Xperia Z5 compact no in-call sound unless on speaker

[PeteBm]

Hi - a weird problem with a Z5 compact (E5823 on Android 7.1.1); sound appears to work fine with media, notifications etc, but on ordinary or WhatsApp calls there is nothing unless the speaker icon is tapped, at which point the caller can be heard clearly; maybe not as loud as speakerphone should be, but certainly louder than normal call volume.  The in-call volume setting is up at max.

Any ideas, please?

[SkyNet404]

Does this happen even when it's tested in safe mode? Have you also ran the test for it through the support app? 

[PeteBm]

Hi - thanks for that answer, & apologies for the delay replying; tbh, I didn't know about either safe mode or the support app.

So - the problem still occurs in safe mode.

As for the support app - it plays an ascending tone for the loudspeaker, nothing for the ear speaker, after which it says 'We couldn't detect any change in frequency.  Did you hear the sound change?'  Answering No produces a message 'The ear speaker couldn't play the audio properly.'

Presumably this means it's a hardware fault?

Again, showing my ignorance, I didn't realise there were separate speakers - I assumed it was just different volumes on the same one.

[Piscie]

Hey @PeteBm, so the issue happens with WhatsApp calls only? and you have no issues at all with normal phone calls with the ear speaker? If yes, have you tried to uninstall & reinstall the  WhatsApp?

Also are you facing this issue with any other app or WhatsApp only?

[PeteBm]

Hi @Piscie    - thanks, but no, as I said at the start, this happens with 'ordinary' calls as well.

Presumably media, notifications etc use the loudspeaker rather than the ear speaker, which brings me back to the probability that the problem is a physical fault with the ear speaker. 

If that's the case, is it an impossible or non-economical repair?

[Piscie]

Hey @PeteBm, as far as I know, the Xperia devices are covered under 2 years warranty. But you can try the software repair first before sending the phone to their repair centre.

Xperia Companion can be downloaded from here on your PC, then connect your phone using the USB cable and select software repair, but don't forget to create a backup first as it will erase everything 😕

Hope it works

[PeteBm]

Thanks @Piscie - the phone's well outside any warranty, so that's not an option.  The software repair would be possible, as there's no data on the phone that isn't part of a Google account or IMAP email accounts, and not many apps - but looking at the description of the software repair option, it says 'Perform a software repair on a smartphone that does not turn on, frequently crashes, overheats or has issues with holding a charge'.  I suspect it wouldn't do anything to fix a speaker that's not working - unless anyone can say different?  Does @SkyNet404 have any thoughts?

Thanks

[EMS_MO72]

Hey, actually the software repair by the Xperia Companion can be used to solve many other issues, it's actually that last troubleshooting step that can be done on the phone.
If the issue is not resolved after, it means it's a hardware issue and it has to be sent to repair center