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[Q] Samsung Galaxy S vs HTC Desire

I'm going to buy a new phone very soon, and have some difficulties in choosing the perfect phone..
After a lot of thinking and reading I've come to a conclusion that it will either be the Samsung Galaxy S or the HTC Desire.
Samsung Galaxy S has overall exceedingly better hardware (GPU,CPU,Camera) than the HTC Desire, but the software, TouchWiz 3.0 looks like **** (iOS copy). Therefore I'm also thinking of buying HTC Desire since HTC Sense looks brilliant.
I want Galaxy S because of the amazing screen and the FLAC support which is quite important to me as I have the Monster Turbine Gold Pro headphones, and I don't want to waste them on bad audio quality. The HTC Desire as I said earlier has HTC Sense which is an extremely attractive UI, but then again it lacks the ability to play FLAC files and the screen is supposedly useless in direct sunlight.
Galaxy also lacks flash, but I could live without it as Galaxy's camera is better than Desire's.
Is the audio quality on the Galaxy S a lot better than the Desire, or is the FLAC support just there for advertisement, does it actually play FLAC in the quality it should be played?
HTC Desire from my understanding has already gotten Froyo while Galaxy has to wait till the end of September, is this true?
Is there any possibility that Galaxy S will get ROM for HTC Sense?
Which Phone is the better one and why?
Thanks in advance
Please do not come with recommendations of phones using another OS than Andriod and that doesn't sell in Europe.

Welcome to forums
Have a look here for a detailed comparative.
I would choose Desire as it´s HTC build and has Sense
Better design as well!

The Galaxy S has a 4" screen with a the faster hummingbird processor. Front facing camera.
I'd choose the Galaxy S.

Major hardware specs are probably agreed to be better for the Galaxy S over the Desire (i.e. cpu, gpu functionality, ram, screen) - that's something you can't change.
Externally, the Desire hardware design is nicer (subjective) - but that's something that a skin or case can change.
If you need a flash then that may be an important factor to you. The Samsung has had issues with gps (although that may be fixed now) and some lag (although all potentially suffer from that - may also be something that'll be fixed in firmware updates) - these are also mostly subjective though.
Desire has 2.2 already, Samsung has committed to bringing it to the Galaxy so that's hopefully a moot issue.
HTC do turn out phones rather quick so their current top may not be there for long - Samsung don't push that many out so their current champ *may* be so for longer and *may* get longer support...
Both are ultimately great. Software is software so you shouldn't really go on that - interfaces can be changed. Go with what you feel and what you can get the best overall deal on - I doubt neither would leave you wishing you had got the other.

Music quality
I'm leaning towards the Galaxy S.
Still not sure, only remaining factor would be whether the music quality on the Galaxy S is actually better than on the Desire.
Anybody tried to play music on both with good headphones?

I'm also about to get a new phone and my choices were basically between those two. I'm not enthralled by the fact that both have PenTile screens (which makes text less sharp, as they don't have the full complement of subpixels) but there's not really anything else in the UK at their level, and the Galaxy S' screen is both bigger and unambiguously better, particularly in sunlight. The Galaxy S also has a much better multi-touch digitiser - the Desire has the same one as the Nexus One, which only supports two points of contact and gets easily confused.
The Galaxy S also has a slightly better CPU and a much better GPU, and more built-in storage (though that's not very important), while the Desire has more RAM and a camera flash but is otherwise outclassed hardware-wise. But the Desire is more polished software-wise, with HTC Sense and without the lag and GPS issues of the Galaxy S - but it's early days and Samsung are clearly working hard on firmware so hopefully these will be fixed, and there's workarounds for the lag. The Desire also has the advantage that developers around here are more familiar with HTC devices, but there's work on porting CyanogenMod to the Galaxy S which suggests that developers are taking it seriously.
I'm going to go with the Galaxy S because of its hardware advantages - software can be changed but hardware can't etc. TouchWiz 3 gets mixed reviews, but it's always possible to just use something like Launcher Pro instead, that being the advantage of having an open OS!
Afraid I can't comment on the audio performance of the phones though.

audio and video are both excellent in the galaxy s (vibrant here)... I got one force close on touchwiz... it was day one and I was putting my phone under as much stress as I could... its the only one so far...
My quadrant score is between 1400 and 1500, linpack is between 8.3 and 8.5
--this blows all htc devices with the same software away...--
My phone gets 55+ fps on neocore and finishes the benchmark ten seconds quicker than a desire..
with all the different versions coming out and the developer support I see growing galaxy s hands down
(I have also owned or tested nearly every htc gsm android device... minus the aria, and desire.. )

As a current Vibrant owner I was unsure whether to wait it out for the rumored HTC handsets coming to TMO. I'm glad I didn't, the screen is unbelievable, the processor is lightning fast, and the dedicated gpu makes gaming an experience. In other words pick up the phone use a home replacement app, and you'll be good to go.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Galaxy S has froyo now leaked but all working

I think I'll go for the Samsung Galaxy S.
As a lot of you have said already the software can always be changed, hardware on the other hand, cannot.
I still want to know, just out of curiosity, if the Galaxy S' sound quality is actually better than Desire's?
If the sound quality is noticeably better on the Galaxy S' I'll 100% go for it, if not, I'll most likely go for it anyway.
Seems like almost nobody actually tried the music on both.

