Designing a microphone hole right next to a sim card slot can confuse you between the two holes, because you sometimes accidentally insert sim ejector pin into the microphone hole and end up worrying about the microphone working well or not, even if the microphone turns out to be working well yet you still doubt whether the mic is intact/unharmed or not.
I accidently poked SIM ejector pin into the mic hole of my Galaxy S23.
Ejecting a SIM card is not a daily task, you insert a SIM card on a smartphone and leave it there for a long period of time, thus you are not habitual to such a task. As a result, you sometimes accidentally poke SIM pin into a mic hole.
Back in October 2024, when I purchased my first flagship smartphone Galaxy S23. I unboxed it and accidentally inserted the SIM ejector pin into the mic hole. For a moment, my heart skipped a beat. I set up my smartphone and made a call and recorded a video to make sure the microphone was working or not. Hopefully, it was in working condition, but my mind was still occupied by that mishap and doubting whether the mic was intact/unharmed or not.
It occurred to me that this is such a tradegy which most of the smartphone users have fallen victim to. That’s why youtube would surely have such a video to resolve the issue, and I found out I was not the only user who had made such a mistake. I came across an S23 teardown video wherein it was revealed the microphone hole is designed in an “L” shape which doesn’t let any sharp object hit the microphone and keep the waterproof mesh intact.
If you have deep insight into tech then this question might really have occured to your mind.
- How does a smartphone is protected against water while allowing sound to reach the microphone?
Today’s smartphone’s microphone is protected against water through a waterproof mesh which allows sound to pass through it while blocking water and this waterproof mesh is placed right before the microphone.
Is a microphone hole in every smartphone designed in “L” shape?
Such type of information is not covered under specification of a smartphone, thus the information remains unknown until the smartphone is torndown/dissambled.
I can’t make a claim whether the microphone hole in every smartphone is designed in the “L” shape or not, since I can’t go through the teardown/disassemble process of every smartphone. In this regard, I would like to recommend you a video of jerryrigeverything, a youtuber who disassembles a smartphone and reveals confidential information related to its hardware. The video was uploaded back on March 17 2022, wherein he can be seen disassembling the latest smartphone of that time from each brand. including: Oneplus, Samsung, Iphone, Google and Xiaomi.
The video starts with revealing vibrator placement and later he hardly poked SIM ejector pin into microphone hole of one smartphone from each company I have mentioned above, so as to know whether a microphone & waterproof layer get damaged or not if someone accidently pokes SIM pin into microphone hole. Hopefully, the microphone & waterproof mesh of each smartphone turned out to be safe from any type of damage through SIM ejector pin.
Even though he didn’t clearly mention whether the microphone hole is designed in “L” shape or not, but the video and his explanation implied the microphone appeared to be in “L” shape in each smartphone he disassembled. As you can see below.
Microphone & waterproof mesh location on the Galaxy S23 ultra.
The photo above shows two highlighted things. One of them is a microphone which appears to be in golden square shape and the other one is a waterproof mesh which protects the microphone against water. The microphone is placed upon waterproof mesh and the mesh is placed upon a tiny narrow hole from where the sound comes.
With the waterproof mesh gone, the tiny & narrow hole is visible which seems to going down, the SIM pin is inserted from the outside hole which is parallel to smartphone edges. It seems both these holes join each other somewhere, which technically creates an “L” shape hole for microphone. Even if someone hardly pokes SIM pin into the “L” shape mic hole, the microphone and waterproof mesh remain intact.
Reflect upon the photo below to understand the context in a better way.
