HTC Desire sound quality

[fiish]

I am finding the call quality to be variable with my SIM free Desire, which seems to be like any other phone. The call quality depends also on the network and the phone at the other end, I figure that as long as calls are good and clear when both parties have a strong signal it is good enough.

I am using 3 and have called people on both 3 and other networks, and had only one call which sounded dodgy, but I was in a low signal area at the time so I can hardly put the blame on the phone.

 

[casalaguna22]

Well the way I found the measure the quality of my desire is to get a cheap phone (my old g600) put my orange sim in that phone, call my landline or my girlfriend, THEN take my sim straight out and try it with my Desire. MY desire consistently lightly crackles in the background, similar to that clip posted above but maybe a bit worse. g600 is crystal clear.

I also try just calling 150 (orange) with my desire and then with another phone, still the same.

My phone is unlocked and thought that I might try unlocking it to see if that changes anything but I doubt it.

Id send it back to HTC / orange but already de-branded it (as orange/t-mobile put their own uninstallable rubbish on their Desires) and I expect voided my warranty, waiting to hear back from HTC...

If cant exchange it, ill just buy a sim free desire but ill go mental if that is just as bad

 

[Café King]

I bought my Desire at the 3 shop here in Denmark. It's not branded and I am not sure if it's sim locked...

But the quality during a call in the earpiece is far from great. Seems like the person I am talking to, is standing next to the beach But they can hear me clear and well...

I am considering taking it back to the 3 shop as a DOA...

But what would it help if it's a normal Desire "problem"?

Tried putting the simcard in my old Nokia N97 and the quality was perfect compared to the desire

Greetings!

/CK

 

[casalaguna22]

cafe king - this is what I'm trying to figure out, whether this is standard for desires and people just have a different idea of what good quality' is, OR whether this is only certain batches which I think is more likely.

Have you tried another 3 sim card?? do this, also try calling 3 helpdesk / or landlines and just see if there is the same crackling. All helps when sending it back.

The professional reviews I have read make no mention of this, whether they actual make a call i dont know, as they're too wrapped up in playing with apps etc.

I'm gonna send mine back to HTC, I have debranded mine but should still be OK according to their latest warranty.

Ill update when I find anything

When we spend this much on a phone we expect to make a clear call

We need more input people!

 

[kris_cs1]

To be honest I listened to that Orange recording on full volume and to me it sounds fine.. Not the best quality but it's all I expected.

 

[Café King]

cafe king - this is what I'm trying to figure out, whether this is standard for desires and people just have a different idea of what good quality' is, OR whether this is only certain batches which I think is more likely.

Have you tried another 3 sim card?? do this, also try calling 3 helpdesk / or landlines and just see if there is the same crackling. All helps when sending it back.

The professional reviews I have read make no mention of this, whether they actual make a call i dont know, as they're too wrapped up in playing with apps etc.

I'm gonna send mine back to HTC, I have debranded mine but should still be OK according to their latest warranty.

Ill update when I find anything

When we spend this much on a phone we expect to make a clear call

We need more input people!

I called the shop where I bought it. They said that it wasn't normal and told me to bring it back, so they made it a DOA. Right now my new Desire is charging and I will test the call quality later. But sadly, I don't have any hopes of a better call quality...

 

[casalaguna22]

cafe king - great let us know if its the same.

HTC have just agreed to look at the phone, so i have sent it to HTC repair.

we hope, we pray

 

[casalaguna22]

..if that sound clip is normal call quality for a phone then my old G600 samsung must be a one off bespoke Hi-Def special edition phone, because it's crystal clear compared to that recording

 

[Café King]

Got a new Desire now. I feel there still is "static" noise or whatever you can call it, but it's not THAT loud on my new Desire. I think it's normal for the phone...

 

[azax]

I recently got myself a Desire on Orange and I have a similar issue with the speaker, some things seem to make it distort at high volume levels. Strangely though, music doesn't have this effect, just seems to be voices. It's not a deal breaker for me as I'm rarely if ever going to use the speaker for phone calls, but I'm interested whether the replacements you received have improved it at all, and whether the HTC repair changed anything.

