Help Call quality very sub-par (not signal strength)

[androy]

I keep missing calls even though I have a signal in the area I am at. I had 2 people ask me why I'm not picking up my phone yesterday.. They each called 2 or 3 times and I had no idea.. No missed call, no nothing. Also, Im getting text blasts, my texts come in groups cause they are not coming through as soon as people send them. This is when my signal is between -80dbm - -90dbm. I don't get it.

 

[Doc_Stew]

I keep having a problem where randomly during a conversation, the entire conversation completely cuts out and sounds like the person got disconnected. Then a few seconds later, it works fine again but I've missed everything the person just said.

Is this a bad phone or just the way it is? Otherwise my reception has been pretty good.

 

[wolffan]

I have had bad sound quality since the day I activated my phone. It is the same problem many of you have described. I know it isn't a signal issue since my previous phone was fine in the same locations (env2). When I switch to speakerphone, the quality is improved, so I am sure I have a faulty phone. I talked with Verizon cust. service and they ordered me a replacement phone. I need to pay for the new phone now, and I will get a refund on my previous phone when I send it back.

They told me that I will get a NEW phone, not a refurbished. They are backordered until May 31st (ordered May 12th).

I hope the replacement phone solves the problem!

 

[FlyPenFly]

Shot in the dark here but it seems sometimes, the calls sound fine when it's Verizon to Verizon but Verizon to anyone else seems spotty.

 

[evilotto]

I need to be really really careful with my phone. I have been fortunate enough to really have none of the problems people have been reporting. my call quality is good, my battery lasts pretty good (24 hours or so), no camera lock ups, no pink/blue hue on my screen, etc etc. I'm sure if I have to get it replaced for anything I won't be so lucky a second time.

 

[jessica19087]

So I tried to take my Inc back to the store yesterday, in hopes of finding the two awesome techs that were there the last time I went to the store (with my mom's Droid which had a bad screen).....alas, no techs, just reps who seemed to be filling in for techs. They claimed they couldn't reproduce the issue, and when they had me walk out of the store and talk to me via their land line, they did indeed sound fine. Grrr. I walked out and called my parents with horrible results. It's not all the time, it's not every land line....Just the ones I need to hear most (e.g., my boss and every coworker if they're on the office land line, calling to make a reservation at a restaurant, etc.). And I have 3 out of 4 bars in 3G. It's not in the same location. Reception seems fine. I only hear the static when the person on the other end talks. And again, they can hear me fine. It's not the speaker. I hear it over Bluetooth, I hear it with a corded headset. Wish I could record the calls to prove it, but it seems those apps don't work.

I guess I'll try and call Verizon to log the issue. This is the most frustrating thing ever! I've never had call quality this bad on any phone I've owned. I've had everything from a few Nokia candy bars, a Razr, Krazr, Palm Centro, Moto Droid. Guess I could always return/rebuy it. I hate this. I love the rest of the phone's features (even learning to deal with so-so battery life)....

 

[ilikebeer]

I'm curious if owners who are pleased with call quality keep the volume maxed. Again, for the me the problem is more volume than clarity. I feel better that some have exchanged and received phones without the problem.

I guess I should feel fortunate -- my earpiece volume is too HIGH. Even on the lowest setting, it's almost like a freaking speakerphone - I can still hear it almost a foot away. I'm actually trying to see if there's any way to reduce the in-call volume even more.

 

[ckar]

I feel your pain with the call quality issues! I bought an Eris three months ago, which quickly got returned due to horrible call quality/low bars, etc. I waited until the Incredible came out, thinking that HTC would have gotten their act together on this issue. Well...it appears that they haven't. It is rare that I have full bars on this phone. I know...bars don't mean much, but they do mean something. I truly believe that HTC must be putting sub-par antennas in their phones. I am getting audio cut-out pretty regularly on the INC. I had been using a Samsung Convoy flip phone, which NEVER had call quality issues! Always clear, rarely a drop. I really can't understand why Verizon can't come out with a phone that incorporates all of the bells and whistles of a smartphone (that the Incredible offers in spades!), WITH GOOD CALL QUALITY!!!! IT'S A PHONE!!! It should at least be good in that respect. I'm gonna give this thing a week, and if I don't see improvement I will be returning. What a bummer...

