[Q] HTC One - Hardware repair nightmare - started with blurry camera. - One (M7) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hope someone on here can help me; I've searched everywhere can could not find a solution. The technician who worked on the phone for over 10-15 hours over 1 month looked at me in despair and said "I have no clue"; I thought he was going to start crying.
Everything but the camera worked perfectly before the technician opened the phone to start working in it a month ago. It went downhill from there.
Sequence of events
1. Had a camera problem (constantly out of focus) on my US HTC One Dev edition that started 6 months after owning the phone, which I absolutely loved. Searched and found this was a hardware issue.
2. I'm in Canada with a US phone, so no warranty. HTC wants $200 and 3-6 weeks to fix it. Local shop wants $75. After asking if they knew how to fix this specific phone and that they had the tools, I leave it with them.
3. They installed the new camera, damaged my top speaker grille and phone side, and the screen is uneven (technician: worst phone I have ever seen to repair) If you want an idea of the process have a look at the ifixit website.
4. I order top grille for replacement ($10) from ebay. I realize the screen is has not been properly installed and after 2 days I have a purple dead pixel.
5. I leave for a trip with my family over the Holidays - I start taking photos in low light, guess what? Damn purple issue starts. The new camera was an omnivision from a bad batch (pre-Nov 2013). Fortunately, as a true geek I brought another camera with me, just in case.
6. I order a new camera myself from etradesupply $30 plus $20 shippling = $50. 2 more weeks go by.
7. I receive the grille and get the phone back to the technician, he puts it back together, but the grille won't bend and stick to the phone.
8. New camera arrives and Iget the phone back to the technician to install it, which he does.
9. I come back to pick up the phone - screen is all pixelated and dies shortly thereafter.
10. Technician proposes to swap screen from a bricked One he has from another customer. I hesitate, but agree; just want a working phone already. Donnor phone is pretty much destroyed in the process.
11. Back at the shop to pick up my phone: everything finally looks great. I realize back home that the sim card cannot be detected, and that the speakers make a bad creakling noise when volume is higher than 8 or 9 or at normal levels during a phone call
12. Back at the shop - he fixes the sim card issue (pooly connected wire), speaker issue remains and we have no clue where it's coming from. That's were we are at.
Lessons learned for both of us:
The HTC One is a fantastic phone...until it breaks.
technicians should refuse to repair the HTC One, it's almost guaranteed that they will damage something
I should have sent the phone to HTC for 4 weeks paid $200, pay $100 for a loaner phone and be done with the problem...
Problem description
Problem is blatant when volume is at 8 or 9 or more, but is also there at lower volumes, and during phone calls at any volume, there is a creaking noise from the speakers mostly top one. When we press on the grilles the problem is slightly better.
When the whole phone (electronics) was outside the aluminum unibody frame the noise would stop. As soon as we inserted the top end of the phone assembly into the aluminum frame the noise started.
When beatsaudio is off problem is not as bad.
We inspected the motherboard, daughterboard, casing, speakers and everything looks fine (i.e. nothing broken or missing).
Questions
1. Speaker worked perfectly before the technician swapped the screen and reassembled the phone. It's kind of odd that both speakers started having the same issue at the same time. Is it worth trying to replace the speakers with new ones?
2. Could it be interference from something that was not properly put together?
3. Should I use the phone as a hammer, throw it as far as I can from the top of a 30-story building, in a river from a dam, put it in a bucket filled with fuel, or tie it to a propane tank and shot a bullet into it?
Thanks so much for any help!

