How To Fix Galaxy A73 Low Audio During Calls (2026 Guide)

If your Samsung Galaxy A73 callers sound faint, distant, or like they’re whispering even with the volume slider maxed out, the cause is almost always one of three things: a software setting (especially after the One UI 8 update), a clogged earpiece grille, or an audio route stuck on a paired Bluetooth device. Every fix below is current as of 2026 and includes the exact menu paths, codes, and warranty steps you actually need.

Start With The One UI 8 Call Volume Bug (Most Likely Cause In 2026)

Samsung pushed One UI 8 to the Galaxy A73 in October 2025, and within weeks A73 owners began reporting a regression where the in-call volume no longer “sticks” between calls. The phone resets the level on every new call, sometimes pinning it very low and sometimes very loud. The bug did not exist on One UI 7.0 (Android 15) and is being tracked publicly on Samsung’s community forums and on SamMobile and Sammy Fans. As of this writing Samsung has not pushed a dedicated patch — the expected fix will ship inside One UI 8.5, which arrives alongside the Galaxy S26 lineup.

While you wait for the patch, do this every time you start a call:

Place or accept a call.
Press the Volume Up button until the level is comfortable (the on-screen “Call volume” slider will appear).
End the call normally.

If the next call drops back to a low level, the bug is your problem and the rest of the troubleshooting below will not permanently fix it. Two interim workarounds help most people:

Open Settings → Apps → Phone → Storage → Clear cache (do *not* clear data — that wipes call logs).
Reboot the handset. After a fresh reboot the volume tends to behave normally for several days before drifting again.

Check Settings → Software update → Download and install weekly until One UI 8.5 (build version starting with `A736BXX…BYxx`) appears.

Confirm The Volume Slider Is Actually Pinned To Maximum

The A73 has *three* separate volume scales — media, ringtone, and call — and only the call slider matters here. To rule out a simple misconfiguration:

Open Settings → Sounds and vibration → Volume.
Drag the Call slider all the way to the right.
Place a test call (dialing 611 reaches your carrier’s automated menu on most US networks).
Press Volume Up during the call to push past any per-call limit One UI sometimes imposes after a Bluetooth disconnect.

If you see a warning like “High volume can damage your hearing,” tap OK — that prompt only appears once per session and is not the cause of low audio.

Make Sure Audio Isn’t Routing To A Bluetooth Device

This is the second most common cause and the easiest to miss. If your A73 is paired with a car system, smartwatch, earbuds, or even a forgotten Bluetooth speaker in the next room, calls can route there silently while the earpiece stays muted.

Swipe down twice from the top of the screen to open Quick Settings.
Long-press the Bluetooth tile.
Look at the Currently connected list. Tap the gear next to anything you don’t want on the call and choose Unpair (or just disconnect).
As a quick test, toggle Bluetooth off entirely from the same panel and place a test call.

If the earpiece volume returns to normal with Bluetooth off, you’ve found the culprit — re-pair only the device you actually use, and check Settings → Connections → Bluetooth → [device] → Audio to make sure “Call audio” is set the way you want.

Clean The Earpiece Grille (The 60-Second Hardware Fix)

The A73’s earpiece sits in the thin slot above the display. After a few months of pocket lint, sweat, and makeup, that slot fills with a felt-like plug that absorbs roughly half the sound. This is the single most effective hardware fix and it costs nothing.

What works, in order of safety:

Soft dry toothbrush. Hold the phone screen-down and brush along the slot. Tilt the phone so debris falls out instead of in.
Painter’s tape or a sticky note. Press the adhesive against the grille, peel it off, and you’ll see the lint stuck to the tape. Repeat 4-5 times.
A soft anti-static brush from a phone-cleaning kit. Inexpensive multi-tool kits made for this exact job include nylon brushes sized for the earpiece slot, foam swabs, and dust-removal stickers.

A solid all-in-one option: Aispour Cell Phone Cleaning Kit (140 pieces) — Buy on Amazon. Always spot-check Amazon links before buying — listings change and stock can go cold.

What to avoid:

Do not blow into the earpiece. Moisture from your breath can short the speaker mesh.
Do not use compressed air at close range. The pressure can rupture the diaphragm of the earpiece driver behind the grille.
Do not poke the grille with a needle, paperclip, or SIM tool. The mesh tears easily and is not user-serviceable.

Take The Case And Screen Protector Off — Then Test

The Galaxy A73 was designed without a case in mind. A misaligned tempered-glass screen protector can cover the top millimeter of the earpiece slot, and a thick rugged case (Otterbox Defender, Spigen Tough Armor, etc.) can muffle the slot entirely. Pop the case off, lift the protector at the corner if you can, and place a quick test call. If audio is suddenly clear, swap to a thinner protector with a properly aligned earpiece cutout.

Disable Accessibility Audio Settings That Mute The Earpiece

One UI ships with several hearing-assistance toggles that can quietly cut earpiece volume in half. Walk through every item below — even if you don’t remember enabling them, an accidental gesture can flip them on.

