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Nokia 8 Bluetooth unusable with Airpods. Anyone else?

Just to open with this - I really like this phone and have been enjoying using it. Aside from the fairly poor WiFi range and the flaky NFC it is otherwise a really nice phone. There's just one other issue I have which is extremely frustrating:
I can't use it with my Airpods. Or at least, I can connect it but at some point the sound will crackle and cut off. If I wait it will occasionally crackle and come back on again but will cut in and out in a way that would drive anyone mad. I've tried fiddling with Bluetooth settings in developer options but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I've even tried a factory reset.
The Airpods work absolutely perfectly with every other device - no issues with the iPhone (expectedly) nor the S8, G6 or even my laptop. I can't 100% rule out a fault with the Airpods but given these facts it seems highly unlikely.
I wondered if anyone else used Airpods and had experienced issues and found a solution.
Not too interested if you've had no issues with your device, nor what you think of Airpods - I just want to see if I can get to the bottom of this, or the Nokia will have to go back.
Many thanks

Similar problem
Got a similar problem with my apt-x receiver.
Every few minutes the connection drops for a very short time.
The airpods don't support apt-x, but maybe it's the same problem.
My receiver shows a connection via apt-x, , but you can't find any apt-x support in the Nokia 8 specs.
But I had no problems with a friends portable speaker (non-apt-x).
I went back to cables

damian101 said:
Got a similar problem with my apt-x receiver.
Every few minutes the connection drops for a very short time.
The airpods don't support apt-x, but maybe it's the same problem.
My receiver shows a connection via apt-x, , but you can't find any apt-x support in the Nokia 8 specs.
But I had no problems with a friends portable speaker (non-apt-x).
I went back to cables
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I’m wondering if the Nokia 8 just has rubbish connectivity, generally. If the Bluetooth chip is part of the WiFi chip then this would figure as it has the worst WiFi connectivity I’ve seen in recent years

Are you running Nougat or Oreo? From what I've heard, a lot of the bluetooth issues have been fixed in Oreo.

leoni1980 said:
Just to open with this - I really like this phone and have been enjoying using it. Aside from the fairly poor WiFi range and the flaky NFC it is otherwise a really nice phone. There's just one other issue I have which is extremely frustrating:
I can't use it with my Airpods. Or at least, I can connect it but at some point the sound will crackle and cut off. If I wait it will occasionally crackle and come back on again but will cut in and out in a way that would drive anyone mad. I've tried fiddling with Bluetooth settings in developer options but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I've even tried a factory reset.
The Airpods work absolutely perfectly with every other device - no issues with the iPhone (expectedly) nor the S8, G6 or even my laptop. I can't 100% rule out a fault with the Airpods but given these facts it seems highly unlikely.
I wondered if anyone else used Airpods and had experienced issues and found a solution.
Not too interested if you've had no issues with your device, nor what you think of Airpods - I just want to see if I can get to the bottom of this, or the Nokia will have to go back.
Many thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder if yours is wonky, my Wi-Fi is excellent and i get get 75Mbit down 19Mbit up over 5Ghz through 2 brick walls, a floor up and at the opposite end of the house, i have not missed any payments using contactless via NFC and Bluetooth works fine via an Anker Bluetooth speaker and my JBL Bluetooth headphones.

Sorry for digging an old thread, but I still have the same problem even after a bunch of software updates.
My issue with the AirPods is that they do not work after they connect. I take them out of the case, they connect (as expected), but as soon as I start playing something the music/video pauses and the sound switches to speaker (if I press play again it plays out loud). To make them work I need to go to bluetooth settings, disconnect them and connect them again. Then they will work almost flawlessy (minor intrerruption from time to time).
I have no issue with other BT speakers. I also use the AirPods with an iPad and laptop and no issues there.
My Nokia 8 software is up to date. AirPods firmware the same (checked on the iPad).
I tried re-pairing after each software update. I tried changin BT settings (absolute volume - dev settings; contact sharing and HD Audio: AAC) but no improvements.
Any ideas what else can I try?

Search for Oreo and Bluetooth problems. It seams to be a general issue for this Android Version. I have problems connecting my Phone with the car, too.

