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Smart Phones: Best PHONE CALL Sound Quality
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thekma...@gmail.com
May 20, 2016, 7:24:32 PM5/20/16
to
Smart Phones: Best PHONE CALL Sound Quality
I googled best smart phone sound quality, and all
I got were 1,000 articles about how good MUSIC
sounded when played on them! >:(
So if you own a smartphone(Blackberry, iPhone,
Galaxy, etc), pleaae briefly comment on how you
feel it performs for you on PHONE CALLS. I.E.:
How others sound to you, how you sound to
others, drop-outs, missed words,etc.
Thanks!
I googled best smart phone sound quality, and all
I got were 1,000 articles about how good MUSIC
sounded when played on them! >:(
So if you own a smartphone(Blackberry, iPhone,
Galaxy, etc), pleaae briefly comment on how you
feel it performs for you on PHONE CALLS. I.E.:
How others sound to you, how you sound to
others, drop-outs, missed words,etc.
Thanks!
Phil Hobbs
May 21, 2016, 8:00:47 AM5/21/16
to
to switch to these crappy VOX walkie-talkie things is beyond me.
Use a land line if you want quality.
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics
160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510
hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net
jurb...@gmail.com
May 21, 2016, 12:39:08 PM5/21/16
to
I would also be interested in such information, even on dumb phones. I don't need or want a smart phone but do want a cellphone. Those vary as well. One I had I could not understand almost at all. And then add to that the noise cancelling on the person talking to me it was practically impossible to use at all.
One way to get answers might be to call a cellphone dealer (they are more ubiquitous than Starbucks these days) and tell them you are hard of hearing. (if that term is unfamiliar - hearing loss)
Unfortunately that won't tell you anything about the transmit quality. However if it records video and gives an audio spec for that you can reasonably assume the front mic is the same as the back mic. I think. Maybe.
One way to get answers might be to call a cellphone dealer (they are more ubiquitous than Starbucks these days) and tell them you are hard of hearing. (if that term is unfamiliar - hearing loss)
Unfortunately that won't tell you anything about the transmit quality. However if it records video and gives an audio spec for that you can reasonably assume the front mic is the same as the back mic. I think. Maybe.
thekma...@gmail.com
May 21, 2016, 1:25:41 PM5/21/16
to
I'll add input to my own query: IPhone
phone sound quality is terrible. Myself
and the other call always asking each
other to repeat themself. Lots of drop-
outs. Part of the problem is that
certain generations of the iPhone
integrated the antenna into the perimeter
(meta) frame - a la iPhone 4. Jobs in
no uncertain terms stated NO MASTS OR
EXTERNAL antennae! We are suffering the
consequences of such design decisions
now.
Any Droid/Galaxy owners out there?
Blackberry?
jurb...@gmail.com
May 21, 2016, 9:14:49 PM5/21/16
to
So you mean dropouts ? I thought you meant microphone and speaker quality.
Of course then some dropouts are just the noise canceller working. If dropouts are the issue, look at the signal meter when they are happening.
Of course then some dropouts are just the noise canceller working. If dropouts are the issue, look at the signal meter when they are happening.
thekma...@gmail.com
May 21, 2016, 10:32:50 PM5/21/16
to
a phone call on a smart(non-flip or candy bar) phone.
Phil Allison
May 21, 2016, 11:03:22 PM5/21/16
to
thekma...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>
> I mean *all* issues affecting the ability to conduct
> a phone call on a smart(non-flip or candy bar) phone.
>
** Nearly all the issues with using a smart phone are environmental and/or user related - not the fault of the phone. When the call is from one smart phone to another, the problems become magnified and neither party is able to say who's phone is the bad performer at a particular time.
>
>
> I mean *all* issues affecting the ability to conduct
> a phone call on a smart(non-flip or candy bar) phone.
>
Assuming that you can fix any of the issues by buying a different phone is plain dumb.
.... Phil
thekma...@gmail.com
May 21, 2016, 11:26:16 PM5/21/16
to
thekma...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>
> I mean *all* issues affecting the ability to conduct
> a phone call on a smart(non-flip or candy bar) phone.
>
** Nearly all the issues with using a smart phone are environmental and/or user related - not the fault of the phone. When the call is from one smart phone to another, the problems become magnified and neither party is able to say who's phone is the bad performer at a particular time. "
Realllly?? I had far fewer dropouts and garbled exchanges on 'regular'
>
>
> I mean *all* issues affecting the ability to conduct
> a phone call on a smart(non-flip or candy bar) phone.
