iPhone 5 bad call voice quality

Oh please, please stay away from posting.

ssspluto go read the full thread or just please stay away. You didn't even care reading what i wrote above. But let me outline that for you:

Two major problems:

a) Noise cancellation with wrong thresholds for low-noise clipping

b) AMR-WB issues because of wrong carrier settings

ad a) Demonstrated by Johannes http://www.iphone5callquality.com/

ad b) Phone calls sounds much better when not on 3G? This refers to the AMR-WB issue and has something to do with the fact able doesn't give test samples out to the carriers. But on some carriers they work just fine so it's more screwed up by the carrier. This has nothing and i repeat NOTHING to do with the noise concellation.

Once again:

Voice sounds grainy, muffled -> AMR-WB issue, provider settings must be fixed

Bumping, clipped voice -> Noise cancellation issue

Dropped Calls -> go to an other thread! Dropped calls aren't related to noise cancellation and AMR-WB

So please only post if you have a clue about it and have been able to test it. I did! I tried 4 iPhone5 + iPhone5 from friends and family. I tried every single carrier in Austria. And you can count on that what i've written above.

Dear xpla, I have no idea why you're bullying people here and messing up the thread, but I will still reply. The thing is that people all over the world are experiencing the same problem - I'm in Russia now, and I've followed this thread from the start - there are people from everywhere! And, moreover, I'm experiencing all the three problems you've mentioned! Is it worth posting about or shall I shut up, dude?

Deactivate 3G (and if there's no option i can't help you) and your calls should sound much better. Dropped Calls - use a better carrier. Noise cancellation - wait for Apple to fix it.

I wonder if this problem can't be fixed with a software update, otherwise Apple should have already done that.

<Edited By Host>

Turning off LTE did nothing for me. Turning off 3G did nothing as well. I have tried every solution suggested in this thread and nothing made any difference at all. I have the latest ios so maybe the earlier ios worked better. Beyond that the calls sound awful. Verizon has become a joke. They went from trying to sound helpful to now sounding helpless and apathetic. Apple tells me my 4th iPhone 5 works fine and it's Verizon's fault. Verizon says they don't know what's going on. Verizon doesn't even return my emails anymore, even though I was always polite and professional. I think they just want to pretend nothing's wrong. I've been an Apple fan for years and still am, but I've never seen anything like this.

ssspluto - I wondered that very same thing. There certainly does appear to be a major problem with the iPhone 5's core functions - and it appears to be fairly widespread too. You'd think they'd have picked this kind of thing up while testing the products before release.

Hi, I just wanted every one to know that I'm done with the Iphone 5!!! It was the biggest headache ever. Believe me I exhausted all avenues to fix this problem. Such POOR call quality with bad reception. I returned it, got a new Iphone 5, did all the updates, and called Apple support to troubleshoot the issue. (Still didn't work) They made me an appointment with an Apple Genious at their store. The employee claimed it wasn't the Iphone it was Verizons problem. But my whole family has Verizon service and they have no problems with their phone calls. I told them it was a hardware problem because simply resetting the Iphone to factory settings didn't change a thing. I gave up after 1 month and decided to exchange it to the Samsung Galaxy S3. It works perfect and the call quality is excellent. Not to mention I've been an Apple customer for the past couple years with the Iphone 4 and I'm disappointed to say that Iphone 5 is a bad Apple....

joerico7...me too. I give. This is my first iPhone and after replacing the hardware and still having voice quaility issues I am done. The last straw is that I still cannot conduct a phone conversation with the ear buds....totally unrecognizable voice from the other party. I love this phone, but I need it to work to talk. I am so bummed out.

I need to return it by the 25th to get a full refund....so that is it and I am done. Steve Jobs must be rolling over in his grave as this is not what Apple is supposed to be about.

Now I need to decide to go with an iPhone 4 or go to the Samsung as you did. I am thinking this is really turning me sour to Apple. They really need to do something.

