Bose A20 mic not working on bluetooth

[Christian_Hansen]

Hi,

everything works fine in flight with my new Bose A20 Aviation Headset. But when I connect it to my iPhone, (iOS 14.8 and I tried multiple phones an OS'es) via bluetooth and try to phone someone, the mic isn't working.

I can hear what the otherone on the phone is saying (and I can stream music and so on) but they can't hear me. Tried it whilst flying and on the ground outside my airplane.

[PartpilotUK]

Hi Christian, This is a difficult one and obviously shouldn’t be happening with a new Headset. While you await a Bose reply, try these:-

Clear your Bluetooth pair on your phone and try pairing again.

Try someone elses Phone paired.

Try the different switch settings on and inside the battery Case, especially mono/stereo.

If a twin plug Lead, pull the smaller plug for the mic in the aircraft and see if that has an effect.

If a single plug type, pull it while in test phone use and see if it makes a difference.

Failing that, take it back to the seller or give Bose support a call would be my next course of action.

Wishing you best of luck. It’s a lovely Headset working properly.

All the best,

Larry

[Christian_Hansen]

Hi Larry, thanks for your reply!

I tried all you steps multiple times, unfortunately nothing helped. But what i found out: If I use an aux cable instead of bluetooth, the microphone works fine.

I had no luck with the customer support. The chat couldn't help me and send me to the Hotline. The Hotline was very quick and forwarded the call to the "corresponding department". There I was on hold for over half an hour. After half an hour the call hung up automatically. I tried this three times by now without any luck, that's why I am searching for help here. Because I need the headset almost daily I cannot send it back atm.

BR, Christian

[PartpilotUK]

Hi Christian,

That's all copied. There's not much left to try really. You mentioned Aux Cable - is it an older iPhone Model at all? I haven't used an Aux for years since they deleted it off the iPhone? That may be an issue if so with the older bluetooth?

With regards to the Bose Support Website, I am having the same issues and I now worry about the closure of this Community Site - for specialist use like the Aviation Headsets, I think it's a very useful tool in helping resolve the detailed technical issues people have. I help many people here in the UK on a daily basis through my business.

Like you, I tried to generate a return for an unserviceable A20 over the weekend, but couldn't get out of the endless chat/email loop. There's something wrong with it - (I consider myself a 'Power User' too.) I persisted on the phone and held on for ages, getting cut off many times. I am in the UK but was finally connected with their phone support in Manilla, which I thought bizarre, as the service Centre is in Belgium or USA. They instantly generated a standard return for me online, so the need to phone and waste all that time wasn't necessary.

One last thing which may help. If you plan to stick with the A20, I would try another Mic and Downlead Assy? I keep many different ones as spares for the different Aircraft and Heli's whose Customers I support. It might seem extravagant, but as there is a 5 year warranty on the Headset, It sometimes enables you to be able to send your suspected U/S Unit back, without having to be without your Headset? The Mic and Downlead are the most vulnerable parts of the Headset in it's life I find?

I wish you good luck with yours and all the best,

Larry

[Christian_Hansen]

Hi Larry,

I tried this with my old iPhone 6 for the Aux Cable, normally I use my iPhone XR and since Friday I fly with my new iPhone 13 Pro Max. I also tried Android Devices of a friend for testing but everywhere the same issue (expect with the Aux Cable on the iPhone 6 as I said).

Sad to hear that I'm not the only one to have problems with BOSE Customer Support. That's not what I expect from a premium manufacture like Bose.

Good tip with just replacing the Downlead Assembly. I will take this as a last resort but I still hope to hear back from an official BOSE employee.

BR,

Christian