XA2 and official smart case - bizarre call quality issue

[jwattam]

The official Sony smart cover for the XA2 is somehow interfering with call quality - has anybody experienced this?

I tend to use speakerphone and that is fine. However if I don't use speakerphone, my voice just sounds like a series of fart noises to the caller. That would seem like a fault in the phone, right?

The bizarre part of this issue is that when I remove the phone from the case, the call quality is fine. But as soon as I put it back into the case, it's back to the fart noises. Nothing in the case is covering of coming into contact with the mic, so how can a problem like this even exist? Do I return the phone or just the cover?

[jwattam]

This is me talking into the microphone with the Sony case attached (my sound recorder app works fine when I remove the case):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15lFZU3YBpHj6ZMI1UCW998Pz7taFvEGV

If you see the wave form on the above file (you might have to download to play), you can tell the sound is severely distorted. I was at normal distance when recording (same distance as when recording fine without the case).

And here's a video of me running the microphone/speaker test with and without the case. The test shows a wave form, which is interestingly different in the two settings. I bought the exact same Sony case again on the off-chance that the first case was somehow faulty and causing this bizarre behaviour (but it happens in both cases).

https://photos.app.goo.gl/rz4VYkDQz35gR2vA6 

[EMS_MO72]

I went through this issue with Sony before and their reply was that as long as the microphone is working fine without the case, they didn't do much really about it and they advised to check another case.

[jwattam · Accepted solution]

That's a very dismissive attitude from a company that clearly thinks it can afford to have a lot of unhappy customers.

At least we have a solution: NEVER BUY A SONY PHONE!

[EMS_MO72]

Yeah, that's sad actually. But maybe try to test another cover with the phone .

Maybe this one is not compatible

[jwattam]

Yes definitely - the official Sony case is not compatible with the phone. What an insane statement.

Actually, for any phone cover to interfere with the mic in the phone is an insane statement - under the Sale of Goods Act that's called "not fit for purpose".

[EMS_MO72]

The thing is that there are specific covers for certain devices, like not all covers work with all the models for example.

[jwattam]

Have you been reading this post?!

The phone is the XA2.

The cover is Sony's own cover specifically for the XA2.

Your comment indicates that you think it reasonable that a phone case might stop the phone from working properly. I believe you're thinking of a generic case that might cover parts of the phone like the mic, impeding its function. That is not so in this instance. There is clearly something in the substance of the XA2 case that interferes with the internal components of the phone (the mic) - why would any case be designed like this?

There is absolutely no excuse for such stupidity by Sony.