From the reviews I read people said sound was definitely better then the Desire...

All I can offer on audio quality is this:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9000_galaxy_s-review-478p6.php
According to that GSMArena review it has a flatter frequency response curve than the Desire, lower noise levels and higher dynamic range.
I don't have personal experience of it though, so I can't vouch for how it sounds myself.
Edit: It does do some odd filtering on headphones, though, which can apparently be turned off:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=735918

I'm going to buy the Samsung Galaxy S.
Thank you to everyone that replied to my posts.

Just to stir things up!!!
My partner received her galaxy last week, within 3 days she had returned it for the Desire. and is completely satisfied, as am I, that she made the correct choice.
Don’t get me wrong, the Galaxy was a nice phone. but it was very light and plasticy which was a major turn off for us. Plus the audio quality was no where near as good as the Desire.
on paper the Galaxy may have better hardware performance, but let me tell, actually using both devices you don’t notice anything different, other than the Desire feels like its built properly.
That’s just our opinion, but hope it helps you

dont know, the galaxy S should be faster and better than the desire... but i tried it at the store, hell, it has loading times wtf Oo some friends got desires.. they never really need to load long..
i think thats cause the touchwiz **** from samsung.. if there would be a possibility to flash a stock froyo rom (probably there is already one), that phone would be awsome, but ONLY THEN.
but i have to say.. i love the screen. its smaller then the one from my hd2.. but still big. for me its the almost perfect size of screen. probably 4.1" would be better, but 4" is enough, i lile it. + the super amoled screen is really fantastic
the only thing why the galaxy s is crappy is the software.. if someone gets that fixes, its the best android for my opinion^.^
EDIT: btw, for me the desire screen is just too small i could NEVER enjoy surfing with that...

gdallas said:
Plus the audio quality was no where near as good as the Desire.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That does sound kinda weird, as GSMarena did say that the audio quality was amazing. There is a fix for getting the phone to sound good through headphones, and BTW, what kind of headphones did you use?

Sony bud earphhones. the sound isss both better in ear and via speaker

Short comment from me as i do have both of them in my hand for a while already.
What Desire have in advance:
- flash light
- much better mail client, support for meeting requests (create, accept, etc..)
- much easier switch of USB mode
- much better phone dial pad with really working search
- more widgets
- search in exchange global address list from peoples list (everywhere), displays even phone numbers not just email
- really good sw keyboard
What Galaxy S have in advance:
- better camera, picture is actually more crisper and more real colors
- much better display, with more precise multi-touch
- better battery live (lifetime was about 135% of Desire in my case, same usage)
- better sound from build is speaker (good for in-car instructions or as "radio")
- can play almost every audio/video format without noticeable lacking
- 3d accelerator, much higher FPS for 3d games
- 2 gigs ROM = more applications can be installed, good especially for games as games can be big
(i now froyo allows you to move it to SD card, but no app supports it so far)
- and have more sexy design!
My conclusion:
If you are sort of corporate user, with high usage of email and especially Exchange, go for Desire.
If you are multimedia freak or gamer, go for Samsung.
Howk!

I find some of the software comparisons in this thread a little hard to swallow. There are over 63,000 (over 100,000 including paid) FREE apps/widgets/keyboards/games/FLAC that can be downloaded and installed without needing any form of root or warranty voiding modification.
The sound comparison may be the only issue. However, most of the sound problem is resolved by using lossless compression: FLAC, WMA, or otherwise (an app supporting various formats can be downloading for either device!). I have yet to notice a different between a qualcomm cpu's audio processing or a samsung cpu's audio processing - when using the same headphones, and same audio file. I mean... really???

I'm getting quite confused.
Some say that the Desire's sound quality is better, some Galaxy S' is better.
Which one of these two statements are actually true? Some even say that the sound quality is the same...
Looking at the poll it looks like most people think that the Galaxy S is better, so if to just go by the poll the Galaxy S would win, but well, democracy isn't always correct.
BTW nightswim, nice post, very detailed and nice to hear from someone who owns both. Would you say that the sound quality on both phones are the same? Since you said, and I'm quoting "better sound from build is speaker" (I assume that u meant "built in"), would that mean that the sound quality is only better on the Galaxy S when listening through the built in speakers?
Bottom line: Galaxy S is overall definitely the hardware king and Desire the software king , but still extremely confused about the sound quality.

