Ensure the protective vinyl is removed on your new phone

The vinyl or film may cause the following if not completely removed:

1. Affect receiving or outgoing audio on your phone
2. Prevent your camera from taking proper photos

To protect your Galaxy phone, while the device is manufactured and distributed from the factory, the front, rear, camera, and side parts of the device are covered with a protective vinyl. This protective vinyl attaches directly to the device, mainly to the charging hole, microphones, speaker holes, and cameras. In the case of the microphone hole at the bottom specifically, a large protective vinyl and a small sticker may be attached in two layers, so even the second small sticker must be completely removed.

If you don't hear the receiving or outgoing sound clearly or the sound is erratically cut off, it may be because the protective vinyl that was attached to the speaker and microphone holes on the device is blocking the holes. In addition, if the protective vinyl attached to the camera is not removed, the picture may be out of focus or cause angle distortion when you take a picture, and you may have a picture with degraded quality.

If you still have a problem with the receiving sound even though you have completely removed all the protective vinyl, find out more at ‘What to do if you cannot hear the phone call sound well’ with Samsung Support.

If you are experiencing difficulties with your Samsung phones, tablets, or wearables, you can send us a question in the Samsung Members app.

This allows us to take a closer look at what is happening. The data is anonymised and only held for the duration of the investigation. Find out more about sending an error report through the 'How to use the Samsung Members app'.