Help Call Quality of the Fascinate

[JB6712]

Call quality is nothing compared to my Droid X. I can hear myself through the speaker when talking and if i talk loud it crackles...still have 27 days to decide and its not looking good. Call quality and GPS suck! Everything else is amazing.

I agree that the call quality is not as good as the Droid X but it is not that bad the Droid x just has a really good speaker the Samsung loses a few points there but i honestly dont think the quality is bad just different...

i have not had any buddy complain about me talking and ive gotten used to the new speaker now compared to the X.. LOVE THIS PHONE am sticking with the Samsung!

 

[ReverendOD]

Well all I have to compare to is my 7 BB Tours I had and all of them had horrible voice quality along with a host of other issues.

For a first time Andriod user the SF is great. Audio quality is good, the GPS is faster then my Blackberrys. I almost considered the X but just didnt feel right in my hand.

 

[Destination: Moon]

I called my answering machine with my INC and the SF. The INC was much better with the handset mic and the speaker phone. MUCH Better! Had a deep rich sound while the SF sounded hollow and tinny. Also some compression artifacts that are hard to describe.

But, its better than a tin can. I'm sure I can communicate on it. HTC had a sw push early after the INC came out. I am hoping Samsung does the same (despite their reputation for doing otherwise).

Also, thinking about my earlier suggestion, if you read credit card info to people with your cell phone, prolly best to leave it turned ON!

 

[SirKronan]

I agree that the call quality is not as good as the Droid X but it is not that bad the Droid x just has a really good speaker the Samsung loses a few points there but i honestly dont think the quality is bad just different...

i have not had any buddy complain about me talking and ive gotten used to the new speaker now compared to the X.. LOVE THIS PHONE am sticking with the Samsung!

I have to agree with this. In side by side comparisons, the Fascinate does well at call quality and reception. The Droid X is simply exceptional at these two things. Motorola went all out on the making it a top notch radio (fine, top notch phone) first and foremost. Samsung went all out on the entertainment features of the device. I, for one, am having a disturbingly difficult time deciding between the two...

Edit: The Fascinate does get slightly better reception than the Droid Eris.

 

[jroc]

^If the Fascinate was out when the X was.....I woulda had a hard time too. I posted somewhere I'm thinking about switching to a family plan so I can get the Fascinate...damn u Samsung...LOL!!!

 

[tats_06]

I have to agree with this. In side by side comparisons, the Fascinate does well at call quality and reception. The Droid X is simply exceptional at these two things. Motorola went all out on the making it a top notch radio (fine, top notch phone) first and foremost. Samsung went all out on the entertainment features of the device. I, for one, am having a disturbingly difficult time deciding between the two...

Edit: The Fascinate does get slightly better reception than the Droid Eris.

It may not be as good as the X, but I think it must be better than the Incredible...I have been struggling with that.

 

[xliderider]

I have to agree with this. In side by side comparisons, the Fascinate does well at call quality and reception. The Droid X is simply exceptional at these two things. Motorola went all out on the making it a top notch radio (fine, top notch phone) first and foremost. Samsung went all out on the entertainment features of the device. I, for one, am having a disturbingly difficult time deciding between the two...

Edit: The Fascinate does get slightly better reception than the Droid Eris.

Hahahahahahaha, that's a good one... the Eris is the worst.

 

[SirKronan]

Hahahahahahaha, that's a good one... the Eris is the worst.

I've made a few more calls on the Fascinate, this time in my basement where the service is more sketchy. The phone did fine. I didn't get hardly any self-echo, and I sounded good on the other end too.

I think this phone will make me happy. So far no signal or call quality problems yet.

 

[xliderider]

I've made a few more calls on the Fascinate, this time in my basement where the service is more sketchy. The phone did fine. I didn't get hardly any self-echo, and I sounded good on the other end too.

I think this phone will make me happy. So far no signal or call quality problems yet.

Yeah, last night at work my Fascinate was showing 3G D a lot instead of just 3G. Tonight the Fascinate is showing 3G almost constantly and there are no problems browsing forum webpages all night. Must've been something with the network last night.

Oh, oh, just got the D in the network indicator. Anyone know what that means? It is showing 3 bars,but it has 3G D.

 

[rushmore]

I am hearing the signal reception is not as good as the Inc (after 2.2 update) or X, but call quality is better than the Inc (not saying much).

Reception would be an issue, but seems GPS and wifi are issues as well, for some folks. GPS is iffy sometimes on the Inc and wifi is weak on the X, so seems no device has all bases covered.

xliderider, I think the "D" stands for "diggity"

 

[iPenguin]

D, according to another thread that linked a Verizon manual, means 3g is available, but not currently in use- like an idle marker. 3g with the arrows means data is actively being sent.

 

[Baldycmw]

Well I have to say the vibration in my ear when talking got to me. I went to Verizon and they sent me to their tech department and they confirmed the distortion in the ear piece. He made a few changes to the phone and it sounded the same to me. So we tested another Fascinate and it did the same thing. I wanted to exchange for another but since the other Fascinate did the same thing I said, forget it. Returned the Fascinate and went with the Incredible. We tested the Incredible in the store and the call quality was way better. Night and Day difference. This will do me good for now and till the Evo version comes out later for Verizon.

 

[ChampD1012]

Well I have to say the vibration in my ear when talking got to me. I went to Verizon and they sent me to their tech department and they confirmed the distortion in the ear piece. He made a few changes to the phone and it sounded the same to me. So we tested another Fascinate and it did the same thing. I wanted to exchange for another but since the other Fascinate did the same thing I said, forget it. Returned the Fascinate and went with the Incredible. We tested the Incredible in the store and the call quality was way better. Night and Day difference. This will do me good for now and till the Evo version comes out later for Verizon.