Just received my N9005

I received my Note 3 N9005 (LTE Qualcomm version) this morning and so far it's blown me away. I had an S4 (also Qualcomm LTE quad core) for a few weeks before ditching it and going back to my Note 2 due to the lag and various performance and heat issues, but I'm glad to say they're gone completely on the new Note 3. Under heavy load the back does get warm obviously, it's a fast processor and high-end GPU after all, but it stays cooler than the S4 and takes longer to heat up in general. Everything in the UI is utterly smooth and lag free, launching the camera app and taking a snap is near instant compared to the ~2 second lag on the S4 between pressing the shutter button and an image being captured. [email protected] videos look stunning, I was seriously impressed at the phone's ability to keep up and maintain the frame rate, and when in this mode the screen updates at 60fps as well so you get a good preview. [email protected] is likewise excellent, although just be sure to select 1/4 speed rather than the default 1/8 speed, as this still captures at 120fps (1/4 speed), but encodes and plays it back at 15fps (1/8 speed) which is not smooth at all. The display is absolutely beautiful, coming from the Note 2 the step up in resolution and colour presentation are immediately obvious, and even outdoors it still looks great. This is the nicest phone display I've ever laid eyes upon, and I've had a good look at most of 'em. Gone is the black crush effect, the purple redraw artefacts and the grittiness of the S4's panel, and being sAMOLED contrast is exceptional. In the hand it feels light compared to the Note 2, but at the same time sturdier, better built and there is zero flex or creaking unlike it's predecessor. USB 3.0 file transfers are noticeably quicker than USB 2, except of course if you're writing to the external MicroSD card as it's write speed is the bottleneck there. The faux-leather effect back still feels like plastic, but there's better grip and being matte, no fingerprints.
So far it feels like it justifies the high price (£604.96 from www.unlocked-mobiles.com including shipping), and time will tell on the battery life. Despite the bump in resolution I'm expecting good things there, the more efficient SOC and slightly larger capacity cell should hopefully offset the draw of running all 2,073,600 of those tiny little LEDs. So yeah, so far I love it and can easily recommend the upgrade from the Note 2, and especially the S4. If anyone wants more details, just ask

Nice little review.. what you think about the speakers? any better than the note 2? the note 2 speakers were better than s4 or any other samsung phone previously so maybe this one is a tad bit better? coming from the htc one, I know im going to miss those speakers but hopefully i dont cringe in pain from the experience on the note 3 (speaker wise) lol ..no one seems to do a review of the speakers on youtube and when i get the phone, thats the first thing i will do for people

As far as the speakers are concerned I just want them to be louder. I hate it when it is so quiet you can barely hear anything.
So can you give us an update on the loudness for the speakers please.

Don't worry about the battery life, it's pretty decent. I have posted detailed battery usage on my thread if you're interested. And the charging speed is around 48%/hour so you can topple it up pretty quickly compared to other phones.
stepinmyworld said:
Nice little review.. what you think about the speakers? any better than the note 2? the note 2 speakers were better than s4 or any other samsung phone previously so maybe this one is a tad bit better? coming from the htc one, I know im going to miss those speakers but hopefully i dont cringe in pain from the experience on the note 3 (speaker wise) lol ..no one seems to do a review of the speakers on youtube and when i get the phone, thats the first thing i will do for people
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The sound is louder than Note2's I think. I sold my note2 already so can't compare them side by side.
This video shows the audio compared to the new Sony Z1 ... hope it helps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP5Ov4zcJE0

stepinmyworld said:
Nice little review.. what you think about the speakers? any better than the note 2? the note 2 speakers were better than s4 or any other samsung phone previously so maybe this one is a tad bit better? coming from the htc one, I know im going to miss those speakers but hopefully i dont cringe in pain from the experience on the note 3 (speaker wise) lol ..no one seems to do a review of the speakers on youtube and when i get the phone, thats the first thing i will do for people
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The loud speaker is definitely an improvement on the Note 2, and being positioned on the bottom edge doesn't get obscured merely by putting the phone down on a soft surface such as the arm of my sofa. In terms of volume it's clearly louder and has less distortion than the Note 2 and S4, but it won't match the experience of the HTC One with it's dual front-facing speakers. Quality wise, it's still a tiny phone speaker so you won't be doing any serious listening with it, but it's loud and clear enough to be heard in noisy environments within limits, not in a club or near a runway obviously, but it's acceptable in the car and walking around the city. The headphone output however is I think my favourite improvement. Audio output via a decent set of headphones is simply incredible. Not just incredible for a phone, but bona fide excellent. I'm not claiming it'll best a Linn reference set up, but I've heard poorer audio from home setups and dedicated headphone amps costing many times the price of this phone. PowerAmp seems to downsample anything above 48khz, but the stock player renders 192KHz 24-bit flac files beautifully.

