volume too low on ringer and with hands-free headsets

[AaronTahoe]

Both the ringer's volume and the volume within headsets are too low in my new Droid X. When holding it to my ear while talking it is loud enough well below max volume, but hearing people through headsets while driving is often too low with all volumes set to max (on loud freeways, for example). I usually keep my phone's ringer on silent vibrate, but it would be nice to be able to turn it up louder when the phone is sitting on a desk at home. Cell phone ringers can be obnoxiously loud, but there are times when people need to have them turned up.

Because it is an issue in both the ringer speaker and the jack for wired headsets, it seems like there is a good chance of getting a software fix to raise the max volume levels. Reading posts on forums, it seems clear that this problem is widespread in most, if not all, Droid X devises.

If you are having similar problems, please take a moment to call both Verizon and Motorola with a polite report of the issue. I spoke with both today and they said they were aware of the issue, and the tech at Motorola said they were "looking into" a software fix for it. If enough people call and report it, we have a better chance of getting a fix sometime soon.

Verizon's support line is: (800) 922-0204.
Motorola's is: (800) 734-5870 (I chose #6 for "other issues" a couple of times after routing into Droid support to get a live tech)

It can be frustrating to filter through the support systems and report it, especially if they tell you to try obvious things like rebooting the phone and turning the volume up, but it really is the only way to get them to fix this issue. Both techs I spoke with actually looked in their systems right away and acknowledged the issue is being reported by people.

Of course, if anyone has a real solution to this issue, please let us know what it is!

[JKramer328]

did you adjust seetings in the droid menu?  there is a volumn control.

[usahellas]

Good evening,

Apparently we are not the only ones with this problem.  At first I thought it was just me then i found this article on Droid Life:

http://www.droid-life.com/2010/07/29/thursday-poll-experiencing-volume-issues-with-your-droid-x/

I have the exact same issue with the external speaker.  (I have not yet tested with the headset.)  As far as the ear peice that is fine and I have no issues there.  I have downloaded the manual from the Motorola website and scanned it cover to cover for a setting I might have missed but to no avail.  I have gone through all menus and was starting to think that either I was goig deaf or there had to be a problem with the phone.  Thank you so much for the post, I was going to call Verizon tomorrow anyway so I will now add Motorola to my list.  I am sure it is something simple that can be fixed per software but it needs to be fixed soon since I have missed several important calls due to this.  I have had to set it to a very high pitched annoying ringtone just so I can hear it.  Do not get me wrong I love the phone I just want to be able to hear it and use the handsfree as it was intended for use.

Take care and I hope we can get this issue resolved soon,

Lee

[AaronTahoe]

Thanks for the suggestion JKramer. I should have been more clear about having adjusted all volumes up in the settings screen. Assuming all sound options are located within the "Settings --> Sound & Display" screen, then yes, I have tried changing them. I have also tried changing the option to "use incoming call volume for notifications" under the "ringer volume" settings, after reading that someone had success in improving volume that way.

This issue is not a problem all of the time. It is only an issue when there is an elevated level of background noise, such as driving on the freeway, or having music or a movie playing in the room.

The phone is otherwise excellent! I live and commute in areas of very spotty reception (with all cell providers), and this phone will keep calls and not even have voices garble where my past two phones have consistently dropped calls in at least five problem locations. So far, everything else about it seems to work great!

Maybe some of these phones don't have this issue. Or, maybe the people who say they don't encounter the problem are lucky enough to live in relatively quite environments most of the time. In a quiet house or office, it is certainly loud enough. It just needs to have the option for increased volume when in noisy places. The issue is that its "max volume" settings are not as loud as with other phones.

Searching for something like "Droid X volume" will indeed show many people experiencing these same problems on various forums...

[ksmit011]

I called both verizon and motorola and submitted the issue and tried the various fixes suggested by the tech. No luck so far. Don’t go to the trouble of doing a factory reset,it doesn't work

[droidrX]

I will be calling Verizon and Motorola and perhaps Best Buy between today and tomorrow. 

Purchased Droid X on 7/23 and that day noticed there were ringer issues when I could hear the phone vibrating more distinctly than the actually ringing.  Over the next few days I found a speck underneath the screen. Best Buy was awesome and replaced the phone, that is, after I found a store that actually had a phone. I was hoping that this one would not be a quiet one, but to my dismay... it is, perhaps slightly quieter than my previous one. 

If there's a droid X out there with a functional ringer, I deserve one because I paid the money trusting the Motorola brand, having owned two of their phones before. 0 for 2 on functional ringers is bad news... maybe i can try my luck with returning my X for a droid 2 if nothing positive shakes out from this in the next week or two.

VERIZON, MOTOROLA.... GOD, PLEASE FIX THIS PROBLEM!!!

[natirama78]

Hey guys,

I called Verizon this morning and told them about this problem.  I also mentioned that I wasn't the only one with this issue.  The tech that helped me put in an order for a new Droid X which should get to me on Friday.  So please do call and report it and if anything, you should get a new phone.  My two cents on this is I think it's the Android OS not adjusting the volume correctly and not the speaker itself.  I power off my phone and back on and the volume is back to where it should be.  So I'm not sure that a new phone is going to fix the problem either.  Software update hopefully?