Sony rolled out Android 7.0 Nougat for its Xperia Z5 series back in January, adding a whole host of improvements and new features. Unfortunately, the update also brought a pesky low volume bug that makes calls difficult to hear. Sony has finally promised it will rollout a fix, but you’ll have to wait for it.
Users started complaining about this bug on Sony’s official support forum and other online outlets soon after the Nougat update dropped back in January. One thread now consists of 19 pages and 181 messages from disgruntled Xperia Z5 owners who are having trouble hearing people during calls. The bug also seems to affect audio in apps, even when played through headphones.
“After updating to Android 7.0 the music from my music app Poweramp got barely audible with the max volume,” describes one user. “I tried other apps with the same result. There’s just no sound. Same happens when I want to play a video. The problem started right after updating to Android 7.0. I have a Sony Xperia Z5 Dual Premium.”
Almost two months on, Sony has finally acknowledged that this problem exists and vowed to rollout a fix. But it won’t come quickly.
“I received information today that this will be fixed in an upcoming software update planned for release in the middle of April, 2017,” explains a Sony support worker on the company’s forum. “In the meantime, a workaround is to perform a factory data reset.”
Of course, a factory data reset wipes all of the data on your device, which means you’ll lose your photos, music, movies, and all the apps you’ve installed. You can backup some of these things to a microSD card or to your computer, but you’ll have to setup the phone from scratch once the reset process is complete.
Hopefully Sony will make its fix a priority and it will land sooner that anticipated, but for now, your only options are to live with the bug, or wipe your handset.
