Speakers on Nokia Phones....

TerrorFirmer

Just generally wondering, why are they so crap?

For instance, try playing an mp3 file through the native speaker on any Nokia phone. What you get is distorted, fuzzy crap. Try recording a song with any Nokia phone, and what you get is distorted fuzzy crap.

I've experienced this with the 7650, the 6600, the 6630, the 6680. All Nokia phones are affected by this sub strandard output.

Now try playing the file back on the native speaker of A Sony Ericsson or Sagem phone. Both sound nice and clear, and when you record stuff it comes out as you want it to.

Why do Nokia have such appallingly crap speakers and recorders?

jrey1981

My friend and I compared this - I have a 6230i and he has a SE K750i - seemed to be much the same quality as far as I could tell...

TerrorFirmer

I've never used a 6230i - perhaps they are better. But I know that will all the Symbian phones, playback was terrible. I know it's no big deal, its not often you want to go around using your phone as a mini boombox.

But still, just made me curious given the cheaper alternatives seem to have quality speakers, especially Sagem.

but the recording is still dreadful on the 6230 models I believe, how's the 6230i? Voice recording is fine, but for some reason Nokia phones seem unable to pick up on any kind of music without warping it entirely.

theothernt

Hi,

Earlier Symbian phones such as the Nokia 7650 or Nokia 6600 were only capable of playing back at a very low quality (22khz mono or similar) no matter what file format was used (CD quality MP3, etc). Newer phones, such as the Nokia 6630 or newer, can play back at full CD quality.

I think the problem you are having relates to a few issues, two of which are...

1) The mic on a mobile phone is designed to capture the human voice and not music

2) When you record a voice memo it's stored in a very low quality format designed for voice only (it mangles music - probably the main reason why you think Nokia's are especially bad!)

I have regular access to a Nokia 6630, 6230 and 6230i and all have very good output via their built in speaker. AAC and MP3 files sound clear to me - especially for a mobile phone.

- Neil

TerrorFirmer

With regards to the inbuilt microphones, of course you are right with the voice being designed for just that - voice and not music. But when you record music on most other phones, such as SE and especially Sagem phones, you get a lovely music clip. On Nokias it sounds like a rusty nail being dragged on the floor.

Certainly things were improved with the later Symbian devices but I still found the sound on my 6630 slightly tinny if you will.

I'm really just curious, especially relating to the microphone issue, why Nokias are inferior to most other models in this regard....especially given almost every phone now can feature your own recorded sound as a ringtone, and even though this feature is encouraged in Nokia phones, it can't be used in practice due to the crappy quality.

1huge1

MobileInfantry wrote:

Just generally wondering, why are they so crap?

For instance, try playing an mp3 file through the native speaker on any Nokia phone. What you get is distorted, fuzzy crap. Try recording a song with any Nokia phone, and what you get is distorted fuzzy crap.

I've experienced this with the 7650, the 6600, the 6630, the 6680. All Nokia phones are affected by this sub strandard output.

Now try playing the file back on the native speaker of A Sony Ericsson or Sagem phone. Both sound nice and clear, and when you record stuff it comes out as you want it to.

Why do Nokia have such appallingly crap speakers and recorders?

have to agree with ya there the recording on my 6600 was brutal and the mp3 playback was only alright (come on it was playing out of two tiny holes)

theothernt

Hi,

1huge1 - As I said above, the Nokia 660 was designed that way (odd I know). It was aimed at the business market, like the rest of the Nokia 6xxx series, so high quality audio and MP3 playback were last on their list.

MobileInfantry - Although the mic is meant for voice only, it should be okay quality - the problem is the sound format that Nokia phones record in by default - it's called AMR. This format is basically "telephone quality" (ie. crap) so your phone could have the most expensive mic in the world but the resulting AMR file would sound awful!

The only thing I can suggest, and this is only with a Series 60 based phone such as the Nokia 6630 or 6680, is to install a 3rd party voice recording programme that will save in a higher quality format such as WAV, MP3, AAC or OGG.

One last thing to remember, Nokia and the mobile networks don't consider it a problem if the ringtones you record are low quality - that way, you may just give up and buy/download the high quality versions they offer :rolleyes:

- Neil