Nexus 4 speaker muffled if it's on a desk, any way to fix this?

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Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,341
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Because the speaker is at the back of the phone, if it's sitting flat on the desk, it's enough to completely muffle it, so I will not hear a call. Anyone else notice this with their Nexus 4? Is there any fix for this? I'm thinking of just dabbing a bit of hot glue near it so it will lift it a bit, but seems like a rather hackish solution. I'm also thinking if I grind a small line to "continue" the speaker hole all the way to the end of the phone, but I don't really want to mess it up. Guess it's a small design flaw that was overlooked. Speaker should have been on a surface that is not likely to be flat against something.
 
lopri

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,310
687
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Well, there is no elegant solution that I can think of. You either have to get a 3rd party speakers or headsets. It's one of my biggest gripes on both N4 and N7 - the speakers suck.

What puzzle me even more when it comes to N4 is that its speaker is a lot louder for multimedia but really quiet for ringers and system sounds. Does anyone else experience this?
 
S

Suspicious-Teach8788

Lifer
Feb 19, 2001
20,155
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lopri said:
Well, there is no elegant solution that I can think of. You either have to get a 3rd party speakers or headsets. It's one of my biggest gripes on both N4 and N7 - the speakers suck.

What puzzle me even more when it comes to N4 is that its speaker is a lot louder for multimedia but really quiet for ringers and system sounds. Does anyone else experience this?
Click to expand...

My N4 is pretty loud. Louder than my SGS2 for sure in ringing and media. I just called myself at max volume and the N4 was pretty loud. Louder than most phones I've seen, except maybe Motorola Droid. I've had 2 Samsung phones and those were always on the quiet side.
 
S

Suspicious-Teach8788

Lifer
Feb 19, 2001
20,155
23
81
lopri said:
Hmm.. is something wrong with my N4, then?
Click to expand...
Perhaps. The N4 scores a "good" in loudspeaker test on GSMarena. I just blasted my SGS2 and N4 side by side choosing a ringtone in the sound menu. I'd say both are equally loud. I don't have a sound meter or anything so I can't judge, but it's loud enough to annoy me for sure.

Maybe that's not loud enough for you?

As for the tablets, the N7 is definitely louder than my N4. It's loud. The N10 blows them all away. For reference I did have all the speakers facing me. If I had my Nexus S setup on CM 10.1, I'd test it too.
 
MrChad

MrChad

Lifer
Aug 22, 2001
13,507
3
81
I think Android allows different volume settings for media playback versus ringers. Perhaps your ringer volume is just turned down?
 
VashHT

VashHT

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2007
3,332
1,392
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I don't think there's a problem with his speaker or the volume, if you place any nexus 4 on its back it'll seal around the speaker and block it off. The best fix is just to turn you phone over, but some cases help alleviate the problem. I have the official bumper and it still happens, but not as.much as without it. Its stupid that companies still put the speaker on the back of phones, having it on the bottom or front gets rid of this problem.
 
G

Graze

Senior member
Nov 27, 2012
468
1
0
I have the same problem. When it's on my bed, forget about it. I go missing calling and messages all the time!
Speaker location is bad!
 
zerocool84

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
126
Graze said:
I have the same problem. When it's on my bed, forget about it. I go missing calling and messages all the time!
Speaker location is bad!
Click to expand...

Speaker location is fine, tons of other phones have it, it's just that the back is flat and any phone with flat backs would have the same problem killing the speakerphone volume.
 
M

Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
8,463
7,683
136
Could get a little stand for it. If you want to be cheap, you could probably get a way with using a business card holder or something like that. Either that or just buy a dock/stand for it so it can stay charged.
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,341
13,672
126
www.anyf.ca
Where I can, I put it on the monitor stand so the speaker sticks out but depending where I am I don't always have that option and I'm not going to start lugging stuff around. Also not going to put it face down, that's probably bad for getting scratches.

Just had an idea though... know those little bumpers that are used for kitchen cabinets, maybe if I get 4 black ones and put them on the back? think it would be too big and look funny though. But it would work. :p
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,341
13,672
126
www.anyf.ca
Is there any available cases for the nexus 4 yet? The bumper is pretty much impossible to get at this point and I heard it has the same issue.

In fact any holsters for it? That's one thing I miss from my blackberry.
 
2

2timer

Golden Member
Apr 20, 2012
1,803
1
0
Just buy a cheap aftermarket back. Mod the aftermarket back, and then keep the original for when you resell it.
 
L

lothar

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2000
6,674
7
76
Red Squirrel said:
The phone is not broken. It's just a design flaw. Doubt they'd approve that. Anyway the case I bought fixed the issue.
Click to expand...
Google has been nice to me regarding returns. They're like Amazon. Newegg used to be that way about a decade ago.
They will ship a new phone to you immediately and tell you to send the problem phone later.
Of course if you come of as a smarty pants on the phone or trying to be an arse in telling them that it's a design flaw, they may or may not agree and that will be at their discretion.

It's no difference when trying to return items at your local retailer. If you ask in a peachy tone voice, they would probably do it or let it slide. If you try to get smart, the manager will use a loophole to reject your claim.

Just sound/play dumb.
You did buy the phone directly from the Google Play Store, right?
I'd still say try your luck, you never know what may happen.
 
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