>
** Nearly all the issues with using a smart phone are environmental and/or user related - not the fault of the phone. When the call is from one smart phone to another, the problems become magnified and neither party is able to say who's phone is the bad performer at a particular time. "
cell phones than on smart ones. And if one end of the call was a land line,
the call fidelity, compared to between smart phones, was closer to that
of a 100watt per channel Pioneer amp and 4ft tall speakers! Seriously,
purely as a PHONE, I can attest the iPhone sounds TERRIBLE, be it
my iPhone 4 or my wife's 5.
So just how are these issues "user-related", pray tell?
"Assuming that you can fix any of the issues by buying a different phone is plain dumb. "
out there to see if I'm alone or not on the issue
of smart phone call quality in general.
.... Phil "
*By the way, if we experience a thread-crap, please
do not let it discourage continuance of this
conversation. Such folks have no life.
Phil Allison
May 22, 2016, 12:04:48 AM5/22/16
to
thekma...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > I mean *all* issues affecting the ability to conduct
> > a phone call on a smart(non-flip or candy bar) phone.
> >
>
>
> ** Nearly all the issues with using a smart phone are environmental and/or user related - not the fault of the phone. When the call is from one smart phone to another, the problems become magnified and neither party is able to say who's phone is the bad performer at a particular time. "
>
>
> Realllly??
** Yeeeeppp !!
>
> > I mean *all* issues affecting the ability to conduct
> > a phone call on a smart(non-flip or candy bar) phone.
> >
>
>
> ** Nearly all the issues with using a smart phone are environmental and/or user related - not the fault of the phone. When the call is from one smart phone to another, the problems become magnified and neither party is able to say who's phone is the bad performer at a particular time. "
>
>
> Realllly??
( snip pile of drivel )
> So just how are these issues "user-related", pray tell?
>
Which is stupid, cos I cannot discuss YOU.
> I'm not assuming that at all. Just collecting input
> out there to see if I'm alone or not on the issue
> of smart phone call quality in general.
>
.... Phil
thekma...@gmail.com
May 22, 2016, 12:23:15 AM5/22/16
to
Phil Allison wrote: "** Whatever I say, you will claim that you do not do that. "
Try me.
Try me.
jurb...@gmail.com
May 22, 2016, 12:41:52 AM5/22/16
to
>"Realllly?? I had far fewer dropouts and garbled exchanges on 'regular'
>cell phones than on smart ones. And if one end of the call was a land line,
>the call fidelity, compared to between smart phones, was closer to that
>of a 100watt per channel Pioneer amp and 4ft tall speakers!"
Dropouts are not a loose connection. And it almost is not directly related to loss of signal, it might be traffic. And then you have spread spectrum and multipath which necessitate error correction. And when the errors add up too much it has no choice but to stop. You don't want it to try to figure out what you were going to say next. That is for our greatgrandkids.
>cell phones than on smart ones. And if one end of the call was a land line,
>the call fidelity, compared to between smart phones, was closer to that
>of a 100watt per channel Pioneer amp and 4ft tall speakers!"
So, OK the speaker quality is one issue. The microphone issue is a totally different thing. You are asking this thing to pick up your voice accurately from the side of your face. And cancel out the noise when you are at a football game or racetrack or whatever.
Or any noisy environment. I think the audio amps in these things are more of a battery issue than the RF transmitter.
But we do not need it that loud and maybe you need an app. LOL I NEVER thought I would say that. But if you take and reset the audio parameters on your phone to your liking that would work.
If the chipset can do it of course and maybe that is the deeper question of your question. Which phone allow you to have control over the audio properties, OF PHONE CALLS. If any do that is what you want. Change the settings of the noise canceller. Maybe you could have an EQ for the earpiece. (earpiece, NOT the speaker)
jurb...@gmail.com
May 22, 2016, 12:48:20 AM5/22/16
to
>"** Far as I can tell, from calls made to my land line phone, the audio quality >is fine - providing the caller has the phone to their ear and is located in a >quiet place with a good signal. "
I used to send audio from an amp right into the lines. Like "Yeah, you wanna hear this tune ?" and then I would connect the speaker wires to the phone wires. Some were actually impressed with the quality, which is not surprising because most telephones around here still had carbon microphones.
Jeff Liebermann
May 22, 2016, 11:07:03 AM5/22/16
to
On Fri, 20 May 2016 16:24:29 -0700 (PDT), thekma...@gmail.com
wrote:
>Smart Phones: Best PHONE CALL Sound Quality
No, you want the best VOICE quality. Sounds, noise, music, test
tones, and speech are all different. Todays digital smartphones use
CODECs that are optimized for voice. Some work better than others.
