Picture the scene: you've just brought your brand new handset back from the shop, only to discover the volume drops out when you're making calls. Well that's what's happened with those picking up the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which is why we can't recommend the handset -- yet.
Next week everything could change, as shops should be getting in new stock not plagued by the volume bug, SlashGear reports. About time, we say.
A pre-order customer told the site that Irish resellers will be getting fixed handsets in stock next week. A retailer told him, "The latest update is that Samsung is bringing new stock into Ireland and that it won't be in until next week."
Google admitted there was a volume bug on the Galaxy Nexus, saying, "We are aware of the volume issue and have developed a fix. We will update devices as soon as possible."
It's not known whether those with dud handsets will be offered refunds, exchanges, or any kind of software updates that could right the wrong, but you'd hope so.
The problem seems to be caused by the 900MHz 2G frequency used by O2 and Vodafone, so bad news if you're on either. Networks piggybacking those two will also suffer, so a Galaxy Nexus on Tesco, giffgaff or Asda will probably have the same fault.
Those on Orange, T-Mobile or Three should be fine, as they use different frequencies.
The Nexus isn't the only recent handset with issues. Some units of the iPhone 4S have suffered from battery woes, as have some Nokia Lumia 800s. Really, you'd expect more from these top-end handsets.
Have you experienced the volume bug yourself? What do you think Samsung and Google should do as recompense? Let us know below or over on our Facebook page.
Update 2 December: Google has pushed out an official update that fixes the bug, and we've amended our Samsung Galaxy Nexus review to reflect this.
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters 
24 month contract
24 month contract
Comments 11
Add your comment
anonymous 25 November, 2011 10:58
Seems like Samsung are fixing the new stock first and helping the "trapped" customers last, ie I'll haver to wait for my phone to be useable whereas suppliers are already getting new stock. Well done Samsung and Google.
Steve Price 25 November, 2011 11:47
Arrgh! I want to buy one, but do I wait??? How do I guarantee that I get a fixed phone?
anonymous 25 November, 2011 12:19
Just by it on Three and it will work fine!!!
I've had mine since release without any problems, but according to this site everyone must use either O2 or Vodafone, because their recommendation for a phone is base on only using those networks.
Have you ever thought of instead of not recommending it at all, you could say instead that you don't recommend it if you want it in one of the affected networks.
I really don't get why you have all of this hatred towards this handset, in the past other mobiles were released with bugs, and you never acted so aggressively against those phones.
anonymous 25 November, 2011 12:42
The phone as a whole is actually very good and I'm really pleased with it. My only beef is that according to the press Samsung has rolled out an updated phone to it's suppliers but the people who have purchased one already are having to wait. I think the unit is first rate apart from this one glitch. (further to my post at 10:58) above.
anonymous 25 November, 2011 14:28
@Anonymous 12:19...
"Just by it on Three and it will work fine!!!
I've had mine since release without any problems, but according to this site everyone must use either O2 or Vodafone, because their recommendation for a phone is base on only using those networks.
Have you ever thought of instead of not recommending it at all, you could say instead that you don't recommend it if you want it in one of the affected networks."
Most of Europe runs on 900/1800 Mhz so it would be quite catastrophic to recommend a phone that will not work properly on half the major carriers. I live in Norway and frequently travel to the UK and I am more often than not roaming between multiple carriers meaning this bug would be affecting me (or anyone else for that matter) during travels.
I would seriously not recommend this phone in it's current state because of this and I think cnet have made the right choice.
anonymous 25 November, 2011 16:28
Even if you are on Three or another unaffected network, the bug will still manifest itself if in close proximity to another device using the O2 / Vodafone networks. This is because the network from the other device will cause intereference to the Nexus device. So, it cannot be recommended for other networks either.
R
anonymous 25 November, 2011 20:16
Got mine on the release day on Three had no problems at all. Loving the phone.
anonymous 25 November, 2011 20:32
Im hopeing they will release an online update for people who have the phone as not sent mine back
anonymous 25 November, 2011 23:04
Mine is driving me mad. Even listening to music on Bluetooth headset is rendered useless when in a 2g area because of this bug. My blackberry gets 4 bars of 3G coverage, whereas my nexus only gets 1 and often drops back to 2g and because of this it is basically useless as a phone.
If the fix isn't released OTA by Monday, this thing is getting returned to Vodafone.
anonymous 26 November, 2011 02:51
"It's not known whether those with dud handsets will be offered refunds, exchanges, or any kind of software updates that could right the wrong, but you'd hope so."
It's known that a software update is being issued. Your entire article is about the fix and you don't know what they're doing? That's just bad journalism.....
anonymous 26 November, 2011 09:12
I have mine on T-Mobile for 3 days now and also have a Blackberry 9900 on O2. I use them both daily and usually put them near each other on the desk. I have received and made quite a few calls on both and no problems whatsoever. Really happy with the handset.