Bluetooth signal pretty weak, any suggestions for improving? 3 week new owner of Z3 Play.

[ron92646]

So I've only had my new Z3 Play for about three weeks.  My old phone a Moto G4 I had for about 2.5 years and I always walked around with the phone in my back pocket listening to podcasts on my bluetooth device.  Well, with the Z3 Play, when I have it in my back pocket the playback skips so I move the phone to my front pocket and the playback is fine.  I prefer to have the phone in my back pocket.  Is this a defect in the phone's bluetooth signal?  Has anyone else had any issues?  Note that it's the same bluetooth device I used with my old phone without issue.  

[Agent_Rich]

Hi ron92646,

Thanks for posting. It's odd that the music skips when you put it on your back pocket. Make sure the screen is turned off, also test another related apps and see if you can duplicate it. Let me know. Thanks.

Best regards,
Rich
Motorola Support

[ron92646]

Okay, finally had some free time to do some testing and test your suggestions. I tried it with two different music playing (plays MP3 downloads) and it's the same bad reception result. I simply pull my phone (screen off) from my back pocket to the front of my body and the song stops skipping. This seems to be the bluetooth signal in some way, correct? Again, my Moto G4's bluetooth didn't have this issue. Any other suggestions? Do you think it's a hardware problem?

[Agent_Rich]

Hi ron92646,

Thanks for trying. We can't confirm right now if it's indeed with the Bluetooth signal nor a hardware one. Let's try isolating the case first. Please try testing another Bluetooth device and see if it will do the same thing. Let me know how it goes. Thanks.

Best regards,
Rich
Motorola Support

[ron92646]

Okay, so I got a new bluetooth device for Christmas.  The "breaking up" of the signal is actually worse with this new device.  My wife has a Moto X4 that I tried both this new device and the old device and they both don't have a signal issue when I put the phone in my back pocket.  Have you heard of anyone else having bluetooth issues?  Is it reasonable to be able to have a good connection when the phone is in a back pocket?

By the way, I do have a case and I just tried it without the case and this did not improve the signal.

[ron92646]

Mods, I just realized this is in the Z3 forum and I have a Z3 Play, can you move it to the correct forum please? Also, any ideas on my problem? Playing podcast and listening on bluetooth was a near everyday activity for me and I really don't like having to have my phone in my front pocket. Is this a defect that Motorola should repair or replace?

[Agent_Rich]

Hi ron92646,

This is really odd. There must be something that causes this, possibly a hardware one. Please try doing factory data reset without restoring apps/files. Note to backup your files prior doing the reset and if the issue persists, I recommend sending the phone for a replacement. You can check the warranty options here on this link. 

Best regards,
Rich
Motorola Support

[ron92646]

Thanks for the reply Rich. Yes, I have already tried the factory reset and some other things earlier this week coordinating with Motorola warranty/repair folks and nothing worked. They are replacing my phone (my phone has already been shipped back and I'm awaiting my new phone to be shipped).