Settings → Accessibility → Hearing enhancements.
Toggle off: Mute all sounds, Mono audio (only mono mode if you don’t actually need it), and Hearing aid support.
Tap Left/right sound balance and drag the slider to the exact center. A balance pulled hard to one side makes the earpiece feel quiet because only half the driver is active.
Open Adapt Sound and run the personalization test again. A bad adapt-sound profile from years ago can permanently roll off mid-range frequencies — the human voice band — making every call sound thin and quiet.

Run The Built-In Earpiece Diagnostic

Samsung Members has a free, official diagnostic that drives the earpiece directly with a test tone, bypassing One UI volume sliders. If audio is loud here but quiet on calls, the hardware is fine and your problem is software. If it’s quiet here too, the earpiece itself is failing.

Open the Samsung Members app (preinstalled on the A73 — install from the Galaxy Store if missing).
Tap Get help → Phone diagnostics → View tests.
Choose Receiver (this is the earpiece — “Speaker” is the bottom-firing loudspeaker).
Listen for the tone. It should be loud and clear with the phone at arm’s length.

You can also access a hardware test menu directly with secret code \*#0\*# — dial it from the Phone app, then tap Speaker and Receiver in the test grid.

Check Service Mode For A Stuck Audio Profile

Galaxy phones occasionally save a low-volume audio profile after a bad call (especially in rural areas with weak signal where the network requests a quieter codec). To clear it:

Dial \*#0011# from the Phone app — this opens the Service Mode network screen.
Tap the menu (three dots) → Back → Reset Audio Setting (the wording varies by carrier firmware).
Reboot.

If your firmware doesn’t expose that menu, the safer alternative is Settings → General management → Reset → Reset all settings. This clears Wi-Fi passwords and toggles but does *not* delete photos, apps, or accounts, and it reliably restores audio defaults.

Boot Into Safe Mode To Rule Out A Third-Party App

Call recorders, equalizer apps (Wavelet, Volume Booster GOODEV), Volte tweakers, and even some VPNs can hijack the audio stream. Safe Mode disables every third-party app at once.

Press and hold the Power button.
Long-press Power off in the menu until “Safe mode” appears.
Tap Safe mode and wait for reboot — you’ll see “Safe mode” in the bottom-left corner.
Place a test call.

If volume is normal in Safe Mode, an installed app is the cause. Reboot normally, then uninstall apps you’ve added in the last month one at a time, retesting after each.

Update The Phone App And Carrier Profile

The Phone app on Samsung devices receives updates separately from One UI itself.

Open the Galaxy Store, tap your profile icon → Updates, and let the Phone, Contacts, and Samsung Members apps update.
Open Settings → About phone → SIM card status, and force a carrier-profile refresh by toggling Airplane Mode on for 10 seconds, then off.

Carriers in the US (T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon) periodically push HD Voice / VoLTE profile updates that change codec quality. An out-of-date carrier profile is a known cause of consistently quiet calls.

When None Of The Above Works, It’s The Earpiece Module

If the diagnostic in Samsung Members reports “Receiver test failed” or the tone is faint at arm’s length, the earpiece driver has died. The A73 is rated IP67 and many failures trace to a single accidental drop into liquid that the rating is *not* designed to survive (IP67 covers fresh water for 30 minutes — pool water, salt water, and coffee will kill the earpiece quickly).

You have three options:

Samsung-authorized repair. Call 1-800-SAMSUNG (1-800-726-7864) or open a service request at samsung.com/us/support/service. Out-of-warranty earpiece replacement on the A73 typically runs $80-$110 in the US.
Independent repair shops. uBreakiFix (now part of Asurion) services Samsung devices and sources OEM parts. Average turnaround is same-day if the part is in stock.
DIY part swap. Earpiece replacement kits for the Galaxy A73 (model SM-A736B) sell for $10-$20 and require pulling the screen — this is a meaningful repair and not recommended unless you’ve done a smartphone screen replacement before.

While you wait for repair, you can keep using the phone for calls in two ways: (1) tap the Speaker button on the in-call screen for hands-free audio through the bottom-firing loudspeaker, or (2) use any USB-C wired headset, USB-C earbuds, or paired Bluetooth earbuds — these route around the broken earpiece entirely.

Quick Diagnostic Flowchart

Symptom	Most likely cause	Fix
Volume resets to low on every new call	One UI 8 regression bug	Wait for One UI 8.5; bump volume manually each call
All calls quiet, all the time	Clogged earpiece grille	Clean with brush + sticky tape
Calls quiet only when paired to a car/earbuds	Audio routing to Bluetooth	Disconnect device or change call-audio setting
Loud during diagnostic, quiet on real calls	Carrier profile or accessibility setting	Refresh carrier profile, disable hearing enhancements
Quiet even during \#0\# test tone	Failed earpiece driver	Repair or replace

If a fix isn’t on this list, it almost certainly doesn’t actually move the needle on call volume — generic advice like “restart your phone” or “factory reset” rarely solves quiet-earpiece problems on the A73, and a factory reset costs you a full backup-and-restore cycle for no reliable benefit.