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iPhone 4 Bluetooth performance

S

soypancho

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 7, 2010
12
0
I picked up a 32gb this morning and had a blast hanging out with everyone at the Apple Store in Scottsdale, AZ. Lots of great people. So far I'm loving the device and I'm lucky enough to have a device with no reception or display issues so far.

I have noticed, however, that using my Bluetooth headset, I've been experiencing more signal degradation using the same headset from the same distance (phone in pants pocket) than with my old 3G. BT headset users- have you experienced this with your new iPhone 4? I'm referring to the 'crackle' that becomes more and more present as you increase the distance between devices.
 
soypancho said:
I have noticed, however, that using my Bluetooth headset, I've been experiencing more signal degradation using the same headset from the same distance (phone in pants pocket) than with my old 3G. BT headset users- have you experienced this with your new iPhone 4? I'm referring to the 'crackle' that becomes more and more present as you increase the distance between devices.
Click to expand...

I'm also experiencing bluetooth problems. In my case I have significant signal degradation in the pairing with my car. Here is the link to my thread. In my case, I'm using a 3Gs upgraded to iOS4. Prior to iOS4 I had no issues. So same phone, same car, same mount position in the car but degraded bluetooth signal with iOS4. I think its an iOS4 issue.

I've also added links to all other threads (including this one) to my thread.
 
bluetooth issues

I also have bluetooth signal issues. Using the same jawbone I used with my 3G, with the 4, I'm told by people I'm talking to (or trying to talk to) that they either can't hear me or there is too much static. I hear them fine, so I would guess that there is some issue with iOS causing this problem. I am also having signal strength issues with the phone - something that wasn't a problem with the 3G.
 
My iPhone 4's Bluetooth Performance is Terrible

I had a 3GS and used the Plantronics Discovery 975 earsets, I have 5 of them, and love them. I even got them from Apple. Typically I could walk away 30 feet from the iPhone 3GS without any signal degradation. I use them in my office all day long and constantly use the iPhone's Voice Dial.

Now, with the iPhone 4 (with the Apple Bumper on it), people can't hear me (breakup/distortion) when I'm more than 2.5 feet from the unit, and the Plantronics units disconnect from 3 feet!!!
What is curious, is I can hear them fine, but they complain of the breakup/distortion.

I can't even keep the phone in my pants pocket because it's too far away!!!
Also the Voice Dial via Bluetooth earset makes more mistakes than correct hits.
:-(

This may become a deal-breaker for me. And obviously, I won't be able to use it in the car either.

Can others please report what distances from the iPhone 4 you are able to have a good quality Bluetooth earset call, and the brand/model of the earset?
If I'm able to get an earset that works excellent with the iPhone 4, then I'll keep it. Otherwise iPhone 4 goes back to Apple.

What is your experience?

UPDATE: After getting a really good hi level tech, we tried to reproduce the problem and record the system/data log. The issue disappeared. I did reboot the phone, deleted the existing Bluetooth devices and re-paired. Seemed to work fine, although I did this at work and not under the same circumstances where I experienced the issue. Will try to reproduce again under the same conditions.
 
Since the IOS 4 update to my 3GS, the SYNC/Navigation on my Lincoln 2010 wiped out the Bluetooth iPod music syncing. It used to show up on the navigation screen. Glad this update still allows me to voice call with the address book. Texting still not available on navigation screen. I guess I should be thankful. :rolleyes:
 
Having the same issues with a motorola h715.

Worked perfect with the 3gs but having people complain about me sounding muffled.

Could have something to do with the noise canceling on the new phone but not sure.
 
I have a Jawbone headset and it actually works better than with my 3GS. It is definitely louder.
 
The only odd thing I've experienced is, now the BT connection is made at the point where I use Voice Control. After the confirmation tone or voice response comes through, the connection to the device drops, then reconnects when the call begins. Otherwise it still works the same way once the call is connected.
 
I have had the oppisite experience. In my vehicle with my 3gs I use to have to turn the volume up almost all the way to hear and now with the I4 I dont have to move a dial and it is much clearer than with the 3gs even when I upgraded the 3gs to os4.

d1
 
Guess I should clarify. I hear through my headset fine. In fact like others reported it is louder than the 3gs. I have to turn it down almost all the way.

Its the people on the other end of the phone I have had complaints with.
 
I'm using a Jawbone and the quality on both ends has improved big time. My friends would bug me and say they couldn't hear me that well and now they think I have my face to the phone.
 
gregnauman said:
Having the same issues with a motorola h715.

Worked perfect with the 3gs but having people complain about me sounding muffled.

Could have something to do with the noise canceling on the new phone but not sure.
Click to expand...

I have the exact same issue as you do! I have the h715 and everyone is saying the sound is muffled when I talk. I didn't have this issue with the 3gs. It's so bad, I have to switch bluetooth off on my new iphone 4.