Bluetooth dropouts when using stereo speakers

This is a long shot.
I have a pair of Bluetooth 4.1 Minirig speakers that can be set in stereo mode. However when in stereo mode one channel experiences dropouts. Running in mono mode is fine.
The issue is with the Nokia 7+'s Bluetooth transmission as when using other Bluetooth enabled devices to power the speakers the issue does not occur.
Anyone else had this issue when connecting stereo speakers or headphones and know of a solution?
I have checked: System > Developer Options > Bluetooth Audio Codecs and tried changing these setting but the changes did not "stick" and problem remained.
Maybe there is an alternative setting somewhere that can be tweaked.
Thanks in advance.

doowoppa65 said:
I have checked: System > Developer Options > Bluetooth Audio Codecs and tried changing these setting but the changes did not "stick" and problem remained.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also having this issue: whenever I'm connecting my N7+ onto the car's audio system via Bluetooth I have to change the codecs to the correct one every single time to make it properly work (have sound/audio at all). The settings also don't stick or are not being saved. Also looking for a solution for this, unless an update miraculously fixes it.

Same problem here when connected to my car by bluetooth. Occasionally there is a dropout. This does not happen when my friends connect with their phones (oneplus 5, samsung, allview. or my old lg g4).
Changing the bluetooth audio codecs does not work as it does not remain selected and it switches to default. This, as i understood, happens on android 8 and has been resolved in the Pie beta and should be ok in the final Pie release.

When I raised the issue with the superbly talented nokia tech support they either act surprised as if its an unique issue to you or send you a list of compatible bluetooth protocols. Are we expected to change our cars and speakers to make the phone work?

I had this issue after installing garmin connect. Theres a thread over in the garmin forums (forums.garmin.com/forum/into-sports/garmin-connect-mobile-application/garmin-connect-mobile-android/1375800-audio-streaming-issues) about it. Also on the nokia forums (community.phones.nokia.com/support/discussions/topics/7000022239/). Seems to affect some phones on 8.1
Anyway, I'm on Pie beta now and the problem has gone away.

Audio via Bluetooth stuttering - unusable

Hi all,
The same headphones which used to work perfectly with my Huawei Honor 8 stutter upon Bluetooth music playback to the point of unusuable. It's the kind of stuttering like there's a poor connection/bandwidth issue between the phone and the headphones. It's similar to what happened on my Huawei Honor 8 when I was washing my car and ducked my head under the car
Tried multiple apps:
Google Play Music
Youtube
Youtube Music
Amazon Music
EDIT: ONLY my Philips SHB4405 headphones suffer! Tried different bluetooth devices to eliminate the headphones, same stutter.
Tried setting the special access to the battery use: "Settings", search for "Special access". Select "Ignore battery optimisation". Make sure "All apps" are shown. Select the app you want and set it to "Allow (May drain your battery more quickly)"
Tried setting Battery settings of the app to manage manually then Auto launch, Secondary Launch and Run in background all toggled on.
Any ideas please?

It is likely their hyper-aggressive battery management software, which there seems to be no way to remove.
You may try to go to development mode menu and play around with the BT audio bit rates and codexs. Or, just take it back to the shop and exchange it for a new one.

pablo_max said:
It is likely their hyper-aggressive battery management software, which there seems to be no way to remove.
You may try to go to development mode menu and play around with the BT audio bit rates and codexs. Or, just take it back to the shop and exchange it for a new one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish they'd just use STOCK ANDROID. who the hell do they think they are to think they know better than Google about it's own OS!!! very cross

try turn off WiFi ! - > WiFi + Bluetooth = stuttering

pablo_max said:
It is likely their hyper-aggressive battery management software, which there seems to be no way to remove.
You may try to go to development mode menu and play around with the BT audio bit rates and codexs. Or, just take it back to the shop and exchange it for a new one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
flowchilla said:
try turn off WiFi ! - > WiFi + Bluetooth = stuttering
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the suggestion but turning off WiFi didn't solve my stuttering issue

