While we were all busy discussing the actual merits of having a dedicated camera button on the screen iPhone 16 series and the slow flow of Apple Intelligence features, one of the incredibly cool talents in the latest high-end iPhones that often goes unmentioned and forgotten.
It's the feature you use Often You might forget how well Apple has done this with iPhone 16 Pro Max.
But recently, while testing a new competitor The OnePlus 13 and a bunch of other phones, I found it by chance and when you have a direct comparison like that, it's even more impressive.
The hidden talent in the iPhone 16 Pro Max
This is ambiguous iPhone 16 Pro Max The hidden talent is...speaker quality!
This is not a simple feature that only audiophiles can hear. Just yesterday, I was streaming the theme song to Narcos Mexico (Rodrigo Amarante - Tuyo) on Netflix on a few phones in the office. They were all major devices, turned on one by one. The moment the iPhone started turning all heads.
“What is this phone?!” People who were doing their work suddenly became fascinated by the sound.
that it Which Impressive, not only because of how loud the sound is, but also because of how loudness is controlled.
You can't trust just one story to tell what happened iPhone 16 Pro Max Greatest speaker on a modern phone though.
I have played a range of songs in different genres.
Rock and roll
First, our favorite desktop route for testing speakers: “So Far” by Avenged Sevenfold. You have the melody, you have the power, you have everything.
on This track looks surprisingly flat and monotonous on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The drums completely lack thump. You cannot fully express the emotional contrast between vocals and other instruments.
the The Pixel 9 Pro XL gets louder, but at maximum volume it's annoying. The highs scream so loud that you... He wants To reject it.
the OnePlus 13 More fun than both Galaxy and Pixel. Unlike the other two phones, which prioritize the highs and raise them to unpleasant levels, the sound here is more balanced between the highs, mids, and lows.
the iPhone 16 Pro Max It sounds distinctly different from the first note. It is even better than OnePlus 13controlling the highs as well, but also adding more depth to the lows and mids, so you have an incredibly full, lush and real sound on the phone. Since nothing is overdone, you can enjoy this track while playing it at maximum volume on your iPhone.
“In the End” by Linkin Park
Linkin Park"in the end" It is an absolute classic but due to the heavy involvement of the drums, playing on a smartphone is a challenge.
the Pixel 9 Pro XL You simply cannot handle this challenge. At full volume, this is pure torture to the ear and you need to turn the volume down, with the lows collapsing completely.
the OnePlus 13 It is more prosperous than Galaxy S24 Ultrabut the sound here is less controlled and the vocals are a bit muffled, instead Galaxy S24 Ultra - Not least because it's a bit quieter - it's able to achieve somewhat better balance and you can hear the sounds cleaner, but there's a lot of hiss in the sound. However, forget about feeling anything when the line “One day, I don't know why, no matter how hard I try…” begins. Both phones fail to deliver that emotional punch.
the iPhone 16 Pro Max Far from perfect, but better than other phones. A little cleaner, with a little more depth and control. It's not always the loudest, but it's easily the best balanced phone.
This is why Apple's iPhone looks different
Apple recently He opened his audio lab for the first time to the media. I wasn't there, but I read the report very carefully. The lab equipment isn't much different from what I've seen while touring other phone manufacturers. You have your silent room (fun fact: did you know you can go crazy if you stay in there too long?), you have your typical equipment.
The difference is that Apple doesn't just use automated testing, it has real people listening to the way its tools look and making changes based on that.
It sounds surprisingly simple, but this kind of “human” adjustment is not common among phone makers.
The results of my impromptu audio tests certainly attest to this.
It's one thing to try and get the top phone on the market. It's one thing to have a phone that satisfies the human ear.
I miss really good sounding phones
The JBL Moto Mod has been a godsend for audiophiles
Just a few years ago, we had a truly amazing-sounding smartphone.
The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate wowed us with its dual speakers, achieving a level of clarity we haven't seen in another phone yet.
And even further back, we had the JBL Sound Boost Moto Mod, which you could place on the back of a Moto Z phone for what essentially amounted to a mini Bluetooth speaker.
Those were the good old days, as they say, but sound quality remains a very important aspect of a phone that you only really appreciate when comparing it to another phone. The realization can be shocking.
Hopefully 2025 will bring us another phone with incredibly good sound (the S25 Ultra is just around the corner!), but for now, iPhone 16 Pro Max It remains in a league of its own when it comes to smartphone speakers.