 

[quest4JC]

Update on my situation. I called tech support and they made me do a couple test calls then reboot my phone which didn't fix the rattling speaker. I then was asked to factory reset my phone which didnt help. After this she said she would send me out my free phone replacement which would be new then any other replacements would be refurbished I await my new phone which she said would be here in two days in hopes it works.

By any chance did anyone in this room install the zagg shield? I wonder if when it was put on water got in the speaker and damaged it. Just a thought cause I didn't watch the best buy guy install it .

 

[FlyPenFly]

Tech just had me do *228 Option 1 which I think reprogrammed the phone or maybe reactivated it. Is this just a BS solution or does it actually do something to improve the cutting in and out.

 

[jlb0305]

Interesting... I thought I had poor call quality but now I'm not sure. I have done something twice now but want to test further before saying my issue is solved.

Here's what I did. I rotated the phone about a 1/8 - 1/4 inch down on my ear while on the phone. I did not change my grip to improve signal or anything and the position of the mic did not change. This position of the ear piece and sensors did. I'm not sure if that means that the ear speaker has a louder output at one point or the sensors triggered something. But i went from barely able to hear the person/ garbled/ words cutting out to crystal clear.

Anyone else with call quality issues can try this to aid in my test, at which point we could determine if its a proximity sensor issue similar to that which some people complained about on the Droid.

 

[dbay55]

Every time I make a call, I just get angry. It is nearly worthless on voice calls. I have the same experience that speaker phone is almost better. The problem appears to me to be a cheap or poorly chosen speaker (or could be defective speaker I guess). With volume up, it is past its dynamic range, and voices have much lower tones with lots of muffles. I cannot understand people that I talked to every day for years. Enabling HAC (hearing aids) brings the tone in line and calls are more clear, but volume is LOWER, which I don't understand. Isn't HAC supposed to raise inline call volume? I came about this by trying desperately to find some settings adjustment to help.

My Inc is the WORST voice phone that I have owned in at least 10 years. I came from Blackberry Curve 8330 that was excellent.

As a netbook like device it is great (A-, mostly due to maturity/polish issues with key apps contact, SMS and email); Form factor A; battery D- (should not have been sold with anything but a 1750 battery); display A. Voice & calls = F.

 

[eyc]

I am also having the same problems. Speech sounds "garbled" -- so much so that I can barely understand what the other person is saying. It sounds almost "pixelated" if that makes sense, coming through the earpiece in blocks of sound...compressed, I guess, as others have explained it. Deeper voices are worse than higher voices.

I can confirm that the garbled voice comes through even when I am talking with someone on a good land-line phone. Also, I should note that sometimes, randomly, the earpiece will sound just fine.

Finally, I should add that on the day that I received the phone, while talking on the phone, the earpiece was making an unbearable rattling sound -- almost like an electrical buzzing. I hung up, and tried to call again. This time, it was a high-pitch squeal that was being emitted from the earpiece. I hung up and tried again, and I was getting no sound at all through the earpiece. I did a battery pull, and I never encountered that problem again.

 

[barrister89]

I'd tried calling on yet another (5th) Inc. and it had exactly the same low volume at the earpiece despite. I have no static or anything that would indicate a bad earpiece speaker, and some calls are better than others, but I think the ear speaker is just small and will probably blow if VZ updates the phone to increase the volume. The speakerphone is good and very capable of producing high volume though strangely the ringer won't go quite loud enough for my preference, though it's OK. I set the alarm the other night and when it went off it was so loud I nearly fell out of bed.

The fact that some calls come in clear while others are garbled or of poor voice quality indicates signal strength issues. Of course, if your calling another cell it could always be the fault of the other guy's phone. My mother insists on using one of those cheap prepaid phones and I have trouble understanding her on my landline.

I will say in defense of the Inc is that it is very good at holding on to calls even with a poor signal. I've made calls in low signal areas and though voice quality is often degraded, it has yet to drop a call on me. My parents live in a gated community and because of NIMBYism, the homeowners have refused allow the carriers to erect a tower in this pretty large neighborhood. My Dare would barely give me a bar in their home and I only got 1X networking. I was able to make calls there over the weekend and I was even able to get 3G if I sat close to a window.

 

[Rippin508]

I too am having the some problems as others have mentioned here. I have called Verizon Tech Support and have a "file" open with them. I have already tried to reset the phone, pull the battery, *228 etc with no luck. Most of my calls I have at least 3 bars.

I am going to the Verizon store tomorrow hoping that they will be able to shed some light on this problem. If this problem continues, I will have to go back to a Blackberry.

