I got my FP5 yesterday, and while I am rather happy with the device, I observed that WhatsApp video call quality is extremely bad. For somebody using video calls nearly daily, this is almost a dealbreaker. Now, the sound quality is fine, but FP5 seems to be suffering from the same problem as reported here: fp3-camera-oversharpened-low-quality-in-video-calls.
If I am recording a video or taking a photo with WhatsApp outside a call, everything seems to be working fine. It is just that the video quality during a call is as low as reported in the other discussion.
I have checked that my internet connection is great (confirmed by a speedtest), and I have updated the software immediately after the setup.
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Thanks for your prompt reply. I did three tests: one with WiFi (5 GHz) and 5G enabled, then only 5G (no Wifi), and finally with Wifi only (5 GHz, no 5G). I am attaching the screenshots.
The reason why I am finding this interesting is that my old Samsung A50 had 4G, I was using the same WiFi always, and never had such a problem before… EDIT: I decided to run the same test with my old Samsung, again only WiFi (same 5GHz, no mobile data), and I added the screenshot below too.
I believe it is toggled off: that is “Use less data for calls” under “Storage and data” of WhatsApp settings. Could there be other phone settings to try?
When WiFi is on it doesn’t use mobile data. It’s then by default only on standby for fast fail over in case WiFi is out of range. So testing WiFi and 5G actually only tests WiFi.
Regardless of that, these are terrible connections. Both on 5G and WiFi. And since your other device has this issue too it may just be network related. Give it a try in a another city with mobile data and a different WiFi network. That would be interesting. But I suspect it’s not your FP5.
Thank you, that is a solid proposal. I will try it first thing on Monday at work. Perhaps I will also try Telegram to see how the video looks there. I will let you know how it goes!
I would add that the video quality is OK on my other device. No problem there despite the network.
The reason the quality seems better on the old phone might be a lower camera resolution. This means less data and thus less compression on a bad connection. So, even if it sounds contradictory the FP5’s (presumably) better camera might lead to a lesser picture quality during video calls as the resolution might be just too high for your network.
Wow, this forum is extremely helpful! Thank you so much for all the feedback so far.
The reason the quality seems better on the old phone might be a lower camera resolution.
Interesting! Following this and the next comment from @Meaghan, I tried to change the settings, and debugged this further by comparing video calling between WA and Telegram.
Long story short, I saw no difference when I changed the settings for WA. I then proceeded to make a video call using Telegram, and I noticed much improved quality in the video. The person I called with said the same. During these checks, we kept the environment the same (connections, calling spots, etc), and I took screenshot of how it looks at my end. I cropped the screenshots to the same size, and it is visible that somehow WA handles the video differently.
Here are the results, first for WhatsApp, and then for Telegram:
I think this confirms that the WhatsApp SW is causing this rather than anything on FP5. I will try tomorrow with a better connection to see if I need to ask all my calls to happen over Telegram in future.
A small update… tested the video call quality at my workplace that has a great WiFi connection, and while it did look slightly better, the issue still persists. Both callers were connected to the workplace WiFi. Thus, the issue must be due to WhatsApp SW.