fujisan582 said:
Hope someone on here can help me; I've searched everywhere can could not find a solution. The technician who worked on the phone for over 10-15 hours over 1 month looked at me in despair and said "I have no clue"; I thought he was going to start crying.
Everything but the camera worked perfectly before the technician opened the phone to start working in it a month ago. It went downhill from there.
Sequence of events
1. Had a camera problem (constantly out of focus) on my US HTC One Dev edition that started 6 months after owning the phone, which I absolutely loved. Searched and found this was a hardware issue.
2. I'm in Canada with a US phone, so no warranty. HTC wants $200 and 3-6 weeks to fix it. Local shop wants $75. After asking if they knew how to fix this specific phone and that they had the tools, I leave it with them.
3. They installed the new camera, damaged my top speaker grille and phone side, and the screen is uneven (technician: worst phone I have ever seen to repair) If you want an idea of the process have a look at the ifixit website.
4. I order top grille for replacement ($10) from ebay. I realize the screen is has not been properly installed and after 2 days I have a purple dead pixel.
5. I leave for a trip with my family over the Holidays - I start taking photos in low light, guess what? Damn purple issue starts. The new camera was an omnivision from a bad batch (pre-Nov 2013). Fortunately, as a true geek I brought another camera with me, just in case.
6. I order a new camera myself from etradesupply $30 plus $20 shippling = $50. 2 more weeks go by.
7. I receive the grille and get the phone back to the technician, he puts it back together, but the grille won't bend and stick to the phone.
8. New camera arrives and Iget the phone back to the technician to install it, which he does.
9. I come back to pick up the phone - screen is all pixelated and dies shortly thereafter.
10. Technician proposes to swap screen from a bricked One he has from another customer. I hesitate, but agree; just want a working phone already. Donnor phone is pretty much destroyed in the process.
11. Back at the shop to pick up my phone: everything finally looks great. I realize back home that the sim card cannot be detected, and that the speakers make a bad creakling noise when volume is higher than 8 or 9 or at normal levels during a phone call
12. Back at the shop - he fixes the sim card issue (pooly connected wire), speaker issue remains and we have no clue where it's coming from. That's were we are at.
Lessons learned for both of us:
The HTC One is a fantastic phone...until it breaks.
technicians should refuse to repair the HTC One, it's almost guaranteed that they will damage something
I should have sent the phone to HTC for 4 weeks paid $200, pay $100 for a loaner phone and be done with the problem...
Problem description
Problem is blatant when volume is at 8 or 9 or more, but is also there at lower volumes, and during phone calls at any volume, there is a creaking noise from the speakers mostly top one. When we press on the grilles the problem is slightly better.
When the whole phone (electronics) was outside the aluminum unibody frame the noise would stop. As soon as we inserted the top end of the phone assembly into the aluminum frame the noise started.
When beatsaudio is off problem is not as bad.
We inspected the motherboard, daughterboard, casing, speakers and everything looks fine (i.e. nothing broken or missing).
Questions
1. Speaker worked perfectly before the technician swapped the screen and reassembled the phone. It's kind of odd that both speakers started having the same issue at the same time. Is it worth trying to replace the speakers with new ones?
2. Could it be interference from something that was not properly put together?
3. Should I use the phone as a hammer, throw it as far as I can from the top of a 30-story building, in a river from a dam, put it in a bucket filled with fuel, or tie it to a propane tank and shot a bullet into it?
Thanks so much for any help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow.. Just wow... Looks like your speaker grills haven't been put in properly.. Did he replace only the LCD or the LCD+front housing?
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

Most likely a bad speaker placement. It sounds to me that the "technician" didn't place the speakers properly and it probably is now always in contact with the aluminium grills. That will cause weird audio creaking noise as the speaker vibrations are vibrating the aluminium grills as well. That's why if you press on the speaker grills, it will stop that extra vibration from the speaker grills. Beats Audio will just make more vibrations in the speakers and worsen your problem.
I suggest you find another "technician" because the one you went to is clearly stupid.

Thanks for the replies!
n1234d said:
Wow.. Just wow... Looks like your speaker grills haven't been put in properly.. Did he replace only the LCD or the LCD+front housing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He replaced the full front housing to make sure we would not have problems fitting the speaker grills again.
ZeroInfinity said:
Most likely a bad speaker placement. It sounds to me that the "technician" didn't place the speakers properly and it probably is now always in contact with the aluminium grills. That will cause weird audio creaking noise as the speaker vibrations are vibrating the aluminium grills as well. That's why if you press on the speaker grills, it will stop that extra vibration from the speaker grills. Beats Audio will just make more vibrations in the speakers and worsen your problem.
I suggest you find another "technician" because the one you went to is clearly stupid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you are on to something. I got a similar answer on ifixit where I posted the issue.
Will get the guy to open my one up again and make sure the speaker is properly in place before ordering a new one. These suckers are $2, but shipping from HongKong is $23!
Thanks again for your help!