MohJee said:
Don't worry about the battery life, it's pretty decent. I have posted detailed battery usage on my thread if you're interested. And the charging speed is around 48%/hour so you can topple it up pretty quickly compared to other phones.
The sound is louder than Note2's I think. I sold my note2 already so can't compare them side by side.
This video shows the audio compared to the new Sony Z1 ... hope it helps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP5Ov4zcJE0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you type the name of the video here? I'm unable to click the link at work lol... but i can search the video via youtube..
---------- Post added at 09:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:03 AM ----------
MohJee said:
Don't worry about the battery life, it's pretty decent. I have posted detailed battery usage on my thread if you're interested. And the charging speed is around 48%/hour so you can topple it up pretty quickly compared to other phones.
The sound is louder than Note2's I think. I sold my note2 already so can't compare them side by side.
This video shows the audio compared to the new Sony Z1 ... hope it helps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP5Ov4zcJE0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
vanButton said:
The loud speaker is definitely an improvement on the Note 2, and being positioned on the bottom edge doesn't get obscured merely by putting the phone down on a soft surface such as the arm of my sofa. In terms of volume it's clearly louder and has less distortion than the Note 2 and S4, but it won't match the experience of the HTC One with it's dual front-facing speakers. Quality wise, it's still a tiny phone speaker so you won't be doing any serious listening with it, but it's loud and clear enough to be heard in noisy environments within limits, not in a club or near a runway obviously, but it's acceptable in the car and walking around the city. The headphone output however is I think my favourite improvement. Audio output via a decent set of headphones is simply incredible. Not just incredible for a phone, but bona fide excellent. I'm not claiming it'll best a Linn reference set up, but I've heard poorer audio from home setups and dedicated headphone amps costing many times the price of this phone. PowerAmp seems to downsample anything above 48khz, but the stock player renders 192KHz 24-bit flac files beautifully.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well that sounds promising... from the tones of the notifications, it sounds strong

stepinmyworld said:
can you type the name of the video here? I'm unable to click the link at work lol... but i can search the video via youtube..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ePrice - Xperia Z1 與 Note 3 |擴音喇叭表現比較
It's in chinese The channel name is ePrice HK

MohJee said:
ePrice - Xperia Z1 與 Note 3 |擴音喇叭表現比較
It's in chinese The channel name is ePrice HK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
o wow! i like how much louder it is than the z1 i hear a tiny bit of base coming through the note 3 lollll
thanks a lot for posting the video name

How does the screen look under direct sun light? Thanks.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 4

Got mine today loving it what a nice phone

testrider said:
How does the screen look under direct sun light? Thanks.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live in Scotland, I don't know what anything looks like under direct sunlight :laugh: It's fairly bright outside just now but overcast, and the screen remains clearly legible and bright. Indoors under LED bulbs it looks great too, and reflection is not as much of an issue as it was on the Note 2.

Thanks! I'm in SoCal and it's sunny almost everyday of the year so that's a concern
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 4

How come my screen gets very warm quite quickly?
Sent from my SM-N9005 using xda app-developers app

Quick/stupid question. The sticker on the site of the box that states what region sim you can use. Does it state North America and the Caribbean?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Xshinobi said:
Quick/stupid question. The sticker on the site of the box that states what region sim you can use. Does it state North America and the Caribbean?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine's the European version, so it doesn't mention either of them.

vanButton said:
... slightly larger capacity cell should hopefully offset the draw of running all 2,073,600 of those tiny little LEDs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shouldn't that be 4,147,200 LEDs?

dscline said:
Shouldn't that be 4,147,200 LEDs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed it should :silly: I realised my mistake after posting. 4,147,204 if you wanna count the notification RGB and the IR blaster

Is there any difference hardware wise between this model and the AT&T version?
Sent from my LG-D800 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

vince2398 said:
Is there any difference hardware wise between this model and the AT&T version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only difference I can see is the ATT version comes with a slightly different back cover, which features a rather tacky (in my opinion) stylised "Galaxy Note 3" in silver near the bottom.

vanButton said:
The only difference I can see is the ATT version comes with a slightly different back cover, which features a rather tacky (in my opinion) stylised "Galaxy Note 3" in silver near the bottom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And AT&T version comes with the bands to support their LTE.

[Q] Sound chip quality & support for 64-bit

So how's the sound chip compared to the Iphone 5s and other top smartphones ? I heard that since the chipset is SNP800 , the sound chip should be good too, but i'm no pro and have yet to try the headphone out.
Can anyone provide an explanation ?
2nd question (to avoid making 2 threads) :
I know kitkat 4.4 is only 32 bit now , but if for some reason Google releases android 5.0 in the future and it's 64 bit ...will the nexus chipset support it ?

1. Sound is good
2. Doesn't matter

[hfm] said:
1. Sound is good
2. Doesn't matter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what you meant for the 2nd answer ?

64 bit computing hardly matters in the mobile space currently. Currently it is only relevant in marketing.
To answer the question. You are still using 32-bit hardware even if 64-bit capable software came out. Odds are Google will not release a 64-bit exclusive operating system in the near future.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

