Samsung Galaxy S4 headphone problem reports grow
The Samsung Galaxy S4 may be flying off the shelves at the moment but the launch of this phone hasn’t been without problems. Now it seems a headphone issue is being reported by some users of the phone although this doesn’t seem to happen with the stock issue of headphones.
There has already been a certain amount of controversy about the internal storage of the 16GB Galaxy S4 and recently we wrote about an acknowledgement of this issue and mentioned some other issues that have arisen with aspects such as Wi-Fi and headphones. We’ve now heard more about the S4 headphone problem that seems to be affecting some users.
A popular forum has an increasingly growing thread that discusses this headphone concern with some people noting crackling and distortion when playing audio at high volume. As we said, this doesn’t appear to arise with stock earbuds but only when using different headphones.
Current thoughts on what might be causing this include an issue with the impedance of whichever earphones are being used. For example the stock earbuds that Samsung supplies with the phone have impendence of around 32 ohms but other headphones could be only half as much or even lower depending on the frequency being used.
This notion isn’t consistent though as some people have noticed sound issues when using high impedence headphones and some using low impedance headphones haven’t noticed an issue, leading to speculation that something else is causing the problem. One Samsung Galaxy S4 model with this issue that seems to crop up more than any others is the GT-I9505 that is powered with the Qualcomm Snapdrdagon 600 processor.
We’d really like to hear from readers about this who may, or may not have noticed the same problem. Have you encountered this headphone issue when using your Samsung Galaxy S4? If so have you the GT-I9505 model? Is the problem only apparent when using headphones other than the stock issue of earbuds? Let us know by sending your comments so that we can get an idea of just how widespread this concern is.
Source: XDA Developers Via: Phone Arena
Comments
20 thoughts on “Samsung Galaxy S4 headphone problem reports grow”
I have a problem with volume levels going up and down for no reason on the stock earphones (when using different players as well)
Did you find a solution? I have same issue with skullcandy headphones
Returned my S4 after a week, since my XBA-3’s sounded like rice crispies on steroids! SAMSUNG wouldn’t acknowledge issue, only support stock headphones!
I have the 9505. I went yesterday to get running headphones. I tried jvc and Phillips both crackled horrendously. I suppose I’m stuck with the originals falling out of my ears.
Experiencing problems with my JVC HA-FXZ200.. horrible crackling when volume is 50% or louder..
tried both beats headphone tour and urbeat. sounds crack and screech badly!!!!!!
the samsung earphones that i got with the phone are not working – has anyone else had an issue with their standard issue earphones not working??
Have the same problem with the crackle sound whilst using Klipsch image 4a 11 headphones on my S4. Makes me made cos i can’t listen to my music played loud via my poweramp app! It is not the headphones as i have used them when i owned a S3. Are we allowed to exchange these phones? GT-I9505 model Seriously thinking of going back to an Iphone. Not happy at all!!
i am having the same issue with mine and urbeats 🙁 but my roomate has the same phone and it doesnt happen on them makes no sence at all
I’m having this problem
I have distortion even with the stock headphones.
Have owned the S4 since May. It is July now and only yesterday were there connectivity issues with my V-Moda earbuds. Other headphones work for some reason.
First time when I used my headphones it works but the next day when I tried again it was
Not working at all.
I noticed an issue with Samung galaxy S4 9505 Headphone jack on the phone as i hear only Background noise( distortion along with crackling sounds) and even at very lower audio volume and external speaker is working fine when i play same audio. I tried checking if it could be an issue with headphone. But headphone are perfectly fine when i plug them to my Laptop. I tried calling up US support and was told told to France support as the device is originated from there as shows up on my phone box. Appreciate your help with directions on with fixing the problem on my device.
I have the same problem. (The earphones were in the phone’s box. I mean they are original)
My Samsung galaxy S4 is back to the shop for repairs…after updating the latest software (samsung) the phone went automatically in “headset” modus and this could not be changed anymore…so I could not receive/hear the calls and only speak in handfree and in the car on bluetooth…so I am now awaiting and hope the problem can be solved at Samsung repairshop…
Can you please update on this? i am also having this problem and its been 2 days. Is it the software? Thanks a bunch. 🙂
My S4 has suddenly started doing this also. I’ve tried cleaning the port with air, spirit and even a cotton bud, turning the phone off and on again, removing the battery and rebooting. All with no luck. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Will this problem be taken care l only have this phone for 3 month and 2 time l had to change
the stock i9505 headphones are simply .. wrong … earplug completely, i hear my self like my ears are plucked, like speaking from the bottom of a barrel …
if i touch thee upper part of the cord it resonates in my ears, it’s like a stethoscope, it’s so frustrating, i have to keep them … where … how … knitted in my skin ?
and on top of it, the headphones from i8262 (and i must say they are awesome), the mic it’s not working when speaking on the phone, thus i am forced to use these crapy stock samsung i9505 headphones.
I dont want to use internet radio .. isn’t it enough that i;m radiated by the GSM radio waves when speaking ?? now i must radiate my self with gsm internet because i want to listen to my favorites radio stations ? really ..
if I had known this in advance i would have NEVER bought this crap for services phone,
other than the big cpu and lots of RAM this phone it’s nothing but a BIG pieace of sh1t !!!!!!!
Honestly now… DON’T BUY IT !! not worth it … when they will insert back the radio fm and have some real good ear protecting headphones … perhaps … not to mention the extra battery killing useless app that are forcefully (bully like) inserted as system … no sir, no more samsung for me !!!
the only nice thing to say is that it looks nice, or more esthetically than the others, but that’s all there is …
if HTC had a real high MP camera that would last more than a week or two …now that would be the end of samsung