As for phone calls with the ear piece, I get a bit of the static in the background, but nothing too terrible, only noticeable when I turn the volume right up.

 

[playstation]

[Just returned htc desire back to 02 the sound was very distorted other than that phone was ok i did not think i could keep on the 2 year contract with the poor sound very tinny

 

[mattyjim]

[Just returned htc desire back to 02 the sound was very distorted other than that phone was ok i did not think i could keep on the 2 year contract with the poor sound very tinny

Yeah, same here; I took the opportunity to return my very recently purchased HTC Desire under O2's 14 day cooling off period after witnessing frankly horrendous sound quality from the headphone jack (constant hissing and lots of noise interference from the network).

I have to say that O2 were absolutely true to their word and have agreed to refund the purchase with no hassles, but I can barely believe that HTC felt fit to release such a shoddy piece of merchandise.

It's all very well for people to cite the old 'well, it's a phone first' argument, but when all's said and done these devices are sold as being far more than just phones, and they carry a price tag that very much reflects that.

The brief experience that I had with Android was fantastic, and far better than any of the locked-down Apple nonsense, but I won't be risking my hard earned cash on another HTC for a good long while.

 

[TheTrueSpin]

Hey guys, I tried the speaker phone on my device. Never really used it before.

I see what you mean about it being a bit flaky.... but I wouldn't say it is not fit for purpose, just not very good. I found that the recorded orange message (handset not orange branded, just the network I use) sounds worse than if I speak to a friend.. it seems to be quite high pitched. Music through the external speakers sounds fine, although I would never use this feature.

I kinda feel some people expect too much.. but I guess if you intend to use speaker phone extensively it could be annoying. That said, I dug out my old Samsung and the external speaker is very similar...

 

[lexo]

I also have the crackling sound on the normal speaker of my phone.
The best way to describe it is the sound of tuning a radio on low volume, in the background of all calls.

I'm in Australia and purchased my HTC Desire in Singapore no less than two weeks ago.

Calling up HTC Customer Service in Australia, they suggested I do a hard reset. Honestly I think that won't work for a hardware issue.
I've logged a request with HTC sg, hopefully they can replace my phone because I'm happy with it save for this problem.

Let me know how you guys go!

 

[Jaba123]

From what I have read on the net, I can "ditto" all the poor user experiences in the following areas - 1> call sound quality from earpiece & speaker - a lot of hissing & distortion 2> Poor signal. Granted I'm in a poor-signal area, but my previous nokia N79 is usable despite that. 3> Soft ring tone. After a month of missing calls I have decided to pop the SIM back into my Nokia & use the Desire as a multimedia phone. As a phone, you can't wait to put it down (or smash it against the wall) I can't get anywhere near to using up my talktime credit because I can't get much usage out of it as a phone. As a multimedia device though, you can't put it down. It's fast. Very fast. I am surprised though that the phone gets such positive coverage. Perhaps a more balanced coverage would be had by a review by two teams, one using it as a multimedia device and one using it as a phone. I expect all devices that call itself a phone should fulfil its function as a usable phone. In this department. I'm very dissapointed. I hope those people at HTC is tuning in to all thes feedback.

 

[Kezz]

For me the loudspeaker quality is unacceptable.

some people report that their speaker is ok and works fine even in a loud enviroment i.e while driving (in a convertible car), I suggest replacing the device till they fix the speaker, and everybody who's go a crackling sound from the loudspeaker and can't hear ringtones should demand a replacement! This phone is very expensive and I'm very angry that it doesn't have a decent loudspeaker or.. maybe I got a mobile from the faulty batch as some people say.. Another thing is the quality in the voice recorder - are those HTC people stupid, how can they release a smart phone with such flaws

Anyway I'm going to keep replacing the device till they make it work fine, if not they have to give me my money back - will get samsung glaxy s

check out gsmarena's htc desire review the sound quality and volume of the loudspeaker is excellent at least that's what gsmarena people say in the test. So maybe there are many devices with a faulty speaker just like with the toyota cars not so long ago..

