Galaxy S7 microphone not picking voice during calls, sounds randomly stops working

Does your #GalaxyS7 microphone seems to be experiencing problems picking up your voice while in a call, or does the sound on your device seems off? This troubleshooting article should help.

Today’s problem: Galaxy S7 microphone not picking voice during calls, sounds randomly stops working

Hey. I came across your forum and really hoping you can help. I’m using a Samsung S7, and am having trouble with the sound and microphone. Here are all the symptoms:

• The sound works on and off. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to when the sound works and when it doesn’t. So a video or a song will be playing and suddenly the sound will go off, or come on. The alert sounds and effects are the same – sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t.
• The microphone doesn’t pick up sound during phone calls, on whatsapp or other voice recording apps.

• When plugging in headphones (with mic), the sound works, but the mic doesn’t work. I can hear music, videos, phone calls. Cannot record voice, and the person on the other end of a call can’t hear me.

• When making a call on speaker phone (on various apps – phone, whatsapp, skype) both sound and the microphone works. I can hear everything and the other person can hear me, and recording/playing back my message on skype worked.

My husband had been using it for a while with no problems at all. He switched over to another phone so when my iPhone cracked a couple of days ago, I decided to try the S7. It has been sitting for a few months unused, but well packed and sealed. Not sure if this is a hardware or firmware/software problem. — Tracie du Toit

Solution:  Hi Tracie. A device’s microphone may stop working due to a software glitch or a hardware malfunction. The physical microphone itself can’t work on its own. It has to have its own firmware to be able to work with Android. Sometimes, there can be an new software bug that will affect specific functionality of a device while at times, the hardware may also fail.

While we appreciate that you provide good descriptions of the issue you’re having, you did not mention any useful history that might help us pinpoint the cause of the problem. This means that you’ll have to try to remember if there’s any possibility that you may have done something that might led to the issue. For instance, if your S7 microphone started having problems after you installed an app, there’s a possibility that that app may be to blame.

The physical microphone of an S7 very seldom fails on its own. Most of the time, the reason why there’s a hardware malfunction occurs when the device got physically damaged or exposed to liquid. If none of these happened on your S7, then there’s a big chance the problem can be fixed on your level.

To begin troubleshooting for possible software issue, follow our suggestions below.

Solution #1: Clear cache partition

Ideally, Android users must clear their device’s cache once every few months to minimize bugs but since it’s not everyday that one encounters a problem, this maintenance step is hardly ever implemented. Over time, the system cache, which is stored in a cache partition becomes corrupted so it’s good if you can regularly clear the cache. Doing so will force the phone to rebuild it as you continue using your phone. Problems resulting from a corrupted cache can vary though there’s no way to directly find the connection between the issue you’re experiencing today and a possible bad system cache on your device.

To ensure that your S7 has a good system cache though, we strongly suggest that you clear it before you proceed with the rest of the solutions below.

To wipe the cache partition, follow these steps:

1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7.
2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
4. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
5. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
6. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
7. Now highlight the option ‘Yes’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
8. Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
9. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

Solution #2: Reset all app preferences

If you’ve changed some app settings before noticing that the microphone no longer works as expected, you should probably reset all your app preferences to their defaults. This is an easy solution to do. Here’s how:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
4. Tap Reset app preferences.
5. Check if microphone is now working properly.

Solution #3: Reset all settings

Resetting all settings on your S7 may also fix the problem, especially if you’ve changed some software settings or configurations. Everything except security language, and account settings will be cleared. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap General management.
3. Tap Reset.
4. Tap Reset settings.
5. Tap RESET SETTINGS button.

Solution #4: Boot to safe mode

Some apps may cause interfere with Android, resulting to problems that developers or Google can’t anticipate. To see if one of installed apps in your S7 is responsible for the issue, try to boot your device to safe mode. While in this mode, only pre-installed apps will be allowed to run. If your phone’s microphone works normally in safe mode but not in normal, our suspicion is right.  

In order to boot your s7 to safe mode, follow the steps below:

1. Turn your Galaxy S7 off.
2. Press and hold the Power button.
3. Once the ‘Samsung Galaxy S7’ logo appears, release the Power key and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
4. Continue holding the button until the phone finishes rebooting.
5. Once you see the text “Safe mode” at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down button.
6. Check if microphone is working.

Remember, safe mode won’t identify the problematic app. If you think one of the apps is to making the microphone work erratically, you must uninstall apps until the issue is gone.

Solution #5: Install app and Android updates

Some bugs are fixed by installing updates for apps and Android. Make sure that all apps are up-to-date and Android is the latest version for your phone model.

Solution #6: Factory reset

If all else fails, don’t hesitate to wipe the phone and return all software settings to their defaults. Just make sure to back your files up before doing a factory reset.

1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7.
2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
4. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
5. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
6. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
7. Now highlight the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
8. Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
9. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

Solution #7: Contact Samsung

Should nothing change after your S7 has been factory reset, that’s means the physical microphone itself maybe defective, or there may be another component that’s causing the microphone to fail. To fix it, you have to let a professional service the device. Be sure to let Samsung do the repair to guarantee a resolution.

 

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