After using iPhone 5 since day 1, I sometimes experienced low phone call quality, but until today, I always thought the problem was on the other end, because often, call quality was quite good.
Today I finally checked iPhone 5 together with two sets of new Earpods, one set of old Apple Earphones, and iPhone 5 without earphones, on the same call, and the result was clear - at least in this case:
- iPhone 5 alone w/o earphones: good phone call quality
- iPhone 5 with old Apple earphones: good phone call quality
- iPhone 5 with new Apple Earpods, 2 sets tested: more often than not quite low quality phone calls; sometimes the hiccups and interruptions are so bad that I can't understand what the other person is saying, and I often had to ask the caller to repeat, and speak louder/more clearly.
It seems to me there's definitely some problem either with the new Earpods, or the combination iPhone 5 with Earpods.