cable_guy said:
Hi all,
The same headphones which used to work perfectly with my Huawei Honor 8 stutter upon Bluetooth music playback to the point of unusuable. It's the kind of stuttering like there's a poor connection/bandwidth issue between the phone and the headphones. It's similar to what happened on my Huawei Honor 8 when I was washing my car and ducked my head under the car
Tried multiple apps:
Google Play Music
Youtube
Youtube Music
Amazon Music
Tried different bluetooth devices to eliminate the headphones, same stutter.
Tried setting the special access to the battery use: "Settings", search for "Special access". Select "Ignore battery optimisation". Make sure "All apps" are shown. Select the app you want and set it to "Allow (May drain your battery more quickly)"
Tried setting Battery settings of the app to manage manually then Auto launch, Secondary Launch and Run in background all toggled on.
Any ideas please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using my phone with two BT device, one is a Jabra device I have in my car, the other one is the Backbeat fit from Plantronics. Honestly say BT communication works very well. EMUI 8.1.0.161 (C432)
Any update available for download?

virtualmacfrog said:
I'm using my phone with two BT device, one is a Jabra device I have in my car, the other one is the Backbeat fit from Plantronics. Honestly say BT communication works very well. EMUI 8.1.0.161 (C432)
Any update available for download?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
funnily enough I did have an update apply yesterday but it didn't fix this behaviour. EMUI 8.1.0.159 (C782)
I have an update to my OP though. The bluetooth music streaming actually works perfectly on every bluetooth audio device I have (Radio, AV receiver, 2 x car stereos, bluetooth speaker, another set of bluetooth headphones) so I can only assume that the Huawei P20 Pro is incompatible with the Philips SHB4405 headphones! sounds bizarre to say it but that's my experience!

Bluetooth codec fix
I fixed this on my Honor 8x by changing the bluetooth codec used in the developer settings.
1. Enable developer settings
2. Change the "Bluetooth audio codec" setting value from "aptX" to "SBC"

Hi mate, check the supported codecs on your headsets. Enable developer options in Settings and force SBC codec.

Has the latest 9.0 solved your Bluetooth problem?

I have the same issue with Bose and Jabra headsets... Cheap chinese BT headsets Line taotronic seems to works fine.. I have given up trying to figure out the cause... Thing is I love the p20 Pro but this BT problem is really annoying!

vic256 said:
I have the same issue with Bose and Jabra headsets... Cheap chinese BT headsets Line taotronic seems to works fine.. I have given up trying to figure out the cause... Thing is I love the p20 Pro but this BT problem is really annoying!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Guys,
I have a P20 and I love it, but had the BT audio stuttering problem in my car for a while - the radio is fine, my gf's Samsung can stream to it no problem.
9.0 didn't help, the problem persisted until... I changed the display sleep time to 10 minutes and forgot about it.
So after some testing I can 100% confirm that the stuttering happends only when the screen is off.
When I drive with the screen on, the BT music streaming works great. When I turn off the display - within minutes the stuttering starts. Turn on screen again - no stuttering.
Test it.

Happens on my Mate 10 only when screen is off. I already removed PowerGenius and had set battery optimization off to my music app. This is so annoyingly frustrating. Any solution yet?

I think I have the same or a similar issue using Beoplay H9. Changing codec to manual SBC or AAC does not work, but SBC is noticably better.
Closing all open apps or restarting bluetooth often works, but restarting the phone completely alleviates the problem. After an hour or two the problem appears again.

cable_guy said:
Hi all,
The same headphones which used to work perfectly with my Huawei Honor 8 stutter upon Bluetooth music playback to the point of unusuable. It's the kind of stuttering like there's a poor connection/bandwidth issue between the phone and the headphones. It's similar to what happened on my Huawei Honor 8 when I was washing my car and ducked my head under the car
Tried multiple apps:
Google Play Music
Youtube
Youtube Music
Amazon Music
EDIT: ONLY my Philips SHB4405 headphones suffer! Tried different bluetooth devices to eliminate the headphones, same stutter.
Tried setting the special access to the battery use: "Settings", search for "Special access". Select "Ignore battery optimisation". Make sure "All apps" are shown. Select the app you want and set it to "Allow (May drain your battery more quickly)"
Tried setting Battery settings of the app to manage manually then Auto launch, Secondary Launch and Run in background all toggled on.
Any ideas please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you check if the headphones are paired to anything else in the vicinity? Like a tablet or other phone? May be the problem..
Also the codecs in use make a difference too, can be altered in Dev options.
I had problems with calls with a very expensive pair of plantronics on my phone, the v6200's £275 when they were released lol.
Base didn't make a difference either Oreo all the way up to 9.1, in fact it was better on Oreo.
Doesn't affect everyone in the same way.

