iPhone 4/iOS 4 bluetooth muffled on other end

Hi folks. I found a solution to this problem, at last. I have a nokia bh-214. When I pair first time it works perfect until I switch the bt off. When I turn it on calls are muffled so much I can't nearly hear or being heard. However iPod works perfect. Well... Here the fix. Press hang up button on bt until that invokes voice control. Then press again once to cancel action. There you go, then working like a charm... I nearly got insane... Hope I saved someone else from a clinic treatment! Ciao. Andrea

I've had my iphone 4 for a year now and have never been able to use my bluetooth headset because of the same issues mentioned in this old, and very long thread .... and several other threads like it. This is ******** ! The fact is, the iphone 4 is defective and Apple has been mostly ignoring the issue, while sometimes telling people that it will be fixed in an upcomming iOS update. Well that hasn't happened and doesn't look like it ever will. Why? Because like the antenna issue, it is a hardware problem that an iOS upgrade can't fix. These phones should all be recalled and replaced by Apple ... but they won't ... because they're apple and we're all idiots for putting up with this.

< Edited by Host >

Same iPhone 4 problem with Bluetooth

I used to connect perfectly with my old iPhone 3G and my Bluetooth enabled GPS (Garmin nuvi 760), call quality was quite ok and I used it all the time for handsfree calls for a couple of years, then I upgraded to iPhone 4G with the latest OS 4.3.1, and while the devices pair quite ok, the call quality is terrible, down to the point that it is unusable, people can't understand me and I can't understand them. It was a very significant step backward as far as call quality via Bluetooth is concerned!

I have been able to locate many posts with similar issues, but I haven't been able to locate any with a resolution, does anyone have any suggestion? Why can't apple fix something that actually used to work just fine?

I purchased the iPhone 4 April 2011. I experienced problems immediately. People said I sounded muffled, garbled and far away. I spoke with my carriers tech support and they said it maybe an issue with the device, I did an exchange (since it was within the 14 day window). When I got the new device I experienced the same problems. The carrier checked the network and they said it was not a network issue. I called Apple tech support and the tech person heard the muffled sound and scheduled an appt. with the Genius bar. They

replaced the phone. The problem still continued (after 3 brand new iPhone's). I spoke with Apple again

and they scheduled another Genius bar appt. (with a different store). They said nothing was wrong with the phone. During this time that I had 3 new phone I did 3-4 restore to new because they thought it was a software issue and still the problem continued. Then I switched to a different carrier and experienced the same

problem. I went down to the retail store and they changed the SIM card and the problem still contined, we were

doing a test call with the new SIM card (I was right outside the store, had 5 bars) and the sales rep said I sounded muffled. I notice when I talk to other people with the iPhone 4 they sound muffled as well. But,

people with the iPhone 3GS sounds clear. I tried it with bluetooth and it was worse. I really love the iPhone since I have been a MAC user for many years. I hope this problem can be resolved so I can purchase the iPhone again. I now have the Nexus S (it's a Google phone). People can hear me so clearly it sounds like I'm on a landline. It's a very cool phone. Thank you for sharing your experience. I thought I was the only one with this problem.

The number of post in this thread is only the tip of the iceberg concerning this issue. They censor post, deleting those they deem "not positive". I know because they deleted mine claiming I was rude and non-contructive. In my opinion I was just blunt.

The bottom line is that Apple has produced a defective product and refuses to acknowledge it. It doesn't matter how great the phone is if it doesn't have basic functionality it claims to provide. When the bluetooth doesn't work it doesn't compare with even the cheapest mobile phone available.

It seems my problem is due to having POP3 email enabled. Had my iPhone4 replaced a second time due to call quality issues when using bluetooth. This time I delayed restoring anything and used the phone as it was activated for a week. There were no issues. Established a bluetooth connection with my 2011 Subaru Outback just fine and had no sound issues. I restored a few of the apps and still no problem. I was hoping the replacement phone resolved the issue. I then decided to resync my contacts and in the process added back a couple of my POP3 email accounts. The bluetooth sound quality issues started again. I disabled the email accounts and haven't experienced problems since. Not 100% sure using email accounts is the problem but so far it seems so. I don't know if it is a hardware issue or iOS. Bottom line is the phone can't do what is advertised. So much for having a "Smart" phone.

I also experience this issue using many bluetooth headsets, speakerphones, even the Apple headphones when I'm in the car with background road noise. When there is less road noise OR I switch to using the phone to my face, I sound great (but who wants to do that after getting used to bluetooth). One day I left the phone in my briefcase and the callers all commented that I sounded great even at loud highway speeds. Pulled it out and the poor sound quality returned. I guess it has something to do with the noise cancelling mic? Now I wrap it in a hand towel and pack it into my cars console or keep it in my work bag.

