The iPhone X speakers are not my favorite

[balderoine]

Usually after each upgrade we can expect some kind of bump in the iPhone’s speakers but this time I’m really bugged by the quality of the iPhone X’s speakers. The bass is super faint in low-medium volumes and it’s terribly loud if you crank it up. Add the stereo speakers in the mix and it hurts my head so much. I question why this is happening since my iPhone 7 Plus’ speakers were pleasant and so were the iPhone 8 Plus while I had it for 2 weeks. I tried to compare sound with my iPad Pro and it sounds normal. New speaker supplier maybe? New waterproof meshing? I had a case on but I removed it to test. What are your guys opinions?

 

[QquegChristian]

I think they are a huge improvement over my regular 7’s speakers. They have more bass and are far louder.

I’ve never heard a Plus model. Always just assumed they sounded the same as the regular models.

I’m kind of amazed at what these companies can do with these tiny, tiny speakers. There’s just no way they’re going to sound as good as a big dedicated Bluetooth speaker, the same way those will never sound as good as a good pair of dedicated speakers, but the X is like 60% of the way to having the sound quality and volume of my $200 Harmon Kardon Bluetooth speaker that is far, far bigger.

 

[Ntombi]

I compared it to the speakers on the 7, and it’s a huge difference. Not just louder, but fuller and less crackly at top volume. I mean, they’re not great, but they’re certainly listenable.

 

[TrueBlou]

I’m happy with the performance coming from my 7 Plus, just been playing Tiesto and it sounded good for what it’s playing on, but everybody’s ears are different.
Probably a stupid question but have you tried changing the EQ in Settings? Maybe Small Speakers, Loudness or whatever sounds good to you.

 

[balderoine]

I think they are a huge improvement over my regular 7’s speakers. They have more bass and are far louder.

I’ve never heard a Plus model. Always just assumed they sounded the same as the regular models.

I’m kind of amazed at what these companies can do with these tiny, tiny speakers. There’s just no way they’re going to sound as good as a big dedicated Bluetooth speaker, the same way those will never sound as good as a good pair of dedicated speakers, but the X is like 60% of the way to having the sound quality and volume of my $200 Harmon Kardon Bluetooth speaker that is far, far bigger.

That’s good I just wanted to know if anyone else had noticed any improvement or decrease in quality. I think the speakers are the same for both models. The top speaker grill is smaller this year on the X so I guess that if the speaker assembly got smaller I haven’t got used to it yet.
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I compared it to the speakers on the 7, and it’s a huge difference. Not just louder, but fuller and less crackly at top volume. I mean, they’re not great, but they’re certainly listenable.

They’re louder for sure. Hopefully I get used to the slight different sound

 

[techno-Zen]

The top speaker is terrible and crackly above 80% volume.. it also sounds incredibly tinny compared to the 7 plus and 8 plus..

Maybe it’s just my phone?

May be a deal breaker for me.. but I LoVE everything else about the X

 

[balderoine]

I’m happy with the performance coming from my 7 Plus, just been playing Tiesto and it sounded good for what it’s playing on, but everybody’s ears are different.
Probably a stupid question but have you tried changing the EQ in Settings? Maybe Small Speakers, Loudness or whatever sounds good to you.

I haven’t tried that yet but I will give it a shot. Just curious if it is system wide. It’s weird how music sounds pretty good from songs in my Music library but from Spotify I get the quality of an out of whack EQ. It could be just the app.
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The top speaker is terrible and crackly above 80% volume.. it also sounds incredibly tinny compared to the 7 plus and 8 plus..

Maybe it’s just my phone?

May be a deal breaker for me.. but I LoVE everything else about the X

I’m really enjoying mine too. I’ll just have to give it time and get used to it

 

[cap7ainclu7ch]

The top speaker is terrible and crackly above 80% volume.. it also sounds incredibly tinny compared to the 7 plus and 8 plus..

Maybe it’s just my phone?

May be a deal breaker for me.. but I LoVE everything else about the X

I'd get a replacement. I swapped my SG for silver today and the speaker sounds much better. The first phone was very crackly and sounded awful at higher volume. Seems like they might have some defective units out there...

 

[techno-Zen]

I'd get a replacement. I swapped my SG for silver today and the speaker sounds much better. The first phone was very crackly and sounded awful at higher volume. Seems like they might have some defective units out there...

I’ll try tomorrow.. hope it’s just a defect....

 

[balderoine]

I’ll try tomorrow.. hope it’s just a defect....

