How To Fix A Samsung Galaxy S4 That Can’t Make Calls & Other Related Issues

Welcome to out focused troubleshooting series that aims to resolve problems on the Samsung Galaxy S4 that can’t make calls and other related issues. As we all know, one of the main reasons of owning a phone is to make calls and if a call issue arises then it loses its usefulness. The good thing is that we are here to help you with any call related concerns that you may have with this particular model.

Samsung Galaxy S4

In this installment of our troubleshooting series we will tackle five real world problems sent to us by our readers. We will provide the necessary troubleshooting steps that needs to be done per issue which we hope will fix the problem.

If you own a Samsung Galaxy S4 or any other Android device for that matter then feel free to contact us using this form. We will be more than happy to assist you with any concern that you may have with your device. This is a free service we are offering with no strings attached. We however ask that when you do contact us try to be as detailed as possible so that an accurate assessment can be made and the correct solution can be given.

If you would like to browse the previous parts in this series then check out this link.

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S4 Wi-Fi Calling App Does Not Appear

Problem: WI-FI CALLING APP does not appear under more networks.  I go to settings, more networks and WIFI CALLING does not appear.  Therefore I cannot make calls over WIFI which for me is crucial due to having a poor signal in the area.   This phone is a refurbished Verizon S4. 

Solution: Since this phone was previously a Verizon phone then it may be running on software that still does not support Wi-Fi calling. Verizon has recently announced that support for Wi-Fi calling on their smartphones won’t arrive until mid-2015. Since you are using a refurbished Verizon S4 then chances are this feature isn’t included in the device yet.

To verify on this further try to get the software version your phone is running on. Go to Settings – More – About Device then take note of the baseband version and the kernel version. Check both over at Google and see if the results would indicate that it is a Verizon software.

You can however do a factory reset to check if the missing Wi-Fi calling settings is due to a glitch in your phone software. Just make sure to back up your phone data first before proceeding.

  • Turn off the device.
  • Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, Power key.
  • When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
  • When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
  • Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  • Press Power button to select.
  • Press the Volume down key until ‘delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  • Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  • When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  • Press the Power key to restart the device.

S4 Calls Get Dropped

Problem: I have very good signal mobile data, a broadband speed test shows up to 30Mb down three Meg up. Phone will drop to one bar during calls and/or not connect at all…will show VZ network 4glte then go to unknown network.  Digitizer just replaced…I’ve checked / rechecked all connections

Solution: Try checking if this issue is caused by a third party app installed in your phone by starting the device in Safe Mode.

  • Turn the device off.
  • Press and hold the Power key.
  • When ‘Samsung Galaxy S4’ appears on the screen, release the Power key.
  • Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
  • Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
  • Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  • Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.

Once in Safe mode proceed with checking the call performance of your phone. If the issue does not occur then there may be a third party app installed in your phone that is causing this issue. Find out what app this is and uninstall it.

If however you are still experiencing the same issue then try to check if this is a network related problem by recreating this scenario in different locations. If the problem occurs in only one location then there may be a network issue in the area.

You should also try to change the network mode of our phone and check if the issue gets resolved.

  • Tap Settings.
  • Tap More networks.
  • Tap Mobile networks.
  • Tap Network mode.

One last troubleshooting step you can do is to perform a factory reset. Make sure to backup your phone data before proceeding.

  • Turn off the device.
  • Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, Power key.
  • When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
  • When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
  • Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  • Press Power button to select.
  • Press the Volume down key until ‘delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  • Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  • When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  • Press the Power key to restart the device.

If the issue still persists then this may already be a hardware related problem. If this is the case then I suggest you bring your phone to an authorized service center and have it checked.

S4 Cannot Hear Calls

Problem: My Android Version only say 4.4.2.. I received a replacement device from cricket yesterday thru asurion insurance.. I can not hear calls I make or receive!! Everything else works.. like music ring tones all other noise and I can bluetooth calls with my headset!  So I don’t get it! Please help me! I paid a big deductible to get a new phone that doesn’t work & if you can help me get it to work I won’t have to send it back!!! Thank you!!

Solution: You should first start your phone in Safe Mode to check if this issue is caused by a third party app installed in the phone.

  • Turn the device off.
  • Press and hold the Power key.
  • When ‘Samsung Galaxy S4’ appears on the screen, release the Power key.
  • Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
  • Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
  • Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  • Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.

Make a call. If you can now hear the call then the problem may be caused by a third party app installed in your phone. Find out what app is causing this problem and uninstall it.

If however the problem persists even in Safe Mode then I suggest you proceed with doing a factory reset. This usually resolves any issue that is caused by the phone software. Make sure to back up your phone data before proceeding.

  • Turn off the device.
  • Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, Power key.
  • When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
  • When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
  • Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  • Press Power button to select.
  • Press the Volume down key until ‘delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  • Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  • When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  • Press the Power key to restart the device.

If the problem persists then this may already be hardware related. If this is the case then you will need to send the phone back.

S4 Called Party Can’t Hear Call

Problem: Hello, I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 16GB.  I received notification that a System Update was available and I installed it.  Since I did that I have been experiencing the following problem: When I either place outgoing calls or receiving incoming calls the party on the other end cannot hear me when I use the phone normally (on the side of my face).  They are able to hear me, however, when I change it to Speaker Phone mode.  It also appears like the “Ok Google” voice feature is not working now, although I believe I have used that at least once since the upgrade, so I am not sure if it just stopped working or if it hasn’t been working since the upgrade. I have tried “Wiping the Cache” based on online information, but that did not help.  Any ideas? Thank you for you help.

Solution: Since this problem occurred after a major software update the best thing to do is to perform a factory reset. This deletes any remnant data from the previous software version that may still be in your device and causing a conflict with the new software version. Just make sure to back up your phone data before proceeding.

  • Turn off the device.
  • Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, Power key.
  • When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
  • When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
  • Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  • Press Power button to select.
  • Press the Volume down key until ‘delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  • Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  • When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  • Press the Power key to restart the device.

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