 

[curtisdr]

Good luck to all with this issue. I've already given up and have returned to using my BlackBerry. I'll be monitoring the issue in hopes that some resolution is found.

 

[eyc]

I put in the call to get a replacement Incredible. Will be here on Monday. I will report my findings.

Though it pains me greatly to say this, if Incredible #2 does not show a marked improvement over my Incredible #1, I am going to ditch it for the EVO 4g. It was just announced it’s going to drop on Sprint on June 4, 2010 for $199.

 

[colnago]

I put in the call to get a replacement Incredible. Will be here on Monday. I will report my findings.

Though it pains me greatly to say this, if Incredible #2 does not show a marked improvement over my Incredible #1, I am going to ditch it for the EVO 4g. It was just announced it

 

[eyc]

Wouldn't that just be going from one HTC phone to another, with a similar form-factor/internals?

Yes, but: (1) I'd be leaving the Incredible, which I love (coming off of a Storm 1); (2) I'd be leaving Verizon, which I really like; and (3) I'd be leaving this forum, which I kind of like.

** I should note that the reason I chose the Incredible over the EVO in the first place was because of the form factor. I need a smaller phone that wont weigh down an inner jacket pocket or dress slacks.

 

[curtisdr]

Wouldn't that just be going from one HTC phone to another, with a similar form-factor/internals?

I was keeping the EVO as an option too, but the fact that the internals would be similar kind of put a damper on things. The EVO does seem a little too big. I mean, a kickstand? I may check out the LG Ally just for grins.

 

[colnago]

Yes, but: (1) I'd be leaving the Incredible, which I love (coming off of a Storm 1); (2) I'd be leaving Verizon, which I really like; and (3) I'd be leaving this forum, which I kind of like.

** I should note that the reason I chose the Incredible over the EVO in the first place was because of the form factor. I need a smaller phone that wont weigh down an inner jacket pocket or dress slacks.

Fair enough. I'm curious as to how Wi-Max will fair regarding signal strength, coverage, and building penetration. If Sprint were not the only telco "in the world" going Wi-Max, and the technology provides more uniform coverage/reception, I'd consider it. It looks like Sprint may nickel-n-dime you with data rates though...have to pay extra for video calls, et al.

 

[kwilsonw]

I guess I should feel fortunate -- my earpiece volume is too HIGH. Even on the lowest setting, it's almost like a freaking speakerphone - I can still hear it almost a foot away. I'm actually trying to see if there's any way to reduce the in-call volume even more.

Me too! I thought I was the only one with the "too high" volume issue even when on the lowest setting. Of course I have all of the other poor sound quality issues listed in this forum too. I was going for my 3rd replacement but changed my mind. I just don't have time to keep swapping these "Incredible" phones hoping to find one with good sound quality. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"!

 

[gag10]

I too am having the some problems as others have mentioned here. I have called Verizon Tech Support and have a "file" open with them. I have already tried to reset the phone, pull the battery, *228 etc with no luck. Most of my calls I have at least 3 bars.

I am going to the Verizon store tomorrow hoping that they will be able to shed some light on this problem. If this problem continues, I will have to go back to a Blackberry.

I have had some improvement in call quality after a Verizon tech had me pull and reinstall the battery, then we did *228 (which I had already done, multiple times), then we did something new; calling *18 . . . after that you will hear an irrelevant message ("call cannot be completed as dialed", "beep-beep", or "feature update cannot be completed").

Regarding screen protector skins that use water, I mistakenly ordered one online, but I am afraid to use it because of fear that I will damage an already sub-par ear speaker with the liquid.

 

[barrister89]

Did you pull the battery while the phone was turned on or off?

 

[SBacklin]

I'm on my first Incredible. I do say the speaker quality isn't all that great. The Nokia Intrigue on my other line sounds excellent and very crisp/clear. The Incredible sounds like I'm listening to a slightly computerized voice....kind of like how the Motorola Adventure sounded like. So far though, landline to my Incredible is fine...cell to cell isn't all that great sometimes. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the audio codecs/compression? There was only really one bad call session that I really had. I called a person who uses the VZW Home Phone thing that they d/c. The system with the central touch screen hub. That call didn't sound good. Of course, its most likely the fact that those phones sucked anyway...always sounded bad. I'm considering doing a swap for another Incredible but, I may not. Who knows.....lol.