Xperia 5 iii touch screen freezes after call

[tkemp22]

Hi all, posting this on behalf of my SO.

She has just gotten an Xperia 5 iii and pretty much every time that she receives a phone call, after hanging up the touch screen will become non-responsive. The hardware buttons on the side still work, but the only way to get the touch screen to start responding again is to force reboot the device (vol. up + Power). 

The device was brand new, factory unlocked and all updates were installed prior to use. There are no pending updates for the phone.

The previous phone (Pixel 3) had no issues like this and the roster of user-installed apps installed has not changed.

I've tried searching around for this issue, but not really found anything. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

[Uliwooly]

@tkemp22 

I'm sorry to hear that, few things to try

1 Remove any protective case, film and/or glass 

2 Test the phone

Settings > support > type Test > test Ear proximity sensor (you could test everything) 

3 Boot on safe mode > long press the power button > a pop up menu will apear > long press Shutdown > a new pop up menu > boot on safe mode > place a call > with and without protective case, film and/or glass > see if you encounter the same issues. 

[HannahEd01]

Hey there, if the above didn't work, try a software repair: https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/mobile-phones-tablets-mobile-phones/xperia-5-iii/articles...

Let us know how it goes. 

[Citizen_Crazed]

I've had an Xperia 5 iii since June and am regularly experiencing exactly this problem. Zero touchscreen response after initating a call, hardware buttons and the display itself still fully functional, only way to restore touch is to vol+/power button to force reboot the phone. Which is a real pain in the proverbial when needing to make or answer another call - or generally do something time-critical.

This is the second 5iii I've had. Both brand new sealed from a very reputable supplier. The first device was returned as faulty after exhibiting this problem (and a software repair plus a stack of other diagnostics - inc safe mode start etc didn't stop it). When this second example started to do the same thing I figured it was a quirk that would hopefully get fixed. However, it's continued to exhibit through the range of OS and app updates that have been introduced since June - the phone is always fully updated. There is currently no screen protector on, and the problem has exhibited when it's out of its case too.

The fact that multiple users are reporting the same issue (but clearly not very often) points either to a fairly niche hardware issue - or something in software.

[HannahEd01]

Hi Citizen_Crazed, if you tried all the steps on the thread, and you're still facing the same issue, it's time to send the phone for repair. Where are you based? 

[Citizen_Crazed]

Hi Hannah, thanks for the reply.

I'm in the UK. However, as above, I have experienced the same problem with *two brand new* devices within days of receiving them - to the point that the first one was returned to the seller as faulty for this exact reason. It doesn't therefore sound like a technical fault with one individual phone - it sounds, especially given the report on this thread (and elsewhere) more like a software or hardware fault, and one that will likely be difficult to diagnose given that it is highly intermittent (I'm an embedded electronics designer myself and have an idea how that process will work).

I'm also reluctant to send the device for repair when being without it for an unknown period of time will be an ache - and when the fault itself occurs relatively rarely - but tends to be a major pain in the butt when it does. @tkemp22, if you're still here - can you tell us how the problem on your SO's phone got fixed?

[mzsaunders]

I have the same issue - did yours get resolved?  The problem with measures like safe mode and stopping other apps is that this happens randomly.  With me, maybe once a day.

[Citizen_Crazed]

Hey @mzsaunders. I haven't got an authoritative resolution for mine - but it does seem to be happening far less frequently *and* I noticed a couple of days ago that when the touch functionality disappeared after a call, by the time I picked it up a minute or two later to restart it, it had returned by itself and the phone was working normally.

I'm not sure if this is due to a change in the system or whether I've been lucky (or less sociable!) - but there *was* an update to the phone app that seemed to coincide with the improvement in the phone's behaviour. If it helps, my currently installed version of Phone is 95.0.491468435. How does that compare with yours?

[Piscie]

@mzsaunders, If you noticed this issue recently after downloading an app or something, that might be the reason so you can uninstall and check. You can also try to clear the phone's cached data (settings - storage - clear cache & data), then force restart your phone and re-check. Hope that helps.

[Citizen_Crazed]

@Piscie in my case this problem has exhibited on two brand-new phones fresh out of the box with updates to whatever the latest OS and app builds there were at the time (end of June) and has continued to recur since so that doesn't really apply unfortunately.

Crossing fingers tightly that the Android 13 update will fix it - although I've already found *that* has introduced a bug elsewhere that I'm about to post on, so can't win 'em all.