The phone part of smartphones?

[Sailorlite]

Lots of discussion these days as to which is the best smartphone. Cameras, screen size and resolution, synching, etc., are all thoroughly reviewed, but what about the actual telephone performance?

 

Does the new iPhone, for example, outperform the newest Samsungs in terms of speaker clarity, speakerphone function, mic transmission, tower range, etc.? How much of smartphone quality is carrier related, and has little to do with phone specs? Are all phones really about the same in terms of phone performance or should we try to pay careful attention to any differences?

[szurszewski]

I dunno - I almost never make/receive calls on my iPhone; I do text, email, Skype and FaceTime pretty often - those all work great

josh

 

edit: The size of the iPhone 6, for me, is a better phone size than my previous iPhone 4s, as far as actually holding it up to my head/ear for talking/listening. The downside is that the 4s was a much better fit for my had - I guess I've got a big head and small hands. Oh well.

[Dave_zoom_zoom]

Lots of discussion these days as to which is the best smartphone. Cameras, screen size and resolution, synching, etc., are all thoroughly reviewed, but what about the actual telephone performance?

 

Does the new iPhone, for example, outperform the newest Samsungs in terms of speaker clarity, speakerphone function, mic transmission, tower range, etc.? How much of smartphone quality is carrier related, and has little to do with phone specs? Are all phones really about the same in terms of phone performance or should we try to pay careful attention to any differences?

 

 

I think you ask some very pertinent questions. I have hearing problems and would love to know which cell phones have the best clarity both on and off speaker phone. I'm using an old Samsung "Rugby" and I just use it as a PHONE. (I think it's not the best)

 

It seems that whenever I stop at a phone center store and ask questions re: sound quality, I just get some blank looks followed by comments like "They are all about the same" followed by "Let me tell you about all the newest features on these latest models".

 

I'd just like to have phone that has very good sound reproduction. I just use it as a phone. Don't care about all the rest. Just try and find one!

 

Dave

[elkroeger]

Last spring we were overdue for new phones. We looked and looked (well, mostly the wife did). We tried to compare coverage maps, as I was working in a no-coverage location. And we tried to compare individual phone ranges (output power & sensitivity).

 

In the end, we were able to find next to nothing on individual phone ranges. The coverage maps all generally looked alike. And who's to say how much you can believe on those. That left us pretty much comparing the service plans and prices. Maybe someone more tech savvy than we are could get somewhere looking up stats.

 

On the other hand though, we got some phones, and they work fine, sound fine, and we really don't have any complaints. I suspect this is one of those cases where they really are pretty much all the same.

[OoPEZoO]

On my personal experience. My family pretty much all has iPhones on AT&T. The exceptions are my Sister with a Samsung Galaxy (also on AT&T), and my Step Daughter with a Samsung Galaxy on Verizon. All of our iPhones sound fantastic in all situations. My Sisters Samsung on AT&T sounds fine. My Step Daughters phone sounds like garbage 24-7, especially when she insists on using the speakerphone. That could be the phone, the network, or the mumbling mouthful of marbles she seems to carry around, but whatever it is....it's the worst of the bunch by far.

[Mike]

I'm an Apple fanboy, but with their increasingly nutso pricing I may not be one forever. Nonetheless, here's my experience:

 

I have an iPhone 6 and my wife has an iPhone 5S. All of our iPhones have offered good calling quality, but I feel that the 6 actually is better than the others I've owned. The speakerphone quality is actually shockingly good.

 

My belief, though, is that call quality has more to do with your carrier and your proximity to cell towers. We were with AT&T for years, but switched (back) to Verizon about five years ago after finding that AT&T's coverage in rural Wisconsin was poor. My wife, who travels extensively, lamented the fact that she could get great cell phone reception in the middle of the Serengeti, but couldn't use her phone at her mom's place, which had absolutely no AT&T coverage.

 

I think most cell phones have more or less equivalent call quality, but the first iPhone 6 I had did have a defective receiver (the microphone assembly of the gizmo). I took it to an Apple Store, where they popped it out and replaced it with a new assembly. It worked well for a couple of days, then started acting up again, at which point they unwrapped a new phone and gave it to me without any further hassle. That sort of service is one of the reasons that I've stayed with Apple products, but it comes at a hefty premium, in terms of the purchase price.

[Guest Kakugo]

I don't know about iPhone's (though all my friends have them) but I can tell you the Huawei P8 has excellent speaker clarity and mic transmission. The latest Nokia's are also quite good under that point of view.