Rare to find smartphones that offer great specs, user experience, and astounding music experience.
Updated on 11th May 2022 – Sony has launched the new Sony Xperia 1 IV with incredible audio capabilities.
If you are a music lover and audiophile, here are some top smartphone suggestions. These are excellent phones for music lovers.
We have chosen the best recently launched mobiles that offer exceptional audio quality.
The smartphones in this list have excellent audio quality and have the OOmph factor in making you groove on Rock or Jazz, whatever is your dope.
Let’s check out the 10 Best smartphones for a great music experience:
1. Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus is a member of the S21 series that was launched this year(2021) on 14 January in India.
The Galaxy S21 Plus is available for purchase along with a starting price of INR 81,999.
It does not have a 3.5mm earphone jack but comes with Type-C earphone support.
For offering you an immersive audio experience, the Galaxy S21 has a stereo speaker along with Dolby Atmos sound technology.
Furthermore, it also has a HiFi DAC that supports 32-bit, 384Hz audio playback tuned by AKG.
Additionally, the Galaxy S21 Plus comes with noise-canceling microphones to offer crystal clear audio.
Overall, The Samsung Galaxy S21 offers a superb audio experience whether you listen to music using wireless headphones, doing voice calls, and while watching movies and videos.
Read more about the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
2. Vivo X60 Pro
Vivo X60 Pro is the latest smartphone in the Vivo X60 series. The mobile comes with excellent specs and has incredible sound quality,
The Vivo X60 Pro is available for purchase for Rs. 49,999.
It comes with a Hi-Res audio certification that provides the guarantee of the immersive sound experience by the device.
At the bottom, the Vivo X60 Pro has a normal speaker but there is a lack of the user’s favorite 3.5mm earphone jack( comes with Type-C earphone support).
Furthermore, the audio features a HiFi DAC that supports 32 bit, 192Khz audio playback.
Overall, the Vivo X60 Pro provides decent performance in terms of music and audio.
Read more about Vivo X60 Pro
3. Asus ROG Phone 5
Asus ROG Phone 5 is the best gaming smartphone launched by Asus ever.
The Asus ROG Phone 5 will be coming for purchase on Flipkart from 15th April 2021 along with a starting price tag of INR 49,999.
Talking about its audio performance, it has dual 7 magnet speakers for balanced stereo audio, and having a haptic feedback feature makes a gaming experience realistic.
The ROG Phone 5 comes with Dual Front Speakers, similar to what HTC used to have. These are the best speakers that you will get on any smartphone.
Additionally, it also comes along with a standard 3.5mm earphone jack which is rare to find in premium phones.
Lastly, the Asus ROG Phone also has dedicated DAC support that provides a mind-blowing audio experience when using both wired and wireless earphones.
Read more about Asus ROG Phone 5
4. Sony Xperia PRO-I
Sony Xperia Pro-I was launched recently on 26 October 2021. It is one of the rare flagship smartphones that comes with a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Also, it has stereo speakers that come with DOLBY Atmos Audio support delivering an astounding music experience to the listener.
The Xperia Pro I comes with Full-stage stereo speakers at the front, for powerful, balanced true stereo sound.
The Xperia Pro-I features a built-in monaural microphone that enables you to focus on recording speech clearly as it can isolate the background noise with ease.
Also, we are getting an immersive 4K HDR OLED 120Hz Refresh rate display that offers stunning visuals and is sharper than any other smartphone display on the market.
Sony is also using a 360 Reality Audio that offers surround sound experience when using wired or wireless headphones.
The Xperia PRO-I supports High-Res Audio and High-Resolution Audio Wireless and comes with an LDAC. All of this enables you to listen to a wide sound stage through wired/wireless headphones.
It also features DSEE Ultimate, which uses AI to enhance the quality of all your digital music in real-time.
Undoubtedly the Xperia Pro I is an advanced smartphone for people who love imaging and audio. It is pretty expensive close to USD 2500 but comes with incredible technological advancements.
Read More About Sony Xperia Pro-I
5. Samsung Galaxy S20
The Samsung Galaxy S20 was launched in February this year(2020). This premium phone with top of line specs and is available for a price tag of $762 or Rs.56,399.
The Galaxy S20 does not have a standard 3.5mm headphone jack but it comes with Type-C earphone support.
Furthermore, It has a Music Share feature from that you easily connect any Bluetooth device with your phone.
For offering an enhanced speaker system, The S20 has Stereo speakers along with Dolby Atmos sound technology.