The vibration in my ear is rather annoying to the point of me thinking about returning it and waiting for a Droid X. I went to the verizon store and they repeated the vibration issue on my phone as well as all of the phones on display in the store. And one of the store reps who have a fascinate. I think I am going to concede and just order the Droid X. Unfortunately, as much I love everything else about the phone. I need a phone where my ears don't get that reverb...its annoying as hell and that's not what I paid 200 bucks for.

 

[xliderider]

The vibration in my ear is rather annoying to the point of me thinking about returning it and waiting for a Droid X. I went to the verizon store and they repeated the vibration issue on my phone as well as all of the phones on display in the store. And one of the store reps who have a fascinate. I think I am going to concede and just order the Droid X. Unfortunately, as much I love everything else about the phone. I need a phone where my ears don't get that reverb...its annoying as hell and that's not what I paid 200 bucks for.

I'll probably order an X as well, but for reception not call quality.

I've been reading about ringer volume and speaker volume issues on the X though.

 

[TheXFactor]

I'll probably order an X as well, but for reception not call quality.

I've been reading about ringer volume and speaker volume issues on the X though.

Tell us what you've been "reading" and I'll tell you if it's really true. Cause if it's anything about the superb call quality, I call BS.

 

[SirKronan]

Tell us what you've been "reading" and I'll tell you if it's really true. Cause if it's anything about the superb call quality, I call BS.

The ringer is slightly louder (with the same MP3 I used for ringtone testing) on the Fascinate than the Droid X. The speakerphone is also slightly louder. The Droid X also drops a lot more than the fascinate in ringer volume when you set it down on a flat surface - even worse on cloth, such as a couch or car seat. I tested this out extensively with both phones side by side.

Bluetooth performance on both devices is excellent for me so far. The call quality using the handset (not bluetooth) is notably better on the Droid X, for both the receiving end and the sending end. The fantastic reception of the Droid X combined with arguably one of the best mic systems put on any phone ever combine to give it the edge over the Fascinate in call quality.

That said, however, the Fascinate (at least my Fascinate) is not bad at all for call quality. The reported echo happened only very rarely for me, and it was short lived. Even while driving or in noisy environments the Fascinate did fine. I think the Fascinate is good as a phone. The Droid X is phenomenal as a phone. I don't get much weird vibration or reverb issues either, unless I absolutely crank the volume and it's a loud source on the other end (which usually meant it was too loud to be comfortable for my ear anyhow.)

No reception issues with either phone, even in a basement where my Omnia has dropped calls, the Eris dropped calls, and a few other phones I've tested will intermittently drop. The Fascinate hasn't dropped a call down there yet, but the signal strength is 10-20 db stronger on the Droid X. Again, no surprise.

One thing that I have been basking in all day is how much more comfortable the Fascinate is to hold up to my ear for long calls w/o the headset. The Droid X might sound better, but it's not as ergonomic nor as easy to operate as an actual phone. It's just less smooth, more square and bulky, and heavier. Those aren't actually bad things for a smart phone you want to be durable, until you have to hold it up to your head all day making calls!

Anyways, those are the results of some more extensive testing between the Droid X and the Fascinate simply based on phone performance. When it comes to overall quality, at least in my testing, the Fascinate is good. The Droid X is great! Just my two cents.

 

[TheXFactor]

Yea, my right bicep is getting larger by the day using the X. LOL

 

[saps]

Yea, my right bicep is getting larger by the day using the X. LOL

That's a good one. Yeah the SF is ridiculously light.
On call quality. I was formerly of the I've had zero problems. But I did have one slight issue yesterday. I went to the gym with shorts that had no pockets. So I just tucked it in my waistband. I received a call via BT and it was stacky as hell until I took the phone out and just held it in my hand. Odd because even in a pocket normally I can talk on the phone without issue. Not sure the direct skin contact was the issue or what.
Still, outside of that once instance SF call quality is very good for me

 

[EliC]

Make sure you are talking about call quality of the phone and not a separate BT device.

 

[saps]

Make sure you are talking about call quality of the phone and not a separate BT device.

I see your point and its a fair one. Equally true I make 90% of my calls via BT so for me they are not separate and distinct. My opinion of call quality includes call quality via BT

 

[EliC]

Then you are evaluating the BT device and not the phone, just want to point that out. Not just to you, but I have the feeling others are doing the same.

 

[saps]

Then you are evaluating the BT device and not the phone, just want to point that out. Not just to you, but I have the feeling others are doing the same.

Not precisely. My BT does not work without the phone of course. Or maybe more accurately my BT works in concert with the phone. If on my previous device the BT was crystal clear and now on the SF using the same earpiece is it less so, there's not many conclusions to draw other than the SF may have inferior BT quality/performance or call quality or whatever we term it. Its probably more of a technical semantic point than anything else; whether the we call it call quality or whatever.
The bottom line is any and all sharing that is intended to help others is positive.

 

[EliC]

Ok, then you would be evaluating the BT performance of the Fascinate, but still not the call quality of the phone itself.

 

[sho95]

Well for me this has been the greatest call quality of all my phone I have had. The first test I did was to call my father who is a truck driver and I was always getting to hear all the background noise from the diesel engine which made it really hard to hear his voice. With this phone it drastically improved the voice quality and I can barely hear the engine. As for the signal part I did see large fluctuations back and fort but I did a system wipe and 4 battery pulls and the phones started to get great signal with out large fluctuations like it did from the start.

 

[EliC]

The problem with background noise would be on your end. So you need to be in an area with lots of noise to notice the problem.