looking for generic non-root Android automated backup software before because I never had to. There probably are bazillions of perfectly competent solutions out there for Arch (or for Android itself, for that matter).
In fairness, however, I'm a genuine backup nut. I literally have backups of my backups as far as computers are concerned. Within 20 seconds of my saving a document, it has been backed up to an ioSafe USB drive and a local NAS (the ioSafe, which is a backup destination, is in turned backed up to the NAS), and is on its way to BackBlaze. So my OCD about backups may be inflating my annoyance about not including a desktop backup application with the handset.
Back to the Mix 3, I also found the notifications a bit wonky. In addition to having to give permission in multiple places, the notifications use the media volume instead of having their own setting. That doesn't make much sense to me. I can think of plenty of reasons why one might want to control notifications separately from media. The puzzlement, however, is why they coded it out of stock Android. I mean, what advantage is there to justify the time spent removing a slider that was already there?
Then again, maybe the separate notification volume was an LG thing. My last few phones have been LG. Maybe LG coded it into Android.
There's also somewhat more bloatware than I'm accustomed to finding on an unlocked phone, but it seems lightweight and innocuous enough. Some of it might actually be useful. I really haven't done anything to it except push it to the last screen. At least it doesn't include a crap ton of silly games and such.
The only one that annoys me is that I can't uninstall FecesBook (at least not without root). At least, not in the usual way. I can't explain why because of NDA's I've signed, but I'd rather never use a computing device again than have a FecesBook account.
All Things Considered...
I officially have two weeks to decide whether to keep the phone. Micro Center probably would extend that for me because of my long history with them, but I don't want to abuse that relationship. Besides, to weeks will be enough to decide whether my appreciation of the Mix 3's superb (in my opinion) hardware compensates for my lukewarmness toward MIUI.
Based on first impressions, however, I'm pretty sure I will keep the phone. I love the hardware, and I think I can at least learn to live with MIUI (which is more than I can say about my ex, and she was a lot more expensive and quirky than MIUI is). Or I can root it, although that's not something I'd do just because I'm miffed about having to look somewhere else for a setting and having an inactive FecesBook icon hidden in a folder on the last screen.
Richard
You can disable unwanted apps using miui hidden settings app from post store.
crabamer said:
You can disable unwanted apps using miui hidden settings app from post store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. That worked!
Richard
Well, the phone and I didn't make it through the weekend. It seemed like every time I figured out one problem, another surfaced.
The deal-killer, however, was the sound quality the first time I made an actual phone call. In all seriousness, I got better sound out of tin-can telephones made of two soup cans and a piece of string when I was a kid. It was the absolute worst, almost inaudible sound quality I've ever experienced on any communication device.
So I looked up the problem on their forum, and one piece of advice was to factory-reset the phone after an update that I just got last night. So I did that, and it rejected my password when it rebooted. When I tried to do a password reset on the site (three times), I got no response to the email. And when I tried to check it using the phone number, I got an error message that the account didn't exist.
It's a shame, too, because other than the sound quality, I loved the hardware of the phone. But not being able to hear a phone call makes it useless to me.
Oh, well. Ten hours of driving and a tank and a half of gas isn't the worst thing I've ever been through.
On the bright side, when I swapped the SIM back into the phone the Mix 3 would have been replacing, I decided to put a new spare battery in it, too, and charge it on the way to Micro Center. Lo and behold, it didn't overheat. So maybe it was the battery, rather than the phone, that was having a problem. I'll check it out further this week.
Richard
Unlock your bootloader then install AOSP based rom, like Resurrection Remix, all problem solved.
Or if you want to stick with MIUI, try EU rom, no bloatware, no Chinese stuff.
GVN.Gallus said:
Unlock your bootloader then install AOSP based rom, like Resurrection Remix, all problem solved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may be right, but how would that have solved the earpiece problem? That seems like a hardware issue to me. If I held the phone sideways like a wing sticking out of the side of my head, I could hear it. But it was still so scratchy and tinny that I can't imaging listening to it on every phone call. Also, it's not the most convenient way to use a phone. I'm old. I still make phone calls.