Paired to stuff yes but I can take them out of the question by wandering away from any of the devices for a 1-2 mile walk

Still experiencing this same problem on EMUI 9.1, even after disabling battery optimization in all music apps.

This worked for me - turn off 'Always on Display'
I was getting brief but regular strutters with my bluetooth headphones (Marley Positive Vibrations 2) but only when the p20 pro was put in my jeans pocket, so walking the dog while listening to Spotify was a pretty glitchy affair. At first I assumed being inside the pocket was degrading the bluetooth signal strength but I recently noticed that whenever the phone sensed it was inside my pocket (or in a pitch black room) it was turning off 'Always on Display' to save battery, so wondered if this was affecting the bluetooth audio connection (especially as people already suggested it was related to either display settings or battery saving options).
I disabled 'Always on Display' and this stuttering problem has been completely resolved for me (EMUI 9.1).

@theToots
Where to find the option 'Always on Display'
edit:
Found

I have this same Issue using a P20 Pro and Sennheiser HD 4.50 btnc.
This annoying audio stuttering started happening only after a software update (EMUI 9.1.0.361).
A fix that works for me is to turn my location off.

Spotify buggy in car

Was wondering if anyone else had this issue, in my Audi using Bluetooth the music will play but I can't skip tracks using my card controls until I skip tracks manually on my phone,only after that can I change using my cars controls, ive been using Samsung since s5 and never had this issue, any ideas?

Shuthefrontdoor said:
Was wondering if anyone else had this issue, in my Audi using Bluetooth the music will play but I can't skip tracks using my card controls until I skip tracks manually on my phone,only after that can I change using my car's controls, I've been using Samsung since s5 and never had this issue, any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have recently experienced that too. I noticed this problem when I updated the Samsung buds to the latest firmware. The first problem I noticed was that when the update finished it disconnected my Galaxy watch and made me reset it. I will do a factory reset on my phone and hopefully, that helps it.

Try to lower the AVRCP version in Developer settings in the Bluetooth section. Worked on my '13 Seat Ibiza with a portable Garmin system. After set it to 1.3, turn bluetooth off and on again.
If the AVRCP, which is set to 1.4 by factory, is too high, the music playback works mostly, but things like music controls and title information not.
I set it to 1.3 and it works for me now. I don't know if new devices are backward compatible, especially the Galaxy Buds.
Btw, I had similar issues with my old Huawei P10 on Android 8.0 (EMUI8). Google didn't implement the option to change the AVRCP version so I couldn't use my phone on the cars at work or rental cars - mostly VW and Mercedes.
I thought it was a hardware issue, but then I installed a 8.1 rom, where this option was enabled and from then it worked.
And with my iPhone 6S worked everything great 3 years ago under iOS9. 3 weeks ago I needed to use it again, updated to iOS 12 and it didn't work at all with my cars system. In iOS you don't have the ability to change the AVRCP version, so I guess Apple wants you to buy a new car, as Huawei does with EMUI8.

Audio quality drop on bluetooth

Hi everyone
Little bit lost on this and not sure if it's just me but hoping someone can help or point me somewhere. I have a s10+ UK edition. And a Samsung galaxy watch.
When I connect the phone to the car the audio is low quality and hisses a lot. When I put the watch into plane mode. Cutting it off from the phone. All is normal.
Have never seen this happen before. Any ideas?
Thanks

So you have bluetooth connected to the watch and car at the same time?
If so, my guess would be a setting in the watch for the volume of music. Or in the phone, go to settings / bluetooth / advanced / dual audio. Select it and play with the settings to setup what to do when two bluetooth audio devices are connected

ninjatiger26 said:
Hi everyone
Little bit lost on this and not sure if it's just me but hoping someone can help or point me somewhere. I have a s10+ UK edition. And a Samsung galaxy watch.
When I connect the phone to the car the audio is low quality and hisses a lot. When I put the watch into plane mode. Cutting it off from the phone. All is normal.
Have never seen this happen before. Any ideas?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had the same problem with my cheap external bluetooth to FM adapter.
Turn on Developer Options and adjust the bluetooth profile while connected to your car audio.
Having Dolby Audio set to auto might also have an impact.

