GSMArena labs: Introducing our new smartphone speaker test
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- AnonD-908380
- Twq
- 04 Mar 2020
Abhi-Darth-Plagueis, 04 Mar 2020And I agree. The DAC is the king. But the sameness of audio... moreWhat would that special hardware be?
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- AnonD-762416
- M9W
- 04 Mar 2020
This isn't accurate:
"The headphones audio quality test, on the other hand, was rendered obsolete by a bunch of factors. Key among those is that phones have become so good that the difference between the best and the worst is measurable only with lab equipment. We updated the test to add headphones' resistance part to the equation, but still, the differences are so minimal so as not to matter. And this has been the case for several years now.
Your choice of headphones has a much bigger impact on the audio experience than the output of the phone.
Then there's the fact that fewer and fewer phones now come with a 3.5mm jack, so the importance of the external USB-C to 3.5mm adapters that you would use plays adds another unknown. The active dongles have their own DACs so the audio output barely depends on the phone itself."
Audio quality differs a lot between budget phones and flagships. Mostly in gain, but there is also a huge difference in detail and quality.
USB-C does support analogue audio. Bundled dongles doesn't have external DACs, they use something called "Audio Adapter Accessory Mode" to get analogue audio from the USB-C port.
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- Abhi-Darth-Plagueis
- YQZ
- 04 Mar 2020
AnonD-908380, 04 Mar 2020Every headphone jack has the same quality and all of them c... moreAnd I agree. The DAC is the king. But the sameness of audio quality could be attributed to the smartphones utilizing same DAC - by Qualcomm.
However, When a smartphone manufacturer makes special efforts to enhance that part, by putting inside a piece of hardware that's not found on other phones, that'll be neglected wholesome by this new policy, of scrappring the earphones test completely.
How will you know the better from the common if there'll be no test?
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- Anonymous
- LQu
- 04 Mar 2020
So, the goal is to stay near 0 for across different frequencies.
If you put RoG II, 11 Pro , 1 and 20 Ultra , the between 300Hz - 10000Hz Sony is one more often near 0 ....
No surprise ....
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- Anonymous
- nxF
- 04 Mar 2020
I find the audio samples just horrible! There's still people who very much prefer listening to classical music, also on smartphones, you know (myself including)!
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- Upraja
- YQx
- 04 Mar 2020
Gsmarena audio quality is very important factors so please review audio quality also . or make a section for audiophile smartphone and accessories. Following gsmarena for about 2-3 years. Thanku
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- Anonymous
- YQV
- 04 Mar 2020
The article doesn't mention about the new analog audio quality measuring setup. Only the speaker test is mentioned. What are the changes in the 3.5 mm Jack measurements?
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- Advice
- mJe
- 04 Mar 2020
You should discontinue your old battery test as well, as nobody talks on their phone for 1 hour a day anymore
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- AnonD-908380
- Twq
- 04 Mar 2020
Abhi-Darth-Plagueis, 04 Mar 2020Irony of the ironies!!! Haha Notice how GSMArena used... moreEvery headphone jack has the same quality and all of them come from the same factory. The important thing is the audio chip. They even said there is only a difference when measured and indiscernible to the human ear in the article. Stop whining and read.
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- Kendra Shields
- pc7
- 04 Mar 2020
Abhi-Darth-Plagueis, 04 Mar 2020Irony of the ironies!!! Haha Notice how GSMArena used... moreDude Stop complaining and for once in your life try to actually appreciate that some people are working hard on doing new stuff and giving it to you for free! Go back to your cave and eat your worms coz no one else is gonna listen to your hate. That or find another review site..
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- Kendra Shields
- pc7
- 04 Mar 2020
GSM-Arena:
Hey guys:) Just want to say thank you for all the hard work you do and especially the new audio test - can't wait to hear the results of 11 Pro Max, S20 Ultra etc.
Don't listen to all the whiners, complainers and nay-sayers in the comment section(s) - they are all over the world and they are chronic complainers so no matter how positive and good something is they will find a way to tear it down.
We are a lot of people who love you guys and appreciate all the work you do and all the great and thorough reviews! So thank you so much for this!
Much love to all of you:)
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- Abhi-Darth-Plagueis
- YQZ
- 04 Mar 2020
Irony of the ironies!!!
Haha
Notice how GSMArena used to complain about manufacturers dropping the 3.5mm jacks left and right, they even listed it under cons not too long ago, and now they themselves dropped the whole 3.5mm/earphone test.
They should've kept it, for the phones that still support it. Hell the best in business - LG phones with their QuadDACs and Gaming phones - in fact like the very first on their new test, the ROG phone 2, come 'with' 3.5 mm jacks, with unbeatable sounds which kind of IS noticable.
I also don't see how listening to a few songs and posting a frequency response table would take that much time, compared to other aspects of a review like camera.
It would've been a kind of protest. Keeping earphones test going on.
And If anyone should've kept protesting against droppings of 3.5mm jacks it should've been GSMArena. Or at least I believed in them.
So take a bow and find time for a 2 minutes silence people, for a Knight has fallen, or more accurately (IMHO) betrayed his Noble crusade.
RIP 3.5 mm jack.
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- Chavis
- 3FJ
- 04 Mar 2020
Anonymous, 04 Mar 2020Will you re-test previous phones with new method to make th... moreWe've already retested all phones which are available to us. We don't have plans for retesting other particular devices. You can find the full list of tested devices in the test widget itself - just click on + Add to comparison.
This test will be standard for all future reviews so you can expect us to test all upcoming devices which come in.
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- Anonymous
- mVu
- 04 Mar 2020
As much as I appreciate the (well-explainened!) update to the test system, I am very disappointed to hear that you will no longer test the analogue aux output of a phone.
There are there great differences in both sound quality and ability to drive a certain type of headphones from phone to phone, and to many "audiophiles" (in this case, people who simply like to enjoy their quality, non-bluetooth headphones) this will be a diciding factor for buying a phone. Those people who typically read the audio section.
A strange decision to on the one hand focus more on the audio quality (where it doesn't really matter), while on the other hand totally ignoring it where it does matter, at the (potentially) only source for best quality audio!
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- Anonymous
- YQ8
- 04 Mar 2020
That's good. But GSMArena, when will you start adding sunlight contrast ratio test results while posting the full review?? I miss it regularly when a new review updated.
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- .alpha
- ytx
- 04 Mar 2020
You are going to confuse the hell out of Samsung spec nerds
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- Anonymous
- Nji
- 04 Mar 2020
Will you test redmi note 8 ?
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- Anonymous
- 3Rs
- 04 Mar 2020
Will you re-test previous phones with new method to make them easily comparable with newer phones?
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- Love the Community
- Fv4
- 04 Mar 2020
Bluetooth? Many people? Lul casuals. It's their fault that they didn't buy over ear headphones with thick wires. In Audio Technica, Sennheiser and others we trust. Monster and Beats should die off in hell.