While we were all busy discussing the actual merits of having a dedicated camera button on the screen iPhone 16 series and the slow flow of Apple Intelligence features, one of the incredibly cool talents in the latest high-end iPhones that often goes unmentioned and forgotten.
It’s the feature you use Often You might forget how well Apple has done this with iPhone 16 Pro Max.
But recently, while testing a new competitor The OnePlus 13 and a bunch of other phones, I found it by chance and when you have a direct comparison like that, it’s even more impressive.
The hidden talent in the iPhone 16 Pro Max
This is ambiguous iPhone 16 Pro Max The hidden talent is…speaker quality!
This is not a simple feature that only audiophiles can hear. Just yesterday, I was streaming the theme song to Narcos Mexico (Rodrigo Amarante – Tuyo) on Netflix on a few phones in the office. They were all major devices, turned on one by one. The moment the iPhone started turning all heads.
“What is this phone?!” People who were doing their work suddenly became fascinated by the sound.
that it Which Impressive, not only because of how loud the sound is, but also because of how loudness is controlled.
You can’t trust just one story to tell what happened iPhone 16 Pro Max Greatest speaker on a modern phone though.
I have played a range of songs in different genres.
Rock and roll
First, our favorite desktop route for testing speakers: “So Far” by Avenged Sevenfold. You have the melody, you have the power, you have everything.
on This track looks surprisingly flat and monotonous on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The drums completely lack thump. You cannot fully express the emotional contrast between vocals and other instruments.
the The Pixel 9 Pro XL gets louder, but at maximum volume it’s annoying. The highs scream so loud that you… He wants To reject it.
the OnePlus 13 More fun than both Galaxy and Pixel. Unlike the other two phones, which prioritize the highs and raise them to unpleasant levels, the sound here is more balanced between the highs, mids, and lows.
the iPhone 16 Pro Max It sounds distinctly different from the first note. It is even better than OnePlus 13controlling the highs as well, but also adding more depth to the lows and mids, so you have an incredibly full, lush and real sound on the phone. Since nothing is overdone, you can enjoy this track while playing it at maximum volume on your iPhone.
“In the End” by Linkin Park
Linkin Park“in the end” It is an absolute classic but due to the heavy involvement of the drums, playing on a smartphone is a challenge.
the Pixel 9 Pro XL You simply cannot handle this challenge. At full volume, this is pure torture to the ear and you need to turn the volume down, with the lows collapsing completely.
the OnePlus 13 It is more prosperous than Galaxy S24 Ultrabut the sound here is less controlled and the vocals are a bit muffled, instead Galaxy S24 Ultra – Not least because it’s a bit quieter – it’s able to achieve somewhat better balance and you can hear the sounds cleaner, but there’s a lot of hiss in the sound. However, forget about feeling anything when the line “One day, I don’t know why, no matter how hard I try…” begins. Both phones fail to deliver that emotional punch.
the iPhone 16 Pro Max Far from perfect, but better than other phones. A little cleaner, with a little more depth and control. It’s not always the loudest, but it’s easily the best balanced phone.
This is why Apple’s iPhone looks different
Apple recently He opened his audio lab for the first time to the media. I wasn’t there, but I read the report very carefully. The lab equipment isn’t much different from what I’ve seen while touring other phone manufacturers. You have your silent room (fun fact: did you know you can go crazy if you stay in there too long?), you have your typical equipment.
The difference is that Apple doesn’t just use automated testing, it has real people listening to the way its tools look and making changes based on that.
It sounds surprisingly simple, but this kind of “human” adjustment is not common among phone makers.
The results of my impromptu audio tests certainly attest to this.
It’s one thing to try and get the top phone on the market. It’s one thing to have a phone that satisfies the human ear.
I miss really good sounding phones
The JBL Moto Mod has been a godsend for audiophiles
Just a few years ago, we had a truly amazing-sounding smartphone.
The Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate wowed us with its dual speakers, achieving a level of clarity we haven’t seen in another phone yet.
And even further back, we had the JBL Sound Boost Moto Mod, which you could place on the back of a Moto Z phone for what essentially amounted to a mini Bluetooth speaker.
Those were the good old days, as they say, but sound quality remains a very important aspect of a phone that you only really appreciate when comparing it to another phone. The realization can be shocking.
Hopefully 2025 will bring us another phone with incredibly good sound (the S25 Ultra is just around the corner!), but for now, iPhone 16 Pro Max It remains in a league of its own when it comes to smartphone speakers.
