The best-sounding smartphones of 2023

29 December 2023


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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • 61%
  • 29 Dec 2023

And the winner is still LG.
Despite it leaving the market for years.

    • N
    • Nappingjogger
    • GRN
    • 29 Dec 2023

    Nothing can beat the Asus Rog Phone speakers, they are the best
    Shame it's on the list

      Why isn't Sony on the list? They have crazy good speakers, with vibration.! xD

        • R
        • Ren
        • Tsr
        • 29 Dec 2023

        NeonHD, 29 Dec 2023If it were best-sounding smartphones with regards to audio ... moreI don't agree on Sony, tried many of their phones but audio wise and this kinda silly considering Sony is also a audio company, their DAC in their Xperia line are poor since Mark II generation, but 1 and 5 series.

        And they already did degrade before, above that the build quality of their 3.5mm jack is questionable, I have seen many times them go defect for no reason, something I have never seen on any other brand.

        Asus I agree, LG too and I miss LG a lot for that because even without their Quad Dac a phone like LG G8S (G8 has quad dac, G8S did not) the audio was still amazing and the jack had 96kHz 24 bit output.

        Just to stay on the audio topic of LG (their phones did a lot of great stuff, but were overshadowed by mistakes from the past), their audio music app was pretty solid for it time, when we compared it to what other Android brands gave us.

        Even the old Sony one, because currently Sony did remove a ton of great functionality from their music app to a point, I would advice someone to use a 3rd party one.

          • R
          • Rikka
          • AVw
          • 29 Dec 2023

          Compact phones wise, yes the S23 has some good speakers, same with Pixel 8.

          But I don't agree on the iPhone 15 Pro, 13 Pro had some great sounding speakers but it did not have a fatal flaw the 15 Pro has, which is that 15 Pro sounds too boomy, more like Beats.

          Zenfone 10 is actually worse in real life, I can tell that much because I tried it, Xperia 5V on the other hand has a different sounding audio because both speakers are front fireing, but a tad weak.

          I wouldn't get the Xperia however, Sony is still using the cheapest OLEDs out there on that phone, so the green line issue plagued by the series since Xperia 5 II will be still a risk.

          I DON'T AGREE with the S23 Ultra being second, and iPhone 15 Pro Max being best, I can assure most people that ROG Phone 7 does blast both of them miles away (so sad that phone has it's own flaws including poor OS support)

          15 Pro Max has same audio issues as 15 Pro, too boomy so S23 Ultra for me goes on second spot and iPhone third, again 13 Pro Max was much better.

            Is S23 really that much better than S22, which was really terrible in this regard? Both have similar graphs...

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • mpr
              • 29 Dec 2023

              Lol no Sony phones featured even though supposedly 2" of screen space is sacrificed to fit some kind of front speaker

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • xd%
                • 29 Dec 2023

                Shamrock Sean, 29 Dec 2023Best speakers I've heard this year were S23 Ultra. Hav... moreApple products tend to have a V-curve in the EQ to make a more 'mainstream' sound.

                Especially prominent in their headphones like AirPods Pro, Max and MacBook speakers. Listening to John Coltrane's Giant Steps over them results in me hearing the double bass way too much, and the sax being far too muffled! This was the stock EQ as well. I assume this carries over to iPads and iPhones as well to a lesser extent.

                Safe to say I much prefer my neutral Sennheisers.

                  hearing the recorded samples from a very good one here is like hearing the sounds from the speaker of my Samsung XCover6 Pro.

                    If it were best-sounding smartphones with regards to audio line output, the winner still goes to the good ol' LG phones with their DACs. Or a modern day Sony or ASUS ROG.

                      Best speakers I've heard this year were S23 Ultra. Having heard 15 Pro Max speakers I found them to be weak

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • iJp
                        • 29 Dec 2023

                        IPhone 15 Pro Max is elite sound

                          • F
                          • AnonF-1006353
                          • JBi
                          • 29 Dec 2023

                          jiyen235, 29 Dec 2023"look at the frequency graphs" 🤓🤓 as if frequen... moreTrue, iPhones have a lot of intermodulation distortion and compression, the highs sound shrill at higher volumes and lack extension above 10kHz

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • niU
                            • 29 Dec 2023

                            jiyen235, 29 Dec 2023"look at the frequency graphs" 🤓🤓 as if frequen... moreExactly. Frequency doesn't mean squat it the speaker fail to deliver as in the end of the day it's how well the speaker can generate air pressure on which the air vibrates thus delivering the sound.

