Database Info

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
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

Speakerphone (loudness, clarity)

Proper etiquette aside (hint: don't use speakerphone while doing your "business" in a public bathroom), rate this thread to express how you think the Google Pixel XL's speakerphone performs. A higher rating indicates that you love it: it's loud and it's clear.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

Coming from the Moto X PE the one speaker at the bottom sounds so sad. I also am having to train myself not to cover it up on accident. For me it is way to quiet or too loud.

Coming from a Galaxy S6, the speaker on the Pixel is significantly louder and clear. I have not been jaded by an HTC set of speakers so I might be in the minority that thinks the Pixel speaker is great.

Coming from N6, I was worried that the XL's speaker will not be as loud. I can confirm that it is as loud, if not slightly louder, but the dual speakers on the N6 has more depth. Overall, I am not as worried as before.

The quality is good, could be louder.

The sound on my end is great, the people on the other end say it's muffled at times. Since I use speaker all day for conference calls I will have to return the Pixel XL

mtran13 said:
Coming from N6, I was worried that the XL's speaker will not be as loud. I can confirm that it is as loud, if not slightly louder, but the dual speakers on the N6 has more depth. Overall, I am not as worried as before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This makes me feel better since I am coming from a N6 and absolutely love the speakers. I'm going to miss FFS, but at least a quality sound will comfort me.

Not loud enough...and sounds bad in comparison to other phones i've had in the past (even single speaker ones)

Speaker is pretty bad as far as media/games is concerned. RIP stereo. It's good for normal notifications though.

dreamtheater39 said:
Not loud enough...and sounds bad in comparison to other phones i've had in the past (even single speaker ones)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You keep badmouthing the phone yet provide no information for comparison. What other phones have you had, even single speaker ones, that sound better?
This is very subjective anyway

My comparison is with the 6p. Single speaker comparison is the lg g3. The speaker is not terrible on the pixel, but just not as good as one would expect in such a high priced phone. Also, the placement is horrid since you accidentally keep blocking it while watching videos of playing games in landscape.
But otherwise, a fantastic phone which really define what great software and hardware can achieve

Its ok. Not nexus 6 good ofcourse. Its nice for notifications

I made a video comparison between the speakers on the Nexus 6p and the Google Pixel XL. Check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg12X1OWG1M

I typically run the phone through bluetooth when listening to music, however I must say that when watching videos I, like others have said, block the speaker. Coming from a Moto X Pure I don't think the speaker on the Pixel is quite as good. It's not bad per se, but I don't need the speaker to be spectacular when watching a video. Notification sounds are plenty loud for me. I haven't used the speaker phone option much, but when I have it has been fine.

I find the single speaker avg. I sometimes cover the speaker with a pinky or palm by accident and muffles just a slight flaw but not a deal breaker.

RIP my Nexus 6's front facing speakers. This is my only major gripe with this phone so far. So disappointing. Front facing speakers should be standard.

Max volume loudness seems about the same as my 6P. My 6P gets crackly at max volume, while the XL does not. Definitely less bass on the XL though.

Coming from the N6 it is not really a fair comparison because the stereo front firing was louder and clearer to me.
The Pixel XL speaker sounds OK and perfectly acceptable for notification. It would have been better if the earpiece was also used as a speaker and the location of the bottom firing speaker flipped with the mic for media.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

It sounds deeper than my note 7 did. I like it better. The only issue I'm having is my notification tones seem to only be about 2/3 the volume they should be. Example is, if I go to Zedge and preview a notification tone, it sounds fine. Set it as notification sound, and it's only about 2/3 of the volume it was in the preview. I have everything I can find turned to the max. Idk.

Jacobk85 said:
Coming from the Moto X PE the one speaker at the bottom sounds so sad. I also am having to train myself not to cover it up on accident. For me it is way to quiet or too loud.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto to this. MXPE spoiled me in sound quality. Why doesn't every phone have front facing speakers? We certainly got the bezel for it...

Google Pixel Speakers Review

Hi
Need to upgrade from my M8, however the front speakers and the speakers quality it's crucial for me..
Have not been in touch yet with any pixel, can anyone review it? Is the sound clear? YouTube videos louder?
Thanks
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app

HcMAX said:
Hi
Need to upgrade from my M8, however the front speakers and the speakers quality it's crucial for me..
Have not been in touch yet with any pixel, can anyone review it? Is the sound clear? YouTube videos louder?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came off a Nexus 6 with good front speakers. These are not as good. Everything else on this phone blows it away, but not the speakers. They are not bad, they are good. But not great.