Kezz

 

[EmperorKabir]

The desire, coupled with Froyo, is a brilliant phone, its only drawback being lack or proper stereo speakers. As far as I am aware, the speaker on any Desire will distort at max level.

 

[EmperorKabir]

oh and battery life!

 

[Kezz]

The desire, coupled with Froyo, is a brilliant phone, its only drawback being lack or proper stereo speakers. As far as I am aware, the speaker on any Desire will distort at max level.

Distort ok, but not to the level where you cant understand what the other person is saying in a room environment when using loudspeaker, not to mention when you're using voice nav in your car.

Firstly, they shouldn't allow for the volume function to go up that much if the hardware can't cope with it (but then the phone would be too silent, wouldn't it?), secondly for a smartphone like that with 1ghz processor all the hardware should be state of the art. I just cant understand how the people at HTC resposible for the device's functionality could release such a smartphone, my ten year old Nokia has a much better loudspeaker.

As for battery life. There is a cool app called brightness, set your device to 20% and after a few days, when you get used to it set it to 18% and your phone is going to last a lot longer, in the sun you can quickly adjust brightness to desired level. Anyway, after you're done with checking what the phone has to offer, customize everything and just use the phone in a normal way you'll find the battery is not that big of an issue.

Things like loudspeaker function shouldn't be even raised when it comes to a phone of such a class as the quality should be brilliant. The other thing is the voice recorder, I used to use this function a lot and now find hard to cope without it as the quality is sxxt, IMHO the idea of a smatphone is for it to be all-purpose.

Kezz

 

[cologne2792]

I have the same issues as most of the writers in this thread but with my HD2. I know it's not a droid but I'm after replacing it with a Desire, or at least I was until I read your comments!

This is my third handset + two repairs from HTC. It still has the worst audio quality of any mobile phone I have ever owned or used. The speakerphone is completely unusable due to extremely high levels of distortion. The internal speaker crackles and distorts during calls to the point where I can't live with it anymore and music quality is similar. Everytime I've been without it (all bar about a week since April) I've gone back to my Sony K850i which is easily a 100 times better. When I retest the HTC it just sounds dreadful. Call quality is marginally better via bluetooth but still pretty poor. HTC want one more go at fixing it (the third repair) and if I'm still not happy will give me another handset. But I have a horrible feeling that they're all going to be like this. It sounds as if the problem is a very small speaker in a very thin case being overdriven to get lots of volume. It's distorted. If you turn it down, it's quieter and distorted, same goes for music playback - dire.

The annoying thing is that the device itself is superb. Brilliant design and very clever stuff - just no good at making or receiving calls - which is what I need it for. The big question is: How can an alleged high end smartphone be grossly inferior in audio quality to a domestic Sony K series?

Any thoughts?
Martin

 

[ukzen]

My wife was given a novelty orgasm keyring and the speaker in it is crystal clear and loud !,it cost a

 

[cologne2792]

I just can't understand the mentality.

Let's take the time to design and build a superb device with a great touchscreen, ease of use and high tech features and then spend 3p on the bits the matter:

It is a PHONE!

It's primary feature is to make and receive calls - it should excel at that.

It excels at everything else but is completely useless at it's primary job.
I believe, after 3 months and 5 attempts that it is not fit for purpose.

Ironically I'm perfectly happy with the contract terms in everything except the phone. I tried to cancel the contract but T-Mobile argued that too much time had elapsed. I pointed out that I reported the handset problems on day 1 and time had only elapsed because they hadn't fixed the problem.

I'm sure I could sue for breach of contract as I've held up my end of the deal and given them ample time to remedy and they've failed to uphold their end.


