You can look at the similar section for the sensation (on audio quality). But yea there is no baseline. I'm not sure of any reviewer that does a good job there. A few time they will make passing comments comparing a feature on one phone for another but I've not seen any decent reviews for smart phone where they try to quantify data (i.e, provide signal strength as oppose to one bar/two bar which is useless); or wavelength comaprison of audio signal.
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I guess that sort of thing would be too hard. I knwo that in the past he has no problem with audio on most phones so this stood out to me (it sounded like he had major issues understanding the person whom he was talking to on BOTH the sensation and evo3d)
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These are his comments for four phones:
lg revolution:
Sound
The Revolution is a fine voice phone. Most calls I made with it were clear and free of noise, hissing, or other problems. I noticed that voices were ever-so-slightly muffled from time to time, but that's the worst I can say about call quality. Earpiece volume is plenty sufficient at medium levels and bordering on painful when set all the way up. You'll be able to hear and understand most calls just fine. The speakerphone also worked well, with plenty of volume and good quality. Ringtones and alerts are generally loud enough when set all the way up. The vibrate alert was of average strength. You may feel it; you may not. It depends on how you're holding it or where it is stowed.
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evo 4g:
Sound
The HTC Evo 4G sounds great making phone calls. My callers sounded clear with no drop outs or sound problems. On their end, callers said I also sounded nice and present, without any static or that distant sound to my voice. I was able to navigate my bank's voice command system with no trouble. The speaker was also nice and loud and fairly clear, for a speakerphone. It distorted at the highest volume, but it did manage to get loud enough that I could use it for conversations in a fast moving car. The Evo 4G also has a nice, loud ring. I could easily hear the ringer from across my house or when the phone was stuffed deep inside a backpack.
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sensation:
Sound
Call quality was the first real disappointment I came across with the Sensation 4G. The earpiece produced plenty of volume, but calls had a persistent hiss and often voices came across as garbled. Call quality wasn't horrendous, but it wasn't good, either. As for the speakerphone, it is weak. It barely has the audio power of a pair of headphones. It almost sounded as though turning on the speakerphone only kicked the earpiece into maximum overdrive. Whatever HTC is doing with the speakerphone, it's not enough and it needs more power. Ditto for ringers and alert tones. Set to the maximum, they were barely audible in a room with screaming kids. They just aren't loud enough. The vibrate alert, however, is plenty strong.
xperia play:
Sound
Quality of the calls that went through was actually quite good. Voices were clear in the earpiece, with little-to-no extraneous noise at all. The earpiece volume left a bit to be desired, though. Set to maximum, it would work well in a quiet home, but even a TV was enough to make phone calls hard to hear. The ringers were very loud, as were alert tones, and alarms. The speakerphone was plenty loud, but the vibrate alert was hardly strong enough to be felt in my pocket.
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So it sounds like a real problem with the sensation and evo3d as it is unique to them. Reviewer was different for evo 4g; but the same for the other three.
The problem I have with the call quality part is that he didn't give it a baseline. Did he think the Evo 4G had garbled sound, for example? Was Evo 3D better or worse than other phones? By how much? Who was on the other line? How many different callers did he test with? How was THEIR reception? Were they holding their iPhone4s correctly? etc.
There are a lot of variables to consider. I didn't get to read the article, so I don't know if it's just reading all your summaries, but I don't feel he gave enough detail for me to make use of the call clarity observations.
