iPhone SE Bluetooth issues

I know "elzale", I was just analyzing the situation 🙂

I have personally tried everything that I know, including turning off LTE/VoLTE, resetting network settings, restoring phone back to even iOS 9.3, then upgrading, turning off WiFi during calls, re-pairing devices.

Hi akordion,

Sorry to hear that.

I work at software development and one of my specialties is debugging and doing testing... so I am following this thread quite close even if my SE was fixed. I am really intrigued on why my unit went from KO to OK.

Anyhow, we have three other fellows which improved their audio quality by turning off VoLTE, so that's a clear sign. The issue is that we don't know what type of sign it is. 😕

It could also be carrier settings and/or having different carriers may produce different results. I am on T-Mobile USA

My american carrier was also T-Mobile USA, and those were the settings that I swiped... now I only have Spanish settings with no LTE.

But I think I have read about people suffering the issue with AT&T, so I still think that LTE might be involved.

And I don't discard a combination of LTE and different bluetooth chip on the car maker or on different suppliers for the iPhone SE.

I am from Germany and i telephone mainly in my car (Mazda 3 BM, 12/15, Bose Soundsystem). My carrier is Vodafone switching between 2G and 3G, no LTE. I used to talk 30-60 min. in my car with an iphone 6, that worked perfectly with very clear voice. Now with the SE it is scratchy. I can guess what my wife is telling me, but i tell her to speak with low voice to understand her better. No choice for other callers ;-)

I got my SE on 31/03/16 and i followed all orders, the hotline told me. Then i switched the phone, but not better at all. I set it up as a new phone, not recovering from an backup.

I doubt it is a carrier problem. Because i understand the caller very clearly when i switch to the earspeakers.

Hi alexpetra

Of course everyone reports that switching to earspeakers or iPhone built in speakers works ok.

I am not blaming the carrier for bad quality.

My suggestion was that settings with VoLTE could make the software work badly, as iOS tries to use VoLTE instead of the normal carrier audio channel. And it could be a bug there, when iOS switches from normal audio to VoLTE or mixes both...

Have you checked if on your settings is there any reference to LTE? or 4G? I understand that you switch from 2G to 3G, but it may be that your carrier supports LTE and you simply are not in an area where it is existing.

My carrier settings do not show any switch for 4G either, but I've seen other Spanish iPhones with settings that allow you to switch on and off 4G.

The carrier generally supports LTE, but i have not ordered LTE. Additionally i have completely switched 4G OFF. My wife with same settings, same carrier has no problems talking in my car, so it is easy to compare.

Sometimes i think it ist nearly acceptable, but that is only, when the caller is very quiet. Until 50% level its understandable, until 80% it is scratchy, and over it is impossible to understand. Again, in comparison to the iphone 6 with clear voice at any level.

Happy to report that this worked for me on two SE's:

Soft reset — holding down the power and home buttons until you see the Apple logo appear, then let go. I first unpaired the iPhones, deleted them from an '11 Prius and '14 CR-V, then did the soft reset, then paired them again. Did it last night, so far today all seems good in both cars.

I found this on macrumours.com, it was suggested by an Apple tech. Here's the original:

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/many-iphone-se-users-experiencing-bluetooth- phone-call-audio-issues.1967073/page-6#post-22798342

you may be on to something with your VoLTE LTE theory. Everything ( incl Bluetooth) worked well with my 4S which didn't support LTE but the SE did and 4g LTE is available in my area , tho not VOLTE from my carrier. I didn't get a chance to try it in another area before returning it for a refund. that still means the SE hhas a problem that needs to be fixed.

Sorry to follow up, soft reset didn't fix it. I'll wait for Apple to announce a remedy—software or otherwise.

Did not work for me as well.

R

Same problem here!

I am using the bluetooth of the SE with a plantronics voyager edge but also in my car a Peugeot 508SW with Multi Media Center.

Both devices have the exact same sound quality problem while on the iPhone SE.

Both devices worked perfectly with the iPhone 6.

Both devices are still working perfectly with that very iPhone 6.

Therefore it has to be something with the iPhone SE, either software or hardware ... so please do something Apple!

Wild guess: It seems some phone numbers work better than others, but I can't document that.

Regards

Ernst Südmeyer

MMuch worse with mobile to mobile calls. Mobile to landline are understandable

Same issue here with my IPhone SE. I have a 2013 Audi A5 and a 2014 Cadillac CTS and audio over BT phone calls are scratchy sounding, but music plays fine. My old 4s works fine in both cars. I did get a replacement, but the new SE has the same issue. Apple Store told me to sit tight as Apple is aware of this issue.

I have similar Bluetooth issue with my iPhone SE that I purchased few days back. Bad incoming and outgoing voice quality both on BT headset and my car. No problems with music streaming though. Used the same BT headset until last week on iPhone 4s and my car with no issues so obviously this is a SE problem. I called Apple support and talked to the rep on Bluetooth and she right away said the voice quality is poor and after taking down some details referred me to a senior advisor.

TO my surprise the advisor feigned ignorance of this BT problem on SEs until I asked him to Google and then he acted surprised at all the complaints. He said he will escalate the issue to engineering and get back to me in 3-4 days.

I don't want to go the 6S route because of the large size, I like SE's size. If Apple does not fix this problem in 3 months I will return my phone and go for an Android.