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zeroaxs Author

Level 1

6 points

iPhone se Bluetooth volume

I have a new iPhone SE, and I am experiencing something strange with the Bluetooth volume.

The audio output is fine when I am streaming music, but when I switch over to a phone call, the audio volume to my car is horrible. It's like a speaker that's being overdriven. Some words are clear, but many others are very scratchy and distorted, regardless of who I am talking to on the phone.

I do not experience this same problem over the built-in audio on the phone using either of its speaker outputs.

I have attempted to adjust the volume with the volume keys and software volume settings to no avail. The volume keys continue to adjust volume for music, even after the call is connected, making it impossible to turn down the call volume.

Amy help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Michael

iPhone SE, iOS 9.3.1

Posted on Apr 1, 2016 11:13 AM

49 replies

Apr 6, 2016 7:34 AM in response to zeroaxs

I have the exact same problem. iPhone SE 64 gb. Ford MyFord Touch Sync system. Bluetooth music streaming works fine. Phone calls are very distorted (overdriven sounding.) Other iPhones work fine. I even updated my Ford Sync system and the problem is still there. I also reset all the setting on the iPhone SE. It didn't fix the problem.

Willdas

Level 1

4 points

Apr 6, 2016 7:36 AM in response to ryanfromdavenport

This is a good point. How many of us are using Ford Sync? I am and have same problem. Apple Store finds nothing wrong with it.

Apr 6, 2016 7:46 AM in response to zeroaxs

I just tried the iPhone SE on my Chrysler Uconnect system and it actually seemed ok. I only made one call for half a minute so I'm not sure. So maybe it is the Ford Sync system that the SE is having issues with? I upgraded from an iPhone 5s and it was working fine. After the problems with the SE I updated to the latest Sync version and the problem is still there.

Dualmax

Level 1

4 points

Apr 6, 2016 8:08 AM in response to ryanfromdavenport

As i mentioned before, this is not a car specific issue, i have the same problem with car or headset while on a call, music and everything else sounds perfect only happen when make a call.

Apr 6, 2016 9:13 AM in response to zeroaxs

Excactly the same problem here.

Apr 6, 2016 9:25 AM in response to zeroaxs

Same problem here. Verified bluetooth devices against older iphone6 and other SE - 6 works fine, SE not so much. Both SEs exhibit same problem. Even tried various bluetooth devices, car and ear piece with same "overdriven" result. If I switch to speaker or handset the quality is fine. Even tried to isolate any background bluetooth noise and/or cases - no noticable differences.

Quick way to test - call 611, shows off the problem really quickly if on bluetooth call. I have not tried "renewing" phone yet.

Adding some keywords for visibility: The iPhone SE with 9.3.1 bluetooth call quality is terrible, the call volume seems overdriven/the gain is too high.

Sigh.

Snippy1

Level 1

4 points

Apr 6, 2016 9:47 AM in response to gazumping

I received a call from Apple engineering today and gave details of my experience. The guy was polite and thorough, and I appreciate the fact they reached out to me. I will get another SE as soon as I find out that there is a resolution. I walked him through the issue and all of the troubleshooting that I had done using the different iPhones. (much like gazumping) with several restores and pair/unpair, etc. I hope that they are able to capture the phone that I returned to the Apple Store.

One additional piece of information that I had on hand was the Ford SYNC software version I am running (SYNC2 - v3.8) and a little information about my bluetooth headsets....

Dualmax

Level 1

4 points

Apr 6, 2016 9:57 AM in response to Snippy1

He called me too and i gave all the details to him as well.

Mrapitis

Level 1

4 points

Apr 6, 2016 11:29 AM in response to Dualmax

Same problem here... both in vehicle (Ford Sync) bluetooth connection and (Nokia) headset are having the same issue.

GismoNo1

Level 1

4 points

Apr 6, 2016 1:38 PM in response to Mrapitis

Same here. Hopefully it's a software issue and can be fixed!

vasanp

Level 1

4 points

Apr 6, 2016 1:53 PM in response to GismoNo1

I see the same issue, upgrading to 9.3.1 made call quality terrible

Sent from my iPhone

Gogwwk

Level 1

4 points

Apr 6, 2016 1:55 PM in response to GismoNo1

The fact that there isn't a flood of this issue yet seems like this perhaps could be an issue with a certain batch of SE stocks. I have the 64 Gb, Silver, Unlocked and tried it with locked T-Mobile and issue persists on both.