ravenwood27 said:
So how's the sound chip compared to the Iphone 5s and other top smartphones ? I heard that since the chipset is SNP800 , the sound chip should be good too, but i'm no pro and have yet to try the headphone out.
Can anyone provide an explanation ?
it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to the test done by GSMarena, the Nexus 5 sound quality is no where near iOS devices. It has similar sound performance compared to the LG G2 but lower volume output. http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_nexus_5-review-1011p7.php As the graph is shown, there is quite a lot of "wobbling" which isn't good compared to the iOS devices (link is the 5s sound quality: http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_5s-review-994p7.php). This is assuming you actually rip songs from CDs, download 320+ kbps (if you don't know what this is you don't download it), download from Google Play or iTunes, rather than using an app or random website to get free music. Otherwise it wouldn't matter what device you get to listen to music since the sound file wouldn't have enough detail to actually use the iPhone soundboard properly. From experience even the Voodoo sound board on the Galaxy S3+ (not sure about the S4) doesn't reach the levels of iOS devices especially on loudness and clarity. Otherwise for the casual listener, the sound quality on the Nexus 5 should be more than enough unless you're really serious about sound quality.
Edit: according to the benchmarks done on the same website, the Samsung S4 holds it ground fairly well but there is some wobble at later parts of the graph and that's just nitpicking. Won't be hearing the effects of that unless you have songs that are 500 kbps+ and are playing on a good speaker.

RoboWarriorSr said:
According to the test done by GSMarena, the Nexus 5 sound quality is no where near iOS devices. It has similar sound performance compared to the LG G2 but lower volume output. http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_nexus_5-review-1011p7.php As the graph is shown, there is quite a lot of "wobbling" which isn't good compared to the iOS devices (link is the 5s sound quality: http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_5s-review-994p7.php). This is assuming you actually rip songs from CDs, download 320+ kbps (if you don't know what this is you don't download it), download from Google Play or iTunes, rather than using an app or random website to get free music. Otherwise it wouldn't matter what device you get to listen to music since the sound file wouldn't have enough detail to actually use the iPhone soundboard properly. From experience even the Voodoo sound board on the Galaxy S3+ (not sure about the S4) doesn't reach the levels of iOS devices especially on loudness and clarity. Otherwise for the casual listener, the sound quality on the Nexus 5 should be more than enough unless you're really serious about sound quality.
Edit: according to the benchmarks done on the same website, the Samsung S4 holds it ground fairly well but there is some wobble at later parts of the graph and that's just nitpicking. Won't be hearing the effects of that unless you have songs that are 500 kbps+ and are playing on a good speaker.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I really dont get. I had an iphone 5s for a couple weeks and everything besides the earphones that came in the box sounded horrible. Zero bass, zero highs, just the mids. Also had the HTC one, which is supposed to have a great audio chip, and it did. That phone soudned the best out of all the phone's I've had. (I turned beats off, that is just pure junk). Compared to the HTC one, this phone is actually very good. I still get deep bass, and good highs with no distortion even at high volumes. With the iphone, anything higher than 50%, things got a bit crackly and distorted especially hooked up to my speakers.
OP: The sound chip, in my opinion (I listen to a LOT of music and am pretty much a huge audiophile.), is very good. As some users said, the pure loudness of it isn't that great, but the quality is very good. Not as good as the HTC one, but very close.
EDIT: Quote from GSM arena pretty much saying what I said.
The scores stay close to perfect even when you plug in a pair of headphones. The stereo crosstalk worsens a bit but the rest of the readings are virtually unaffected (frequency response actually improves a bit). Unfortunately, the volume levels remained just as uninspiring.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

aooga said:
This is what I really dont get. I had an iphone 5s for a couple weeks and everything besides the earphones that came in the box sounded horrible. Zero bass, zero highs, just the mids. Also had the HTC one, which is supposed to have a great audio chip, and it did. That phone soudned the best out of all the phone's I've had. (I turned beats off, that is just pure junk). Compared to the HTC one, this phone is actually very good. I still get deep bass, and good highs with no distortion even at high volumes. With the iphone, anything higher than 50%, things got a bit crackly and distorted especially hooked up to my speakers.
OP: The sound chip, in my opinion (I listen to a LOT of music and am pretty much a huge audiophile.), is very good. As some users said, the pure loudness of it isn't that great, but the quality is very good. Not as good as the HTC one, but very close.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The review on the website show that the HTC One has a excellent audio output but at best decent audio quality. The bass is overemphasized but nothing compared to the One X which was a disaster in terms of audio quality. Realized that the iPhone sound quality may sound worse to many people since it has a "flat" and stabilized audio quality which is what actually is looked for. Many companies tweak the audio to make it more "pleasing" to the masses and overshadow the bad soundboard which include bigger bass (blame Dr. Dre).
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

RoboWarriorSr said:
The review on the website show that the HTC One has a excellent audio output but at best decent audio quality. The bass is overemphasized but compared to the One X which was a disaster in terms of audio quality. Realized that the iPhone sound quality may sound worse to many people since it has a "flat" and stabilized audio quality which is what actually is looked for. Many companies tweak the audio to make it more "pleasing" to the masses and overshadow the bad soundboard.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know flat sound is technically prefered in benchmarks and things, but I haven't met a single person that actually likes listening to it. Anyway, that was just my opinion. IMO, no matter how technically good the quality is on the iphone, I still think that it sounds horrible. And the software is hideous/crashed way too often.
EDIT: I see you have an iphone. Do you have a N5 as well, or are you just posting here? I'm not trying to be an idiot, just wondering if you have compared the quality between the two

N5 sound sucks.. I'm biased because I upgraded from a HTC one lol. Everything else is solid with my n5
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

