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Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Speaker Test vs Note 3

blitz118

blitz118

Member
This is video review for those who might be concerned about the Note 4 speaker being on back of the phone. The speaker is not deal breaker to me as I use Bluetooth headphones to listen to music and my phone is mostly on vibrate, but some people like to use the speaker a lot.

 
Samsung must did some consumer tests that suggest a weaker low cost speaker design is a good move. That is the only thing that makes sense. The Z3 is very thin yet blows the N4 away for speaker output and quality, in spite of water proof speakers!

I will test the audio jack today for sound quality. The low dB output has me concerned and seems Samsung went cheap their too. Most of the cost apparently went into the display, so corner cuts elsewhere to balance things out.

Please keep in mind the development costs also get rolled into the bill of material cost for a product. The new display tech must have cost a LOT of money to develop and produce.

Added:

Lot of words there to try and rationalize Samsung's weak sound effort ;)
 
rushmore said:
Samsung must did some consumer tests that suggest a weaker low cost speaker design is a good move. That is the only thing that makes sense. The Z3 is very thin yet blows the N4 away for speaker output and quality, in spite of water proof speakers!

I will test the audio jack today for sound quality. The low dB output has me concerned and seems Samsung went cheap their too. Most of the cost apparently went into the display, so corner cuts elsewhere to balance things out.

Please keep in mind the development costs also get rolled into the bill of material cost for a product. The new display tech must have cost a LOT of money to develop and produce.

Added:

Lot of words there to try and rationalize Samsung's weak sound effort ;)
Click to expand...

The Z3 also has front dual speakers like the HTC M8, so they will probably sound better, but the test is comparing them to the Note 3. If speaker quality is more important and a deal breaker for you then, the HTC M8 is your best choice, but you do give up screen real estate with the dual front facing speakers. You have to make decsion was is more important to you though.
 
I just want to hear it if a call is made ;) Using a speaker for music to me is not a good option. Even the M8 to me lacks for music quality. Headphones is what I use and IF the N4 has weak output I will pass on the device. IF.

Point still is the Note 3 and 4 have wimpy speaker output compared to the other newer devices. Note 4 even wimpier.
 
rushmore said:
I just want to hear it if a call is made ;) Using a speaker for music to me is not a good option. Even the M8 to me lacks for music quality. Headphones is what I use and IF the N4 has weak output I will pass on the device. IF.

Point still is the Note 3 and 4 have wimpy speaker output compared to the other newer devices. Note 4 even wimpier.
Click to expand...

Rushmore are you picking up a Note 4?

I do not think Note 4 has wimpier speakers it sounds great I think they are mono speakers....
 
I have a Note 2 and I had initial concerns that the speaker would return to the back but after seeing this video, I don't have such concerns anymore. Thanks.
 
animeware said:
Rushmore are you picking up a Note 4?

I do not think Note 4 has wimpier speakers it sounds great I think they are mono speakers....
Click to expand...
I plan to, pending my testing of the audio out to headphones. Reviews state it has half the dB output of the iPhone and one third less than the G3.

That usually means weak gain and a struggle to efficiently drive headphones beyond 16ohm. Surely the GSMarena test is incorrect. That is a huge difference and a step back from the N3.
 
I'm assuming that this will also mean it will be more difficult to hear the phone ringing from a distance and the volume of a call on speaker phone will also suffer?
 
But doesn't the test in the video posted above claim that the Note 4 has the louder volume? Unless I'm not reading the captions correctly, that is what the test concluded.
 
I posted about the audio jack volume, but not the result I wanted. Weak a$$ output that correlates to GSMarena showing half the output of an iPhone.
 
dontpanicbobby said:
That's a deal breaker for me. I use my phones for entertainment more than calls.
Click to expand...

Still hoping Poweramp can access the volume of the hardware. It works for some devices, but not all. I do agree that low volume from the jack would mean no purchase for me either. It has to be heard to believe how low it is and that is with the already low 16 ohm buds. People with higher ohm buds are best to avoid if the volume can not be increased.
 
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