Subjective sound comparison of Apple iPhone 5, Meizu MX2, Nokia Lumia 920 and Xiaomi Mi-Two

Greetings to you, Habralyudi! Last November, we already conducted a subjective sound comparison of several popular smartphones, including the Meizu MX and Nokia Lumia 920. Here it is . This time the list of participants has changed a bit, and the main reason for a new comparison is the participation of our flagship Meizu MX2 in it. We again decided to compare the sound quality in current smartphones from different manufacturers in order to understand at what level Meizu MX2 is in this group. For help again turned to Ilya Tarakanov. Important - all that you read below is the subjective opinion of one person who listens to music on various devices a lot and often.




Testing conditions:

• Conspiracy apartment in the north of Moscow, minimal external noise
• Headphones Ultimate Ears UE 11 PRO , retail price of 1150 US dollars, made by ear cast
• Prime Test CD1 Test Collection of 45 Excerpts from Famous Songs
• Ears of Ilya Tarakanov, permanent author of mobile-review.com , moderator of the player.ru forum

Testing devices, file formats and software players:

• Apple iPhone 5, firmware 6.0.1, WAV files, standard player
• Meizu MX2, firmware 2.0.6, files in FLAC format, Poweramp player
• Meizu MX 4-core, firmware 1.1.3, files in FLAC format, Poweamp player
• Nokia Lumia 920, firmware 1.0.202041.3, files in WMA format, standard player
• Xiaomi Mi-Two, firmware JLB7.0, files in FLAC format, Poweamp player

Testing was completely subjective, like the previous one . Based on the author’s experience of listening to a test disc on various devices, including the top Hifiman HM-801 players ( page on Yandex.Market ), Colorful Colorfly C4 ( page on Yandex.Market ), iBasso DX-100 ( page on Yandex.Market ) .

For various reasons, the RMAA package was not used, in the future we will try to fill this gap.
Not used inexpensive headphones. When testing, high-end headphones were used, demanding on the source. They just need to hear the difference between smartphones. It is worth noting that the headphones also introduce distortions into the test results, so the testing is tied to specific headphones. Nevertheless, some characteristics will remain unchanged for other headphones, the difference will be in the flatness of the frequency response and (possibly) as a study of the frequency ranges. In principle, this problem can be solved using other high-end headphones - but one way or another, mistakes cannot be avoided here.



First, we consider each device individually, briefly describing the sound signature. Then, in a special table, we evaluate the devices by various parameters and calculate the total estimates.

Abbreviations Used:

• LF - low frequencies, such as drums
• MF - mid frequencies, for example, vocals
• Treble - high frequencies, such as percussion
• DD - dynamic range, quality of working out sounds of different volume (for example, whisper and scream)
• Detailing - distinguishability of instruments, vocal parts and so on
• Attack - the quality of practicing fast-growing sound fronts
• A stereo panorama is a virtual scene that is formed “in the head” of the listener
• Amplifier noise - subjective noise level of the player amplifier
• Comfortable volume - volume at which it is comfortable to listen to music
• Flatness of sound - a subjective assessment of the evenness of the frequency response of the “player-headphone-listener” combination

Apple iPhone 5
Sound with an emphasis on treble, on some tracks it is annoying. Low frequencies are very high quality, there is minimal buzz on some recordings. Mid frequencies are served well and naturally, their level is normal, the division of vocals is close to excellent. High frequencies are slightly dirty. The dynamic range is tight. The detail and attack are average. The noise of the amplifier is not audible under any conditions; the volume margin is half the scale.

Meizu MX2
The sound has a slight emphasis on the midrange, it is not annoying. Low frequencies are detailed, but not very deep, there is no hum. The midrange sounds clean and natural, the separation of the vocal parts is excellent. High frequencies are slightly dirty, their level is normal. The detail and attack are good, but the dynamic range, unfortunately, is tight. The stereo panorama is slightly wider than the head, the detail of the instruments is very good. The volume margin is about half the scale. The noise of the amplifier is noticeable even in not very quiet places of recordings.

Meizu MX 4-core
The sound focuses on the low frequency range. The bass level is so high that they are buzzing - and you want to muffle them a little. MFs play normally, HFs are fairly transparent. The stereo panorama is slightly wider than the head. Attack and DD are above average, detail is good. A comfortable volume level is reached on 2/3 of the scale. Amplifier noise is heard when headphones are connected and in quiet recording locations.

Nokia Lumia 920
The sound is bright, detailed, the emphasis is on the mid-high range. High-quality bass, without a hum. The stereo panorama is wide, slightly beyond the head, there is a small depth. The detail and attack are good, DD is normal. The noise of the amplifier is not heard. Comfortable volume is reached at half scale.

Xiaomi Mi-Two
The sound focuses on the low frequency range. The bass level is so high that they are buzzing - and you want to muffle them a little. MFs play normally, HFs are fairly transparent. The stereo panorama is slightly wider than the head. Amplifier noise is heard when headphones are connected and in quiet recording locations.
Attack and DD are above average, detail is good. A comfortable volume level is reached on 2/3 of the scale.

Summary table

Each characteristic was rated from 0 to 5 points, where 0 is the most poor result, and 5 is the most good. Grades 5 deserve (and even not for all parameters) “top-end” devices, say, Hifiman HM-801, iBasso DX100, Colorful Colorfly C4. Their cost is about a thousand dollars, and these are just players - without the ability to make calls.



Conclusion

Once again, recall that testing is completely subjective. What is its use, the reader will ask? The answer is simple: the benefit is that there is another opinion that has more weight than the next review from a fan of a device on the forums. This opinion is based on the experience of listening to a variety of players and smartphones with a couple of hundred headphones by the author.



It's no secret that lately the music component of phones has not been given much attention. Nevertheless, with each generation, the sound quality is at least a little, but is improving - at least in the market as a whole. But there is still a considerable gap to high-quality players (they can be estimated at 45-50 points), and true music lovers will still have to give a lot of money for them.
If you want a “harvester”, you will have to choose among what is, and we would recommend at least paying attention to the Nokia Lumia 920 - it is not particularly convenient as a player, but it plays music perfectly. The rest is headed by Meizu MX2, which is on par with the Apple iPhone 5, Mi-Two is also nearby, but the first Meizu MX is behind, but this is a previous generation device.
Meizu has done a good “bug fix” and the MX2 sounds better than the previous model, at the level of the same Apple iPhone 5.
Thank you for your attention, we are waiting for your feedback, suggestions and suggestions.

Material prepared by IlyaTarakanov

DISCLAIMER //The author of the text warns that the test results and conclusions based on subjective sound ratings do not claim to be 100% true. There are many methods for assessing the sound quality of various devices, the reader is given only one of them, and his right is to agree or disagree with it, either in whole or in part.