I think it is a software issue.

Im having the same issue with the iphone 5 that I just got. Its with Verizon LTE network, and the voices on my calls fade in and out. I keep having to ask people to repeat what they said which is very annoying. Apple needs to admit that this is a problem and get it fixed asap. The main function of a phone is to talk to someone on it, and when that doesnt work well............

Latest update in dealing with this problem.....

I tried to return my phone to Verizon and since it is a week past the allowable return date I cannot do a simple return. They will do a return under the 1 year warranty if the device cannot be fixed.

In talking to their support technicians, they are telling me that my issues (voice of person on the other phone fading in and out and breaking up - especially on ear buds) are part of a known problem at Apple. It is believed to be the background noise being intermittently amplified by the background cancellation software (see a previous post about Apple using their own software for this on the iPhone 5, vs the third party software used in previous versions). According to the VZW tech, Apple is planning to release a new version of the OS to resolve the problem. The release date is unknown.

I asked if there was any other way to deal with this in the interim, but there is nothing to do but wait.

ok I just returned from the (non) Genius bar... My problem, if you call a 1-800 number (in my case its reproducible from my Bank and Insurance company) the auto attendant will intermittently become in-audible. The Genius had me turn on/off almost every option (couldn't keep up to post here)... but end result I still was having the problem. They exchanged my phone and as expected the issue persisted with the root iOS.

So, finally the blame game begins (even though I have friends on Verizon and I can reproduce the issue on their phones as well)... The Genius comes to the conclusion "It must be the carrier (AT&T in my case) and not Apple... I guess the next option the Genius would have me do is change insurance companies and close my bank accounts! I really hope if this is a software problem it get resolved soon. Besides this almost everyone I speak with claims my quality over the iPhone 5 is poor.

The Genius bar at least left me with a new phone... big deal I CAN"T CONNECT TO THE IMPORTANT NUMBERS I USE DAILY!!! this is frustrating!

My gut feeling is the programmer(s) working on the noise cancellation section were hanging out with the programmer(s) of Maps!

iPhone 5, new for Dec 25 2013.

Already on my second unit due to WiFi was not originally working.

I'm getting almost unusable voice in my ear both with and withoput a headset, mostly on LTE network in Brisbane (Australia).

The incoming voice is "chopped" and seems to have madly variable volume.

Many others are getting similar I read in this forum, nice to know I'm not alone.

I hope Apple can fix it soon.

May have to go back to my old iPhone 3 that is now 4 years old.

Can't use the iPhone 3 for much more than a good phone and txt machine,.. sigh.. such is life.

.. and I really love the 5 !! ..if only it would work properly !!!

Further to my post of 5 mins ago... been reading other users tales of woe.

Apple could insert an option to turn noise cancelling OFF !!

Might be easier to deal with background noise than simply not hear the other party.

(getting very frustrated here.)

Dare I say it... maybe this Apple fan should have gone android??

My friends, I have been down this road for several months. This goes back to the original release of the 5. I have been following this thread ever since. Not one thing has changed. Apple still refuses to recognize the issue as fixable and looks like twill contain the problem by replacing the phone. After 5 phones I could not wait any longer, it's my business phone. I switched to Android and haven't looked back (except for now). This must be a manageable problem for Apple and manageable meaning swap or replace until the customer gives up. I gave up. Will I ever go back? Maybe. But I will never ever be at the front of the Apple line as I was for every sinle release. Never again.

What makes me feel bad is that Apple made my provider the "bad guy". It was always their fault. Verizon did everything they could to solve my problem and I feel bad that they, in the end, could not find the problem. Not once did they blame Apple saying "There is no way that 5 phones are bad." I admire them for their efforts.

I now own a galaxy note 2. My wife just picked up a Nexus 7. Do you see what happens Apple?

I have read that you can sort of turn off noise cancelling by enabling hearing aid mode in the Accessibility menu.

I've done it and people have said I sound less muffled than before.