Some sound great with a good BER (bit error rate) but fall apart when
the BER climbs. Some do a good job of perceptual voice coding for
mens voices, but not so good with womens. All cellular CODECs are a
compromise between bandwidth and channel loading (number of
conversations per unit bandwidth). You can have lots of
conversations, but everyone sounds awful. Or you can have fewer
conversations, everyone sounds great, but the cellular provider is
complaining to the FCC that they need more frequencies.
All this is not anything inherent in the design of a particular phone.
Under the covers, the CODECs and radios are fairly similar. The
difference is the cellular vendor, who controls the available
bandwidth, channel loading, CODEC used, power per carrier, and various
parameters that affect voice quality. You should not be looking for
the best instrument, but rather the best carrier (which incidentally
varies regionally even for a single carrier).
>I googled best smart phone sound quality, and all
>I got were 1,000 articles about how good MUSIC
>sounded when played on them! >:(
Search for "Smartphone review site":
<https://www.google.com/#q=smartphone+review+sites>
Plenty to choose from. What you'll get are anecdotal reviews and
"crowd source" compilations of reviews that are generally worthless.
Self-selected surveys are even worse. In most cases, most of the
factors that affect voice quality are missing. For example, BlueGoof
headsets that mangle the audio, users yelling into the microphone,
congestion causing high error rates, and unrealistic expectations. The
last is the most common.
>So if you own a smartphone(Blackberry, iPhone,
>Galaxy, etc), pleaae briefly comment on how you
>feel it performs for you on PHONE CALLS. I.E.:
>How others sound to you, how you sound to
>others, drop-outs, missed words,etc.
Check the various phone and provider review sites.
Also, since you posted this to a repair newsgroup, I suggest you check
iFixit repairability scores, which will give you a good clue as to how
well the phone is built, and whether it will survive its typical 18-24
month lifetime.
<https://www.ifixit.com/smartphone-repairability>
--
Jeff Liebermann je...@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
wrote:
>Smart Phones: Best PHONE CALL Sound Quality
tones, and speech are all different. Todays digital smartphones use
CODECs that are optimized for voice. Some work better than others.
Some sound great with a good BER (bit error rate) but fall apart when
the BER climbs. Some do a good job of perceptual voice coding for
mens voices, but not so good with womens. All cellular CODECs are a
compromise between bandwidth and channel loading (number of
conversations per unit bandwidth). You can have lots of
conversations, but everyone sounds awful. Or you can have fewer
conversations, everyone sounds great, but the cellular provider is
complaining to the FCC that they need more frequencies.
All this is not anything inherent in the design of a particular phone.
Under the covers, the CODECs and radios are fairly similar. The
difference is the cellular vendor, who controls the available
bandwidth, channel loading, CODEC used, power per carrier, and various
parameters that affect voice quality. You should not be looking for
the best instrument, but rather the best carrier (which incidentally
varies regionally even for a single carrier).
>I googled best smart phone sound quality, and all
>I got were 1,000 articles about how good MUSIC
>sounded when played on them! >:(
<https://www.google.com/#q=smartphone+review+sites>
Plenty to choose from. What you'll get are anecdotal reviews and
"crowd source" compilations of reviews that are generally worthless.
Self-selected surveys are even worse. In most cases, most of the
factors that affect voice quality are missing. For example, BlueGoof
headsets that mangle the audio, users yelling into the microphone,
congestion causing high error rates, and unrealistic expectations. The
last is the most common.
>So if you own a smartphone(Blackberry, iPhone,
>Galaxy, etc), pleaae briefly comment on how you
>feel it performs for you on PHONE CALLS. I.E.:
>How others sound to you, how you sound to
>others, drop-outs, missed words,etc.
Also, since you posted this to a repair newsgroup, I suggest you check
iFixit repairability scores, which will give you a good clue as to how
well the phone is built, and whether it will survive its typical 18-24
month lifetime.
<https://www.ifixit.com/smartphone-repairability>
--
Jeff Liebermann je...@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
Jeff Liebermann
May 22, 2016, 11:27:03 AM5/22/16
to
On Sat, 21 May 2016 10:25:39 -0700 (PDT), thekma...@gmail.com
wrote:
>I'll add input to my own query: IPhone
>phone sound quality is terrible. Myself
>and the other call always asking each
>other to repeat themself. Lots of drop-
>outs. Part of the problem is that
>certain generations of the iPhone
>integrated the antenna into the perimeter
>(meta) frame - a la iPhone 4. Jobs in
>no uncertain terms stated NO MASTS OR
>EXTERNAL antennae! We are suffering the
>consequences of such design decisions
>now.