Before my Pixel, my last two phones were the M8 and Xperia Z5. Both had front facing speakers (though the M8's were better).
The only time I even notice a difference is if I accidentally cover the speaker on the pixel. However, that's just for some YouTube and games. If I'm listening to music, it's almost always though speakers or headphones.
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

If front speakers that work well is crucial for you, don't get this phone. If sitting back, either my hand is covering the speaker, or my chest is (depending on orientation). I CONSTANTLY have to remember to adjust how I hold the phone. Otherwise, I'm not a sound snob; especially for cell phone speakers. The quality is fine, it just has poor placement.

I agree with many of the comments above. The phone is excellent, but the placement of the speaker is terrible. When holding the Pixel landscape, I find that I have to cup my hand over the speaker when holding it to really hear it properly. Disappointing.
I came from an M9, and a Nexus 6 before that. One of the only features I really look for in devices is front-facing speakers, but I decided to make an exception this time for the Pixel, and it certainly was disappointing.
If front-facing speakers are important to you are a key requirement, I'd probably not choose the Pixel.
In fact, your choices are pretty limited if you are looking for a high-end phone with front-facing speakers:
HTC One M7, M8 and M9
Nexus 6, Moto X
Nexus 6P
Sony Xperia XC, XZ, Z4v, Z4
ZTE Axon 7/mini
All I want is a 5" device with front-facing speakers that properly runs AOSP Android. Believe it or not, I'm actually thinking of maybe going back to an M8 GPE

Thanks for it... Gonna check the devices..M8 is fine..The upgrade is just cause .You know....Has 3 years now...Anyone know the ONE Plus 3 speaker quality??
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app

Video and Sound Comparison reviews

Supersaf says "Google has ignored video quality, iPhone is far better for video... sound from the Pixel is tinny"
https://youtu.be/S9qNHYtNsik
There's definitely yet another Pixel sound problem going on in his video. Question is, is it just near range sound that's the problem (as is evidenced in his video) , or is it all sound?

Here's a direct comparison with the iPhone. The pixel's sound is terrible. How could they ship something this bad?
https://youtu.be/CQZo9SKj1zI

I received my Pixel 3 XL today and I just noticed that the sound is pretty bad while watching videos. I also have the iPhone XS Max, and that phone sounds amazing. On the Pixel 3 XL, the bottom speaker is noticeably louder than the top speaker, so while watching a video in landscape, it just doesn't sound right...it's really bad. I don't know if this will be a deal breaker for me or not, I'll have to try it for a few days and make up my mind. I also have tried the Note 9 and IMO, it sounded about as good as the iPhone XS Max. I have to say, I am a little disappointed in the sound quality of the Pixel 3 XL. Oh yeah, the vibration on the back of the phone is ridiculous also. If you had ear plugs in and felt the back of this phone, you would think that it has a pair of 12" Kickers inside.
Edit...I just tried my iPhone XS Max again, and the sound coming out of the speakers absolutely destroys the Pixel 3 Xl's sound, it's not even close. I wonder if Google can fix this with a software update? Probably not.

lyall29 said:
I received my Pixel 3 XL today and I just noticed that the sound is pretty bad while watching videos. I also have the iPhone XS Max, and that phone sounds amazing. On the Pixel 3 XL, the bottom speaker is noticeably louder than the top speaker, so while watching a video in landscape, it just doesn't sound right...it's really bad. I don't know if this will be a deal breaker for me or not, I'll have to try it for a few days and make up my mind. I also have tried the Note 9 and IMO, it sounded about as good as the iPhone XS Max. I have to say, I am a little disappointed in the sound quality of the Pixel 3 XL. Oh yeah, the vibration on the back of the phone is ridiculous also. If you had ear plugs in and felt the back of this phone, you would think that it has a pair of 12" Kickers inside.
Edit...I just tried my iPhone XS Max again, and the sound coming out of the speakers absolutely destroys the Pixel 3 Xl's sound, it's not even close. I wonder if Google can fix this with a software update? Probably not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my exact experience as well. The iPhone sounds like it’s got Dolby atoms built in its so much better. And yes google should be able to fix it with an update and it requires nothing more than tuning the audio drivers differently (which is software) however will they is an entirely different matter. So yes they can but I doubt it’ll ever change cause they won’t. A shame really
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My experience so far with my pixel 3 xl video quality is 4k is the way to go. I've used 1080p with auto fps and without and when viewing it on my PC the black in the video is somewhat pixelated. That does not happen with my iPhone Xs Max. The pixels video stabilization is awesome though. Stabilization works with 4k also. In 4k there is no pixelation going on in dark areas. Also I'm using h265 option in camera settings so that 4k isn't as big as it would be with h264.