iPhone 4/iOS 4 bluetooth muffled on other end

I am also having an issue with my iPhone 4. Callers have informed me that my voice is hard to understand when using my bluetooth hands free unit built into my aftermarket head unit. I didn't have this issue with my iPhone 3G. My wife still has a iPhone 3G and doesn't have any issues when using the same vehicle. The issue started when I upgraded to the iPhone 4 (iOS 4.1).

I filed a bug with Apple. I really hope they fix this soon. It's a real inconvenience since one of the main reasons I installed an aftermarket head unit in my vehicle was for the bluetooth hands free feature.

Don't get your hopes up too high. This low mic gain/noise cancel issue has been going on for two years. I've used 5 different headsets, each sounding wonderful via a blackberry or alternative phone, but sounding low and crackly with iP3GS, 4, and on firmware ranging from 3.x to 4.1. The apple store will swap your phone out to no avail, and they will not admit there is an issue. Sad as I'm pretty happy with the rest of the functionality. I now only use a wired headset.

duranceaud wrote:
Don't get your hopes up too high. This low mic gain/noise cancel issue has been going on for two years. I've used 5 different headsets, each sounding wonderful via a blackberry or alternative phone, but sounding low and crackly with iP3GS, 4, and on firmware ranging from 3.x to 4.1. The apple store will swap your phone out to no avail, and they will not admit there is an issue. Sad as I'm pretty happy with the rest of the functionality. I now only use a wired headset.

I never had a single problem/complaint with any of 3 different headsets when paired with my iPhone 3G for over 2 years. Several others in this thread have also stated that they had no problems prior to the iPhone 4. Not sure why you've had so much difficulty.

My iPhone 4 on the other hand is an entirely different story. After 1 week of using my old Plantronics 510 however, things are looking promising. The Voyager Pro is still unusable after 4.1, but the old model has been working great so far. Guess my $100 Voyager Pro is now useless. Thanks Apple!

I have been anti apple for a long time, i crumbled and got the iphone 4 amazing bit ofkit, except the bluetooth sounds like you are talking through water, so i googled it and found this forum..... *** apple should not be allowed to sell something that DOES NOT WORK a high end bit of kit and the bluetooth doesnt give the caller crisp sound, i hooked my bluetooth up to my friends and the same, so we tried another and got the same muffled sound, did the reset settings, latest version and still sounds rubbish.... based in the uk where the law is you cant drive while on the phone so bluetooth is a must..... this is disgraceful, they knew of the antenna issue, now this???? sort it out

Has anyone tried 4.2 GM Seed that is available to developers yet? I tried one of the earlier 4.2 betas, but it had the same BT problems, so I switched to a Droid 1 on Verizon.

After purchasing 4 different bluetooth headsets Ive discovered that this is a phone issue GRRR apple fix this not cool!!

I feel your frustration. I was (and going back to being) anti apple. My blackberry didn't give me half the trouble my IP4 gives me. This phone does a lot of nothing and simple Bluetooth that's been around for years, they can't get right.

I just bought the q2 and as long as Apple doesn't bring out a fix, Ive wasted my money. I thought MIcrosoft were shonky testers, but at least they admit there are bugs and come out with patches... Even if it's 3 times a week.

So until Apple bother doing something about this half functioning, poor quality device. Lest we forget those that died in frustration.

OK, since it looks like enough people are still facing the issue, I will again ask everyone who's in trouble to send a bug report to Apple.

Sending feedback to Apple is possible through iPhone's [feedback|http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html] page. If you have access to the ADC program, I guess you would have access in the [bug report|https://bugreport.apple.com> portal on Apple.

You can use "Bluetooth quality issue: Headset mic muting issue" as a Subject and portions (or all) of the following text:

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Dear Apple,

A growing number of people have been facing issues with iPhone's bluetooth quality when making calls, for over two years now. Seems like iPhone fails to work in full-duplex mode when talking through a bluetooth headset.

You could easily replicate the bug by calling yourself on a land line and talking loudly and longly at the same time on both devices. You'll notice that -on most cases- you cannot hear yourself through the land line, meaning that the headset's mic is being muted while there is output through the headset's speaker. Talking through the iPhone itself cancels the effect. This issue does not occur when using any other phone/headset combination apart from the iPhone.

As of note, this effect is getting worse by the usage time of the bluetooth headset, meaning that when firstly paired it will most probably be unnoticed. Thus, try keeping a headset paired with an iPhone for a couple of days while using it regularly for calls and then try the above test.

As a matter of fact, there's a thread in Apple Discussions regarding the issue, dating back to 26-Nov-2008, here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1804116&tstart=0

Here is another, more recent thread in Apple Discussions focused mainly on iPhone 4, however it is possible that the cause of both the problems is poor echo cancellation software: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2481487&tstart=0

Following your iOS 4.1 update, there seems to be fewer complaints, however they're again starting to ramp up. Please take a look at this, since it has been puzzling a growing part of the iPhone users community for some time now.

Thank you.
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Installing iOS 4.2.1 now.

Did anyone had the time to test the issue discussed here with the new software?

I've found that BT call handling has got worse with my Sennheiser VMX100 headset.

I can initiate a call using voice dial from the headset, but the call goes out via the handset, and I have to transfer it back to the headset after the call is established.

This is a serious issue, as I only use BT in my car, and it's illegal to hold a phone in your vehicle while driving in NZ.

I couldn't comment if the call quality issue still persists - I haven't been able to seriously use BT headset since the update to 4.2.1...

Be careful.

4.2 has only made the Bluetooth connection to My Blueant Q2 worse. Same old crap. I surrender there is no fix until there is a new model in June Apple doesn't care now why will they care about the Bluetooth on the next model. Case closed.

The muting/muffled sound issue still remains (not that I had any high hopes). Just talked to a friend of mine who was in a noisy cafeteria and he could not hear a word! As soon as I stopped using the headset, we had a normal conversation.

hi i saw your post i have the same problem i spoke with Reggie a senior advisor he said he would send the info over to the software guys and have them include the fix for the blue ant Q2 not sure of time frame he said he would follow up with me for now we are all sol ihave four diffrent bluetooths and they all do the same thing cut in and out 3 rd iphone 4 hopes this helps

Good news after upgrading the Blueant Q2 to it's 1.1 software this has fixed the problem 4.2 is now working great.

I have had this issue for almost two years now, and its ONLY with iphones. Any iphone, any software... I have a 2003 Mercedes cl55 with a motorolla v60 bluetooth puck installed, and as soon as i turn the car on it sounds like there is a jet engine behind me on the other persons end. With the car off, or using ANY other phone, I dont have this issues. APPLES BLUETOOTH IS TERRIBLE!!!