In-call volume issue

[Guest kishy]

Hi all, new here.

Also new to cell phones in general, and with limited experience with Android 2.2 on an Archos tablet I had for a while. Certainly nothing extensive.

As a gift I've been given 'a smartphone and a year of service'...so I did some research on the providers locally available to me, and looked at the phones they offered. Since service is not hugely different from provider to provider (and neither are the plans) where I am, it came down to a question of any promotional plans and the available phones.

I've heard only good things about HTC, and was considering the Incredible S...but then I looked at another provider, noticed a unique phone offering (the Desire Z), did some bookwork and saw nothing serious...went to my local kiosk to give the phone a look. The key feel is great, hinge seems sturdy enough, specs are certainly decent enough, and since I consider a proper keyboard to be important I was impressed. With this being the only provider offering this phone, I took one last look at my other options and went with this provider. Looked at plans, saw something reasonable and signed up.

So...through owning the phone for a couple days now, I've noticed a couple things. The first issue I noticed I believe is a consequence of a battery that is past shelf life...I'll be having it exchanged this week just to be sure (power-off issues when firing camera flash or freshly waking up; it doesn't seem to be surviving higher current draw situations).

(the phone is fully updated currently)

The other issue I feel can't be pinned on the same cause, and might be indicative of something more significant. It could just be software but I want to be sure. This issue is the in-call volume, in general. Either on speakerphone or using the ear speaker (as held to my head), even on max in call volume, it is too quiet to hear almost anything even in a nearly silent room. This renders it pretty much unusable...

I was able to find a trial of an app called Volume Booster which successfully boosted, but still not enough for my liking, the in-call volume. This suggests to me it's software issue, but I wanted to run it by you folks to get opinions first.

The reason for the 'life story' at the beginning is because I'm not interested in custom firmware options at this time...I just want it to 'work', 'out of the box' so to speak. I do plan to get into the customization scene later but until then I need it to be functional...I don't see it as being that way right now. If anyone can offer an opinion or suggestion for how to possibly get this issue sorted out, I'd be very appreciative. I've searched and while I see complaints of both this issue and another volume issue (too high), I haven't seen any clear solutions.

Unlike some who have made the same complaint, I find the ringer is adequate...it's just the in-call volume that sucks.

So...any ideas? Is this phone model just going to be problems for me? I still have time to both return and back out of plan without consequences, and also get phone exchanges due to defects, but time is 'running out' so I'm trying to figure out what my best option is. An important question - is there only one carrier offering this phone because it is problematic?

Thanks

Edit:

I talked to HTC and they feel the phone is defective; advised me to return for exchange. The support agent I spoke to agreed with my feeling that if it isn't 100% working out of the box, something is wrong - even with the customization options Android offers, it shouldn't need tweaks to get it into a basically functional state. I guess I'll see if the new one does it too.

Anyone have similar experiences to report in the meantime?

Edited June 14, 2011 by kishy

[Guest kishy]

Update...I did exchange it and the new one does not have either issue, apparently. This suggests anyone who is having the low volume issue may have a defective phone and should seek to have it replaced...HTC's opinion is that it is defective, at least. Whether or not it is a software-only issue is not clear.

So, 'thanks anyway' I suppose. I'm sure I'll stick around though...I am curious about modding potential, at least down the road. Cheers