[Update: Possibly fixed] Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 series call audio issues yet to be addressed over 3 months later

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…

Original story (published on January 4, 2021) follows:

Software development is no walk in the park. It takes a lot of time, effort and dedication to scan through code in order to identify and fix issues that pop up here and there.

This is why it can at times take quite lengthy periods of time to address what might look like the smallest issues in software.

But for a company as big as Xiaomi, things should be significantly different, one would imagine.

Considering it is among the leading smartphone vendors on the globe, Xiaomi is capable of employing some of the best software developers on the planet.

Granted, one would expect that issues like what users of various devices in the Redmi Note 9 series have been going through should have been fixed in the shortest time possible.

But nope! For more than three months and counting, Redmi Note 9, Redmi Note 9S, Redmi Note 9 Pro and Redmi Note 9 Pro Max users have had to deal with poor audio quality when on a phone call.

We first reported about the call audio issue in mid-September 2020. At the time, we thought it was only affecting Redmi Note 9S users, but reports from Note 9 Pro users emerged not long after.

After a month of bug-fixing efforts, Xiaomi revealed in its weekly bug report in October that the issue was still present in newer MIUI builds, meaning affected users had to wait further.

There was no mention of the bug’s status in a subsequent November report but in December, the company did reveal that more feedback was still needed from Redmi Note 9 users in order to address the call audio issue.

Now, you’d expect that an issue affecting such a fundamental function of a phone should be dealt with as soon as possible.

But as recent as today, complaints from affected users are still doing rounds on various platforms such as Twitter and the official Mi forums, implying the issue still persists.

@xiaomindia Dear Team, I want to bring to your notice that through Amazon I have ordered Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro mobile phone for my mother but she always complaining not able to hear properly suspecting Call / Audio Quality is not good. Please can you look into the issue.
Source

In response to a similar concern from last week, a Mi forum moderator shed more light on the matter, suggesting that Xiaomi is yet to address the issue, but a bug-fixing update is still in the pipeline.

As for when the said update will be made available remains to be seen, but you can rest assured that we will be keeping tabs on the matter and update this coverage once the bug is fixed.

Devices in the Redmi Note 9 series are eligible for both MIUI 12.5 and Android 11 updates, so be sure to also keep an eye on our respective trackers to know when the update arrives for your device.

Update 1 (April 14)

04:02 pm (IST): A new MIUI 12 build carrying a version number of 12.0.1.7 is now being tested internally. The build reportedly comes with a fix for the issue. Details here.

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