ZeroInfinity said:
Most likely a bad speaker placement. It sounds to me that the "technician" didn't place the speakers properly and it probably is now always in contact with the aluminium grills. That will cause weird audio creaking noise as the speaker vibrations are vibrating the aluminium grills as well. That's why if you press on the speaker grills, it will stop that extra vibration from the speaker grills. Beats Audio will just make more vibrations in the speakers and worsen your problem.
I suggest you find another "technician" because the one you went to is clearly stupid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Zero, probably should start a new thread for this, but I've noticed this in all the Ones I've seen. What happens is the Upper speaker has good amounts of bass and treble but very low midrange. On the other hand, the lower speaker has good midrange, okay bass, and lacking treble. That's exactly why it sounds uneven. Can you please make a mod to solve this?

For anyone interested in an update - the issue doesn`t come from vibration on the grilles. There is a small rubber around the speaker to prevent that and we doubled it to see if it makes any difference. It doesn`t. We realized that the noise was coming from some kind of short circuit whenever we pressed the daugther board along the top of the phone (we could hear a small buzz each time we pressed it). Next stop = electronics technician...

fujisan582 said:
For anyone interested in an update - the issue doesn`t come from vibration on the grilles. There is a small rubber around the speaker to prevent that and we doubled it to see if it makes any difference. It doesn`t. We realized that the noise was coming from some kind of short circuit whenever we pressed the daugther board along the top of the phone (we could hear a small buzz each time we pressed it). Next stop = electronics technician...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello mate ! Sorry for asking this question, as this thread was started long ago. How does it perform now ? Do you regret that your device has been repaired ? Can you please upload some photos of the device ? Does it look and feel like it was a new device after the entire messed up repair ? Sorry for asking these questions. Thanks in advance :good:

Related

Repairs?

Hey Guys,
The front of my diamond is in pretty bad condition. Well it looks fine when you glance on it but on further inspection there are many scratches on the screen including a big one in the top right hand corner. I have noticed that there seems to be a thin glass panel over the actual screen, Is it possible to get this replaced with a panel which is scratch free?
Furthermore, my speaker is buggered. My mate read some article on the internet saying that if you smear your phone with toothpaste then it removes scratches. Unfortunately he decided to try it. The toothpaste has got into the ditch where the speaker is and it's clearly blocked up. I can just about hear the phone when I am indoors and there is no noise but when outdoors I cannot hear a thing. It was a bit too quiet for my liking before anyway. Where can I get the speaker replaced preferably with a louder speaker?
I'm new to repairing phones as I usually just buy a new one if something goes wrong but I like my diamond
Any Suggestions?
Too bad for the toothpaste there are polishing fluids for sale which seem to work, although i wouldn't try it. Seems to mee you could ask HTC if you're really interested in spare parts ?

How I fixed my back speakers

Well...ever since I bought my vivid (used from some guy on craigslist) the back speakers sounded like crap...like any sound even at the lowest volume was distorted/crackaly sounding...especialy high notes and singing...
So today, while I was waiting for a repo sync to complete for cm10 I decided to take apart my vivid and see how the speaker is connected and if its possible to replace it...
So after I took the casing off my phone I found that the speaker was easy to remove. So I took it off and turned it over to look at it with out the (mesh?) Covering or whatever you wanna call it...
As soon as I turned it over I was shocked, there were a bunch of tiny metal shaving stuck to the speaker (most speakers use magnets so that's why they were stuck...how they got inside the phone is a mystery though...) like there was enough on there to cover an 1/8 of the speaker...
So I grabbed a magnet and slid it back and forth over the speaker, this took off all the shavings since my magnet was stronger then the one in the speaker
I put my phone back together and for the first time ever, playing music out of the back speaker actually sounds decent (for a phone...)
In short...
1) Took my phone apart
2) Extracted my back speaker
3) Noticed there were metal shavings stuck to it
4) Removed metal shaving with strong magnet
5) Put phone back together
I know most people wpuldnt open up there phone...but I figured maybe someone else has a bad sounding speaker, maybe they might wanna see if this was there problem...
If anyone is interested I can make a video tutorial on what I did...
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
Being a pipefitter I had to the same lol. I had my phone in my carhartts everyday and when I was grinding it would attach like nothing . Welder would be the same . Your right its so much better but most people won't have metal shavings. I'm having a problem now with most kernals getting the front speaker loud enough . Have to push hard on my head to hear it . And I had thY apart aswelll .