It's all academic at this point since I returned the phone. But I'm still interested in the answer just for its own sake. Would an alternate ROM have improved the sound volume and quality? If so, then I regret my hastiness because all in all, I loved the hardware -- except for the earpiece.
Thanks,
Richard
GeekOnTheHill said:
You may be right, but how would that have solved the earpiece problem? That seems like a hardware issue to me. If I held the phone sideways like a wing sticking out of the side of my head, I could hear it. But it was still so scratchy and tinny that I can't imaging listening to it on every phone call. Also, it's not the most convenient way to use a phone. I'm old. I still make phone calls.
It's all academic at this point since I returned the phone. But I'm still interested in the answer just for its own sake. Would an alternate ROM have improved the sound volume and quality? If so, then I regret my hastiness because all in all, I loved the hardware -- except for the earpiece.
Thanks,
Richard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe your earpiece speaker had been covered by dust or plastic? The real earpiece is under the screen, you can see it when slide screen down, you can try that and make phonecall to test the sound.
I have no problem with earpiece sound and as far as i known, no one ever complain about it.
And yes custom rom and modder can change the sound quality, there even a mod to turn earpiece speaker into loudspeaker so we had dual rocker.
GVN.Gallus said:
Maybe your earpiece speaker had been covered by dust or plastic? The real earpiece is under the screen, you can see it when slide screen down, you can try that and make phonecall to test the sound.
I have no problem with earpiece sound and as far as i known, no one ever complain about it.
And yes custom rom and modder can change the sound quality, there even a mod to turn earpiece speaker into loudspeaker so we had dual rocker.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. And yes, I did check for plastic when I tried the selfie cam, and I did try making a phone call with the display slid down. It made almost no difference. It was very slightly louder, but no less scratchy and tinny.
Can you please point me to a custom ROM for this phone? I really liked the hardware. If there's a custom ROM that supports everything reasonably well, I might just buy another one and check it out. It just seemed like a hardware issue to me. And maybe it was. It could be that this one particular device had a defect.
Thanks,
Richard
GeekOnTheHill said:
Thank you. And yes, I did check for plastic when I tried the selfie cam, and I did try making a phone call with the display slid down. It made almost no difference. It was very slightly louder, but no less scratchy and tinny.
Can you please point me to a custom ROM for this phone? I really liked the hardware. If there's a custom ROM that supports everything reasonably well, I might just buy another one and check it out. It just seemed like a hardware issue to me. And maybe it was. It could be that this one particular device had a defect.
Thanks,
Richard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can find and try some custom rom in THIS SECTION that suitable your need, personally i recommend Resurrection Remix.
GVN.Gallus said:
You can find and try some custom rom in THIS SECTION that suitable your need, personally i recommend Resurrection Remix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. I'll check it out. Maybe I acted too hastily.
My reason for buying the Mix 3 in the first place was for a daily driver to replace an aging V20 that has at least one known problem (tired GPS radios) and that I thought was overheating (but which now appears to have had a faulty battery). I didn't buy the Mix 3 as a project phone. I needed a phone to actually use starting today (Monday). I planned to buy something else while I was at Micro Center to return it.
However, because the v20 didn't overheat with a fresh spare battery that I charged during the trip, and because I have another V20 that I use for GPS-dependent apps, I'm not up against a time deadline any more. I like the Mix 3's hardware enough that I may buy another as a project phone.
Thanks again,
Richard
Toggle the loudspeaker setting on and off when you're on the first call after a reboot. Interesting to know this is a Xiaomi bug, not a Xiaomi.eu bug. Once you've done the toggle trick it'll be fine until you reboot again.
As for roms, if you're rooting, having tried several of the AOSP-based roms I'd recommend Xiaomi.eu, everything will work (including the slider & associated settings), it'll be marginally faster (and it's already fast on AOSP), it'll have marginally better battery life, and it won't randomly reboot or go into a reboot loop when charging wirelessly.
I just ordered a OnePlus 7t as a DD, so I have to wait at least a few weeks before buying another Mix 3 lest the old lady kill me. She just doesn't get it...
I do wish I'd known about the bug and the fix you mentioned because it was actually painful to return the Mix 3, so much did I like the hardware.

Categories

Resources