[sedat]

I use my Q10 a lot in the dark. I've noticed the proximity sensor flickers constantly during calls, whether they be regular calls or sip calls. It's rather distracting too see it flicker, as I nearly always use a headset, and frequently use my phone while in-call.

Is this normal? I'm not sure if my Bold 9000 even had a proximity sensor, so can't say if this is normal or expected on BlackBerry devices. On the other hand, I've had several Android phones with proximity sensors visible in the dark, and they were always constantly glowing when looking straight at them, but never flickering.

Is this normal or should I have it looked at?
I'm returning my Q10 for repair anyway, as the sponginess/creakiness of my spacebar is clearly faulty an has become unbearably annoying for a high-end device. I'm basically asking if I need to especially bring the proximity sensor up, assuming they will attempt repairing or swapping out the keyboard, instead of replacing my device.

PS: a word of advice for those ordering online, especially in Belgium from Proximus, their warranty handling is likely to be extremely bad, so just dont. I have to pay courier charges and send it myself to an external repair center, not knowing how long they will take, and of course getting no replacement phone for the duration. I bought my phone through my carrier's webshop, who actually have their own physical stores as well, but where they simply blow me off claiming they are not responsible for anything ordered through their own webshop. Bastards.

[anon(7412666)]

Which OS version are you using? I experienced this same behavior after upgrading from 10.1.0.2121 to 10.2.0.1791.

The sensor is supposed to "flicker" while on a phone call using the phone normally, without the speakerphone activated or a headset connected. This is of course so the screen turns off when the phone is placed to your ear to avoid unintentional touch screen inputs.

With OS version 10.1.0.2121, I see the proximity sensor stop "flickering" when the speakerphone is activated or a headset is connected. This seems like the normal behavior to me, as in those scenarios, the phone is not usually placed near your ear and the proximity sensor does not need to be active.

After upgrading to 10.2.0.1791 I noticed the proximity sensor remained active and "flickering" even with the speakerphone mode active or a headset connected. It caused me to downgrade back to 10.1.0.2121.

And yes, the Bold 9900 also has a proximity sensor that flickers when it is active.

Hope this helps.

[sedat]

Thanks for your detailed reply, but I got the impression we might be talking about different things.

The expected behavior for me would be a constant glow whenever the proximity sensor is supposed to be active, but never flicker (as I've never seen any of my previous phones do that). I probably unconsciously assumed it was some weird power saving technique before, hence only asking just now.

I use Bria for sip2sip calls, which seems to keep the sensor active whenever it's in the foreground, regardless of headsets/speakerphone, but will monitor it more closely now and open a ticket with them if warranted.

I'm currently on 10.2.0.1791 and almost exclusively use a Bluetooth headset (not wired). The only other OS version I used before was whichever official 10.1.* build my carrier approved, and I'm quite certain the sensor was flickering -not glowing-then as well. Admittedly not 100% sure.

I come from an ancient work-issued Bold 9000, not 9900

[93Aero]

My 9810 9360 9900 and both my Q10's do this and they are as you can see on different OS. It's normal, I wouldn't worry about.

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[pttptppt]

I noticed the same thing on .1791. I didn't know if it's good or not...

BUT IT'S PRETTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sedat]

Ah thanks, that clears it up for me. The hardware is working fine.

As for the problem cereiser described -sensing when it shouldn't... s/he's quite right about that. If BlackBerry would be using glowing sensors it could have been tolerable, but as they don't, the unnecessary flickering in 10.2.0.1791 when on speaker or headset is indeed very obnoxious.