[Q] HTC One Black Speaker Grille

Hi All,
For those who own the black HTC One, do you find half of the bottom speaker grille's hole is not as deep as the other half?
I mean it seems like half of it is fake holes.
I asked this question because I just tried with a demo unit on my local shop and noticed this problem. Compared to the silver HTC One beside the black one, the speaker grille seemed fine.
I'm pretty sure the actual speakers only take up a small portion of those holes in the grills. So yes I would say the other half are more likely just for show.
coming from the og one x
But the silver unit's speakers seems utilizing the whole grilles.
I hope it's just a defect on this one black demo unit though.
Aetherion90 said:
But the silver unit's speakers seems utilizing the whole grilles.
I hope it's just a defect on this one black demo unit though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think its the same for the silver
how did you take off the grill?
ichi2k said:
I think its the same for the silver
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aetherion90 said:
Hi All,
For those who own the black HTC One, do you find half of the bottom speaker grille's hole is not as deep as the other half?
I mean it seems like half of it is fake holes.
I asked this question because I just tried with a demo unit on my local shop and noticed this problem. Compared to the silver HTC One beside the black one, the speaker grille seemed fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hole depth all looks the same on my black One. I believe I remember seeing this on the demo units.
bumping this thread because dammit, after my 4th exchange at the store for various build and camera issues, just noticed this. none of the other ones had this issue, but on this one, its like they didn't drill all the way through half the grill at the bottom, and three bars worth at the top. Of course the store can't do anything for me at this point, and won't let me exchange anymore, even though its yet another defect. Manager said it's just cosmetic.
fachadick said:
bumping this thread because dammit, after my 4th exchange at the store for various build and camera issues, just noticed this. none of the other ones had this issue, but on this one, its like they didn't drill all the way through half the grill at the bottom, and three bars worth at the top. Of course the store can't do anything for me at this point, and won't let me exchange anymore, even though its yet another defect. Manager said it's just cosmetic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it is just cosmetic. if it wasn't for this thread you would have never noticed it. stop nitpicking and enjoy your phone.
saucyross said:
it is just cosmetic. if it wasn't for this thread you would have never noticed it. stop nitpicking and enjoy your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not at all - you don't know me, and you don't know my motivations. What, do you think I went on xda at the store looking for things to complain about? I noticed it immediately (because it's very noticeable - there's no depth to half the holes, so they look white compared to the proper holes), and pointed it out to the manager right there at the store. Like I said, he wouldn't exchange it because he said it's "just cosmetic". When I got back to my office, I ran a Google search to see how common of an issue it was, and that's when I found this thread.
I'm not even sure it's just cosmetic anyway. If you look at the picture someone posted earlier in the thread, it looks like what's actually happening is that the black backing is pushed flush against the speaker grill, when there should be a gap between the grill and that internal black backing. That's why it appears that the holes aren't drilled all the way through except for directly in front of the speaker hole. It's very jarring to see the difference, and who knows, it could possibly affect the sound. Maybe that gap that's missing on my unit is needed for the BoomSound™ resonance or something.
None of that matters though - even if it is just cosmetic damage, if I pay full price for a phone, shouldn't I expect it to be free of defects, even if the defect is just cosmetic?
If it was minor, I wouldn't care. I've had flagship smartphones for over decade now, going back to the old windows mobile days (although not an iPhone - never an iPhone), and have never, not once, ever felt the need to exchange one, or even send one in for warranty.
I'll continue to use this phone, and I'll enjoy the hell out of it. Just like I've been doing for the past 14 days - this is the best phone I've ever owned. But I can say that while at the same time admitting the reality that there are serious build issues in the manufacturing process of this phone. And I'll have to rememeber that every time I look at my phone. How often do you look at your phone?

Galaxy S4 Active - is it really waterproof?

