iPhone 5 bad call voice quality

Well, just yesterday I installed iOS 6.1 beta 5 (was made available by Apple over the weekend) and the issue is gone! Thank goodness! For me the issue was choppy audio when listening to phone calls on headphones -- would get the symptoms when calling that Hertz number.

It figures Apple officially releases iOS 6.1 now that I'm having to re-download a lot of data (images, songs, etc.) due to the restore method I had to use to install the beta OS -- I just couldn't wait any longer. :-)

Anyway, I trust the issue will remain fixed once I donwload the non-beta iOS 6.1.

dbugr: previous to you installing 6.1, were people complaining that your call quality was bad as well?

I installed iOS6.1 too. I tried Hertz... Way better. I also made a couple short calls to ask the idoitic question "Can you hear me now?" So it WAS Apple's fix to be compatible with LTE. Hopefully it hit enough carriers. There were some missing on the site from reading this topic too long.

Check out www.apple.com/iPhone/LTE to see if they listened.

OK, cautiously optomistic but I think the compression (robotic) and the noise gate (cut outs) might have been resolved with this new 6.1 update.

I only tested it with two calls (including the Hertz#) and the overall impression is that the call quality is dramatically improved. No cutting out and better tonality (less midrange distortion than before, more high end (treble) and lower frequences (bass).

Wow...if this is finally fixed, all I can say is Apple, you ticked off a lot of customers unnecessary. If the fix was coming, you could've admitted to it and said be patient with us..instead you kept us in the dark and that is not good service to your customers.

Other than that, I'll continue to test it throughout the day and hope that the problems do not re-occur.

thebl4ckd0g, nobody complained on the other end -- they could hear me fine -- so it was just the choppy audio I was hearing on my end.

Enabling hearing aid mode helped for listening without earphones, on spearker, and over bluetooth, but it did not help while listening with the earphones (and I tried several). The 6.1 upgrade seemed to solve the issue for me.

hrm ok. then that is a completely different issue than I fully have, and from what I've seen being reported by most people. My main issue is people on the other end of the calls complain about quality, but occasionally I will have problems with other people as well.

Downloading the update 6.1 now. Fingers crossed it fixes the bad call quality

The problem I was having was poor voice quality (cutting in and out or not being able to hear at all at low volumes) on my hearing end while using the wired earpods.

I've updated to 6.1 and tested it with the Hertz 877 number and the difference is amazing. At the lowest volume I can hear the recording very well while before it was silent.

I'm on AT&T 4G where I live.

Let us know how you get on with your other tests 🙂

Same here. Seems much better with 6.1. FWIW, I'm on Verizon.

6.1 seems to have fixed my particular issue (I was garbled/robotic/muffled/squelched to the other side, I could always hear them fine).

FWIW, Verizon.

I've been wrestling with this since day 1 of the iPhone 5 (Sept 21st, IIRC), having to use a headset for every conversation. Hopefully now I can finally feel proud about my purchase!

6.1 seems to have fixed my issues (intermittent garbled, robotic, occasional fade)

Verizon, iphone5

I've been following this board for 3 months... I have previously tried multiple tips & suggestions mentioned on this board to no avail... Looks like this could be the fix I've been looking for... Pity it took so long for Apple to address the obvious issue

Very happy for all of you 6.1ers. I just updated software, which included a new Verizon version, and quess what? NO DIFFERENCE. Nothing. Calls are awful. Going back soon to get iphone 5 number 5.

I think 6.1 has resolved similiar issues for me.

AT&T, iPhone5

OK, after a night of calls and the 6.1 update, I can definitetly conclude two things;

It appears the fidelity of the calls have improved (frequency response in the lows and highs). It also appears a lot of the noise cancelation (noise gate) functionality has improved as well.

However, the compression (which leads to the robotic effect) has not gone away at all. It's still there. Now the question is is it the cell provider's issue. I'm on Verizon...

With the modest improvements, it makes the iphone 5 more usable as a ummm...phone, but it is still far from a high quality call piece.