iPhone 7 Owners Are Complaining of Poor Call Sound Quality

Aside from the overblown “bendgate” controversy with the release of the iPhone 6, Apple’s hardware rollouts typically tend to go rather smoothly. However, the release of the iPhone 7 has started to see a bit of controversy with users complaining of several hardware errors. Shortly after the iPhone 7 was released, several users were complaining of a ‘hissing’ sound their phones emitted when placed under high processor load. Several days later, users began reporting that their iPhones were losing service after enabling and then disabling Airplane Mode. While none of these issues appear to be a concern for most users, yet another complaint has surfaced on the web – poor call quality from iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus owners.

While most reviews show high praise for the call quality on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, several users on Apple’s support forums have complained that their call quality hasn’t been up to par. One user complained that incoming audio during phone calls “sounds distant… like it is coming from behind the phone.” Several other members cited similar poor call quality with their devices – all either iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus devices. Several users described following Apple’s instructions for “no sound or distorted sound from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch speaker, which includes restarting your device and toggling Bluetooth on and off.” One user reported that “turning the volume down helped a tad” but the sound was still “borderline awful.”

The problem is clearly not a widespread one – the original thread on Apple’s support forums only saw about five separate complaints – but it is a problem nonetheless. The original poster on the discussion thread reported that Apple’s support team suggested that he record a voice memo and play it back through the phone receiver, likely to rule out a carrier service issue. As the sound quality of the voice memo also played back distorted, support encouraged him to either send his device in for repair or bring it to a Genius Bar. Seeing as how the problem seems to affect a small minority of iPhone 7 devices, it is likely caused by slight hardware defect. While a repair has yet to be confirmed, Apple will likely replace any devices that are affected by the issue.

Have  you experienced this issue?
Or are you of the majority who have experienced phenomenal sound quality from your iPhone 7?