Some people prefer a smartphones for listening to music on a smartphone that offers a good camera. And there are not a few users who love music! For this reason today, we want to talk about this ” special ” on smartphones for audio and music, and as always dispel the classic myth ” one is worth the other ” because unfortunately (or rather, fortunately) not all smartphones are the same, even the most part stops at mediocrity or low quality.
As in the field of speaker amplifiers where there are brands and models that stand out for quality and power, even in smartphones the audio quality is determined by a chip integrated into the SoC (System-on-Chip, the terminal hardware platform) that varies in based on the manufacturer’s specific choices, called Audio DAC (Digital to Analog Converter).
However, it should be noted that all that glitters is not gold, and many features advertised by the various manufacturers on audio enhancements or similar can be revealed as a pure ” placebo ” effect, not changing what are the real parameters that make a smartphone l ideal for listening to music.
Table of Contents
The main aspects
Let’s start with some parameters to keep in mind:
- Output Volume : dictated by the SNR dB theoretical maximums using headphones, every observation will always be referred only to audiophile quality headphones and never to the integrated speaker.
- Dynamic Range : is the difference (in dB) between the maximum volume that the chip can sustain without distorting the waves and the background noise that it produces (without considering the input noise).
- Harmonic Distortion : it is the level (in dB) of total distortion on the wave reproduced with respect to the original, the worse the value will be the sound reproduced, and less faithful.
- Noise : level of background noise produced by the audio chip, based on its shielding level from other components and its architecture / construction.
- General Quality : completeness of specifications, quality of perceived audio, customization of the system and equalization, and many other parameters.
- Quality/Price ratio : with the same characteristics, you will find a smartphone with a lower price in the ranking, for obvious reasons of savings in times of crisis.
The best smartphones for those who love music
HTC U11 Plus
On the highest step of the podium, we could not find a jewel of HTC. Also HTC U11 Plus winks at the audio department, offering a brilliant sound to the delight of all music lovers thanks to BoomSound speaker.
HTC U11
Smartphone really innovative this HTC U11, which lends itself really well to play music. The merit of the integrated 24-bit DAC, which is able to give a high sound quality. Excellent stereo speakers that thanks to the BoomSound effect achieve excellent performance. The audio jack is missing, but the USB Type-C headphones also have an integrated DAC.
LG V30
A jewel of the LG house, the V30 model offers a truly incredible audio experience. All this is due to the Sabre ES 9218P integrated processor. In practice, it is a quad DAC that greatly increases the audio performance. The cuddies supplied are then marked bang.
iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus
Among the best smartphone for music, we could not insert the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. These are the latest in the Apple house. The audio processor is Cirrus and is an evolution of the model mounted on iPhone 7. It defends well, but it is perhaps not as bright as other Android smartphones.
LG G6
LG has focused heavily on LG G6 in the multimedia department. The smartphone is equipped with a quad-DAC sound system. Introduced with the LG V20 (which is listed below), LG’s quad-DAC employs four digital-to-analog converters that all work together, combining some clever engineering concessions and calculations to purify the output from the headphone jack.
Combined with an excellent amplifier, this system offers incredible sound improvement compared to the LG G5.
Huawei Mate 10 Pro
The latest in the HTC home shines not only for its overall performance but also for its sound. The dedicated processor is a 32-bit DAC that offers above-average performance. We recommend using headphones at height to make the most of it. The performance of the Stereo speakers is also very poetic, offering a powerful and balanced sound.
LG V20
This smartphone brother of LG V10 did not disappoint expectations. The device features the latest ES9218 DAC, with a parallel DAC configuration to improve noise performance. This last integrated circuit brings benefits to the theoretical values of 130SNR, 124 dB DNR and -112 dB THD+N, which means that in essence you often get to have excellent sound.
The LG V20 packs a dedicated headphone amplifier with high output that helps to achieve noise cancellation performance. However, the audio output performance is similar to LG V10 in everyday use in real life.
Lenovo Moto Z2 Play
Motorola, acquired by Lenovo, is once again overwhelming to win the hearts of users. Even for those looking for a smartphone to listen to music. Lenovo Moto Z2 Play is a device that you will surely appreciate: thanks to Moto Mods you can buy the JBL SoundBoost Mods, two 3W speakers with 1.000 mAh of battery each.
ZTE Axon 7 Mini
Much less known than previous models, this smartphone to listen to music is a great choice. The merit is above all the two-front speakers, which give a stereo experience. Inside the Axon 7 Mini then beats an AKM 4962 audio processor, able to not even disfigure with the Top of Gamma. To complete the whole, we find the support to Dolby Atmos.
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