The built-in speaker is mediocre to crappy. The audio through other connections is quite good, IMO.
Sent from my Nexus 5

Ajfink said:
The built-in speaker is mediocre to crappy. The audio through other connections is quite good, IMO.
Sent from my Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its a bug. http://www.androidcentral.com/nexus...one-and-software-may-be-hurting-what-you-hear

aooga said:
I know flat sound is technically prefered in benchmarks and things, but I haven't met a single person that actually likes listening to it. Anyway, that was just my opinion. IMO, no matter how technically good the quality is on the iphone, I still think that it sounds horrible. And the software is hideous/crashed way too often.
EDIT: I see you have an iphone. Do you have a N5 as well, or are you just posting here? I'm not trying to be an idiot, just wondering if you have compared the quality between the two
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Click to collapse
I'm just basing this off the gsmarena benchmark and from previous experience. Not in my sig but I have a HTC Desire HD and Acer A100 running custom ROMs since both devices are not supported. I hopefully plan to get a Moto G since I kinda would like to get an android device that is current and not gimped by some developers *nvidia*. I tend to randomly post in random device forums usually trying to get up to date with new devices. I have listened to Galaxy S 3 and One X since my friends have them so I have an idea how they sound. Nexus 5 just came out so gsmarena was the only site that had soundboard benchmarks, but like I said it works more than enough for most people and the tweaks made are probably for the better. If you wondering I do prefer the "flat" sound since my speakers don't play well with equalizers especially the Beats one in my HTC. I also tend to listen to more instrumentals than the average listener so the "flatness" help bring out the other instruments in the background that usually would be hidden by the bass or treble.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

zephiK said:
its a bug. http://www.androidcentral.com/nexus...one-and-software-may-be-hurting-what-you-hear
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I really fail to see how that was overlooked. Hopefully they push it out sooner than later.

iPhone5 & 5s have a relatively high output impedance. They'll be a little more temperamental when used with third party buds.
I don't know if we have an impedance reading for the Nexus 5.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

If listening to music, just use Noozxoide E.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

There is definitely a bug wrt audio on the N5, but the speaker is also very crappy and so easy to completely obstruct (v similar positioning on iPhones and some Lumias)

iOStoAndroid said:
There is definitely a bug wrt audio on the N5, but the speaker is also very crappy and so easy to completely obstruct (v similar positioning on iPhones and some Lumias)
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It's going to obstruct wherever they put it. Top, bottom or back especially if you put it in your pocket. The Optimus G had such a high speaker volume even though the speaker was just a small slit in the back and the back was flat.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

You obviously never used one of the devices I mentioned above then.
It's the only thing that stops the N5 being the perfect device (all right maybe a bit better battery life)

Phone call:
On Handset is good...no issues.
On Speaker is ok...on full volume sound distortion is evident.
On Headphones is good but other person can't listen clearly unless I hold headphone mic in front of my lips...or speak loud.
Music:
On Speaker is terrible.
On headphones (Klipsch S4A)...quality is really good for 320kbps mp3 files...I feel best audio quality is between 50% - 70% of volume level.

[Q] From gs4 to nexus 5...

Hi, I'm currently using a gs4 with stock 4,4, I can't root because of knox (I don't want to lose warranty on a new phone) so I'm considering selling the gs4 for the n5...
-The touchscreen on the gs4 is really responsive and smooth, how is compared to the n5?
-I know that on the n5 the max volume isn't high but the quality? I use to listen podcast with the speaker at night so the volume is not a problem but I need a good quality sound, my gs4 is the i9505 so it hasn't the Wolfson DAC but the sound it's pretty good.
-Overheating?
-Are there any mods to increase gamma or contrast on the n5?

BurningKoala said:
Hi, I'm currently using a gs4 with stock 4,4, I can't root because of knox (I don't want to lose warranty on a new phone) so I'm considering selling the gs4 for the n5...
-The touchscreen on the gs4 is really responsive and smooth, how is compared to the n5?
-I know that on the n5 the max volume isn't high but the quality? I use to listen podcast with the speaker at night so the volume is not a problem but I need a good quality sound, my gs4 is the i9505 so it hasn't the Wolfson DAC but the sound it's pretty good.
-Overheating?
-Are there any mods to increase gamma or contrast on the n5?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have owned a n5 32gb since January and have always found the touchscreen very responsive and smooth, I don't know how it compares to the gs4 though as I have never used it. As with every phone ever the speakers are crap, but they would probably suffice for your needs. my n5 does have a habit of randomly burning a hole through my pocket from time to time, but the cpu rarely exceeds 50 centigrade. I have not looked for any mods to increase contrast or gamma but I cant see any need to do so. The only thing I would say that is a major problem with it is I am always running out of storage space due to the lack of expandable memory. But if your not planning on having much music stored on it you'll be fine and even if you do run out of space you can just use OTG.