What do I do???
 
I have the same issue with iPhone 4

My Plantronics device would work all over my office. Now, I just walked away from my phone and it disconnected at about 5 feet away. People also complain they can't hear me with the bluetooth. I am constantly on BT, this will definitely be a deal breaker for me.

Any ideas on if this can be fixed?
 
My Motorola HT820 bluetooth headphones have issues with skipping (or the phone is causing the skipping) if I have the phone on for a long period of time (high uptime I mean). Rebooting fixes the issue. I do notice, that if I have the phone in my pocket, it skips. But if I keep the phone in a shirt pocket, it works fine. Crazy.
 
Jawbone Icon 2010

I purchased an iPhone4 at my local AT&T store and they had a promotion where I could get a free case if I spent an additional $99.00. I wanted to get a bluetooth anyway so I also purchased a Jawbone Icon. They gave me a free black and gray Speck case and I was on my way.

The Jawbone was working flawlessly for the last four days until I went for a walk today and the connection between my iPhone and Jawbone kept going in and out. It appeared that this only happened when my iPhone was in my pocket as the reception went in and out in cadence with my step. I was playing music through the Jawbone and could hear it going in and out with each step. Each time I took the iPhone out of my pocket, the connection problem disappeared. Each time I put the iPhone back in my pocket, the problem came back.

I got back to my office and did a search for BlueTooth and iPhone and found this thread.

Based on what I read here, I removed the Jawbone from my phone settings ("Forget this device") and then pair'd the Jawbone back to the iPhone following the Jawbone instructions (held down talk button while turning it on and seeing the LED flash red and white over and over). I put the iPhone back in my pocket and went for another walk (same route) with the iPhone in the same pocket and no longer had any connection issues.

Problem fixed for now. If this happens again, I now know what to do.

Thanks MacRumors for this forum.
 
jmgregory1 said:
I also have bluetooth signal issues. Using the same jawbone I used with my 3G, with the 4, I'm told by people I'm talking to (or trying to talk to) that they either can't hear me or there is too much static. I hear them fine, so I would guess that there is some issue with iOS causing this problem. I am also having signal strength issues with the phone - something that wasn't a problem with the 3G.
Click to expand...


Glad to see I'm not the only one having this problem. We have 2 iPhone 4's and they work just fine as long as we don't use a bluetooth headset. I can hear the caller just fine but they say I sound really muffled and broken up.

I noticed this problem first when I upgraded my iPhone 3G to iOS 4.0. I had no bluetooth problems before updating to new software. I thought something was wrong with my Jawbone headset. So I bought a Plantronics and a Blueant headset and still have the problems. So clearly there's something wrong with iOS 4.0 software.

We are both thinking of returning our phones to AT&T. There is no way I'm gonna go back to holding my phone up to my head every time I wanna make a call. I'm using the white headphones now to make calls and they sound like crap as usual.

On the bright side, we don't have the "death grip" reception problems.
 
Well I'm glad it's not just me. My Jawbone Icon does the reconnect disconnect thing over and over, and people can't hear me also. Plus I have the "death grip" thing going on... so I went to the Genius Bar today. However, they were out of replacements. I'm just going to have to keep checking with them...
 
maryannee said:
Since the IOS 4 update to my 3GS, the SYNC/Navigation on my Lincoln 2010 wiped out the Bluetooth iPod music syncing. It used to show up on the navigation screen. Glad this update still allows me to voice call with the address book. Texting still not available on navigation screen. I guess I should be thankful. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I have a 2008 Lincoln and music over the Bluetooth sounds so much better with my iPhone 4 then my 3G ever did. I was very surprised that it sounds the same as when plugged in to the cable. I can make phone calls out, but voice dialing is not working. I am not sure it this is something that is based on the version of Sync that we have, but I have a hard time upgrading my Sync in my car, so I don't know!

Jeff
 
I'm having crazy issues keeping my ip4 connected to my cars Bluetooth. My ip3gs had zero problems. Anyone else experiencing this?
 
ive had bluetooth issues when trying to use it with my car... half the time it works and the other half it dosnt
 
I must say that my iPhone 4 Bluetooth seems to work much better with my kenwood head unit than my 3G or 3GS ever did.
Just wish they would implement full avrcp I instead of just play/pause.
 
Mine works great paired to the Ford Sync system in my F150 Lariat. Much better than my 3gs although I had only a volume issue with the 3gs.

d1
 
I am having the same issue! I have a Kenwood ouch screen deck with a Bluetooth module added.

My incoming calls and some outgoing are very muffled (it used to do this on my old 2g but a fix from kenwood worked) plus sometimes when I get in the car it wont pair at all and I have to do it manually!

I'm almost 95% sure its the new iOS4 software... our decks are not up to date with the new software is all.
 
I hope the issue is resolved with the software fix... Otherwise I'm going to need to spend time at the genius bar
 
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