So In Brief:

I've bought a phone I can't use on a 2 year contract, that I can't swap for a different make because I agreed to 2 replacements that took so long to arrive I'd passed the 28 day period leaving it up to me to get it fixed by it's manufacturer, who's failed to do so, twice, and now wants another go. If it's still not right, (which it won't be because it's a design issue rather than a fault), I can have another in house handset that's probably going to have the same issue unless I have an Evo 4G with a thicker case which they don't sell in the UK.


(Looking for an apathetic smilie)

 

[MajorSparky]

I have read all the above contributions because I did a Google search under `HTC Desire sound/audio quality'. I did this because I have just taken receipt of my `Desire' from `Three', made a call to my wife who said she could hear me fine (and all the background noise too - so no noise cancelling technology of this phone, then) but I could hardly hear her on maximum volume. She, incidentally, was at home in a quiet room on a landline. The sound was dull, lacking in treble, and generally of a poor quality. My cheap Samsung L770, which the Desire was intended to replace, is much better. I also phoned a friend while on a fairly noisy street. The signal was dropped several times in a fairly good signal area, and I had difficulty hearing what was being said. Let's face it; this is nothing to do with Orange or Three, but is everything to do with HTC. Now my problem is, like several of the earlier contributors, do I sent it back in the 14 day cooling off period. My dilemma is this, it is the best smartphone on the market, providing you don't want to use it as a phone, i.e to make voice calls! If you do, and you want it mostly for that, then it becomes one of the very worst phones on the market.
MajorSparky.

 

[WozzaTT]

I have read all the above contributions because I did a Google search under `HTC Desire sound/audio quality'. I did this because I have just taken receipt of my `Desire' from `Three', made a call to my wife who said she could hear me fine (and all the background noise too - so no noise cancelling technology of this phone, then) but I could hardly hear her on maximum volume. She, incidentally, was at home in a quiet room on a landline. The sound was dull, lacking in treble, and generally of a poor quality. My cheap Samsung L770, which the Desire was intended to replace, is much better. I also phoned a friend while on a fairly noisy street. The signal was dropped several times in a fairly good signal area, and I had difficulty hearing what was being said. Let's face it; this is nothing to do with Orange or Three, but is everything to do with HTC. Now my problem is, like several of the earlier contributors, do I sent it back in the 14 day cooling off period. My dilemma is this, it is the best smartphone on the market, providing you don't want to use it as a phone, i.e to make voice calls! If you do, and you want it mostly for that, then it becomes one of the very worst phones on the market.
MajorSparky.

Personally I don't make that many calls so I live with it, but if I did I wouldn't have a Desire.

 

[cologne2792]

Well amazingly my 3rd HD2 handset has returned from it's home planet (HTC Customer Support) for another brief visit to the outside world (this will be about a week in my possession since April) and it does actually seem to be improved. Music audio is now only distorted on some tracks, eg anything with a lot of different sounds simultaneously (Kellis - Acapella sounds particularly outclassed as does the theme to Star Trek:Insurrection). I should point out that this is through my normally excellent Sony Bluetooth Headphones, the phone's loudspeaker still sounds pretty dreadful, far too much top causing sizzzing, flat mid-range and a hopeless lack of bass. Call quality through the phone is now upgraded from dreadful to poor and speaker phone quality from unusable / appalling to just extremely poor. Definitely less distortion than before but still just very poor on average. Still love the device for functionality, intuitiveness and general excellence. Just amazed that superb design and appalling quality could be such polar opposites on the same device. Do I see if I can change it for an Evo 4g? HTC said if I was unhappy I could change for an alike handset? Or do I continue carrying two phones every day both synched to my headset: The excellent Sony K850i for Music and Camera and The HD2 for calls (assuming I can hear them OK)?

Just a footnote: Not only do the K850i's audio ability's beat the HD2 by about 100 times but the K850i is a camera phone it's not even a Walkman phone. No special effort is made to make the MP3 player shine it's just stunningly brilliantly in it's basic form - or put another way - How bad is the HTC?