Q: iPhone 4s, echo when using apple headset during a call

Thanks so much for the speakerphone trick, that helped me today.  I also did the apple feedback form. The people at the apple store always say that they do read that over at corporate so it's a good thing to do.

Not sure if anyone else has noticed this but in case this helps apple or some other smart person figure this out, I notice with the new echoey phone that talking on the headset at all (echo or not) sounds different than it used to, in that I can hear my own voice through my headset.  It's quiet, but I do hear it.  On the iphone 4 and older, I did not hear myself in my own headset. So just a thought that it seems like it might be related somehow.

Thanks!

I'm on my second iphone - the first didn't hold a charge and had echo problems.  The second one holds a charge but I still expereince all of the same echo and noise problems in this thread.  BTW - I'm on Verizon so this is definintely not a GSM only issue.

Absolutely!  Exactly how I feel as well.  Just some communication to acknowledge that it is being worked on Is all I need for now.  Instead I have had my phone exchanged at the Apple Store instantaneously without any research at all and I tried calling Apple and waited for an hour before finally hanging up.  Forums like this are perfect for getting out a quick communication.

Another same-same. Not using a headset though - just phone on its own. The echo is terrible.

"Echo" t4372 here. 2nd phone in hand, again with the echo. 4S #1 had horrible battery and echo issue. Really trying to refrain from returning this one as well, as I am on the phone for work all day and must have the headset to work in a reasonable matter. My echo seems to be headphone / apple audio jack related. People on other end of my call report bad echoing, and I hear a large change in the volume of their voice on my end.

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AT&T 64GB white, GSM

okay, so i have my my 3rd handset (4s 64GB) and it still has the same echo problems. i have tried restoring, restoring from backup and all the rest. i have just got off the phone from apple care, currenltly they are organising a new iphone from the factory to try and reduce the chance that it was just a bad batch that was sent through. but for the weekend he wants me to makes notes how often it happens.  Mostly because this is an intermittent problem which is the worst thing to troubleshoot, and very hard to pin point but only eliminate

But among the three handsets i have had this is what i have tried - which did not effect the echo or change the occurance rate.

restore the phone to factory

restore to a backup

restore to an earlier backup

different headset, i took one out of the packet and used only on the new phone. no change.

turning wi-fi off.  i thought something about the new antenna switching could be the cause. nope.

turning bluetooth off. no change.

tried a diffferent sim card, tommorow i will be replacing the sim card just to completely eliminate the question.

changing options with siri.

it is clear so far that it is not a carrier issue (or any difference between CDMA and GSM), it is not a proximity issue.  Currently there are a few strong possibilies, such as Siri could be changing the way the microphone is used and incorrectly feeds the signal back through the call or perhaps it is just a launch hardware issue (decreasing in chance though). I personally believe it is a software issue and related to some part of the noise cancellation that is meant to run in the background.

TLDR: now using a 3rd handset, apple still doesn't know anything, wants to replace it again but make notes about the echo until the new phone comes.

Anyone experiencing this problem on Vodafone UK can you take your issue to the attached link to get the attention of Vodafone.

http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Apple/iPhone-4S-Echo-when-using-Apple-headset/m-p /908647/highlight/false

I agree with l.lozano the first time it happened to me there was a lot of background noise which triggered the echo, this must be a bug in the echo cancellation software.

I'm having the same problems with iPhone 4S and I actually have tried it on both a iPhone 4S 16GB White (which I returned) and also on a iPhone 4S 32GM Black, which got when I returned what I thought was a defective first iPhone 4S. 

I make a call, it is crystal clear and about 5-15 minutes into the call, I get an echo or static on the line which both me and the caller can hear.  At first I thought it was bad reception, but now I realize that it was only happening when using the earbuds.  I can get it to stop (temporarily) by pressing the speakerphone button and then toggling back.

Pretty much this and the rapid battery lose make this iPhone 4S the most disappointing iPhone I have yet to own.

Thankfully, I still have my iPhone 4 and will return the iPhone 4S (again) once these problems are resolved and I still within my 30 days.  Praying for a software upgrade for this and battery issues so I don't have to return another phone.

--Jeff

Same problem, also without using the headset.

I have a 64GB white (unlocked from Canada) and I am moving from an iPhone 4...

The three biggest concerns I noticed are:

1. Echo when making calls, happens around 40% whenever I make a call

Solution: I will not exchange the iPhone or restore it since many said that it won't make a difference, I will just apply the speaker for a second then it will go back to normal...

2. Quick back heating, I don't know how to fix this...

3. Battery goes quickly, I am thinking of disabling Apple dignostic feedback since some people are saying it drains the battery!

      I am experiencing the same echo problems on my  iphone 4S, black 16GB and AT&T is my service provider.. I have noticed it mainly when using my earbuds, cant recall if it has happened when just using the handset or not.  I haven't tried to switch to speaker phone and switch back as of yet, but i will as soon as the problems occurs again.  Every time the echo problem has occurred my signal strength was fine and i have had to end the call just to turn around and call the other person back once again.  This problem has occurred when talking to several people in my contact list and not just certain people..

     When reading most of the post in this thread it sounds like it is a consistent problem with the iphone 4S, people from several other countries (UK, Canada, USA)  and several service providers (Sprint, Verizon, Vodaphone, AT&T...etc)

Please Apple get this problem fixed ASAP

Got the problem resolved!  Woohoo!

Went to the genuis bar and he ran a diagnostic on the phone.  It came up with several "corrupted" apps and other things on the phone.  So, he suggested that, instead of restoring from the backup of my iphone, we start as if it was a new phone all together.  He did his magic to do that and then we put back on the data of the contacts, notes, etc. from iCloud.  I lost the history of my calls & texts and I have to reorganize all my apps on the phone and put them back in all the folders.  But, the good news is that I have talked on the phone for about an hour now and there has not been this echo problem yet.  I'll let you know if it comes back.  But, so far, so good!  Yippee!

I'm happy that this seemed to resolve your issue, but there are lot's of others on this thread who have tried the same thing, and even tried swapping to a new phone and then setting up as a new phone, and it still won't fix it. I hope that's not the case with you, however, it doesn't seem to be the full solution to this problem for the majority of the people on this thread.

I tried restoring several times but it didn't help until I put my phone in DFU mode that takes a little practice and timing, then did a restore as a new phone.  It's worked perfectly ever since.

Thank goodness someone suggested I try putting the phone in DFU mode before the restore.  I didn't even know what DFU mode was, much less how to do it but it sure did the trick.

Yep, I'm one of those people.  New phone set up from scratch and same problem.  I'm also curious to know if it was the exact same problem.  I noticed people have been mistaking other problems such as hearing echo as opposed to the person on the other end hearing echo of themselves or problems nor even related to using the jack for a mic.  I get this problem when using a headset or plugging in a hands free cassette adapter.  When I talk to my Dad on his 4S if we both use the jack, eventually we both get the echo which causes a feedback loop.  Wish we could get some sort of communication from Apple on this.