Nexus 6 owners are putting out sporadic reports around the web that the newest update for their phone, bringing them up to Android 7.1.1 Nougat like what the Pixels are running, is breaking speakerphone capabilities for them. According to users on Google’s Nexus Help forums, the speakerphone on some units has been rendered all but useless as of the newest update, but flashing back to Android 7.0 Nougat or even flashing over to an Android 7.1.1 custom ROM that’s not based on Google’s official update fixes the issue. Specifically, these users are reporting that the audio cuts out completely on their side, while the caller on the other side does not hear them, but only hears noise and screeching. Google has yet to chime in on the issue themselves.
Users on XDA Developers are mostly scratching their heads on this particular issue, and some users are reporting other problems with the update to Android 7.1.1 Nougat. Issues like the phone not recognizing a user’s voicemail PIN code, along with notification area and status bar issues, are being reported by some, with no solutions in sight just yet for most of the problems that users are having. Many users, however, are reporting a nearly flawless experience with the new update, which means that taking the update is essentially a roll of the dice for Nexus 6 owners.
Motorola’s beastly Nexus is still held on to by many; the 2014 flagship was one of the last great 2014 phones, and used Qualcomm’s final high-end 32-bit chip, the Snapdragon 805, making it a very viable option for a modern smartphone. The combination of a Snapdragon 805 and 3 gigabytes of RAM even outperforms some modern budget phones, while the Nexus 6’s street price tends to be low due to its age. This means that the phone not only has longtime faithful users, but is picking up new users. Still, being as old as it is, it’s usually last or near last in line for updates. The Android 7.1.1 Nougat update for it, in fact, just started going out a few days ago, thus this glitch only popping up on the internet now. With no word from Google and nothing good from the XDA Developers community at this point, users are advised to use caution when taking the newest update, and perhaps hold off or use a custom ROM if you happen to depend upon the speakerphone function in day to day usage.