Counterpoint Research posted its analysis of the global smartphone market for Q1 2020, and the numbers do not look good at all. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, shipments fell 13% on a yearly basis, with the total being under 300 million - a number that was last reported in 2014. There were only two major companies that did not suffer a yearly decline in shipments - Xiaomi and Realme. All the others saw a decrease, but the overall picture remained the same - Samsung and Huawei are top sellers, Apple is comfortably third, and then plenty of China-based companies are in a battle for the last...
Samsung has announced that the rollout of Android 10-based One UI 2 update for its Galaxy devices in India has been delayed. The delay has been caused due to the nation-wide lockdown in India imposed by the government to curb the spread of COVID-19. This information comes from Samsung through its Members app, and it's a bit vague since the company says "we're experiencing a slight delay" without revealing how much the update schedule is affected and when the rollout will commence. However, Samsung might resume its full operations and begin the rollout of One UI 2 update in...
With COVID-19 pushing many industries to continue to conduct business online through tele-conferencing platforms, there's a new demand for presentation and business tools online. HTC is announcing a new presentation tool for its VR platform: the Vive. The platform is called Vive Sync, and it lets people conduct presentations in a virtual 3D space. The first aspect of the VR platform that's different from video conferencing is the use of personalized avatars. These avatars are full body and can convey body language in a presentation. Creating your avatar starts with a selfie....
Xiaomi's gaming-oriented sub-brand Black Shark launched its latest devices in China in March, and now it's finally ready to bring them to Europe. Both the Black Shark 3 and the Black Shark 3 Pro will go on sale in Europe on May 8. Prices haven't been unveiled yet, but given Black Shark's past antics, expect them to be very competitive for the innards you are getting. And those innards are indeed nothing to scoff at. Black Shark 3 (left) and Black Shark 3 Pro (right) The Black Shark 3 has a 6.67" 1080x2400 AMOLED touchscreen with 90Hz refresh rate, the Snapdragon 865 SoC at the...
Intel has taken the wraps off its 10th generation lineup of desktop CPUs. Codenamed 'Comet Lake', these new parts are still technically based on the 14nm 'Skylake' process from a few years ago but with multiple refinements. First, let's get one thing out of the way. Intel today announced 32 new models in its 10th generation lineup, starting with the Celeron chips at the bottom all the way up to the i9 10900K. We are not going to discuss all of them but just a select few. Having said that, as you can probably see from the part list below, most of the chips are just variations of...
According to the latest report from Counterpoint Research, smartphone sales in China experienced the roughest quarter in recent memory, dropping by 22% compared to Q1 2019 values. As expected the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is the main reason for weak demand as shipments in February alone declined by 35% YoY. At the same time, tge share of online sales grew to 50%, up from 30% last year. Huawei was the only OEM to stay afloat during the period with a 6% increase in sales. Apple saw a mere 1% decline while vivo (-27%), Oppo (-30%) and Xiaomi (-35%) suffered significant setbacks. In terms...
Despite the similar names, the Oppo A92 seems to have more in common with the Oppo A72 than the A92s. You can see it clearly in the L-shaped layout of the quad camera on the back and the single punch hole on the front. Oppo A92 in Aurora Purple (leaked renders) We've seen leaked renders before, but these two from @evleaks offer a better look at the phone. The second image clearly shows the side-mounted fingerprint reader. This is just like the A72 and A92s and this similarity likely means that we're looking at an LCD instead of an AMOLED display. This gradient color is called...
We keep getting bits and pieces of the upcoming iPhone 12 lineup - including almost finished design, and some specs. Well, we now have the first clues about pricing as well. Let's start with the premium ones. The iPhone 12 Pro with the 6.1-inch display will be selling for $999 while the iPhone 11 Pro Max successor with the massive 6.7-inch screen will ask $1,099. Which is exactly as much as their predecessors cost. The rumored budget duo, or in other words, the iPhone 11 successor with 6.1-inch display and the smaller variant featuring 5.4-inch diagonal, will be priced at $749 and...
Realme launched its first true flagship last year, the Realme X2 Pro and it was a thoroughly impressive package at its price point. And now, we have the Realme X50 Pro 5G - a worthy successor of last year's flagship in many ways. More importantly, though, the Realme X50Pro 5G is one of the cheapest Snapdragon 865-powered smartphones around, offering amazing bang for the buck. Not to mention that features like 90Hz display, stereo loudspeakers, huge battery and insanely fast charging are not a novelty for Realme's flagship lineup. We've already done a detailed written...
Realme promised to deliver its home-baked custom overlay on top of Android 10 called Realme UI straying away from Oppo's ColorOS and it did so for a number of its phones already. Since yesterday, the Realme 3 and 3i also join the list and the new software brings a ton of new changes and features. It's important to note that the new Realme UI is entirely based on Android 10 and has more of that stock-ish look. Underneath it's still a ColorOS engine with all the performance tweaks that entails. The update itself weighs around 213MB and it's it's almost identical for the two...
