I’ve constantly encountered issues with the microphone on the Nothing Phone 2, particularly when using certain apps, and consistently with all web applications.

I’ve noticed that while the microphone performs exceptionally with native apps, such as ChatGPT voice input, capturing even whisper-level transcriptions with high accuracy, it struggles significantly with web-based applications. An example of this is when using TypingMind, a ChatGPT web app where the audio transcription becomes garbled and choppy if I try to use the Whisper OpenAI API for voice input.

This issue became extra obvious as I just subscribed to TalkNotes.io, a web app for transcribing and summarizing audio content. The recorded audio, when replayed, was barely legible, with much garbling and choppiness. This problem seems to specifically affect scenarios where the microphone input is processed and sent online, for instance, captured by the web browser then uploaded to the OpenAI API.

I am curious to know if this is a widespread issue and if there are any recommended solutions or workarounds. Looking forward to feedback 🙏

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    anthroplus Best report it as a bug using the feedback form.

    Even while shooting videos, the sound capture is noticeably at low, subpar quality.

      5 days later

      I have been using my Nothing Phone 2 for almost 3 months now. But there are two issues which bugs me alot.

      1. Microphone Quality: Microphone quality in WhatsApp and Audio Calls is not upto the mark.

      2. Buggy Software: When using an app in full screen mode or while gaming the notification bar does not disappear fully if there is a call going on. (as can be seen in the attached photo

        Just want to whether this is the case with me only or others are also facing the same issue.

      2 months later

      Hi,

      I have a Nothing phone 2, all good, up to date packages. However i have 1 annoying issue. Whenever using video calls eg whatsapp, the microphone seems not to acquire my voice unless i am closer than 30cm to the phone. 1 m away, the sound gets interrupted as if i would not have good internet connection. Same happens on mobile data and prrformant wifi connection. Did anyone else encountered this issue? Is there a fix for it?

      Thanks

      17 days later

      During a call I don’t know why some times the other person on the call asks me same thing to repeat and he said that sometimes the audio was very low and can’t understand what I was talking about.

      Generally, we use a phone for calling purpose and now the main issue with the call quality.

      Nothing should fix this problem.

      This is especially during whatsapp calls. When taking a voice note or video recordings the sound is fine. But when on a whatsapp call there seems to be unnecessary background sound removal. Not sure how to fix this - I did raise a ticket with nothing about this including sample screen recordings. Holding thumbs

        Nothing phone have extreme level noice cancellation, even in a short distance. Try to keep the phone close while talking without and earphone.

        ChrisCloete I can put this down to the WhatsApp app. Since I’ve had my NP2 WhatsApp had always worked correctly on this and others devices. I used to update WhatsApp daily, weekly basically when even a non beta update had been released. I did an update earlier in February and the audio quality had greatly had background distortion and interference. What I did was to install the same updated WhatsApp on 2 other Android devices and had the same problem. So what I did was to uninstall whats and reinstall the version that had previously been working which was WA build 2.24.2.76. Since then there has been a good few updates but for the time being I’m sticking to the build I mentioned in this post.

        So check which build of WA installed if its newer or the most current build try the build I mentioned. Just Google for it..

            Joe King thanks for the tip. I might try it out.

            But there is a reason why I actually also do not want to do it as I will miss out on future updates, security patches, bug fixes etc.

              All I’m saying is try that build failing that the most current WA build to date is 2.24.3.82 non beta. This build may have resolved the audio issues. This build was not available at the time that I had update the WA app, and to be fair there’s been at least 4 builds since. But for myself I’m not updating for now..

              Let us know how you get on. 😉

              a month later

              I’m experiencing an issue where the microphone reception is very low during the beginning of calls, resulting in the other party being unable to hear anything from my end. This occurs consistently across different call types

              It happens with both phone 1 and phone 2

              2 months later

              I am experiencing poor call quality on my phone 2. Even slight wind disrupts the audio, making it difficult for the other person to hear me. This issue persists on WhatsApp and regular calls, and the quality is worse than phones priced around 15,000 INR. Please address this problem promptly.

              Merged 10 posts from Bad microphone experience, Audio Call Quality Wa not Good, Mic issue during calling, and Poor Mic / Buggy Noise Cancellation for Calls.
              adbo changed the title to Microphone Quality on Phone (2) .
              4 days later

              Here reporting the same issue. Bought the NP2 couple weeks ago and everyone is complaining about how I sound on the other end. Seems to be consistent across multiple apps (phone, WhatsApp, messenger). A bit disappointing tbh. Hopefully it gets fixed soon.

              a month later

              Just Got The Nothing Phone 2 And Overall Experience Is Great But The Quality of Microphone is Disappointing.

              Maybe It wasn’t Great for me To Get this Phone Because Now I can’t Record Covers In Even Decent Quality.

              Merged 4 posts from Poor Microphone Quality and Buggy UI and Microphone Sucks.
              2 months later

              Just got the Nothing Phone (2) and it seems there’s system wide noise suppression being applied to the mics.

              • It happens in all applications, be it stock camera, gcam ports, whatsapp, calls etc. because it’s system wide
              • It’s quite aggressive but also not exactly intelligent in what’s being suppressed. it removes ambience and room echo resulting in a hollow / “underwater” type sound almost everywhere. it tries to filter out music and anything that isn’t speech (as if only speech is worth recording…?)
              • despite apparently trying to focus on voice recording, it muddies the start of words during calls and speakerphone use is totally out of the question
              • There is no option to disable noise suppression or to change anything about it
              • not even deep settings apps like “SetEdit SettingsDatabaseEditor” can find any exposed values to flip (to disable suppression)

              Despite the Phone 2 feeling like a fairly premium phone in most ways - the fact that Nothing found it appropriate to ship aggressive noise suppression on the mics with no option to disable is concerning. And makes the phone feel far cheaper than it actually is.

              Musicians like @AtulKachhap or myself are literally unable to record audio on this phone that otherwise probably does have a serviceable mic if it wasn’t for this feature.

              I was looking to replace my iPhone XS with this phone but looks like I’m going to have to carry it around a bit longer to record video until this gets fixed.

              The settings to disable noise suppression need to be exposed to end users ASAP