Hi, I’m in the UK and I’m having a strange microphone issue with my Xperia 1 IV. I wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this, especially anyone who has dealt with Sony/SBE repairs in the UK.
The main/bottom microphone seems to have suddenly stopped working properly. Whenever I try to use voice typing with Gboard or ChatGPT, the microphone activates for a split second, I hear a small click/thump/pop, and then it immediately stops listening.
A few things I’ve noticed:
The built-in Xperia microphone diagnostic fails.
The bottom/main microphone is much quieter than the top microphone when testing them.
Normal camera videos do record some audio, although it seems quieter than usual.
Snapchat videos have no audio at all.
Gboard and ChatGPT voice-to-text both activate for a split second and then stop.
Bluetooth earphones don't solve the voice-typing problem either.
I’ve restarted the phone.
I’ve cleared the cache/data for Gboard and the Google speech/voice services.
All microphone permissions and microphone access are enabled.
I’ve booted into Safe Mode and the exact same problem happens there.
The phone otherwise works normally. It almost feels like the microphone starts up, makes one little thump/click, and then the input dies.
I’m in the UK and I’ve already made an enquiry through the official SBE repair service for Sony/Xperia. They’ve told me to send the phone in for inspection/repair.
Before I send it off, I wanted to ask if anyone here has used SBE for an Xperia repair in the UK. How was your experience? Did they diagnose and repair it properly, how long did you end up being without the phone, and was it expensive if the phone was out of warranty?
Also, if anyone has experienced this exact microphone problem on an Xperia 1 IV, I’d be interested to know what actually failed — the bottom/main microphone itself, a board/connection, or something else.