HTC has not completely fallen off the face of the Earth - @evleaks just shared a schematic of the HTC Desire 20 Pro design and its code name, "Bayamo". When it is officially unveiled, this will become the first HTC phone with a punch hole camera. That said, the phone doesn't give into other modern trends and keeps its display flat. And if this schematic is accurate, the bezels will be pleasantly thin (even more impressive is that side and top/bottom bezels are actually even for a change). HTC Desire 20 Pro (leaked schametic) The quad camera on the back reminds us of Oppo's Reno3...
A refresh for the Honor 8S is on the way - the 2020 model will maintain the dual texture look on the back and will remain a simple, highly affordable smartphone. Honor 8S (2020) leaked image According to leaked info, the price will edge up a bit and the new model will cost €135. That is compensated with more RAM and storage out of the box - 3/64GB. Compare that to the original, which was €120 and came with 2GB of RAM and 32GB storage. There is also a slight tweak to the design, you can see that there's a bit of a gradient going on. Here's the 2019 model for...
With the uncertainty going on this year, it's always good to hear that devices you are looking forward to are still on schedule, either because you are a fan of the brand looking for an upgrade or just for the sheer love of technolgy. So we are glad to see Samsung confirming the launch of the Galaxy Note20-series and the Galaxy Fold 2 for the second half of this year in its recent Q1 2020 earnings report. Although the confirmation comes out a little vague. For the second half, amid uncertainties including the possibility of a prolonged pandemic, market competition is forecast to intensify...
Xiaomi just made the Mi Note 10 Lite official. We knew just about everything about the device thanks to extensive leaks and teasers, but it's nice to get an official confirmation and, of course, the pricing and availability details. The Mi Note 10 Lite's starting price is €349 and it nets you a 6/64GB variant. For €399 you can get the 6/128GB model and they are both coming in mid May. Save for the camera, the Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite is an almost exact match to the Mi Note 10/Mi Note 10. It has a 6.47-inch 1080p AMOLED screen, a Snapdragon 730G chipset and a 5,260mAh battery with 30W fast...
After debuting in India last month, the Redmi Note 9 Pro and Note 9 Pro Max were followed by the Redmi Note 9S which is the global variant of the 9 Pro. Now, the company announced its all-new vanilla Redmi Note 9 as well as the global version of the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max, which is called Redmi Note 9 Pro. Yes, it's properly confusing, but that's that's Xiaomi naming for you. Redmi Note 9 The third entry to the Redmi Note 9 line brings a 6.53-inch IPS display with FHD+ resolution and a punch-hole cutout in the top left corner for the 13MP selfie cam. Around the back, we have the same...
Qualcomm announced an interesting new feature (dubbed Elite Gaming) with the introduction of the Snapdragon 865 and 765 chipsets - the ability to update GPU drivers through an app, instead of waiting for a firmware update. Three Xiaomi phones are the first to take advantage of this new feature. The Xiaomi Mi 10 5G, Mi 10 Pro 5G and Redmi K30 Pro, all S865-powered devices, can now have their GPU drivers updated independently from the ROM. Unfortunately, the app that does it is available only on Xiaomi's Chinese app store at the moment. This is pretty similar to how computer GPUs work...
Xiaomi announced the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max and the Redmi Note 9 Pro in India and later brought the latter to other markets at Redmi Note 9S. Today the company is announcing the official global rollout of the series and odds are we will get to see the vanilla Redmi Note 9 for the first time. The announcement is taking place online as is the norm these days and you can follow it in the livestream below. It starts at noon UTC. The Redmi Note 9 is expected to keep the design of its bigger and mightier siblings - four cameras, lined up in a square, while the front will be a bit smaller...
LG posted its Q1 numbers and they paint a great overall picture. The company's consolidated revenue was KRW 14.73 trillion ($12.4b) on which it made KRW 1.09 trillion ($921.4m) in operating profit. This is just the second time in its history that LG has exceeded KRW 1 trillion in the first quarter of a year. LG's Home Appliance & Air Solution and Home Entertainment companies did well, posting KRW 8.39 trillion ($6.95b) in revenue. However LG's Mobile division reported just KRW 998.6 billion ($843.9m) in sales and a resulting operating loss of KRW 237.8 billion ($200.96m). That loss has...
A few days ago we learned of a Honor 5G-capable mid-range smartphone with plenty of info regarding specs coming straight from TENAA. And now a trustworthy leakster shares a few more specs, saying that the phone will come with a custom Sony IMX600y sensor. The Sony IMX600 sensor has been used in a number of Huawei and Honor phones. Most recently, the 40MP imager was part of the Honor V30 Pro and the Huawei Mate Xs. The IMX600y custom sensor has the same resolution so we still don't know what makes it unique. Anyway, along with the rumor, there's also a brief specs sheet attached...