Hi All,

I had a really annoying problem similar to those described here. With a Nokia BH214, the speech either by phone or singing within music was completely muffled and extremely frustrating. When paired with a Jabra 3030 headet adaptor everything was crystal clear. I had a brain wave and swapped from the iphone 4 white headset with integrated mic which were exhibiting this rubbish speech and singing to my sennheiser normal stereo headphones (with no mic) and all was crystal again. However, this effect is not heard when I use blootooth sync'd to my Ford Edge so what's the difference.

Iphone 4 connected via blootooth to :

Ford Edge and Jabra 3030 cool with no problems

(both have intergrated mics of course)

iphone 4 connected to :

Nokia BH-214

absoluetly rubbish with iphone 4 headset

absolutely crystal with stereo headset with no mic.

Hope that helps you all.

Clay

Hi, I found your suggestion to be interesting as I'm sure by now the problem is software related rather than purely "hardware." I know my headsets work, and I know my iPhone 4 works... and I know they both (technically) can work together and function clearly.

But the problem is, SOMETHING sets off interferance which causes the muffled audio quality. If that's the case, perhaps you might be onto something with the pop3 email.

When you said, you disabled it... how did you go about this? Did you disable fetching of email data? Or did you literally delete all your email accounts and discontinue using email on your phone?

I'd like to try and see if adjusting or disabling some of the settings can help the audio quality also.

I am having to same problems with the bluetooth. I have spoken with Apple technical support, the bluetooth manufacturer and Verizon. I had my phone reset to factory settings. I also got a new phone. The problem still exists. I then paired it with a 3G phone and the bluetooth works perfectly fine. The problem is with the phone.

I love the IPhone 4S but it is useless to me if I cannot use bluetooth. I have a cochlear implant and need bluetooth to function on a cell phone.

Welcome to the no-longer-the-underdog world of Apple. They gained a cult following over the years by offering quality and dependability .... but that's now in the past. Do a search on "MacBook Pro" problems and see how long their over-heating issues have been around without remedy. Bluetooth probably works fine on the recently introduced iPhone 4s series. They'll just keep denying it's a common issue with the original iPhone 4 until everyone's moved on. And we keep forgiving and forgetting ... because we love Apple products.

I'm upgrading my 4 year old MacBook right now, and despite how much I like OSx and the ease of connectivity between my macs, ipad, and ipods, I've decided I no longer want to pay premium prices for lagging technology and now all-too-frequent unreliability that gets ignored by Apple. Reluctantly, I'm going back to Windows.

Wonder, but after upgrade to IOS5 my Motorola T-305 BT Car speaker begin to work with my iP4 !!

(My previously post: Apr 22 2011 12:52 AM)

Lets try your devices!

Every time I placed my iPhone 4 in my pants pocket the Bluetooth signal integrity with the BT headset would drop. I tried many different BT headsets with my iPhone 4, the same problem. But when I tried the head sets with my iPhone 3G there was no problem. _So the problem had to be with iPhone 4_.

The BT antenna is on the left side of the stainless steel bands. When the phone is placed in a pocket, the human body absorbs most of the BT signal and therefore the signal level drops causing signal integrity to degrade.

So I placed copper tape on the BT/WLAN antenna and extended it to the back of the iPhone 4. I made sure that the copper tape length was about the ¼ wavelength of the Bluetooth signal. Once the phone is placed in a case the copper tape is not seen any more.

When I place the phone in my pocket, I make sure that the back of the phone is pointing outward. Now I do not have any more issues.

The Apple antenna designers have really messed up here using the stainless ring around the phone as antennas for the BT/WLAN and GSM/UMTS. The antennas should be placed on the back of the phone not on the sides. At the top on the back should be the GSM/UMTS antenna, and on the back bottom should be the BT/WLAN antenna.

This isolates the antennas from each other and holding the phone in your hand would not cause the “death grip” which connects the BT/WLAN antenna to GSM/UMTS antenna changing the electrical length of the GSM/UMTS antenna. Also, the BT antenna would point outward away from the body when placed in a pocket."

Personall experiences is when I use my bluetooth transmitter receiver with my iphone 4 it makes static sounds. I put it on kinda airplane mode to test it out by disabling the 3g service and edge and wifi only allowing bT to transfer signals and connect to BT transmitterreceiver device. IT still buzzes through the speakers in my car like it has antenna problems. It also poorly plays music and I was about to get a new transmitter receiver bluetooth device. Good thing I didn't. I tried with the 4s and thought the bt 4.0 antenna was supperior with 4/5 rating from me. and 5/5 would be hd noise from line connect. I've not net tried with 3gs but I'm sure how they assembled iphone 4 antenna surely messed up the whole thing.

So it proves that the problem is the hardware. It's interferance with it's body and other attennas on the phone. However there is no fix for this unless you upgrade to a 4s or stay with 3gs. Seems like the 4 is really messed up in antenna gate issue wise. There probably won't be a software update for this.

Thanks for the info. The only problem for me is, I have a 4s and I STILL have the BT problem :-(

What BT issue? The connecting part? Or clarity of the sound?