Best sounding smart phone?

[Deacon Jubal]

I am looking to get a high quality smart phone. I would like to get one that really sounds great. What are your opinions?

 

[vinyldavid]

iPhone.

 

[Gohan]

The iPhone is!

Gohan

 

[stabby]

Seriously? I love my iphone, but you're at the mercy of the earbuds.

Portable sound is for convenience, not sound quality.

You can spend a hundred or more on better earbuds, but you're still at the mercy of the environment around you.

Road noise, jet engines, whatever, are going to be the key players in your Quixotic quest for great smart phone sound.

 

[bastek]

Nextel Motorola phones have better speakerphones than any smart (touch screen) phone i have. I think the new HTC has optical out, but the speaker sucks.

 

[thedelihaus]

Seriously? I love my iphone, but you're at the mercy of the earbuds...

I run large aftermarket headphones right out of the iPhone, no problem.

 

[ev13wt]

Seriously? I love my iphone, but you're at the mercy of the earbuds.

Portable sound is for convenience, not sound quality.

You can spend a hundred or more on better earbuds, but you're still at the mercy of the environment around you.

Road noise, jet engines, whatever, are going to be the key players in your Quixotic quest for great smart phone sound.

Get closed tyspe earphones?

The AKG "DJ" ones, mid sized, come to mind. You will get run over by the jet before you hear it! (Well, not really, but you get the point...)

 

[kipkeston]

There are lots of nice IEM's with mics that you can use. From what I understand the iphone4 is in the lead. Actually I'm listening to it now at work with ms-1s and lossless radiohead

 

[TejasRichard]

Are you into customization and DIY? If so, android kicks the pants off of iphone. The sound quality is just as good, and you won't have to deal with the dropped calls (my MIL and GMIL both have iphone4's....I have yet to have a complete conversation with either one of them of longer than 5 minuets w/o having reception issues). Plus, if you compare phone packages, Sprint is MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper than AT&T when talking about comparable packages:

Sprint:109.99 unlimited everything

AT&T:134.99 (this is the closest I could get to the same package. AT&T doesn't have a true unlimited data plan for the Iphone...you are limited to 2 gigs per month)

This would equal roughly $300 bucks more per year if you went with AT&T.

Iphone guys, I am not trying to bash you or your purchase. If you like what you have, that is all that matters and I won't try to sway you. I am a tinkerer. I love that my phone runs on open-source software. I love that I can customize it to my heart's content, including choosing between many, many different GUI's....and I don't mean just skins making the same old thing look a little bit different, but actual front ends that add functionality (or remove it, if that is your bent). I love that I can even write programs for my phone, and am encouraged to do so by Google (heck, they even support a cloud-based app developer). But, at the end of the day, you gotta go with what trips your trigger. If that is the iphone4, more power to you!

 

[tgunner]

I'd avoid Android for the time being, the included music player isn't up to the task, and 3rd party ones are either terrible or "just OK."

 

[thedelihaus]

I use regular headphones with the iPhone- when I get a call, I hear through the headphones, and my speaking is picked up by the iPhone mic.

Grado 125s, Sennheiser 497s, closed ear budget Panasonics, Sony Earbuds ($47 'buds that the cord rubber melted, cracked and crumbled after 2 years- non-plussed).

 

[Old_Tech]

I am looking to get a high quality smart phone. I would like to get one that really sounds great. What are your opinions?

I have been using the iPhone three for a year or so and I really like the sound. I have not used it in a dock or with an external DAC though mostly Rapsody and earbuds.

 

[mikeybc]

Yep certainly the iPhone using Apple lossless. Only drawback is you need to use iTunes, but once you figure that out its easy. It will drive many "real" headphones with no problem too.

 

[Rodeodave]

Nokia 5800, FolderPlay, FLAC (on a microSD card) and Sony MDR-EX71SL in-ear headphones...hard to beat.
Plus there's no stupid software, the phone has a Micro-B USB port and works like a USB stick, just copy the files to the microSD card. FolderPlay is a folder-based player that will play about anything, including FLACs. The phone accepts any 3.5mm TRS plug.

 

[Cermanic]

I have the iphone 4 and love it. Not a problem at all. But, i got Bose headset for it. I've had them for the last 2 iPhones I've had. Excellent for music and for phone calls. I also can't say anything bad about the B&W stuff for Apple.

 

[uofmtiger]

I like the iPhone 3GS that I own. I have not tested it against other phones, but I am happy with it. I mainly use it while it is on a dock feeding a separate amp in my car or office. They also sell LOD (line out docks) that you can use with a portable amp if you are especially serious about SQ.

I have several Apple Lossless albums on it for when I want to listen critically via headphones, but I mainly use it for casual background music in the car and office and choose Pandora (for the most part) when I am not listening critically.

The other benefit is that it has software that you can use it to remotely control iTunes on a computer with the computer display off. This comes in handy when you have your computer hooked up to one or more systems.

I had my iPhone jailbroken for a long time. It makes it possible to customize the screen, icon sizes, dock, etc.. However, if you are the type that likes this type of thing, an Android is a better choice. I found that I got tired of messing with it. When I updated to the new OS, I still installed the jailbreak, but I mainly use it for a couple of apps that I got addicted to rather than changing the look of it.

 

[KeninDC]

I prefer my Samsung Intercept (Droid) audio through the same set of buds (Senn... CX200) than my iPod.

More natural sound. Better midrange. Less boomy bass. Only drawback (but not for me), is that you cannot crank it. I prefer the drag and drop to iTunes, too.

Ken

 

[uofmtiger]

I prefer my Samsung Intercept (Droid) audio through the same set of buds (Senn... CX200) than my iPod.

Not all iPods sound the same. Many people believe the newer iPhones sound better than most iPods, too.

 

[uxwbill]

I am looking to get a high quality smart phone. I would like to get one that really sounds great. What are your opinions?

My bet is that the iPod Touch/iPhone probably have better quality output components (DAC, headphone amp, etc) than do some of the competition. Still, it's a close race. All of the handset manufacturers are trying to keep up with Apple.

If you're talking of the internal speaker, they're all about the same as far as I know. They get the job done but sound pretty dismal.

 

[uofmtiger]

If you're talking of the internal speaker, they're all about the same as far as I know. They get the job done but sound pretty dismal.

When I go on vacation, I usually bring a blutooth external speaker from Motorolla. It still does not sound that great, but it is louder and flat and small, so it is easy to take on the road.