S22 Ultra: Sound Issues

[RobDod]

First, let me say I'm 100% a Samsung user. I've always been impressed. But I listened to nearly 90,000 minutes of music last year and if Samsung doesn't confirm if the sound issues myself and other posters here are hardware or software I'm going to have to return my S22Ultra. Audio is my number one selling point in a new Samsung and it's the only feature that has issues.

I was expecting beautiful sound quality from the phone itself and least of all did I expect the sound to be so much quieter than my S10+ in every way. The speakers are either smaller or not pumping as loud as they should be. Also via blue-tooth (Car, Samsung Buds, Sony Speaker), the sound is translated at a drastically lower volume. My Samsung USB-C to Aux adapter also reads the phone audio as being lower than my S10+. Let me be clear. The sound is definitely lower because of the S22 Ultra in some way.

I've tried developer mode sound settings, I've tried everything. At this point, I've isolated the problem as software or hardware of the S22 Ultra itself causing every supported audio platform to be quieter. I've NEVER returned a phone. I'd hate for this to be the first time if they don't vocalize their audio problem won't need a recall. 

[Bartex_s22]

No I haven't. I have never paid so much for a phone that has such a terrible audio quality. I have no idea what to do, if I should try and return it or sell it as soon as I can and never ever touch Samsung's phones.

[The_Chemist]

@Christie8 Not I, said the little red hen!  Still sucks. 

[phanikara]

Second this issue. Coming from Note 8 and the sound quality seems super inferior in car. Interestingly not always, only sometimes. I cannot figure out how it fixes itself and when does it go bad. After a WhatsApp call etc, its always bad. Closing all apps fixes the issue. Otherwise the S22 Ultra seems awesome phone with improved battery life now, I guess after June update.  We need audio fix ASAP.

I am hoping its the Spotify issue which does not recognize S22 Ultra yet and plays basic audio.

Also Put the mid ranges in the Equalizer way below 0  (Eg: 1KHz should not cross 30-40% mark) with Bass at near peaks 90% (falling at each step). This improved the Bass a lot for me. The right most treble is to be set high but less than highest Bass.

Also instead of disabling Dolby Atmos, enable it and click on the word "Auto" to change different Atmos optimization modes (Movie, Music, Voice). One of them should sound good. I hope this helps in the meanwhile before a proper fix is released.

[Shehzad Kamal]

Thanks for sharing this issue. I'm same like you a very staunch Samsung user from 2014 and I just bought S22 Ultra and I am experiencing the same problem. I also listen a lot of music specifically Hard Rock which requires full fidelity sound. But this new Android 12 is a very poor job on the sound. I hope Samsung and Google will notice our issue. 

[LilyS22]

Just bought the phone and that’s the first problem I noticed. Not happy. Thinking about returning the phone to Samsung as I’ve only had it a few days.

[LilyS22]

Totally agree. Same audio issues and at the phones price point this is unacceptable.

[Dan Germany]

I have two Phones in direct comparison: Note10+ and S22 Ultra. Direct Bluetooth to my Bose Soundlink Mini (first edition). At first i was totally shocked about the soundquality of the S22U to my Bose Bluetooth Speaker. The S22U via Bluetooth (Standard Codex) sounds thin, flat, less dynamic, harsh, distortion and brightness. Tried everything from diasable Android Auto, moved max Level to max in the System and so on. Nothing helped.

There is a big bug of Data prozessing of Audio Data to the Bluetooth Stack of the System.

Everything sounds compressed.

I have a right (here in Germany) to get a new product without a bug in a main and important Feature.

Please Samsung: deliver a Phone S22U without this bug.

Thank You!

[The_Chemist]

@Dan Germany 

I totally agree with you. The S22 Ultra is such a downgrade in sound quality compared to past Samsung Devices.  Plus the battery life is abysmal. 

I can't wait to get rid of this phone!  

[Jdnels]

I am also a Samsung person from near the beginning. S2 and every other model since then. Every even Note model too and all of the watches. But I have to say I'm probably done with Samsung altogether. I think the phones are getting worse as are the watches (if you mentally normalized them for age). the actual operation of the devices has gotten worse. The sound is terrible on the s22ultra. The equalizer is junk. It also doesn't keep the highest bass setting. If you slide the last bar on the left all the way up, and leave the equalizer, the actual bass sound will not stay at that level. Very noticeable on a high end sound system. I've tested this with decimeters as well. This phone has other serious issues with navigating mesh networks. It sticks and searches when it shouldn't, no matter what settings you use. They always blame the network though. I've tried 7 different networks, it's an issue, trust me. The overall audio is terrible through Android Auto USB as well. Apps that have a dedicated equalizer do sound much better, like Amazon music. If you use Spotify, you are screwed because it uses the phones EQ. I don't know what phone i will get next year, but I'm leaving Samsung for good. I'm tired of spending $1400 for phones I get frustrated with.  Maybe Pixel... 

[Underhell]

I've solved this issue by disabling the option "disable absolute volume", this is located in the developer options. It must solve your issues with the Bluetooth devices. Also i recommend to turn off the dolby atmos feature because it lowers the volume of your music.