Child Item

Site Totals

61434 Questions Answered 270 Categories

DROID Charge & bluetooth Issues - 9+ posts reporting issues

All,

I have experienced bluetooth connectivity issues with my Droid Charge to my Motorola S9-HD headset and my Motorola T505 bluetooth speakerphone, and based on the number of threads regarding bluetooth issues with the Droid Charge, I suspect there is an underlying issue that Verizon and Samsung need to address.

In my case, my bluetooth devices show as connected via the bluetooth icon in the notification area, but on occasion, if I look at the actual connection status within the bluetooth settings menu, it states "Connecting".

In other instances, the devices connect successfully, but phone or music audio plays via the Droid Charge's speaker, not the bluetooth device. To correct, I often have to turn-off the bluetooth device, wait a few seconds, and turn it back on again. Sometimes this procedure takes 2-3 tries. The issue is present with phone functionality, or pure music applications (Google Music Beta, Songbird, the native music player, etc.)

I have successfully used these devices with other phones without issue (including other Samsungs [an older Blackjack II].)

Please find a list of all of the other forum posts regarding Droid Charge bluetooth issues below. I only went through the first 5 or so pages, but found 9 other reports of bluetooth issues with the device.

Are Verizon/Samsung aware of these issues, and if so, what is the remediation plan?

Thank You!

---------

Bluetooth headset problems

http://community.vzw.com/t5/DROID-Charge-by-Samsung/Bluetooth-Headset-Problems/td-p/606606

BMW - Samsung Charge Bluetooth Connection Problem

http://community.vzw.com/t5/DROID-Charge-by-Samsung/BMW-Samsung-Charge-Bluetooth-Connection-Problem/td-p/542282

DROID Charge Bluetooth Sync With Acura TSX (Handsfreelink) issues

http://community.vzw.com/t5/DROID-Charge-by-Samsung/DROID-Charge-Bluetooth-Sync-With-Acura-TSX-Handsfreelink-issues/td-p/611378

Droid Charge by Samsung and Ford Sync Bluetooth issues

http://community.vzw.com/t5/DROID-Charge-by-Samsung/Droid-Charge-by-Samsung-and-Ford-Sync-Bluetooth-issues/td-p/575510

Comments

WCMack

Dear Vince,

Yes, VZW is aware of these issues, at least to the extent that VZW employees who monitor this forum have participated in some of the threads you cite. It is not clear to me, however, whether any of these issues have been escalated to higher levels of VZW tech/management or to Samsung. I did not exhaustively review each thread.

The main weakness regarding Bluetooth problems is the myriad of devices and situations that present themselves in these threads. The fact that each issue involves a different Bluetooth device, and often a different complaint (music does not play, device is not paired, phone books don't transfer), gives VZW and Samsung ample room to blame something other than the Charge. In some cases, they may be right, but in those cases where there may be something wrong with the Charge hardware or software, pinning down what could be complicated. I am not saying that the complaints aren't legitimate, just that VZW and Samsung may not know how to proceed to solve them, or wish to.

VindictivePantz

Thank you for the reply.

I would chalk the issues up to possible accessory oddities if it did not appear that so many accessories/bluetooth systems have issues.

I just wanted to add another voice to the crowd :smileyhappy:

WCMack

Dear Vindictive,

I agree. I just got hit today with Bluetooth problems between my Charge and my Plantronics Discovery 975 headset, which up 'til now had been working flawlessly. Oh well.

BTW, sorry about the Vince thing... :smileywink:

clayartisan

Add me to the growing numbers. Have had my Droid Charge for just under two weeks. Unfortunately, I did not test the Bluetooth extensively (i.e. use it) before I started loading on apps, so I don't know if they are part of the problem, but am now doing some force stops on many of them to see if the Bluetooth works any better. So far, no happiness.

It paired fine with my Motorola H695 headset (which was working great with my previous BB). However, to get it to actually connect, I have to redo the device scanning, from the Bluetooth setup screen, and when it finds it, I have to choose it. It will then connect. Biggest problem is that it won't STAY connected, even when both devices are sitting, without moving, within a foot of each other. Yesterday, I watched the Bluetooth setup screen carefully to see what was happening, and the top item just "unchecked" itself. In other words, Bluetooth turned itself off. I went out of the screen, and came back and it was re-checked again and on, but the H695 was no longer "connected", only paired.

I should also mention that when it is connected, and I push the headset button to use voice dialing, I can barely hear the tinny, computer voice from the Samsung (it's totally different than from the Blackberry). So, it would be hard to hear if it found the correct contact to dial. This is also a big problem.

I have the opp to return this phone within 30 days and because of this one problem, I may have to. It's a shame, because I really like the Charge in every other aspect, so far. I spoke to a Verizon rep about this yesterday and their first response was to ask me how old my bluetooth headset was? When I said two years, he, of course, said it may be outdated and I should consider purchasing a new one. So, apparantely, we are still back in the day, that when one buys a new cell phone, we have to buy all new accessories for it, too.

