W10M exposes broken microphones on Lumia 930

[jez_j]

So to update. My phone came back from warranty "repair". It took 2 weeks for European Service Center IQOR to "fix" the issue. Phone came back with... exchanged torx screw. Microphone 4 is dead, just like it was. Tested with Lumia Test App. Microphone 3 records audio at lower volume. Screen lift is there, but how it's not suppose to be there if they only exchanged one torx screw. It's the adhesive that keeps the screen in place, not some torx screw.
Immediately contacted Microsoft on facebook, I guess one post describing the "quality" of warranty service is enough to get their attention. They've opened a new ticket for me and apologized for quality of service. We'll see what future brings.

Was it the main Microsoft page on FB? Interested in how you worded it to get a successful response that quick. Can you give us a link to your post?

 

[Chomiq]

Just go to your local Microsoft Lumia FB page, it took them about 5 minutes to response to my post. They've asked about IMEI, repair case number and email address. I've described my issues in detail and basically wrote the same thing as in my previous post. Can't really say it worked, since I'll probably have to deal with same repair center again but in about 10 minutes I had a new complain number and MS rep apologizing to me for quality of service.
That being said my unit had no chips, dents or whatsoever so they have no way to refuse service.

 

[MaxLo]

This was really helpful, and the Hungarian service provider was really quick, got my L930 returned after just 5 days. Speaker mode works and I got voice recorded on video. However, when playing back recorded videos now there is some random noise (rauschen). Does that mean that at least one of the replaced microphones is still not working properly? Anyone else experiencing the same issue?

 

[Chomiq]

Use Lumia Phone Test Application 6.0.9. Plug in some headphones to make sure you have solid audio output and run checks on your microphones. If any of those produces some static or random noise then send it back for repair.

Was the Hungerian service center called iQor by any chance? My unit just got back from there, two weeks and they didn't fix the issue.

 

[barry2811]

I knew I had at least broken microphone, but upgraded my Lumia 930 to Windows 10 anyway. When I got no audio recording in videos, I reverted back to 8.1 as the camera is the main thing I use on the phone.

I then decided to try the Lumia Test Application to find out what didn't work. Microphones 3 and 4 were broken. To my surprise though, the application claimed the phone was in warranty.

I've had my Lumia 930 for near 18 months so assumed my warranty was long up. I registered the phone on devicesupport.microsoft.com and it confirmed it was in warranty. I then created an order for fixing the microphones and the site confirmed no charge.

Pros of the service;
Quick (UK to Hungary and back, total of 6 days from sending to getting my phone back)
Completey free - UPS shipping label printed and dropped off at local pickup point
Microphones now all work

Cons of the service;
Communication isn't good (UPS tracking works - from there I heard nothing until I got my phone back)
The back on my phone has a large scratch - mine was pristine - I assume they put a back on from a different phone

Overall I'm very satisfied with it.

I wonder if they have extended the warranty because I really didn't expect mine to be in warranty.

 

[MaxLo]

yes, iQor... and it seems under the test tool that all mics record in the same volume. But the static/random noise is really annoying. Damn it, I hate to have to hard reset and send it back in again. Also, when I got my 930 back it was flashed back to 8.1 although I did send it in with W10M (which works absolutely great on the 930 btw) and it took me around 4-5 hours to upgrade again to W10M latest official build, copy my personal files and update all the apps

 

[MaxLo]

oh, and iQor returned my 930 after just 6 days with all mics replaced. according to other forums it generally takes them not more than a week

 

[Chomiq]

Well, I'm shipping my unit back to them tomorrow. This time with MS putting priority on the repair service and "extra care".

 

[QuadraFX]

Well, I'm shipping my unit back to them tomorrow. This time with MS putting priority on the repair service and "extra care".

I've just got my phone back from iQor and now it is working flawlessly. I've updated it to W10M and have just checked the video recording and how is the sound recorded - it's perfect now. I am really happy with my 930.

 

[MaxLo]

did you check the sound with the volume up max? Any static noise, similar to when wind blows in the mics, except that this is also present indoors? I never experienced that before sending the phone if for repair, although I'm wondering if this was because 2 mics didn't work... is there any hardware noise cancelling that they might have damaged while replacing the mics?

 

[QuadraFX]

did you check the sound with the volume up max? Any static noise, similar to when wind blows in the mics, except that this is also present indoors? I never experienced that before sending the phone if for repair, although I'm wondering if this was because 2 mics didn't work... is there any hardware noise cancelling that they might have damaged while replacing the mics?

No noise, and the test application recorded flawless audio from each one of the microphones.

 

[EspHack]

so our mics will die sooner or later due to this design flaw? is the icon having the same problem? its a carbon copy of the 930 after all...

 

[Chomiq]

Unless this was somehow caused by a firmware specific for 930 I see no reason why it shouldn't.

 

[QuadraFX]

Unless this was somehow caused by a firmware specific for 930 I see no reason why it shouldn't.

Maybe just some production batch of faulty microphones... being replaced with corrected revision now ?

 

[whoeta]

Thank you

 

[Chomiq]

So my unit got back from second warranty repair in regards to broken mics. They replaced two that were broken (one that produced dead silence and one that had audio at lower vol). They haven't fixed the screen lift, which I also reported. They also managed to break the camera button during the repair, so they had to exchange that. I don't know if it's even worth battling over the screen lift, I guess I'll have to learn to live with it.

 

[WPUser2]

had exactly the same combination of problems mentioned in the first post. I don't use voice recorder on my phone, so that's not a problem, but putting calls on speaker is annoying. the most annoying thing was camera not playing audio in videos. so I downloaded Lumia camera classic. works a treat! when I have the time and money, i'll get my mics replaced. for now, I can live with what I have

p.s. thanks to the op for explaining this defect. makes a lot of sense now!

 

[bluekalo]

my lumia 930 has working audio on video recording but on voice recording, nothing works

 

[Christian Holzer]

my lumia 930 has working audio on video recording but on voice recording, nothing works

Did you use the test tool to check all the mic's individually?

 

[bluekalo]

not yet but im sure it will be broken... my concern was why is it working on windows cyan firmware