Does Anyone Else Enjoy The Sound From Their Smartphone Speakers?

[Deleted member 48726]

Haha, that's not an exclusive club. But I also hate podcasts.

What? That's like hating food? You know there are different ones, right?

But yeah, I don't have the need to be entertained while brushing my teeth either.

 

[Axo1989]

What? That's like hating food? You know there are different ones, right?

S'all gits gasbagging innit?

Yeah I don't enjoy listening to people talking. YouTube talking heads, radio, TV news, that sort of thing. People at parties. Every now and then you get an actual gem, like Darko's cast of Putzeys (I was actually transfixed) but so rare. I just don't do it these days.

 

[solderdude]

​

Does Anyone Else Enjoy The Sound From Their Smartphone Speakers?​

The sound quality .... no... the music ... sure.
I do have very crappy phone though.

 

[Head_Unit]

Am I the only one enjoying sound on a smart phone?

I listen on the phone: in the shower, sometimes working outside, sometimes stick it in my waistband to go running if I don't feel like plugging my ears. Not hifi but definitely enjoyable, sure better than NO sound!

 

[wiggum]

I listen on the phone: in the shower, sometimes working outside, sometimes stick it in my waistband to go running if I don't feel like plugging my ears. Not hifi but definitely enjoyable, sure better than NO sound!

A $20 Bluetooth speaker produces better sound than any speaker on a smartphone. I have never used the smartphone speaker in the last 15 years as most of them have a sharp drop-off around 1kHz and find them very bright.

 

[Sal1950]

So...what are your thoughts? Am I the only one enjoying sound on a smart phone?

This from a vinyl guy.
Why am I not surprised?
JK

 

[Ron Texas]

I'm happy if I can hear my phone calls.

 

[TonyJZX]

i dont enjoy it... but I do often question the sheer amount of engineering hours, talent and money spent to make it so that its so 'acceptable'.

In the same way I would 'admire' a dog playing the piano... one does not ask if Fido plays the piano well, just that he does it at all.

 

[Head_Unit]

A $20 Bluetooth speaker produces better sound than any speaker on a smartphone. I have never used the smartphone speaker in the last 15 years as most of them have a sharp drop-off around 1kHz and find them very bright.

That is true. But...eventually I stopped carrying around the little Bluetooth speaker. Too much fiddling for some situations (and a little hard to take them running ha ha). And the sound while "better" than the phone still not "good enough" for me to bother, like pulling your grade up from an F to a D, eh, why bother. If I'm going to be outside a while I haul out my JBL Control X wireless. It'd be nice to have something portable with more like a 3" woofer but I'm not sure that exists. Still drives me a little nuts the HomePod was not portable, nor any add-on battery. Would have been super cool. Ah well it's all gone to hell since Steve Jobs died

 

[Axo1989]

... It'd be nice to have something portable with more like a 3" woofer but I'm not sure that exists. Still drives me a little nuts the HomePod was not portable, nor any add-on battery. Would have been super cool. Ah well it's all gone to hell since Steve Jobs died

Not only that, but it's back, and still no battery. I'd buy one of those. Go figure.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

That is true. But...eventually I stopped carrying around the little Bluetooth speaker. Too much fiddling for some situations (and a little hard to take them running ha ha). And the sound while "better" than the phone still not "good enough" for me to bother, like pulling your grade up from an F to a D, eh, why bother. If I'm going to be outside a while I haul out my JBL Control X wireless. It'd be nice to have something portable with more like a 3" woofer but I'm not sure that exists. Still drives me a little nuts the HomePod was not portable, nor any add-on battery. Would have been super cool. Ah well it's all gone to hell since Steve Jobs died

I was also in search of a quality device that did what you describe. I found it eventually. It's called Libratone Zipp. It sounds great, has DSP profiles, voicing EQ, bluetooth, wifi, cast ability, Airplay, usb.. And battery that lasts a day. Unfortunately I don't think they make them anymore and the company has gone bust. They still exist on the used market.

 

[3125b]

Phone speakers have gotten a lot better over the years.
What really impresses me every time though is my iPad (Pro 2022) - incredible sound quality and volume out of those tiny speakers, good enough to enjoy listening to music. Obviously bass extension is somewhat limited, but it's way better than any (comparably sized) mobile device I've heard so far.

