iPhone 4/iOS 4 bluetooth muffled on other end

The sound clarity problem. I use a pretty high-end Plantronic headset that I've been using successfully with Android phones. Like others here, I get good connectivity with the iphone, and the sound from whomever I'm speaking with is excellent. BUT .. they can't hear me. They tell me I'm muffled, or that they hear some "ambiant" noise that makes it difficult to understand me.

Grrr....

Using iPhone 4S and iOS 5.0.1. Same issue. I can connect my bluetooth headset (either my Jawbone Icon, or my Panasonic DECT 6.0 Plus phone system). I can hear others perfectly. They often cannot hear me, or the audio is very poor quality (like my original Motorola Pocket Classic 910 back in the day), or they say I'm garbled/muffled, etc. Noise cancellation does not work, no matter what I try. I was going to buy a new headset, but my old one also has problems, and from the sounds of all of the complaints -- it's probably not the headset.

I'm incredibly surprised that with all of the incredible technology in the iPhone, they would screw up the most basic of capabilities of sending quality voice audio over Bluetooth. After all, this is first a PHONE, and I need to talk into the phone! I'd be more than happy to throw Siri off a ledge, if I can get the same awesome quality of Bluetooth broadcasted audio from my NoiseAssissan-enabled Jawbone headset. I used to be able to make a call ANYWHERE on my 3GS and people thought I was in a quiet room. Now even in a quiet room on my iPhone 4S people can't hear me.

APPLE PLEASE ACKNOWLDEGE THIS IS AN ISSUE AND PLEASE FIND A WAY TO FIX IT! THIS IS A PHONE FIRST, MAKE THE PHONE WORK!

I feel your pain. The iphone 4s unfortunately (like the apple haters continue to say) is a fun toy to play with but a terrible phone. If I am on the road I remove the sim card and install it into a 3 year old HTC Tilt with windows mobile. The bluetooth headset , any of several brands work flawless. The microsoft voice command never misses calling the correct person, and as a phone it blows the iphone away. When I reach my destination, I put the simcard back into my $600.00 play toy, and enjoy the fun features and games. As a sidenote, the iphone is my first endeavor into a apple product. I was seriously considering in replacing all my small construction business computers (three desktops and 6 laptops) with apple products, however if they (apple) can't or refuse to solve this safety issue with the bluetooth being non-functional there is no way I will depend on apple to run my business needs. ( I am patiently waiting for the new Windows phones).

Have you tried the new iOS 5.1 update, last item on update list is "Fixes an issue that occasionally caused audio to drop for outgoing calls".

Not sure if it refers to bluetooth but worth a try.

Hello! New here. New to iPhone. Let me just say this first off; great phone! I love it! One problem though; I have the tunnel talk problem with my Bluetooth device as well. I'm not sure if this will help anyone else out there but it's worth a try. I was able to get rid of the problem by disabling the Siri function on my phone. It is possible that having two microphones running at the same time (i.e. Siri & Bluetooth headset) causes some, if not all of the tunnel talk problem so many are experiencing. From what I can tell, and it seems obvious, that by default Siri is constantly running, waiting for a command from the user so disabling it through Settings>General>Siri>Siri: Off, allows for uninterrupted communications between your Bluetooth device and your iPhone.

I agree, with laws stating that you must use a hands free device when communicating via cell phone while operating a motor vehicle, and the fact that there is an issue with Bluetooth devices and the iPhone, it should be a top priority for Apple R&D to diagnose this problem. It's not like they have a lack of time and money. Come on Apple, you ought to be all over this by now. After all, you claim "Apple iPhone is the best smart phone". We're waiting... (This thread was started practically 2 years ago and from what I can tell, you have provided not one solution as of yet!! What gives?)

We own an ML350 (Mercedes). I noticed that my iPhone 4S just only now has started having a BT issue with the car. Everything is fine, and then every 25 seconds it gets staticy and I cannot hear the other person. The person on the other end can hear me just fine.

I wonder if its an app that is interfering at a certain frequency? I've tried restarting the phone, as well as resetting bluetooth, but nothing works. I have not rebuilt the phone yet, but would like to avoid that if at all possible.

i just noticed that the GMAIL app resinstalled itself on my phone. i uninstalled that and will re-test. i'm also going to test w/all notifications turned off. my gut says this is an app that is interfering somehow every X seconds.

Natasha69, it's funny you mention that. If I have my iPhone GPS app running and I'm on the phone... the active phone call prevents the app from giving me turn-by-turn directions. But every once in a while I get some static or cutting out of the phone call -- I think this is when the app would normally be telling me some new directions. So yes, maybe there is some bigger conflict like you are describing.

In your car, did you have a navigation app running with turn-by-turn voice directions?

no, i ran a test this afternoon where i turned off all notifications, and no apps were running except the phone app. same issue.

but i noticed that facebook was still pushing notifications even though i disabled permission. i think i'm going to reset the phone entirely and restore from backup. my wife's phone, also a 4S has no issues. they are both on the same iOS build.

full reset - problem still exists.

I deleted all Bluetooth devices related to the cars off my iPhone. Then I deleted my iPhone from the car. I have the media link installed so I deleted that as well. I then re established all the connections and the problem is gone.

I've struggled with this same issue for months and may have stumbled on to a solution while fixing a MBA to 4s tethering issue. Basically, I deleted all Bluetooth and Wifi connections on my 4s and MBA.

Prior to this fix, while using my Jawbone ERA with a 4s I noticed:

• iPhone 4s
  • Choppy Bluetooth sound
  • Occasional static
  • Earpiece volume was reduced
  • Ringtone level seemed lower.
  • Caller complained of muffled audio from me.
• Macbook Air

  Would not establish tethering connection.

After two days I notice a louder volume on my JB ERA, muffled sound to caller is gone and ringer volume is higher.

This is the page I found to solve my issue. http://www.mactalk.com.au/31/67260-iphone-bluetooth-tethering-not-working.html

ps. I cant quantify this but it sure seemed like my 4s battery charges quicker (or should i say, more like the 4).

Hi,

I bought my iPhone 6 months ago but only for a month or so i've started using Bluetooth headsets. For the first 2 weeks it worked without a problem but now people tell me about the muffled sounds. I've tried two Samsung headsets and just to be sure i bought the plantronics discovery. I did a full reset and it worked great for a couple of days and now i have the problem again, from time to time.

What i've noticed is that with the wi-fi activated, even if not connected to a network, i'll always have muffled sound. Also the headset will disconnect when its in my pocket.

This is a stupid problem because laws actually require drivers to use headsets- its cheaper to buy a headset than pay the fine, plus the extra safety of having both hands free. I had older phones(2-3 years old) that worked flawlesly with any headset but the iphone wont work if the device is 1m away? This makes the iphone sound exactly as someone else here put it... "just a toy".

Oh yeah and in response to some other post here... i also receive notifications from facebook even if i disable it completely... it seems that facebook is of a paramount importance and should not... CANNOT be ignored.

Just arrived a brand new iPhone 5 with ios 6.0
Same issue, have a mb s500 4matic.

So here's a thing that money can't buy. Bluetooth voice clarity

I tested it on our ML350 (has the issue w/my 4S). My new 5 works beautifully. I always suspected it was a physical problem w/the phone, because my wife's 4S worked w/o issue.