Apple iPhone SE (2nd generation) microphone is quiet, muffled or not working

4.7-inch widescreen LCD with IPS technology, at 1334-by-750 at 326 ppi. That matters more than it sounds — a procedure written for a different size in the same line puts controls in different places, and gestures that depend on reach behave differently.

Lightning. A USB-C cable will not fit at all, which is the usual explanation when a charger that works on a newer iPhone in the same household does nothing here. Lightning cables also fail internally at the strain point, so a cable swap is the first test for slow or intermittent charging.

Touch ID — a fingerprint reader. General iPhone advice about lighting, angles and face coverings does not apply. What affects this model is moisture and the skin itself changing, and enrolling the same finger a second time helps more than repeated attempts against one reference.

The A13 Bionic. This determines how long the model keeps getting iOS updates, and it is the reason an app can drop support for this iPhone while running fine on a newer one — a support-window matter rather than a fault to troubleshoot.

64GB/128GB/256GB. The 64GB tier is the single most common cause of storage trouble on this model, and it is why an update can refuse with what looks like enough space free — installation needs room to unpack and stage as well as to store.

No. It is rated IP67, a lower rating than the IP68 models later in this line — splashes and brief incidental exposure rather than submersion. The rating also degrades with age and drops, and liquid damage is not covered.

Yes, alongside a physical nano-SIM. Bear in mind that an eSIM does not move with the handset the way a plastic SIM does — a phone swap, a reset or a repair can leave the profile behind, and restoring it is a carrier action.

Wi-Fi 6 with 2x2 MIMO. That is worth knowing before blaming the phone for slower Wi-Fi than a newer device on the same network — a router running a newer standard falls back to what the phone supports rather than refusing it, so the difference is specification rather than fault.

Bluetooth 5.0. Version affects range, reconnection behaviour and which accessory features are available. A newer accessory paired here operates at this version's capabilities rather than failing, which is regularly mistaken for a pairing fault when the accessory simply cannot do everything it does on a newer phone.

625 nits maximum brightness (typical). Brightness is among the largest single consumers of battery, so outdoor use at full brightness costs real runtime — and poor outdoor readability on this model is usually this figure rather than a display fault.

Apple rates it at up to 13 hours of video playback. Judge your runtime against that figure and your own history rather than against a different iPhone — the rating varies widely across this line.

4K video recording at 24, 25, 30 or 60 fps. Resolution and frame rate are the dominant factor in how fast video fills storage, and they push the phone hardest thermally — sustained high-frame-rate recording is the most common reason a camera stops mid-take.

Not meaningfully. This model uses an LCD panel, which backlights the whole screen regardless of what is displayed. Dark mode only saves real power on the OLED iPhones, where black pixels are switched off entirely.

Check for a connected Bluetooth accessory first — including one in another room or a car outside. A connected accessory takes the call's microphone with it, and the phone gives almost no indication that it has. This is more common than any hardware fault.

Record a voice note. That uses the microphone with no network, no other party and no call software involved. A clean recording exonerates the microphone completely and tells you the problem is in the call path or in one app.

Those use different microphones. A handset call uses the one near your mouth at the bottom, or the one by the earpiece; speakerphone uses a different combination. One working and the other not localises the fault precisely — and a screen protector over the top slot is a common cause.

Two usual causes: something covering the port, or lint inside it. Take the case off, keep your palm off the bottom edge, and look into the ports with a bright light. Gradual degradation over months is lint; sudden onset is usually the case or an accessory.

Check that app's microphone permission. Permissions are revoked by updates and privacy settings, and a 'don't allow' tapped months ago is invisible now. The hardware is fine, since it works elsewhere.

That is usually noise suppression misjudging a quiet speaker rather than a hardware fault. Compare a recording in a normal room against one outdoors, and change the voice isolation setting if your phone offers one.

A soft dry brush, gently, with the phone powered off. Never a pin — the mesh is delicate and pushing debris through it is worse than leaving it. Not compressed air forced into the port, and nothing liquid.

Then it is very probably not your phone. Call audio has two ends and a network between them, and a single affected contact points at their end or the route. Test with someone else and record a local voice note to confirm.

No. It is scoped to A2275/A2296/A2298. Current Apple iPhone family; camera controls, modem, connector and iOS features vary by exact hardware/region identifier.

Record the complete model identifier, exact message or indicator, software/firmware where visible, the operating stage and what still works.

A reset can erase accounts, networks, maps, schedules or preferences without distinguishing microphone, can't hear me. The ordered checks preserve that evidence.

Do not insert tools or liquid into microphone openings.