The Galaxy S20 has a HiFi DAC that supports 32-bit, 384kHz audio playback tuned by AKG.
Overall, this device has a great sound experience.
Read more about Galaxy S20 here
6. Apple iPhone 12 Pro
iPhone 12 Pro is arguably the most innovative iPhone Apple has ever created.
It has a notch on top of its display and comes with a full-screen display and features like FaceID and a Triple-camera setup with a LiDAR scanner at its back.
The price of the phone is $1,621 or Rs 1,19,900.
Apart from that, it has dual stereo speakers at the bottom, just like other recent iPhone models.
Also, Apple provides quality Lightning USB Type-C cable in-box along with the phone, although there is no 3.5 mm headphone jack in the phone.
Apple iPhone 12 Pro supports a number of audio formats, including Apple Lossless, FLAC, Protected AAC, Linear PCM, Spatial audio playback, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Digital Plus. Also, the maximum volume limit is user-configurable.
Most interestingly, the iPhone 12 Pro sounds best with Apple’s wireless earphones called as Airpods. The Airpods are W1 Wireless chip-enabled headphones that are based on existing Bluetooth 4.1 technology.
When paired with the mobile, the sounding experience become even better with its crisp and rich output. W1 Chip is specifically designed to work seamlessly with Apple devices.
Apple 12 Pro can play audio for more than 60 hours (wireless) on a single charge of the battery.
7. Apple iPhone 13 Pro
Apple iPhone 13 Pro comes with a design similar to its predecessor but with an extra camera at the rear.
The 13 Pro comes with a price tag of $1199 or Rs 1,19,900.
The iPhone 13 Pro has dual stereo speakers at the bottom.
The bottom speaker generates excellent audio output and provides a rich and loud enough experience.
As per Apple, iPhone 13 Pro features redesigned stereo speakers that are louder than the previous gen and provide a deeper bass experience to the user.
Like predecessors, It doesn’t have a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The earphones that come in-box are made especially for the iPhone that provides Ultra-clear sound.
iPhone 13 Pro is capable of audio playback for up to 75 hours (wireless) on a single charge of the battery.
The device supports several audio formats, such as AAC‑LC, HE‑AAC, HE‑AAC v2, Protected AAC, MP3, Linear PCM, Apple Lossless, FLAC, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos, and Audible.
Considering the supported Codec and fine-tuning by Apple Engineers the phone sound excellent for wireless audio.
If you pair it with Apple Airpods and use the spatial audio from iTunes you can get incredible sound quality that is not possible on most other devices.
Read more about the iPhone 13 Pro
8. Google Pixel 5a
Google Pixel 5A is arguably the best Android phone out there if your preference is a clutter-free software experience. Apart from that, it boasts excellent music capabilities too. The price of this phone is $605 or Rs 44,990.
It has dual stereo speakers on the front side. The speakers generate loud and clear audio output with very rich and deep vocals.
Google Pixel 5a also has a 3.5 audio jack for the phone which was missing in the Google Pixel 5.
Additionally, the smartphone boasts Bluetooth 5.0 + LE and supports Wireless HD audio with A2DP, and AptX HD audio codecs.
However, You can also pair it with any high-fidelity audiophile-grade wireless headphones to get the maximum advantage.
The device also offers noise suppression that eliminates the environmental noise from the audio during calling and recording.
7. LG V60 ThinQ
No one makes a better mobile when it comes to sound quality. For audiophiles looking for the best-sounding mobile, LG V60 ThinQ is an excellent choice.
LG has its shortcomings in UI and experience but the sound quality is mind-blowing.
The handset features the latest ES9218 DAC, featuring a parallel DAC configuration to improve noise performance.
This latest chip perks theoretical maximums of 130SNR, 124 dB DNR, and -112 dB THD+N.
This essentially means you get to hear the most blissful sounds out of this premium Android smartphone.
The smartphone has a dedicated headphone Quad-DAC to drive any high-end headphones with a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Also, there is support for apt-X and apt-X HD and even has LG’s own DTS:X 3D surround sound to enhance the audio experience.
It comes with a bottom-firing BoomBox speaker that offers clear and loud output when watching videos or listening to music.
Further, the Lg V60 comes with the ability to record high-fidelity audio using the HD Audio recorder. You can use the studio mode or the
9. Apple iPhone 13
Apple makes devices in a way that one looks at it and you’ll love it. The exotic build, great display, amazing camera, and incredible audio performance make it special.
The iPhone 13 offers stereo sound because it has two stereo speakers one at the bottom and the other at the top of the device to ensure much better volume and clarity.