Thanks for the advice but no luck so far.
The settings under developers let me change when nothing is connected but they revert back to sbc soon as I leave the menu. And they are locked out when connected.
Also dual audio does nothing.
It only has the issue when the watch is connected.
As if its taking the bandwidth.

@ninjatiger26
@theanykey asked you to change the AVRCP version.
You can only change the audio codec from the default one (SBC) to something like aptX if your receiver supports it. And yes, you can not change the codec on the fly while playing.

Titokhan said:
@ninjatiger26
@theanykey asked you to change the AVRCP version.
You can only change the audio codec from the default one (SBC) to something like aptX if your receiver supports it. And yes, you can not change the codec on the fly while playing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apologies for the delay, has been a mad few days!
Sadly changing the AVRCP didnt help on all versions.
It seems there maybe a weird one however on the codec. It reverts to SBC which from a bit of muddled googling is all my receiver supports. from non iPhone devices. However, it takes AAC if its a iphone.
Seems odd to me however they would limit it. Like i said this is from googling so maybe incorrect.
the stranger part is however i paired up a Oneplus 6 and the watch all was fine on SBC codec. its just watch and the s10+ it has an issue.
Admit very lost on this one.

I'm having the exact same issue. I've got an S10 Plus and a Galaxy Watch Active (both in the brazilian versions), and there is a noticeable crackling and loss of quality when I play music on my car stereo while the phone is connected both to the car and the watch. If I put the watch in airplane mode, the issue is gone.
Also, it only seems to happen with my car. I've tried to replicate the issue with my Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones and an Anker bluetooth speaker, but with those devices there is no noticeable loss of audio quality.
I've tried resetting bluetooth setting, messing with the codecs in developer options and pairing both devices again multiple times.
Anyone got any ideas?

Camerena said:
I'm having the exact same issue. I've got an S10 Plus and a Galaxy Watch Active (both in the brazilian versions), and there is a noticeable crackling and loss of quality when I play music on my car stereo while the phone is connected both to the car and the watch. If I put the watch in airplane mode, the issue is gone.
Also, it only seems to happen with my car. I've tried to replicate the issue with my Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones and an Anker bluetooth speaker, but with those devices there is no noticeable loss of audio quality.
I've tried resetting bluetooth setting, messing with the codecs in developer options and pairing both devices again multiple times.
Anyone got any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See if the problem persists when you only share your Bluetooth audio to your vehicle and not calls, contacts, or messages.

Outbreak444 said:
See if the problem persists when you only share your Bluetooth audio to your vehicle and not calls, contacts, or messages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried it and still got the same issue... I've pretty much given up by now.. hoping for a future update to solve this..

Camerena said:
Just tried it and still got the same issue... I've pretty much given up by now.. hoping for a future update to solve this..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not Google it?maybe you will get a solution for this problem.

Same issue here on my s10+. When playing any audio in my car via BT i hear the distortion/hissing noise especially when the song has a higher treble frequency.
I have just about tried all fixes i could find on Google, and no luck.
When connecting to my ear buds (Jabra Elite 65t) it disappears and checked in developer mode that it supports to AAC for BT Codecs.
But when connecting to the car it reverts to SBC.
The issue clearly lies on Samsungs side, as my brother has a Huawei p30 Pro, also has bluetooth 5 and plays amazingly well in all aspects (Bass-Mids-Treble).
I know I'm posting this almost a year later, but i am desperately looking for a fix.
SN. I have recently updated my phone to Android 10, despite all the complaints to Samsung from many users... Sadly this issue has not beeing fixed on my side.
Does any of you still have the same issue?

I have the same issue with S9(android 10 ui2)
- no dou audio diable option
- bluetooth conected only to my earphones, with no car.

I’ve been a Samsung phone user since the S5 and this issue persists across all their phones since at least that one. The only real solution is to avoid the SBC codec or turn off your watch while listening to music. It will never be patched as it’s been going on for over 6 years. In the early days Galaxy phones only really used SBC so you couldn’t avoid it.
APT-X and AAC are your best options. Good luck finding those on a car system. You can easily find headphones that support them.