2015 FRS - Bluetooth Phone Crackling - Pixel 2
 

Thank you in advance!

2015 FRS Base Stereo
Pixel 2

I recently got the pixel 2 and have since had issues speaking on the phone through the stereo via bluetooth. About 60% of the time it is crackly and hard to understand the other person, but they can hear me fine. About 40% of the time it sounds fine. I can't determine any change that causes it. I previously had a Nexus 6P and it would be crackly only about 5% of the time, that was only when dialing out during the ringing. The Pixel 2 pairs and sounds perfect on my 2012 Ram truck with base stereo.

Any recommendations?

Thank you!

Have you tried a different phone? I know you mentioned the 6P, but doing a side-by-side comparison will really help to see if it's more on the phone side or the receiver side. I assume the phone is just being kept in your pocket?

Yea I compared it to the 6P and the results are pretty much what I mentioned initially. The problem still existed but worse with the pixel 2. The pixel 2 however works perfect bluetoothing with my truck.

Today I tried unpairing the devices and repairing then gave someone a call to test the sound, no difference.

I tried removing the case from the phone, no difference.

While my friend was talking, I moved the phone around the car. The sound is perfect if the pixel 2 is right next to the stereo, like placed within an inch of the touch screen. Any further away and there tends to be crackling sounds during the call. The worst place seems to be where I normally keep the phone when on a call, in the passenger seat. The best location other than right on the stereo (which is basically impossible while driving) was in my lap. It is still annoying but at least I can get through the call.

Not sure if this is helpful to the diagnosis, but what I have tried so far.

Thanks.

Hmmmm....what cell ph carrier do you have? Have you ever thought the base unit could be the issue? I had the stealership check my base stereo unit because my ph contacts would show up inconsistently. Stealership was no help at all. Back then I had crappy Sprint with a samsung note 3 & work phone is Verizon with a Iphone 6S. I have Verizon now with my new samsung S8+ still have same issue. Go figure! ;)

Carrier is Verizon.

Maybe I will call up Toyota and see if there is anything they can do. I believe my 3 year warranty runs out in June so this would be the time to do it.

This morning I tried deleting all personal data from the stereo and repairing the phone, this time not allowing contacts to transfer (another forum said that could help). No difference.

I also tried rotating the phone around in different directions, minor difference in quality. It is noticeably worse on the center console near the shifter than in my lap though. Again, right next to screen is perfect quality. Feel like the bluetooth transmitter/receiver in the head unit is weak.

Was just thinking, can you connect the phone via the auxilliary cable to make calls?

The stealership here was stupid and told me there must be a software update for the deck but there isn't one. Basically fucktards didn't wanna replace it. I did this at my last service since new car warranty was expiring the next day. Don't expect much help from your stealership. Ranting at them may help but IMHO better to just buy a better Pioneer or Sony deck.

I think it's the bluetooth that is in the base deck that is the issue. ;)

Update. I tried hooking up the pixel 2 to the frs stereo with the auxiliary cable for a phone call, exact same static noise I had with bluetooth. Odd. To double check I tried headphones on the pixel, perfect sound. Something isn't agreeing between the stereo and the phone.

When hooking it up with the aux cable, did you try playing any music, and did it do the same thing then as well?

I think I'm having the same situation with my aftermarket HU.

I also have a suspicion as to the bad grounding somewhere ..

I just tried the auxiliary cable playing pandora through the pixel, music played through beautifully.

I have resorted to just speaking through speaker phone on the phone for now not using the car stereo, would prefer the bluetooth setup to work though.

Interesting. My educated guess is there's a problem with the amplification of phone calls in the headunit. The fact that music plays through just fine but phone calls crackle out suggests to me that the incoming signal and the headunit's signal normalization aren't working quite right. That is, though, just a very hands-off guess.

Also, considering this is a common complaint with the stock radio and the problem isn't really there for folks with aftermarket headunits lends itself to that theory as well. The stock unit seems to not like the decreased signal quality of a phone call.

Well thank you for your educated guess. I wasn't planning on upgrading the stereo but maybe it is in the cards. I will have to do some more research I guess. My other vehicle is a base dodge ram so I actually thought this stereo sounded pretty nice in comparison (outside of phone calls).

Correction, before I was setting up the auxiliary cable incorrectly. If I hook the phone up to the stereo via auxilliary headhphone jack then I can hear the other person on the phone fine, but they have trouble hearing me. I think the phone uses the regular phone mic to pick up in this configuration and not the stereo or the speaker phone mic.

I also tried fiddling with volume on the phone and the stereo, no effect.

I also tried muting my phone while the other person was talking on bluetooth, still static.