BurningKoala said:
Hi, I'm currently using a gs4 with stock 4,4, I can't root because of knox (I don't want to lose warranty on a new phone) so I'm considering selling the gs4 for the n5...
-The touchscreen on the gs4 is really responsive and smooth, how is compared to the n5?
-I know that on the n5 the max volume isn't high but the quality? I use to listen podcast with the speaker at night so the volume is not a problem but I need a good quality sound, my gs4 is the i9505 so it hasn't the Wolfson DAC but the sound it's pretty good.
-Overheating?
-Are there any mods to increase gamma or contrast on the n5?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-The touchscreen is on par or better than the gs4s I've tried
-quality is average but there are audio mods such as DSP manager and you can further enhance sound with kernels
-rarely overheats, only when the camera daemon bug occurs which is expected to be fixed with the 4.4.3 update
-most kernels for the nexus 5 have integrated colour controls that allow you to change rgb and gamma, most notably the Franco kernel
I say go for it, the developer community is amazing
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

Screen is responsive and accurate. I find the audio quality on par or better than average mobile devices, volume is plenty loud though the audio only comes out 1 side of the phone which isn't always ideal for listening purposes.
For a plastic phone it runs very cool actually, almost to a fault as thermal throttling will kick in very easily. Screen adjustments are available but require root access and some tinkering.

[Q] z3 Audio Quality

I have a galaxy s4 rooted with a sound modification called viper4android and i am wondering if the z3 (z3 unrooted) audio quality is better than my s4.

Go to GSMArena they have audio tests in their review for each phone measuring crosstalk, dynamic range etc.
Z3 is better than the S4 when it comes to the internal speakers.
The S4 with headphones/earphones is probably better according to their stats. But I doubt you'd notice the difference, unless you are an extreme audiophile.
Go to the bottom of page on each link, you will see the audio values for the given phones and their competition.
Results for Amp and Headphones below:
Xperia Z3
http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_z3-review-1140p7.php
Galaxy S4
http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_g2_vs_samsung_galaxy_s4-review-984p6.php

patrickbartalesi22 said:
I have a galaxy s4 rooted with a sound modification called viper4android and i am wondering if the z3 (z3 unrooted) audio quality is better than my s4.
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The Z3 sound quality is beyond incredible when using Walkman under Hi Res Audio conditions.
Hi Res Audio on the Z3 line has been mostly ignored by the press, NO idea why.
With Sony's better headphones, and WAVE music files, be prepared to never ever accept awful MP3 again.
So good, nothing else out there with Android touches this line... unless you grab the Walkman Xz1 that is.
( which I highly recommend )

DZH1 said:
The Z3 sound quality is beyond incredible when using Walkman under Hi Res Audio conditions.
Hi Res Audio on the Z3 line has been mostly ignored by the press, NO idea why.
With Sony's better headphones, and WAVE music files, be prepared to never ever accept awful MP3 again.
So good, nothing else out there with Android touches this line... unless you grab the Walkman Xz1 that is.
( which I highly recommend )
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Click to collapse
The stats from GSMArena don't lie and using same headphones the GS4 is better, you are being subjective not objective. The Z3 is good but many phones are slightly better including the M8, GS4, GS5, LG G2/3.
The LG G2 also supported HD Audio since release in 2013.
Also there are many companies that make equal/better headphones.
I know you love the Z3 like all of us here but I'm trying to be objective for the OP.

abhinav.tella said:
The stats from GSMArena don't lie and using same headphones the GS4 is better, you are being subjective not objective. The Z3 is good but many phones are slightly better including the M8, GS4, GS5, LG G2/3.
The LG G2 also supported HD Audio since release in 2013.
Also there are many companies that make equal/better headphones.
I know you love the Z3 like all of us here but I'm trying to be objective for the OP.
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Click to collapse
I have that phone, can't STAND the sound through same headphones.. .. not even close.
At least IMO, as everyone has different hearing.
...But not even close.

You are not being objective (statistics) you are being subjective.
To each his own, but the rest of the bunch have a cleaner output I have yet to read a review where the Z3 is superior heaphone audio wise over the mentioned phones anywhere. If you find me an article please link it. It however is good but not M8/G3 level.
I suggest you read the testing methods in the links, either you are using bad headphones or a defective LG G2 if you find that much difference against the G2. The other phones I mentioned have cleaner output, according to audiophiles that I know.
I my own opinion however honestly can't tell the difference between any of them.

abhinav.tella said:
You are not being objective (statistics) you are being subjective.
To each his own, but the rest of the bunch have a cleaner output I have yet to read a review where the Z3 is superior heaphone audio wise over the mentioned phones anywhere. If you find me an article please link it. It however is good but not M8/G3 level.
I suggest you read the testing methods in the links, either you are using bad headphones or a defective LG G2 if you find that much difference against the G2. The other phones I mentioned have cleaner output, according to audiophiles that I know.
I my own opinion however honestly can't tell the difference between any of them.
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Click to collapse
The best test is to test them yourself. I have used almost all of the current flagships, hell i've owned most of them, and the Z3 is first of all better sound quality than the S4 with or without viper4android, but not as loud.
As for the rest, i'd argue the Z3 sounds better, to my ears as well.
This is of course with the headphones that come with it. I'm sure there's better headphones.
Review websites are never, ever objective or honest, ever.