I see where, on one of these threads, a VZW person said thank you for listing the problem, so they could look into it. That was two months ago. It would be nice to see an update on how the progress is tackling this major issue and when we might expect an software fix for it- or be told there is no fix. I wish I knew about this problem before I purchased it, and although I did extensive research, and read many reviews, this one got past me. I will most certainly make mention of it wherever I can, so another shopper is more fully aware of the bluetooth issue, before they make their choice.

MaxBuck

I'd caution anyone who is considering changing phones because of Bluetooth issues: changing phones will not necessarily make everything good again. I've had enough experience to know that communication problems between Bluetooth devices are common, and you never know whether your particular pair of devices will work well together.

benzojones

I do not believe it is a compatability issue, I have 3 different Bluetooth devices (Prius, Motorola, RocketFish) and all 3 have problems - took the phone in as it started to overheat, got a new phone and have the exact same connection problems - without the overheating.

Sometimes they connect, sometimes you lose that connection, and sometimes they just refuse to pair at all.

CLEARLY - this is a hardware/software issue that needs to be fixed.

I can live with the battery drain, but the ineffectiveness and unreliability of the bluetooth creates a rather large headache as well as a major safety hazard.

Please Verizon/Samsung - do the right thing, and please do it soon.

joen4691

I had 2 LG Revolutions before my Charge and I have to say the Charge is way better than the Revo, which is not saying a lot based on all the issues. I myself have to turn the BT radio off on my Charge every couple days to get it to resync with my Voyager Pro+.

On the other hand my wife has an iPhone 4. Her phone randomly disconnects from the BT in her Honda Pilot with no rhyme or reason.

The bottom line is that BT is finicky at best. I just hope our issues get addressed with the forthcoming update.

Vin_Pantz

Occasional bluetooth hiccups are expected, but this phone seems to suffer from downright Bbluetooth heartburn and indegestion.

The device is allegedly Bluetooth 3.0 compliant, and I know all of the devices I am using are Bluetooth 2.x; I wonder if there are some backward-compatibility issues here. Regardless, the phone just does not play well with others, which is a shame, because other than this one issue I am extremely happy with the device. Unfortunately, I rely on Bluetooth heavily, so it is a frequent inconvenience for something that should just work.

ts47

Hi Vin,

I agree with your post!

I have bluetooth connectivity issues with a Plantronics Voyager Pro + headset. There are numerous threads here and in other Droid Charge forums accross the web that contain far more than 9 posts worth of problems connecting with multiple models of Plantronics, Motorola, Jabra and other bluetooth appliances. I've asked for comments both good and bad and found very little good to offer about the Samsung Droid Charge bluetooth performance.

Other than the bluetooth connectivity issues, this is a great phone! I just wish Verizon would force Samsung into addressing this issue. This is clearly a broad problem affecting all types of bluetooth connections.

rose252

Safety is going to bite them in the rear on this unless they get this handsfree communication issue resolved. I am trying to pair Motorola H15 but get the error that pin is not recognized. It will not allow me to enter the pin or edit whatever pin they are trying to use. I did pair an older motorola H555, but the Charge ended up killing it and now it will not turn on at all.

My account is attached to my company account at verizon, and I have to use the phone on the road. Our company policy requires use to have handsfree headsets.... I am not sure verizon or samsung is looking at the big picture here in fixing this ASAP

Use at your own risk??? Maybe they will switch my bluetooth for safety purposes? Both bluetooth headsets were both from Verizon :smileywink:

WCMack

Dear Rose,

This is probably not what you want to hear, but the obvious workaround is to get a wired headset. They are cheap, don't have the problems with this phone that BT headsets have, and you might be sending less radiation into your brain.

I realize that does not give you what you want, but at least it will keep your company happy, you won't lose calls to customers and maybe you'll be healthier!

ts47

Hi Rose,

I feel your pain and totally agree with you. Have you tried calling Verizon tech support. The level 2 techs have been a lot of help to me with my bluetooth problems. I'm not saying they will fix everything. There are some bluetooth reliability issues with this phone. They may be able to get enough things working so you can use your headset though.

Good luck!

Dampier

There are also problems with the Charge and the OnStar Bluetooth system. On my Droid X, you could plug an audio cable into the headphone jack to listen to streamed audio (OnStar in my car won't support Bluetooth audio except from a headset) and still be able to use Bluetooth to make and receive calls through the in-car speakerphone system. With the Charge, if there is something plugged into the headphone jack, you can hear callers but they cannot hear you until you disconnect the audio cable.

Motorola's Bluetooth implementation is much more elegant than Samsung. I have also run into cases where leaving the Bluetooth powered off on the Charge over a few days will cause OnStar to effectively stop pairing the Charge, even if it is still registered on the phone. You have to re-pair. This never happened with the Droid X, so I am not ready to blame GM for this.

pm771

Just added one of my own: http://community.vzw.com/t5/DROID-Charge-by-Samsung/Droid-Charge-loses-Bluetooth-Connection/td-p/699755

Child Item