I've also noticed the same problem. I have customers, mostly on
Verizon, with the latest iPhone 6 mutations and they still sound
awful. I was a bit perturbed so I investigated. They had VoLTE
turned off.
<https://www.tekrevue.com/tip/enable-volte-iphone-6/>
<https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203078>
Like magic, the audio quality dramatically improved on the various
iPhone 6 handsets. The iPhone 4 and 5 do not support VoLTE so they
still sound awful.
In 2010, I did my own test for the "grip of death" problem on the
iPhone 4:
<http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/cellular/cell-test.htm>
Steve Jobs was right that all phones exhibit the problem, but the
iPhone 4 was the worst. Teaching people how to hold an iPhone with 2
fingers has proven to be an exercise in futility.
Incidentally, if you miss that 1980's analog cellphone audio quality,
maybe this will help:
<http://www.thumbsupuk.com/Products/80s_Retro_iPhone_Case>
or maybe just add a megaphone:
<https://www.google.com/search?q=cell+phone+megaphone&tbm=isch>
<http://enandis.com/en/designs/megaphone.html>
or a BlueGoof retro handset:
<https://www.google.com/search?q=bluetooth+retro+handset&tbm=isch>
wrote:
>I'll add input to my own query: IPhone
>phone sound quality is terrible. Myself
>and the other call always asking each
>other to repeat themself. Lots of drop-
>outs. Part of the problem is that
>certain generations of the iPhone
>integrated the antenna into the perimeter
>(meta) frame - a la iPhone 4. Jobs in
>no uncertain terms stated NO MASTS OR
>EXTERNAL antennae! We are suffering the
>consequences of such design decisions
>now.
Verizon, with the latest iPhone 6 mutations and they still sound
awful. I was a bit perturbed so I investigated. They had VoLTE
turned off.
<https://www.tekrevue.com/tip/enable-volte-iphone-6/>
<https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203078>
Like magic, the audio quality dramatically improved on the various
iPhone 6 handsets. The iPhone 4 and 5 do not support VoLTE so they
still sound awful.
In 2010, I did my own test for the "grip of death" problem on the
iPhone 4:
<http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/cellular/cell-test.htm>
Steve Jobs was right that all phones exhibit the problem, but the
iPhone 4 was the worst. Teaching people how to hold an iPhone with 2
fingers has proven to be an exercise in futility.
Incidentally, if you miss that 1980's analog cellphone audio quality,
maybe this will help:
<http://www.thumbsupuk.com/Products/80s_Retro_iPhone_Case>
or maybe just add a megaphone:
<https://www.google.com/search?q=cell+phone+megaphone&tbm=isch>
<http://enandis.com/en/designs/megaphone.html>
or a BlueGoof retro handset:
<https://www.google.com/search?q=bluetooth+retro+handset&tbm=isch>
thekma...@gmail.com
May 22, 2016, 12:07:12 PM5/22/16
to
Jeff Liebermann wrote: "No, you want the best VOICE quality.
Sounds, noise, music, test..."
That's what I *thought* I was asking
for opinions on! Which phones had the
best sound quality for PHONE CALLS!
Sounds, noise, music, test..."
That's what I *thought* I was asking
for opinions on! Which phones had the
best sound quality for PHONE CALLS!
renado...@gmail.com
Aug 8, 2016, 1:39:17 AM8/8/16
to
There were so many choices for best sound quality smart phone. But it depends on your budget. If you are looking for some reasonable good sound quality phone try Alcatel Onetouch X1. Its a very attractive phone with excellent sound quality .
see this https://www.buymobile.com.bd/Alcatel%20Onetouch%20X1%207053D
Jon Elson
Aug 8, 2016, 4:01:11 PM8/8/16
to
I just put together a system with a PC running Asterisk/FreePBX and Snom 300
phones. There's a guy selling Snom 300's for $5 on eBay. While it may not
have quite broadcast studio sound, it is way better than the analog PBX we
had before. I'm really happy with them.
Jon
phones. There's a guy selling Snom 300's for $5 on eBay. While it may not
have quite broadcast studio sound, it is way better than the analog PBX we
had before. I'm really happy with them.
Jon
buymobil...@gmail.com
Aug 13, 2016, 1:17:22 AM8/13/16
to
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