                              A flagship won the "best sounding midranger". Brilliant

                                • L
                                • Lister
                                • pLY
                                • 29 Dec 2023

                                Oh boy, iHaters will not be pleased about this result. Apple still can't beat the likes of Bose and Sony in the headphone category though.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • Hkt
                                  • 29 Dec 2023

                                  Nick, 29 Dec 2023Compact flagship: Asus Zenfone 10 Flagship: Asus ROG Phone... moreexactly!!

                                    Anonymous, 29 Dec 2023It's not about the loudness, but about the frequency r... more"look at the frequency graphs"
                                    🤓🤓
                                    as if frequency response is the be all end all. It is a guideline, it doesn't show or mean anything unless you actually listen to the samples and compare it to others. I've listened to a Pro Max irl and it is a very unnatural sounding phone due to its horrible dynamics and raspy sound due to the high bass, low amount of mids and high amounts of upper mids.

                                      I agree with the midrange one, the 13T is a banger speakerphone.

                                      However, the Z Fold 5 is certainly a clearer sounding and might even be the better sounding foldable overall than the Open and all that's due to the treble region. The Open has a warmer sound yes but the sound is ruined by an awful upper mid range/lower treble, look at the frequency response and you can see the huge dip but the N3 sounds slightly better there maybe due to the boost in the treble region. The dip looks good on paper as it is more "accurate" but it ruins the timbre of the speaker as the midrange was boosted and then you have a region where it is neutral. Anyways imo, the Z Fold5 has the best timbre and basically the best balance out of all the foldables in terms of distortion/compression. The Mix Fold 3 is a close second even though it has better distortion/compression performance, I slightly prefer the Fold 5 tho I might choose the Mix Fold 3 on another day lol, and the Find N3 is a third. The rest are pretty mid tho.

                                      The compact flagship one is interesting, the Zenfone 10 has the best compression performance, the Apple one has the most bass and the S23 is in the middle, giving enough bass and having good enough dynamics to not be bad. I agree with the pick here but idk not really wowed by it unlike the Zenfone 10 which sounds big but muffled due to less highs.

                                      The flagship one is so weird. The iPhone beats both the Xiaomi 13 Ultra and Rog Phone 7?? Someone likes only bass and loudness it seems. Loud ≠ Quality. They just made the phone loud artificially by clipping the sound and destroying dynamics. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is something that allows you to play a song at max volume and then replay it on your headphones or good speakers and go "wow that sounds surprisingly similar". If you have hearing problems where you need help to hear the quieter parts of the song then yeah the iPhone is for you. The Honor has some really nice treble but no bass and the dynamics aren't good enough to justify that. The ROG Phone 7 is the clear winner, followed by the Xiaomi 13 Ultra/Pro for normal flagships. The S23 Ultra isn't half bad either but just pales in comparison to the Xiaomi and Asus phones. Compare these phones to the Huawei Matepad Pro 13.2 and you'll see what I'm talking about, better yet, listen to those original songs on your headphones. Xiaomi has the perfect balance of timbre, bass and dynamics. Samsung has good timbre and bass but lacks in dynamics. Apple lacks in timbre and is horrible in dynamics but has great bass. Asus has great timbre, great bass and exceptional dynamics but the treble isn't sparkly enough.

                                        • F
                                        • AnonF-1006353
                                        • JBi
                                        • 29 Dec 2023

                                        Anonymous, 29 Dec 2023It's not about the loudness, but about the frequency r... moreJudging by that, the P60 Pro and Zenfone 8 are better. Also, the fruit phone sounds horribly shrill if you turn it up to reasonable volumes. It can't keep that response and that ball filled speaker fakery lacks 500hz response by a lot. Sounds hollow, def. not the best.

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