I had a software bug after completing the setup page where the homescreen failed to launch apps. I was at my carrier and they wanted to recall it until I did a hard reset on the spot. They still said it was defective and that one problem could lead to more down the line. Third strike and I’m definitely going to swap

 

[FriendlyMackle]

Usually after each upgrade we can expect some kind of bump in the iPhone’s speakers but this time I’m really bugged by the quality of the iPhone X’s speakers. The bass is super faint in low-medium volumes and it’s terribly loud if you crank it up. Add the stereo speakers in the mix and it hurts my head so much. I question why this is happening since my iPhone 7 Plus’ speakers were pleasant and so were the iPhone 8 Plus while I had it for 2 weeks. I tried to compare sound with my iPad Pro and it sounds normal. New speaker supplier maybe? New waterproof meshing? I had a case on but I removed it to test. What are your guys opinions?

I'm listening to Apple Music (my mix of songs) right now via my new iPhone X's speakers -- something I never would have done with previous models of the phone. I am really impressed with the sound quality, and actual stereo sound from something so tiny! I watched a movie trailer earlier to assess the quality of film presentation along with sound; and now listening to The Naked and Famous "To Move with Purpose", and the sound is excellent.

I also made a long speakerphone call earlier today, and the volume is heads and shoulders better than my last phone, which admittedly was 2 years old, an iPhone 6S Plus.

 

[Stefan johansson]

Usually after each upgrade we can expect some kind of bump in the iPhone’s speakers but this time I’m really bugged by the quality of the iPhone X’s speakers. The bass is super faint in low-medium volumes and it’s terribly loud if you crank it up. Add the stereo speakers in the mix and it hurts my head so much. I question why this is happening since my iPhone 7 Plus’ speakers were pleasant and so were the iPhone 8 Plus while I had it for 2 weeks. I tried to compare sound with my iPad Pro and it sounds normal. New speaker supplier maybe? New waterproof meshing? I had a case on but I removed it to test. What are your guys opinions?

Cellphone speakers will probably never be able to replace other speakers. The speakers in the phone is only meant for phone calls,not music playback.

 

[Marshall73]

Watched spider-man homecoming and was really impressed with the audio, as good as my 7 an 8 plus models, maybe just not quite as loud but I don’t run any at 100% volume.

 

[Zune55]

Usually after each upgrade we can expect some kind of bump in the iPhone’s speakers but this time I’m really bugged by the quality of the iPhone X’s speakers. The bass is super faint in low-medium volumes and it’s terribly loud if you crank it up. Add the stereo speakers in the mix and it hurts my head so much. I question why this is happening since my iPhone 7 Plus’ speakers were pleasant and so were the iPhone 8 Plus while I had it for 2 weeks. I tried to compare sound with my iPad Pro and it sounds normal. New speaker supplier maybe? New waterproof meshing? I had a case on but I removed it to test. What are your guys opinions?

In my opinion they’re really good please make sure that your equalizer settings I’m not messed up.

 

[Vundu]

Only coming from a 6S but the X sounds far superior. Not just the volume but the fullness and bass. Very pleased.

Never heard a plus model so cannot comment against them.

 

[ajscorpio69]

I think they are a huge improvement over my regular 7’s speakers. They have more bass and are far louder.

I’ve never heard a Plus model. Always just assumed they sounded the same as the regular models.

I’m kind of amazed at what these companies can do with these tiny, tiny speakers. There’s just no way they’re going to sound as good as a big dedicated Bluetooth speaker, the same way those will never sound as good as a good pair of dedicated speakers, but the X is like 60% of the way to having the sound quality and volume of my $200 Harmon Kardon Bluetooth speaker that is far, far bigger.

Louder and crisper than iPhone 7 Plus!
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The top speaker is terrible and crackly above 80% volume.. it also sounds incredibly tinny compared to the 7 plus and 8 plus..

Maybe it’s just my phone?

May be a deal breaker for me.. but I LoVE everything else about the X

Sounds like your phone for sure. Mine are crisp and loud with zero distortion at full volume.

 

[Diorama]

I’m coming from a 6S Plus so it’s hard for me to help you because mine is such an obvious jump in volume and quality.

 

[fullauto]

Any 8+ comparisons to the X? Huge improvement in clarity, fullness and bass over the 6S+..

 

[Technarchy]

Better than my 7+, but not quite as good as my 8+.

 

[44267547]

Just to clarify for some, when Apple introduced the stereo speakers on the iPhone 7, they increased the loudness by 25% on the iPhone 8/8+. I'm not sure if the same applies to the iPhone X, even though they have stereo speakers.

 

[fullauto]

Better than my 7+, but not quite as good as my 8+.

Cheers. How would you describe the advantages of the 8+?

 

[Technarchy]

Cheers. How would you describe the advantages of the 8+?

8+ plays a little deeper, and louder without any sense of shrill or distortion. Overall the 8+ is louder.

Sense of separation is very good with both with some movie tracks and songs having a real sense of enveloping you.