Im just saying GSMArena uses equipment to measure/audio quality so I doubt their equipment lies, just look at the stats in the links.
Signal
Unlike you two, we TMO guys get no headphones with our phones.
I'm using a $60 MEElectronics M-Duo which is very good for its price range, and as good as some $100 headphones.
Audio Stats for GS4/Z3 Amp and headphones in images below:

Statistics aside - S4 doesn't come even close to Z3 with Noise Cancelling and DSEE HX turned on - which sounds amazing, especially when you listen to Hi Res tracks.

Akiainavas said:
Statistics aside - S4 doesn't come even close to Z3 with Noise Cancelling and DSEE HX turned on - which sounds amazing, especially when you listen to Hi Res tracks.
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I agree, HD Audio is nice but problem is large retailers like GooglePlayMusic, iTunes, etc do not even offer them yet, The only HD tracks I have heard are the Vienna Boy's Choir tracks which came with my LG G2, one of which is "Pick up your phone" :laugh:.
Unfortunately, until Apple's iPhone supports it I doubt many online stores will push HD out quickly. At least the major stores that is.

Thanks for your input and I have decided I will buy the z3 soon.

patrickbartalesi22 said:
Thanks for your input and I have decided I will buy the z3 soon.
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Enjoy! Its a great device, the statistical differences I mentioned are very minute in real world perception so you won't be dissapointed, not to mention the stereo speakers which is a nice upgrade from the GS4 (My sister has one).

Akiainavas said:
Statistics aside - S4 doesn't come even close to Z3 with Noise Cancelling and DSEE HX turned on - which sounds amazing, especially when you listen to Hi Res tracks.
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Click to collapse
DSEE is meant to "upscale" or attempt to rebuild compression losses, not to be used on losless formats.
DSEE Research Article: basically from testing it says DSEE just adds some made up highs, though if you like it or not depends person to person.
http://www.realhd-audio.com/?p=2240
Excellent article on HD Audio, by the creator of the Ogg Vorbis format.
http://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html

abhinav.tella said:
DSEE is meant to "upscale" or attempt to rebuild compression losses, not to be used on losless formats.
DSEE Research Article: basically from testing it says DSEE just adds some made up highs, though if you like it or not depends person to person.
http://www.realhd-audio.com/?p=2240
Excellent article on HD Audio, by the creator of the Ogg Vorbis format.
http://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html
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Click to collapse
I know that. Maybe I should have added "where applicable" Doesn't change the fact - hi-res audio + noise cancelling or low-res audio+noise cancelling+dsee - both give amazing results.
As you said before - it's a shame that so little hi-res music is available. I recommend trying David Helpling's "Found" album in Studio Master option ( flac, 24bit, 96khz ) - results are amazing.
It's actually shocking that iPhone 6 doesn't support hi-res audio, especially looking at Apple's years of commitment to music.

Akiainavas said:
I know that. Maybe I should have added "where applicable" Doesn't change the fact - hi-res audio + noise cancelling or low-res audio+noise cancelling+dsee - both give amazing results.
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True, good discussion though.

abhinav.tella said:
True, good discussion though.
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Of couse
Anyway, @op - hope you will be happy with your Xperia Z3. I have been using it for two weeks now and so far it keeps impressing me on audio and battery life sides.

Akiainavas said:
Of couse
Anyway, @op - hope you will be happy with your Xperia Z3. I have been using it for two weeks now and so far it keeps impressing me on audio and battery life sides.
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Love it here as well, I'm sure OP will like it. I had the LG G2, the Xperia Z3 feels like a true worthy succesor to it, the LG G3 felt like a downgrade lower battery and lower contrast screen just so they could stuff a power hungry QHD, which is more a gimmick than useful.

abhinav.tella said:
a power hungry QHD, which is more a gimmick than useful.
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Tell me about it... I might be blind but I can't distinguish between pixels on my 1080p screen even if I keep it 1cm from my face... why the hell would I want to sacrifice so much gpu power and battery to display so many more pixels that won't really affect what I see... silly, isn't it ? But I'm quite sure we will see 4K displays soon enough, but wait another 10 years for a battery that lasts 3 days.

Akiainavas said:
Tell me about it... I might be blind but I can't distinguish between pixels on my 1080p screen even if I keep it 1cm from my face... why the hell would I want to sacrifice so much gpu power and battery to display so many more pixels that won't really affect what I see... silly, isn't it ? But I'm quite sure we will see 4K displays soon enough, but wait another 10 years for a battery that lasts 3 days.
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Well some teenage researcher in California created a battery tech that allows full charge in minutes, so at least on the charging front things are improving.

What? The S4 has good audio quality? I thought it was absolutely garbage compared to the S3 when the same headphones are plugged in. Are you talking about the i9505 or i9500 because I am pretty sure the i9505 DAC in the Snapdragon is trash, whilst I can't comment on the Wolfson on the i9500 it was amazing on the i9300. I highly doubt Sony can come up with something worse than the i9505.