OnePlus 5 and 6 have mic or Beta issues right now

By Chris Burns/Jan. 30, 2019 1:12 pm EST

The OnePlus 6 and 6T as well as the OnePlus 5 and 5T have one issue apiece right this minute. The OnePlus 6 and 6T have an issue where the phone uses the incorrect microphone when certain apps are open – an app meant for sound cancellation only. The OnePlus 5 and 5T had an issue with the latest Beta update – so if you're a Beta update sort of person, you might want to take a closer peek. If you don't do Beta updates on your OnePlus 5 or 5T, carry on!

The OnePlus 6 and 6T have a very similar issue happening right this minute. According to a collection of forums and tests, a certain set of apps seem to be selecting the incorrect (non-main) microphone when attempting to relay or record audio. Instead of using the main microphone, these apps are using the top microphone, a microphone generally reserved for secondary audio reception, utilizing said audio only for noise cancellation – but that's not what happens in all cases.

The collection of reports seems to lead to one conclusion – that the problem CAN be fixed. There is no quick fix, and nothing a user can download to fix right now. But OnePlus will probably issue a fix via software update soon – or so we hope.

For the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T, it's time to pay attention – but only if you're part of the OxygenOS Open Beta program. Those users that began loading OxygenOS Open Beta 26 for the OnePlus 5 and Open Beta 24 for OnePlus 5T, there's an issue.

"We have received reports of OTAfailure and Device not powering on after updating to the latest open beta builds on Oneplus 5 and 5T, based on these reports we had paused the OTA updates," said OnePlus Global Product Operations Manager Manu J. "Please follow the below steps to recover your device if you are one of the affected users."

That simple set of instructions requires that the user flash a new system image with Android recovery. If you're not confident in doing this, you probably shouldn't have been participating in the Beta software program in the first place, right? Right.