MAJOR Sound issue

Hi guys... My Meizu started having a major problem with its sound today.

From what I've been able to figure out, there are two modes in the M8.

1.) earphone mode: where the sound of an incoming call or recieved sms is audible through the loud speaker, and any other app.. music and video sound is directed through the headphones (that's pretty logical).... if you press the volume control in this mode, you will see a headphone icon on the top of the bar indicating that you have headphones plugged into the jack and are in this mode.
Note... if you answer a call in this mode the phone should automatically switch to non- headphone mode, so that an audible conversation can be carried out [correct me if I'm wrong here].

2.) Non- headphone mode : where incoming call, recieved sms and any other audio is directed through the phones external loudspeakers...if you press the volume control in this mode you will clearly see a speaker at the top of the volume bar indicating the phone is in this mode. It seems that calls can only be carried out in this mode.

Now, for some wierd reason, my phone is NOT switching between the two modes.

When i have the earphones plugged in, the audio is indeed in 'headphone mode', but the sound itself is either garbled (on video), or lacking stereo function (not able to hear the vocals) in music player mode.

To make things worse, when unplugging the earphones, the phone is not switching back to the external loudspeaker, but rather staying in the 'earphone mode'... this is apparent because when adjusting the volume with the earphones unplugged, the volume icon is displaying a headphone at the top.

I am therefore not able to use the phone for calls, as neither party can hear eachother while the phone is 'stuck' in this mode... even though the headphones are not in the 3.5 jack.

This problem just arose out of nowhere.. I hadnt installed any appz recently nor updated from the 915 FW version I been using since I got the phone 6 weeks ago.

I managed to get the phone back once to external 'loudspeaker' mode by playing with the headphones while it was in the jack and everything returned to normal (able to carry out calls and hear the music player and videos from the external speaker)....
but on plugging in the headphones again and removing them again... the phone is once more stuck in thinking it has headphones in the jack.

Im confused as whether is a firmware issue as i never experienced this before, or if its a hardware issue because of the inability of the phone to recognize removed headphones (maybe the 3.5 jack has become faulty).

This is really pissing me off and I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue and, if so, how they resolved it. I really hope its a FW issue and not a harware one as I dont want to send the phone back to China for repairs uless absaloutly neccessary.

Ive tried to make the isuue of whats happening clear and I'd really appreciate any help here.

Dude,
Look for a thread "Officially Disgusted"
Same issue, some how you have been able to explain it better, I was toooo pissed to really put the thoughts.
Read it for details.
Your best bet is to get back to 0905 Off version.
Also, when restoring, just restore the contacts and nothing else...
0905 should be able to give you some of the sounds back, then once you get the basic phone functioning, let us know we will go from there..

919263

Thanx mate...I did actually read thru that thread and post there, but I wasnt really sure if what was mentioned there was the same as my issue...apparently it is. Sounds like its a Fw issue... Ill do as ya suggest and see if that sorts it out... this has got me riled up, coz its not a 'cheap' phone and it this makes the whole phone unusable.
Appreciate the help!

ok...unistalled all my appz... cleaned the registry and installed FW 905 official version... no change whatsoever... the phone is still stuck in headphone mode (and even in this mode the song and video audio) is garbled and horrible.

I'll try again to rinstall the 905 FW again.. this time delete all my music and video and see if that works. Im beginning to think that its a hardware problem with a malfunctioning 3.5 jack. Looks like its gonna be sent back for either repair or replacement.

Well...uninstalled everything.. tried 3 different FW upgrades preceeded by clearing the registry... no go! The phone seems to accept the jack being inserted and switch to earphone mode, but continues to refuse to switch back to speaker mode on removal.
Im more suspiscous of it being HW related because the sound thru the phonez is severly distorted and will return to normal when pressed harder into the jack socket.
Anyway... I've had enough and gonna send it back for a replacement... too many hours spent over this. Still blame Meizu for their fraked up FW... coz if the FW had a reputation for being more stable, it would have saved a lot of time trying to figure out the actual problem.
will send off in the next few days and get back to u guys on what they have to say... it might help others with a similar situation.

BTW: Did I understand it right? You always only can call without the earphones? So the micro/headset is just a "decoration"?

Have someone tried it with better earphones like the ultimate ears super.fi 4 vi/ 5 vi/triple.fi 10 vi?

Thanks in advance,
Kruemel

Edit: I've heard now, that you can use headsets..question answered.

I experienced something similar the first day I got my M8. I plugged the headphones in and listened for a few minutes then removed them. Nothing from the phone speakers - I restarted the phone and still the speakers didn't work so I banked the phone against my hand a couple of times and the speakers came on. I have not used the headphones again. Bluetooth is your friend! No wires and no chance for mechanical failure which I believe was your problem.

I have my new m8 now... and it WAS a hardware issue related to the 3.5 jack. Earphones work great now... but I think I will look into getting a bluetooth headset as wire free has its apeals...

just wondeting though...does a BT headset drain the battery faster?

Originally Posted by cybermessiah

does a BT headset drain the battery faster?

To be honest i do think you would need to test that one.
using a headphone means that all the power (wel.. not all) goes to the headset.
Using BT mean that the bt chip needs to be activated and then transmitting the signals, so it uses also a lot of power.

My gues is that bt will be using more.

I know the M8 has support for BT2, but wondering if it has A2DP support as well?