Additionally, it also has a Dolby Atmos support but could not come with a 3.5mm jack.
You can share movies, TV, music, and other apps in a FaceTime call with SharePlay.
While watching movies and doing gaming, it offers an immersive audio experience all thanks to the good signal-to-noise ratio.
It offers a good recording loudness and excellent resilience to high-pressure levels.
Lastly, the iPhone 13 supports AAC‑LC, HE‑AAC, HE‑AAC v2, Protected AAC, MP3, Linear PCM, Apple Lossless, FLAC, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, and Audible.
Read more about the iPhone 13
9. iPhone XR
We can’t just ignore iPhone XR in this list, it is one of the most amazing music powerhouses that comes with stereo speakers.
With the recent price drop to Rs. 52,000 ($600) the iPhone XR is the best option to upgrade if you want a new iPhone.
Apple uses dedicated audio chipsets like Wolfson, cirrus on their products to create an incredible music experience.
Sadly, the iPhone XR doesn’t come with a 3.5 mm headphone jack but you can use an adapter (lightning to 3.5 mm) if you want to use it. However, if you can afford the Apple Airpods then this is the ideal choice.
Even if you are not buying the Airpods, you get free pair of earpods with a lightning connector that has a decent audio output.
The out-of-the-box earphones you get with Apple are simply outstanding.
They offer a great music experience with excellent design and build quality. You can listen to music on them for hours and irrespective of the genre will simply fall in love with the quality of the output.
The iPhone XR comes with Linear PCM, Apple Lossless audio support, FLAC, and even has support for Dolby Digital (AC‑3) and Dolby (E-AC-3) formats.
There are two stereo speakers at the top and bottom of the device that delivers an exceptional audio experience when watching videos and even listening to music.
The iPhone XR is good at delivering immersive 3D sound effects through headphones.
10. Sony Xperia 1 IV
The Sony Xperia 1 IV is the latest iteration of flagship sony phones that comes with incredible audio quality, a 6.5 Inch OLED 4K display, and a new camera system.
The smartphone boasts stereo speakers at the front and a 3.5mm headphone jack, a rarity for modern flagships. If you are old school and love wired headphones, Xperia is the ultimate choice.
The Sony Xperia 1 IV comes with 360-degree reality audio that you can experience on the stereo speakers
The phone is designed for 360-degree reality audio with unique hardware decoding to optimize the quality of sound while listening to music.
Sony also claims that they have improved the speaker drivers to offer better bass and clarity. There is support for DSEE that we have seen in some of the premium Sony headphones. DSEE uses AI to enhance the audio quality of normal 16-bit tracks to mimic 24-bit by improving the low and high ranges and it works with wired, wireless headphones on locally stored or streamed tracks.
Lastly, there is support for High-Resolution Audio, DOLBY Atmos, LDAC (supports transfer rates up to 990 kbps), and Bluetooth LE for low latency Bluetooth connectivity.
The Sony smartphone comes with an incredible camera system and boasts of triple 12 MP cameras that can record 4K @ 120 FPS videos.
Sony has been the pioneer in sound enhancement for years and carries the legacy well till now.
The Xperia 1 IV will be available in the US and other markets starting at $1699 from 1st September 2022 in black, green, and purple color options.
11. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Last but not least the S21 ultra is a music powerhouse that comes with stereo speakers.
The Galaxy 21 Ultra is available online for Rs. 1,05,999 or $1299.
The Galaxy S21 Ultra doesn’t have a 3.5mm headphone jack but it comes with Type-C earphone support and you can also use the wireless headphone to enjoy music.
Furthermore, It has Bluetooth version 5.2 support that offers a better range and connectivity.
The smartphone has a pair of stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos sound technology.
Lastly, The Galaxy S21 Ultra has a HiFi DAC that supports 32-bit, 384kHz audio playback tuned by AKG.
Overall, pair the S21 Ultra with a high-quality wireless headphone with ANC and you can get the best audio output from it.
Read more about the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
How to Improve Sound Quality of Any Android Mobile?
If you don’t have any of these you can still convert your android smartphone to an Apple iPod with an incredible music experience using apps like Viper-X or Beats Audio. You need to root in order to install and use these Apps.
I have tried the Viper-X it is free and the most amazing music app which can turn any smartphone into a music phone.
You can download and use Viper-X and enjoy a great music experience on any smartphone.
Download Viper-X from XDA Developers.
Pair it up with the PowerAmp app from the Android play store and you will get the best music experience you ever had in your life.