USA Today have an article (here) where the reviewer was testing the S4 Active. Right after he dunk the phone underwater, the phone have WATER DAMAGE:
Shortly after I took the phone for a dip (in not very deep water), the display went kaput — at least for several hours. It lit up just long enough to indicate that I had power, but I couldn't actually keep the display on and use it.
Roughly a day later, the screen came alive again, but the phone was still exhibiting finicky behavior, presumably because of water damage. The touch-screen was messed up and the device acted as if headphones were plugged in when they weren't. If this were my actual phone, I'd return to the store for a replacement.
I just got the S4 Active and thought I am not planning to take the phone for a long underwater activities, I am concerned that I am getting a phone that have a very weak water resistant feature.
Not sure if this is because the reviewer didn't "properly" close the battery cover / USB port, but I have seen S4 Active review and Samsung Event videos where the phone was submerged in water for a long time and it still works.
PS: Have ANYONE tried to dunk their phone in the water for testing?
My phone has been in a pool, lake, bathtub, rainy weather, all since I got it. I trust it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk 2
I'd like to think that reviewer just got stuck with a bad unit.
But this begs the question: Is water damage covered under warranty? Either by AT&T or Samsung? Surely they should back up their "vacation-proof" phone..
aceownstheworld said:
My phone has been in a pool, lake, bathtub, rainy weather, all since I got it. I trust it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My first one went into the pool just fine. The unit I have now I am scared to expose it. On the top between the glass and bezel there is a small gap... above the in call speaker.... I'm afraid that water will pour in through that... Can you look at yours and see if yours is like that?
He probably didn't press down the back cover correctly.
Sent From My Galaxy S4 Active using a Tapatalk 4
joshuadjohnson22 said:
My first one went into the pool just fine. The unit I have now I am scared to expose it. On the top between the glass and bezel there is a small gap... above the in call speaker.... I'm afraid that water will pour in through that... Can you look at yours and see if yours is like that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean between the earpiece and the bezel at the front? I don't see any gaps, at least not with my naked eyes.
On the back, bottom part near the speaker, I don't see it either. Trying to press to see if there is a gap, so far none.
What makes you "scared" on the phone that you have now?
robstunner said:
He probably didn't press down the back cover correctly.
Sent From My Galaxy S4 Active using a Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a sticker on the back cover that provide a warning for the user to PRESS DOWN on the middle of the cover, underneath the LED.
I always do that, but I never hear a "click" or any indication that the back cover is now PROPERLY covering the phone to prevent water leakage.
Well, I DO hear the click when pressing on all sides, but that's normal like my Galaxy Note.
lanwarrior said:
You mean between the earpiece and the bezel at the front? I don't see any gaps, at least not with my naked eyes.
On the back, bottom part near the speaker, I don't see it either. Trying to press to see if there is a gap, so far none.
What makes you "scared" on the phone that you have now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah on the front top. I just think water will easily get in the phone...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
I've used this phone below the 1 meter mark and the only bad side effect I get is the microphone not working well for a bit afterwords, which happens really at any level of exposure. This phone is pretty safe in water if you use it correctly.
mattpayne92 said:
...the only bad side effect I get is the microphone not working well for a bit afterwords...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is pretty bad. I mean, I am not going snorkeling and take a phone call while floating on the shore, but if somebody calls me and I CANNOT talk to them because the microphone does not work, that is a big problem.
I am actually wondering how does the phone protects the microphone, earphone and speaker? There are holes there and water can go in. I was considering the Xperia Z and so far the only problem with water issue is the microphone jack - the phone will think that the jack have a headphone but it's only water. However, that is easily fixable by drying it out. I.e. use tissue or something that goes inside the jack.
Microphone though, the holes are to tiny to "dry" with a tissue or something.
BTW, is the microphone STOPS working completely or it works again after a FEW DAYS?
Maybe I can ask those who read this thread to tell me if:
A). You HAVE tested your phone under water (splashing it, dunking it in a bowl of water)
B). What ISSUE you have after you did the above? Phone dead, microphone stops working, etc.
I am trying to get a sense if this is just a specific batch issue (I can replace the phone) or design issue (no matter what, the issue still exists).
If it really was then it would have lifetime warranty. The fact that it only has 1 year warranty like most of the phones tells me that after year 1 be ready to say bye bye to your baby