 

[asc]

no way , it is not good enough

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Just wondering how odd I may be on this question.

I've always been fascinated by portable audio, and have wished for better sound quality from phones for a long time. Even back when I had a Motorola Razr flip phone, which could play downloaded mp3s, it was neat to be able to just play a song and set the phone down and listen (usually while doing something else). I'm not a phone-geek and I'm pretty conservative in not bothering to upgrade really often. So it was from the Razr to an iphone 4, then iphone 7, and now iPhone 13.

When we'd travel I'd use acoustics to advantage, for instance when playing music I'd stick the phone in an open drawer in the hotel room, or sitting in the corner of a bookshelf, where I'd get a significant enhancement in volume from the acoustic loading.

But I have to say, for me the iphone 13 finally "did it" for me, in terms of sound quality from the speakers. First: stereo! Cool! Even more than that...dolby processing? I was shocked the first time I watched a trailer or something on youtube, turned my phone to landscape and the sound spread out around the phone. I didn't even know it had that feature until then.

But also, I continue to be impressed just in terms of sheer "how does a bumble-bee fly?" level of sound quality. A well recorded podcast voice can sound really clear and rich. Again, I often use acoustics to advantage, and placing the phone on a soft surface - a sofa or my bed - can take that slight edge off the sound/sibilance and produce an even more "organic" and naturally balanced voice.

When I watch some live youtube music performance videos on the phone (landscape mode) if it's well recorded I'm continually amazed at the level of detail and timbral nuance I seem to be hearing from such a frequency-limited transducer. There is a sort of beautiful see-through clarity that comes when there isn't much bass frequency to muddy the sound.
In fact, there are some music tracks which I have actually preferred on my iphone speakers, vs anywhere else I've heard them.

So...what are your thoughts? Am I the only one enjoying sound on a smart phone? I haven't heard sound from the Android phones and I wouldn't be surprised if some are competitive with or better than the iphone, sonically.

Bless you Matt,
I'm sure that for a tube and vinyl lover, any old end transducer sounds great to you!

 

[Philbo King]

I was surprised to find stereo playback on my Galaxy A53 phone. At least if I hold it on my chest. Further than that it sort of collapses.

I usually play something on it while working in the garage or weeding the garden.

I saw a woodworking show where they made a sort of wooden megaphone to put your phone into. It even had curved horn shapes. The improved acoustic coupling made quite an improvement.

 

[Get a hearing test]

Only phones that sounded decent to me we're zte axon 7 and mini one. But it's old now if u can even find one. Think they have dedicated dacs. Audio jack and dual front facing speakers. oled screen. Dont know if axon 10 pro is any good or even newer ones. Don't know of any other "audiophile" phone.

 

[Sal1950]

So...what are your thoughts? Am I the only one enjoying sound on a smart phone? I haven't heard sound from the Android phones and I wouldn't be surprised if some are competitive with or better than the iphone, sonically.

A phone is supposed to be something that hangs on the wall at home.
If your there, you answer it.
If not, and your hi-tech, the answering machine will do that for you.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

A phone is supposed to be something that hangs on the wall at home.
If your there, you answer it.
If not, and your hi-tech, the answering machine will do that for you.

Okay Sal,
so you are changing the thread to, "do you enjoy listening to music, on your answering machine?"

 

[lowkeyoperations]

Gosh, I have to say I hate the sound coming from my iPhone 13. Even on speaker phone. Too harsh and midrange-y. Even the cheapest old Bluetooth speaker I have in the house here is better.

My 14” MPB on the other hand is pretty bearable.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

I shopped on that basis and landed on Samsung S23 Ultra. In direct comparison, none of the other Android phones sounded as loud and as full/clear. Its larger size allows that to happen combined with more powerful amp, etc. I listen to a lot of youtube on it and needed it to be loud to overcome the noise of my electric toothbrush and some. There is clearly some good DSP going on to make such small speakers sound this decent.

Sheesh amirm. Just checked the price of your phone!
So it has to be Magico, Wilson prices, just to listen to the music?
This OnePlus 5 sounds okay to me.