Smartphone Audio Quality Testing
by Chris Heinonen on December 8, 2013 5:15 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Audio
- Mobile
- Tablets
- Testing
Right now we have full data on four phones and partial data on a few more. We are working to compile as much data as possible to provide an overall look at the quality of audio from smartphones available today. The largest difference in current models is the power of the headphone output as some are much better equipped to drive more demanding headphones than others. As we compile data on more and more products we hope to see more differences arise.
We also have not seen much difference with different loads applied to the headphones. We will continue to test all three sets of headphones but the data here is for the Apple Earbuds. If different loads provide different results, then we will certainly report those different numbers in the future. It also appears that running Android phones in the automated routine causes the 20 kHz tone to be left out of the frequency response test. Humans usually can't hear this, I certainly can't, and so there isn't a huge amount of real-world ramification to this. It causes the reported THD+N to exclude that tone and provides a better result that phones that play it back. For the future, this will be done manually.
Here are the four phones we currently have, and more phones are being tested and reported on as quickly as possible to be added here.
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JasonQG - Monday, December 9, 2013 - link
I'll be curious to see how the iPhone 5s compares to the iPhone 5. I noticed a definite improvement when I upgraded, at least to my ears' perception.ClockHound - Tuesday, December 10, 2013 - link
Nice to hear you're taking sound semi-seriously with devices that have a semi-important audio task. At least for those who use smartphones for aural communication and music playback.Nice to see the Audio Precision in action. Great unit. However, please, consider putting a little more thought into the scaling of your FR graphs. What appears visually as a huge peak in the htc Beats graph barely has a 3dB rise. That's not a huge peak.
A 1dB rise at 10k is not much of a rise and since it doesn't display enough data, we can't tell if it's a low Q event or not.
The Audio Precision can scale the vertical axis to make plots more informative rather than sensational.
pandemonium - Tuesday, December 10, 2013 - link
Awesome stuff. Keep it up AT!kreacher - Tuesday, December 10, 2013 - link
Great article, would it be possible to test audio input (the mic) in this much detail. Noise cancellation as well as how it does in speakerphone mode / video recording. I know earlier reviews / articles have mentioned this are but it would be great to have detailed numbers like this article.Cyleo - Tuesday, December 10, 2013 - link
This is awesome. I truly love this, please continue this work ;)Any change one of the more recent Sony models makes the test (Xperia z comes to mind)
Pastuch - Tuesday, December 10, 2013 - link
Chris, fantastic article, way to bring me back to Anand. Please include results of the Iphone 4s and any other phones you get your hands on. My girlfriend and I are phone whores, she's Apple, I'm Android. I'm constantly playing with all of our phones and cans trying to find the best audio combo.I run Sennheiser HD-25s, Sennheiser Momentums, V-Moda Crossfade M-80s, and Koss Porta Pros (Awesome since the 80s!).
Best sounding phone I've ever heard:
Iphone 4S sounds way better than the new Iphone 5. It's definitely louder and fuller. Too bad the 4s doesn't have APT-X codec for Bluetooth.
Runner up:
Samsung Galaxy S with Voodoo sound Rom (Note, you need to load a non-standard rom to make it sound great)
The rest:
SGS2 (International Model): Too quiet, poor quality, disappointing dynamic range.
SGS3 (North American Model): Poor quality, lots of cross talk, disappointing dynamic range.
HTC One (Beats Audio OFF): Sounds great, really no complaints. A step above most Android phones. Still miss the Wolfson DAC though.
IPhone 5: Still sounds great but it doesn't live up to the 4S. I'd say it sounds slightly better than the HTC One but the difference is really marginal.
Nexus 5: Sounds better than the SGS2 or 3. The V-Moda M80s sound good because they aren't hard to drive. The Sennheiser HD25 needs the top volumes and the clipping is obvious. The HTC One sounds a little better.
vision33r - Tuesday, December 10, 2013 - link
HTC One audio is a joke. Which features a software sound enhancer AKA Beats Audio which any custom rom can cook into their roms.I've had the S3 with the Beats Audio software and took it off flashed a better DAC amp app.
Traum - Tuesday, December 10, 2013 - link
As a head-fi audiophile, I want to THANK YOU for doing this!MWisBest - Tuesday, December 10, 2013 - link
Nice article, definitely curious as to how my Galaxy Nexus would fare in this, as I'm a bit of an audiophile.hrrmph - Wednesday, December 11, 2013 - link
Awesome topic and write-up :)Keep these coming, please.