Replace microphones?

Help Fairphone 4
1

I’ve been using my FP4 for about 4 years, I hate making calls so the issue might be old already :slight_smile: but I have been getting a lot of complaints about people not hearing me (and weirdly also my Merlin app has been ‘not hearing’ clear birds in the garden too)

so I a related topic (quote “There are actually three microphones in the FP4. In addition to the two you already mentioned, the third one is at the top of the device. If you call * # * # 2 8 8 6 # * # * you get a large range of hardware tests. When you choose “Audio”, there are three microphones that get checked (although I find it hard to figure out how the test is supposed to work).”) and ran these tests, 2 out of three are not working well. “Second Mic” and “Three Mic”, the “main mic” appears to be working.

I’ve tried looking all over the shop what parts I should replace but so far I have no clear idea, any pointers?

2

I’ll add that I found how-to’s and the possibility to replace both speakers on iFixit but no clue whether that will solve the issue.

3

Have a chat with Fairphone. Ask to speak to a member of staff.
You might be covered by a warranty?

4

The microphones are soldered on the mainboard and cannot be replaced (except using hotair soldering).

5

Changing speakers will only help you hear others better.

6

hm, no I’m quite sure the phone is too old (I vaguely recall spending quite some time trying to register for this “extended warranty” thing and it failed every time so I gave up)

I must admit that most comments telling me I cannot replace this make me wonder why FP in general and FP4 specifically keeps raking in 10/10 in these “fixability” tests, I know we’re spoilt (I’ve been an FP user ever since the original 10k of FP2’s came out) but at some point the “but look the competition is worse” stops being the end-all argument.

7

Modularity has it limits, you can’t make every small, single part replaceable.
But anyway, are you sure the microphones are the culprit and not probably just clogged openings in the case?

8

There are three mics for a reason. They are easier to spot if you have the phone in a case.

Starting from the top:

  1. On the top: Noise cancelling mic - to improve clarity for the person you’re calling
  2. On the left side: the hands-free mic
  3. On the base, to the left of the USB-C port: the non-hands-free mic

It’s quite easy to cover the hands-free mic when holding the phone - I always put the phone down when using it hands-free.

You may find that if the mics have failed you need to use the phone with an external softphone or headset.

9

I asked here, but no answer:

10

I hate making calls but I would hate sending the phone in for repair and not having a phone for weeks even more so I’ll try the headphones option soon.

that won’t help birding with Merlin though, * slight pout *

11

I suppose they don’t want you replacing that because it’s soldered onto a motherboard (I admit that would be above my technical skills and equipment level, too)