Not a day passes when we don’t hear of a new problem with the Galaxy S10. Now users report issues with the Galaxy S10 proximity sensor, which is apparently behaving strangely during calls.
Issues with Galaxy S10 proximity sensor
This is not the first time the Galaxy S10 proximity sensor has been in the limelight. A few days ago, users complained about a mysterious blinking white pixel near the battery indicator. However, that mysterious pixel later turned out to be the under-display proximity sensor.
Many users have also said the Galaxy S10 proximity sensor is not working properly, and the device accidentally wakes up in their pocket. Some even report “butt dialing” instances when the device accidentally wakes up inside their pocket. One user said his phone called 112, and as a result, police officers came to his home. Because of the screen waking up accidentally, some users also say the battery is draining faster than usual. The phone is also heating up quickly while inside their pocket.
Galaxy S10 proximity sensor not working as intended
Now we are hearing about one more issue with the Galaxy S10 proximity sensor. Some users say the sensor is not behaving as intended while receiving and making calls, according to PiunikaWeb.
Affected users say when they make a call, the screen is on, and when they move the device closer to their ears the screen turns off. This is expected behavior, but the issue occurs after that. If the user brings the phone back in front of them during a call, the screen should turn on, but it does not. The screen remains dark until the power button in pressed.
“Is this normal, because all my other Samsung phones did it correctly. Please let me know if this is a widespread issue / normal or if something is wrong with my phone specifically,” one Reddit user said.
I am using s10+ everything is good about this phone but the proximity sensor seems like have an issue because it takes few seconds to turn the light off while calling….Samsung should have given the whitestone dome tempered glass with the pre booking offer?
— Md Gauhar Ali (@MdGauharAli) March 7, 2019
Users have reported the issue with both carrier-branded and unlocked models as well. Affected users have tried the usual workarounds, like restarting the phone, booting into safe mode, removing the screen protector and factory-resetting the phone. However, these workarounds are not working for everyone.
“Yes I have tried restarting my phone no luck. Also when I pull it away from my ear I have waited 10 seconds or more and still nothing,” one user said.
Some users were able to fix the issue by tweaking the sensitivity settings.
“I turned on the ‘Touch Sensitivity’ setting under the ‘Display’ in Options (Options > Display > Touch Sensitivity) and it seems to have fixed it. It’s also resolved some of the misreads with the inscreen [sic] finger print read,” a user said on Samsung’s U.S. Community forum.
Is Samsung aware of the issue?
It seems Samsung is aware of the issue as one user on T-Mobile support said that the company is offering a replacement unit to the affected user. “I was looking through the Samsung forums and it looks like they recommend a replacement,” the user said.
Samsung’s community moderators are advising affected users to have their phone serviced or replaced.
“If the symptom still occurs in safe mode I would recommend a service repair,” the moderator said.
Additionally, some users said the Korean firm lowered the threshold distance for the proximity sensor.
“…please note that in my case the sensor is actually working, but the maximum distance for which the sensor reacts is way too small. For s10, it is about 2-3cm compared to previous model where the distance is doubled,” the user said.
As of now, there is no comment from Samsung on this latest problem or the other reported issues with the Galaxy S10’s proximity sensor. Hopefully Samsung will offer a fix soon since more and more users are starting to report it.
This will fix data / LTE connectivity issues
Another issue with the Galaxy S10 is the data / LTE connectivity problems reported by Sprint users since the launch of the device. Earlier affected users were told that Samsung would push out an update to fix the issue. However, it later turned out that the fault was on Sprint’s end, so the carrier is investigating the issue. Although the carrier suggested no workarounds, PiunikaWeb spotted one effective trick that solved the issue for many users.
“Found a way to disable Band 41. Enter Data Programming Mode: ##3282# Edit -> Enter MSL: 000000 -> OK -> LTE -> Band41 Enabled -> Deselect -> Reboot,” one user said.