Sent from my SGH-I337
lanwarrior said:
Maybe I can ask those who read this thread to tell me if:
A). You HAVE tested your phone under water (splashing it, dunking it in a bowl of water)
B). What ISSUE you have after you did the above? Phone dead, microphone stops working, etc.
I am trying to get a sense if this is just a specific batch issue (I can replace the phone) or design issue (no matter what, the issue still exists).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Decided to take mine in the shower to test after it got here.
I let the showerhead spray onto the phone, both front and back. Nothing wrong.
Like other people reported, the speaker volume gets significantly lower when wet and goes back to normal within a half hour. Also if the headphone port gets water in it it will errenously display that "headphones are connected" which blowing into the port will fix.
thatbigmoose said:
Decided to take mine in the shower to test after it got here.
I let the showerhead spray onto the phone, both front and back. Nothing wrong.
Like other people reported, the speaker volume gets significantly lower when wet and goes back to normal within a half hour. Also if the headphone port gets water in it it will errenously display that "headphones are connected" which blowing into the port will fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is useful! BTW, you haven't test submerging the phone, have you?
maldinimi said:
If it really was then it would have lifetime warranty. The fact that it only has 1 year warranty like most of the phones tells me that after year 1 be ready to say bye bye to your baby
Sent from my SGH-I337
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it won't, because all things mechanical / electronics break downs eventually - nothing last forever. Even mil-spec stuff does not have a "lifetime" warranty.
lanwarrior said:
This is useful! BTW, you haven't test submerging the phone, have you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't submersed it yet but there's videos on YouTube with submersion and it brings about the same issues I discussed.
Higher water pressure will clog the mic membrane and make you sound distant in phone calls.
Maybe I'll build up the courage to dunk it tomorrow.
I did the dunk test the night after I got it by fully submerging it in a cup of water...worked just fine afterwards...although I was showing a friend that didn't believe that I had a "water proof/resistant" phone by putting it in the sink and letting water run over it and had an issue with the phone thinking the headphones were plugged in.only did it for about an hour...weird thing was that it didn't start doing it until about 2 hours after it had been wet. Although once it fully dried I haven't had any issues at all with it. Hope this helps.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using XDA Premium HD app
lanwarrior said:
That is pretty bad. I mean, I am not going snorkeling and take a phone call while floating on the shore, but if somebody calls me and I CANNOT talk to them because the microphone does not work, that is a big problem.
I am actually wondering how does the phone protects the microphone, earphone and speaker? There are holes there and water can go in. I was considering the Xperia Z and so far the only problem with water issue is the microphone jack - the phone will think that the jack have a headphone but it's only water. However, that is easily fixable by drying it out. I.e. use tissue or something that goes inside the jack.
Microphone though, the holes are to tiny to "dry" with a tissue or something.
BTW, is the microphone STOPS working completely or it works again after a FEW DAYS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe leave the phone in the sun for a few minutes to dry? Blow on it? Several things help get the water out. But honestly, how often are you going to go swimming with a phone and then take a call immediately afterwards? I'd be thrilled that my phone didn't fry after it fell in the pool, I could care less that the microphone doesn't work for an hour - that's what bluetooth headsets are for.
Anyways, I've had my phone submerged in a sink with running water twice now, the only issues I've found is that after removing the back cover there is water on the outside of the rubber gasket, which looks normal, but I would recommend taking the back off to dry it out after exposed to water.
When i took mine into the pool I made a phone call right after and they said I sounded funny so i blew in the mic and it cleared the water out and they could hear me fine....
geoff5093 said:
But honestly, how often are you going to go swimming with a phone and then take a call immediately afterwards?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not very often, but when I DO need to take that call, it will be a big problem. This is a phone after all.
I don't think I will purposely take the phone for a swim, but the reason I bought the Active instead of the S4 is because of the water/sand protection and want to confirm it works. If it doesn't, then I'll exchange the phone to a normal S4 because it's thinner.
However, based on your response and others, it seems it does offer those protection to a certain degree and the ONLY issue is that the mic may get covered with water and cause the caller not being able to hear me, but this is easily fixed QUICKLY.

