This phone not friendly to Left Handers???

[Penguissimo]

As mentioned above its most likely location. The left hand thing came from the fact the echo is worse on the left than the right. I wasnt sure if it was mic plaement at first. The mic placement is probably responsible for the louder echo on the left hand side. BUT the whole echo thing seems to be based on where a persons location is. It has to be since ALL the incredibles I checked out at Verizons within a 20 mile radius did the exact same thing. So if you are in a location where the incredible isnt sensitive you wont hear it on either side.

After a few days with the phone, I'm going to have to agree with you that location is the biggest factor. Rotating the phone a bit does very slightly affect the sound quality, with the "ideal" angle not being the most comfortable, but it's a pretty miniscule effect that could also be a function of the case I'm using. I'll try making a few calls without it and see what happens.

Another potential cause of the echoes is if you (and your GF's niece) are using Google Voice. I've occasionally had echoes/delays/weird artifacts when making a call through GV.

I also agree with the guy who said this is generally not a lefty-friendly phone. In addition to the charging port location (I'm going to look into an angled USB plug and see if that helps), the volume button and lock button placement are kind of a pain to use one-handed as a lefty.