One which got here throughout my feed is known as the “Nubia Music”, and even when it doesn’t sound just like the identify of a smartphone, it’s certainly a €150 funds cellphone Europeans will have the ability to purchase beginning this April.
The Nubia Music proves smartphones with a persona are nonetheless thrilling – at the very least to me – the cool child who rocked a Nokia XpressMusic in fifth grade. Youngsters, Nokia was mainly Apple, however earlier than the iPhone existed.
The $150 Nubia Music has a “loud” design and a speaker “6x louder” than that of your iPhone/Galaxy
Youngsters, wired headphones are like AirPods however with wires that dangle from the underside, and plug into your cellphone. They had been used as torture units within the the early 2000s. The torture parts concerned having to untangle the headphones each time you pull them out of your pocket.
Regardless of the shortage of “Professional”, “Max”, or “Extremely” within the identify, the Nubia Music’s second notable characteristic is a literal “social gathering trick” I want my Galaxy S24 Extremely, Pixel 8 Professional, and iPhone 15 Professional Max knew how one can carry out – a “6x louder (in comparison with your common smartphone) speaker”.
In case you’re questioning, those that’ve had an opportunity to listen to how the speaker sounds in a loud surroundings (at MWC), say it does certainly sound a lot louder than a standard set of smartphone audio system.
Now, let’s be sincere… The Nubia Music will most definitely be forgotten quickly after you’re achieved studying this text, but it surely’s an ideal dialog starter for a narrative I’ve been wanting to write down for some time now – one about how mediocre smartphone audio system are…
After they don’t must be!
Listening to music on my Galaxy S24 Extremely, iPhone 15 Professional Max, and Pixel 8 Professional: Apple wins however the progress in smartphone sound high quality must be far larger
Swedish Home Mafia and The Weeknd’s “Moth To a Flame” sounds the most effective on the iPhone 15 Professional Max however I would like much more quantity for after I’m within the bathe!
My $1,300 Galaxy S24 Extremely is “additional” sufficient to have an S Pen however not a pair of wonderful sounding audio system, whereas my $1,000 Pixel 8 Professional sounds much more mediocre in comparison with my $1,200 iPhone 15 Professional Max, which sounds good (though not spectacular).
And after enjoying a bunch of music on my Galaxy S24 Extremely, Pixel 8 Professional and iPhone 15 Professional Max again to again (you are able to do that by switching the output gadget in your Spotify participant), together with some unique tracks I produced, my preliminary impressions had been as follows:
- The brand new Galaxy S24 Extremely is loud (which is nice), and sounds first rate for a cellphone, but it surely leaves rather a lot to be desired on the subject of soundstage, bass, and general “richness” and instrument separation
- Surprisingly, the Pixel 8 Professional sounds worse than I bear in mind it sounding a number of months again, and my unit hasn’t suffered any bodily injury; Google’s flagship is quieter, mushier, and general the least spectacular “speaker cellphone” amongst the three
- Then again, the Cellphone 15 Professional Max sounds the most effective to my ear, which isn’t precisely shocking provided that its predecessors already had the lead in sound high quality; the 15 Professional Max sounds fuller, richer, hotter, and simply places out probably the most bass amongst the three, which is definitely spectacular (for a mainstream flagship cellphone)
After flicking by way of a bunch of tracks, I targeted on listening to SHM and The Weeknd’s “Moth To a Flame”, which confirmed probably the most variations between the Galaxy, Pixel, and iPhone audio system (at the very least to my ear). Keep in mind that which cellphone sounds “higher” would possibly differ primarily based on the tune/style. Regardless of that, the iPhone 15 Professional Max additionally sounded the most effective after I performed a number of unique tracks I uploaded on all telephones.
$1,000 flagship telephones don’t have to have mediocre audio system, however phone-makers preserve ignoring sound
Though I’m grateful the tiny rear audio system of previous instances are gone, since then, each different side of the smartphone has seen considerably rather more love and upgrades.
Ultimately, whereas pivotal components and elements of the smartphone have seen a gradual and indeniable progress over time (design, show, digital camera, processing energy, endurance), most cellphone makers appear to disregard placing effort into making their telephones sound good. And this doesn’t sit proper with me.
As somebody who likes listening to music immediately from my cellphone (I don’t personal an exterior Bluetooth speaker, until you rely my Google Nest Mini), I can’t assist however discover this to be somewhat bit insulting – particularly when it additionally applies to the a number of $1,000+ flagship telephones sitting on my desk.
Listening to music apart, immediately, individuals devour tons of content material on their telephones, which may gain advantage from an ideal set of audio system simply as a lot – you’ve YouTube movies, films, podcasts, and suree… Even TikTok.
What wouldn’t it take for Apple, Samsung, and Google to present us flagship telephones with nice sounding audio system? I believe I’ve the perfect resolution!
A 2+1 speaker setup with two “common” stereo drivers and a single, giant rear speaker just like the one within the Nubia Music sounds preferrred!
So… What wouldn’t it take for audio system on mainstream telephones to (lastly) get to the following stage, and is it a practical improve to count on?
For starters, sure, good audio system on costly telephones is 100% a practical expectation to have! That being mentioned, there are some apparent limitations to how “wonderful” audio system on telephones would possibly have the ability to sound with the present design and tech telephones are working with.
Nonetheless, I can assume of some sensible concepts that don’t require your iPhone or Android to change into a pill to sound higher:
- Mainstream phone-makers should take an instance from gaming cellphone just like the Asus ROG Cellphone 7 Final, which has a set of spectacular sounding twin audio system with giant drivers and full bass because of giant bass chambers
- 4 audio system as a substitute of two? The 2 additional audio system might be on the highest and backside, and even on the perimeters of the cellphone for a spatial, encompass sound impact
- Make extra folding telephones, which have more room to work with to create a fuller sound; enhance present folding cellphone audio system?
- Final however not least, let’s not neglect the Nubia Music (which is the inspiration behind this text); in fact, having a single rear speaker wouldn’t be an ideal resolution, however what if we’ve a big rear speaker along with two “common” stereo audio system? That approach you may make the most of all of them relying on what sort of media you’re consuming, and whether or not your cellphone is sitting flat on the desk or not!
The ROG Cellphone 7 Final (which has some exception audio system) isn’t all that a lot bigger than a daily flagship. In reality, it’s far narrower than the Galaxy S24 Extremely.
Anyway… I’ve a hunch Apple will proceed to be the “chief” in making probably the most constant progress in how the audio system on non-gaming flagship telephones sound. And that’s not solely as a result of the iPhone has traditionally had comparatively higher sounding audio system than Android flagships.
Apple has one other, distinctive incentive to enhance the multimedia expertise on the iPhone, and that’s the Imaginative and prescient Professional headset, which (similar to the iPhone) is ready to seize Spatial movies. After all, a part of each stellar video is (or least must be) stellar sound, and this may very well be the motivation for Apple to additional enhance the audio system on the iPhone 16 sequence (and past).
Tying up properly with the discharge of the Imaginative and prescient Professional headset, we’ve heard rumors about new, considerably upgraded microphones coming to iPhone 16 Professional, which is one other side of audio and multimedia expertise Apple and Android shouldn’t ignore.
Both approach, if cellphone makers can discover the area to suit 3-5 cameras on the again of a cellphone, with humongous digital camera bumps, I’m certain they will make area for a lot higher audio system!