Unusually low volume on earpiece speaker

Anyone having the same problem? Im not sure if its because of the whitestone adhesive, the dual speaker mod or what. Its getting annoying that I need to use the speaker just to hear the person im talking to.
Is this happening only when placing calls through your carrier or also when placing whatsapp and facebook messenger calls?
you probably got some of the Whitestone adhesive leaked into the earpiece speaker and then dirt/dust clogging it up, several people reported same thing happening, some careful cleaning with pure alcohol and wipes should sort it
RossTeagan said:
Is this happening only when placing calls through your carrier or also when placing whatsapp and facebook messenger calls?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only call through my carrier, and I notice how weak it was when the dual speaker mod sounded a bit odd
j_hansen said:
you probably got some of the Whitestone adhesive leaked into the earpiece speaker and then dirt/dust clogging it up, several people reported same thing happening, some careful cleaning with pure alcohol and wipes should sort it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well.. it " leaked INTO the earpiece " how would alcohol clean the inside?
Update
Sorry for talking first, reasearching later.
So ive made a search about this and what you said was exactly what they did.
chancces are it is just a little bit and it hasn't leaked deep into it but basically just covering the earpiece and clogging it up, give it a shot, you have nothing to lose anyway
xDreDz said:
Well.. it " leaked INTO the earpiece " how would alcohol clean the inside?
Update
Sorry for talking first, reasearching later.
So ive made a search about this and what you said was exactly what they did.
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After alchol drys. Run speaker cleaning app. They have them in play store. Similar situation happened on 1 of my old phones. The app helped after cleaning out with alcohol.
I had low volume on the ear placed speaker, tried all of the various tricks.
Only way to get my volume back was compressed air
note 8 earpiece volume
xDreDz said:
Anyone having the same problem? Im not sure if its because of the whitestone adhesive, the dual speaker mod or what. Its getting annoying that I need to use the speaker just to hear the person im talking to.
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Ok heres the scoop on low note 8 earpiece volume. i moved up from a note 5 and could barely hear my calls. i looked at note 5 earpiece and holes are open. i looked at note 8 and found the holes are covered with aluminum---no open holes??? i used a magnified reader to see them. i used a pin and gently open 6 holes across the speaker again useing magnifier i could see the holes open. guess what? i had to turn the volume down!!! i don,t know if that aluminum cover was supposed to be removed at assenbly but the note 5 has nothing shiny on the earpiece speaker. i am now a happy camper and no longer hae to use my bluetooth earpiece.: CAUTION don,t need to push on pin hard just put it there and twist it a bit u will feel it move.
Well, maybe you punctured a water seal, I would be very careful about moisture and splashes, not to say submerging the device
I had the same issue with my note 8 I bought. The ear piece was more of a brown color than black so I knew it was clogged with dust or something. I took it to a professional and they said they would have to replace the entire LCD screen since the speaker was linked into it. They told me it would cost $280 to replace it. I told them to basically piss up a rope and I left. When I got home I used gorilla tape and put it over the mesh speaker and pressed it in with the end of a screwdriver just enough to get it touching the mesh..not hard. Pulled it off and did this a couple more times. The speaker mesh looks brand new and I hear perfect now. So try that.
jusgrr8 said:
Ok heres the scoop on low note 8 earpiece volume. i moved up from a note 5 and could barely hear my calls. i looked at note 5 earpiece and holes are open. i looked at note 8 and found the holes are covered with aluminum---no open holes??? i used a magnified reader to see them. i used a pin and gently open 6 holes across the speaker again useing magnifier i could see the holes open. guess what? i had to turn the volume down!!! i don,t know if that aluminum cover was supposed to be removed at assenbly but the note 5 has nothing shiny on the earpiece speaker. i am now a happy camper and no longer hae to use my bluetooth earpiece.: CAUTION don,t need to push on pin hard just put it there and twist it a bit u will feel it move.
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You are a life saver man. I mean i thought i had to give my phone for repairing or replacing the ear piece. But your solution worked like charm. You deserve appreciation.:good:
You can use compress air to clean out the earpiece
Michaelmc88 said:
I had the same issue with my note 8 I bought. The ear piece was more of a brown color than black so I knew it was clogged with dust or something. I took it to a professional and they said they would have to replace the entire LCD screen since the speaker was linked into it. They told me it would cost $280 to replace it. I told them to basically piss up a rope and I left. When I got home I used gorilla tape and put it over the mesh speaker and pressed it in with the end of a screwdriver just enough to get it touching the mesh..not hard. Pulled it off and did this a couple more times. The speaker mesh looks brand new and I hear perfect now. So try that.
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Been ages since I logged into this website. Had to do a password reset just to say Thank You. This worked like a charm. I had the low volume issue since a year but did not actually think of searching for a fix because I was using either loud speakr or headset. Thanks again. I was using the low volume as an excuse to buy a new phone which I wont now

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