KPH tech blog

Featuring: HTC Boomsound, Galaxy S7, LG G7 ThinQ, Huawei.

Audio Quality: 2 words that’ll get an audiophile listening. Pun intended.

Two years ago, I researched what makes an audio DAC (Digital Audio Converter) so important, and why a good one makes all the difference.

But to be honest, I first noticed the importance of superior audio quality on my Sony Walkman MP3 player, way back in 2006. An equaliser made it easy to get the sound I wanted, and I appreciated the sense of freedom that came with that.

While my Nokia X2-00 had an equaliser, turning up the bass seemed to lower the volume. This was probably because the DAC wasn’t as good.

My short-lived 4th Gen iPod Touch, while definitely having more features, a much bigger screen, apps, and access to the Internet, wasn’t as good for music quality. There wasn’t an equaliser as such – the EQ menu simply gave you selectable factory presets that changed the audio, from one extreme to the other – bass-heavy or treble-heavy – with a bunch of nothings in the middle.

In the same way that iOS is very much a take it or leave it affair, with a simple layout offering little customisation (thank goodness for Android!), the EQ settings on my iTouch didn’t present the same freedom as my Walkman.

The audio quality was good, but not good enough, and the EQ settings offered little in the way of a compromise. Jazz, classic, pop, extreme bass, extreme treble… why can’t I just have an equaliser to customise the sound going into my ears?

Windows Phone… my Nokia Lumia 820, was slightly better for audio, but it wasn’t as great as my Walkman.

I can barely remember the audio quality of my HTC Wildfire, but I think it was comparable to my Nokia X2/Lumia 820.

The first time I noticed how much I’m moved by audio quality, was the first night of using my HTC Desire Eye. In contrast to my previous phone (Nokia Lumia 820), there was no bass, and no equaliser in the settings menu.

The only option related to audio was the HTC Boomsound toggle – only selectable when listening with headphones, but otherwise greyed out when using the built-in stereo speakers – because it’s permanently switched on.

The default HTC music app was rubbish. It couldn’t play some of my audio files (specifically, m4a/aac files from iTunes), and the UI was as drab as a mathematics textbook.

This combination meant I couldn’t fully appreciate my music, and started to panic that I’d gone for the wrong device.

It wasn’t until I downloaded the Poweramp app, a music app with onboard equaliser, that I finally had some means of testing the full capabilities of my device with headphones. And realised that Android is as customisable as you want it.

To watch videos with better audio, however, I had to download a separate Equaliser app, that could override the audio of every app.

I did find that Boomsound and the stereo front-facing speaker setup made watching videos without headphones much more enjoyable – with the phone close to my face, I noticed how the stereo sound felt more like a surround sound system.

But as I rarely ever do this, as I mostly listen to audio and video through my over-ear headphones, built-in speaker quality becomes a bit of a gimmick.

I did find, though, that Boomsound complimented the sound coming through my headphones – which weren’t great at the time either, but that’s a story for another day.

For full disclosure, I recently checked the HTC music app again with my newer Sony headphones, to see if the music-listening experience was any better with more expensive and ‘bassier’ cans – it isn’t, and it is still awful. The sound is okay, and clear, but there’s little to no bass. Switching on Boomsound doesn’t do much, apart from create a weird echo that detracts from the overall listening experience.

Each of these case studies builds up to one big fact: audio matters to me. While I wouldn’t consider myself an ‘audiophile,’ I have always ripped my music in the highest quality possible, either in MP3 format or a lossless format like FLAC.

As well as the camera, and flagship qualities, audio quality was a huge factor the last time I looked for My Next Phone. It was why I considered Sony’s Xperia phones – for the onboard Walkman app and equaliser – and why I eventually chose the Galaxy S7 – again, because it had an equaliser in the settings menu.

Although the LG V30 is too big for me, it’s nice that the same audio DAC and technology is being used in the new LG G7 ThinQ.

The G7 would be a perfect phone for me, especially given that it has a 3.5mm headphone port, which seems to be a rare and vanishing thing now that many phone manufacturers prefer a USB Type-C port for audio, with some providing a USB-3.5mm adapter while others list one as an extra purchase – ahem, Apple!

As an MP3 Player, with a headphone port and superior audio DAC (and let’s not forget the wide-angle camera lens for photos), the LG G7 ThinQ would be the perfect replacement for my Galaxy S7, as a newer, primary phone. However, availability of the G7 seems to be an issue, which is very unfortunate.

That means many of the more affordable and widely available phones out there, are mostly Huawei devices.

Apart from the OnePlus 6, Xiaomi Pocophone F1, Nokia 7 Plus, Nokia 7.1 and Sony Xperia XA2, Huawei pretty much steals the market for affordable flagships – P20 Lite, Mate 20 Lite, Mate 20 X, Honor View 10, and Honor Play are all options for me.

Considering that the G7 isn’t as widely available as I’d have liked, I have also considered phones without the 3.5mm jack.

This is a really hard sticking-point for me, not just because I’ve heard there’s audio latency issues & reliability problems with a few mainstream USB C-3.5mm adapters, but also because it would mean that my current pair of Sony headphones (expensive, and of superior quality) are useless with my new device without the adapter. If I forget to bring the adapter with me, or lose it, no music shall be listened to!

But, I’m also aware that many phone manufacturers are moving away from the 3.5mm jack. For example, OnePlus recently confirmed that the 3.5mm headphone port was being dropped on the new OnePlus 6T, to make room for ‘newer technologies.’

Personally, it makes me sad that they’ve gone against the promise they made with the releases of the 6, the 5T and 5 – that the 3.5mm port would be staying on OnePlus devices.

But, I also see their point about ‘space’ in an already thin phone. If we as consumers want to carry around thin devices loaded with security and new features, and don’t want to carry around big bulky phones with everything, then we must be prepared to sacrifice some older items for newer ones. The 3.5mm headphone port is one of the unfortunate victims.

This is when phones like the Huawei P20 Pro, and the yet-to-be-announced/launched/released OnePlus 6T, start to appeal as other options, because despite their increased cost compared to the devices I’ve listed above, they’re still budget devices in contrast to any of Apple’s new iPhones (XR, XS, XS Max) or, indeed, Samsung’s Galaxy S9 or Note 9 (not that Phablets appeal to me, though. Oh, I guess I need to forget the Mate 20 X as well, because that’s got a 7.2″ screen – phablet?).

But, am I ready to give up the 3.5mm jack just so I can have a newer phone with newer features and newer software, and which costs another £500+? At the moment, the answer is ranging from no to possibly.