Samsung has posted its quarterly report for the January - March 2020 period and it doesn't look that bad. The company met analysts' expectations and revealed a slight revenue decrease on a quarterly basis due to seasonality, but profits rose compared to Q1 2019. The mobile business reported less revenue than 12 months ago, but operating profit increased. Despite a decline in shipped units, the launch of the Galaxy S20 lineup and expanding its 5G portfolio allowed the Korean company to salvage its profitability. (in KRW/USD) Mobile DivisionRevenue Mobile...
While OnePlus successfully launched its 8-series flagships earlier this month, the company's midrange option - the OnePlus Z - is yet to see daylight. We saw recent reports claiming the device is due to launch in July and now we have our first alleged hands-on image thanks to the folks over at True-Tech. As expected, the phone sports a flat display with a single centered punch hole. Judging by the instructions on the display it will come with a built-in fingerprint reader. This also means the OnePlus Z will employ an OLED panel, likely of 90Hz refresh rate as last year the company...
vivo's gaming iQOO Neo3 was unveiled seven days ago and today the company held the first flash sale. In 30 minutes it generated more than CNY100 million in revenue, which means between 30,000 and 37,000 units were moved. The vivo iQOO Neo3 has not only the mighty Qualcomm chipset, but also a screen with 144 Hzrefresh rate, a 48MP main camera, and a 4,500 mAh battery with 44W fast charging. The phone was launched for CNY2,698 for the 6/128 GB option and CNY3,398 for the 8/256 GB version. The next flash sale is set for the next week and we expect a similar outcome. vivo is offering...
HMD Global, maker of Nokia branded smartphones, has been on a software update roll recently, sending out Android 10 to devices right and left. The company hasn't forgotten its cheapest and lowest-end smartphones either. Case in point: today it's started rolling out an update to Android 10 (Go Edition) for the Nokia 1 Plus. This phone doesn't have enough oomph in its specs to run the full version of Android, so it launched with the cut-down version called Go Edition. Initially on Pie since its release in February of last year, it's now ready to make the jump to double digits. HMD...
The upcoming Samsung Galaxy M01 was certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance last month, and now it's one step closer to launch, as it's been spotted in the Google Play Console. As usual, the listing gives us some of the phone's specs. So, the M01 has a screen with 720x1520 resolution, 3GB of RAM, and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 chipset at the helm. The phone runs Android 10. The small image attached to the spec listing looks incredibly similar to the Galaxy A01, and could thus be a rebranding of that model for some specific markets. We'll have to wait until its official unveiling to be sure,...
Earlier this month Apple released the first public beta of the upcoming iOS 13.4.5, and today the company has made the third beta available for testing by people who enrolled their devices into the Apple Beta program. Here's the thing, though. It isn't called iOS 13.4.5 anymore, from this point on it shall be known as iOS 13.5. That's because this version includes a beta iteration of the new exposure notification API, which should aid health authorities track the spread of COVID-19. This means developers can now start writing apps that take advantage of this API. There's a...
The Pixel 4a has been leaking like crazy over many weeks, but so far Google has not made it official for whatever reason. In the meantime, Apple has introduced its mid-range contender for this year - the new iPhone SE - so now all eyes are on Google for the moment when it will decide to finally make its move. According to a new rumor out of Germany, the Pixel 4a may go on sale in the country on May 22. The information reportedly is from Vodafone, one of the carriers over there. The Pixel 4a could be priced at €399 in the Eurozone, which would be slightly less than the iPhone SE. In the US...
Imint and Motorola have announced a new partnership, and the Motorola Edge+ is the first smartphone to benefit from the announcement. The Motorola Edge+ comes with four Imint Intelligence Vidhance features: Active OIS, Horizon Correction, Dynamic Blur Reduction, and Field of View Correction. Active OIS is the Vidhance solution that uses both OIS and EIS (which uses the smartphone's internal sensors) to correct unwanted movement in video - which Imint claims can even stabilize in low-light conditions. Horizon Correction sounds quite interesting. It will automatically correct...
An upcoming vivo handset dubbed the G1 5G has appeared in the wild and we have a set of renders and preliminary specs thanks to noted Weibo tipster Digital Chat Station. The phone is largely identical to the vivo S6 5G which was launched earlier this month. vivo G1 details (machine translated from Chinese) We have a 6.44-inch FHD+ OLED display with a waterdrop notch for the 32MP selfie cam. The back features a circular cutout for the quad cameras. The main shooter comes in at 48MP, there's also an 8MP ultrawide snapper and two 2MP modules - one for macro shots and another for depth...
The iPhone SE (2020) has been the most talked about phone since it became official a few weeks back. It's among the most popular phones in our database and it's now arrived at our office, which means we've started its detailed review. We got a PRODUCT(RED) iPhone SE (2020) and it comes in a standard retail box with Lightning headphones, a Lightning cable, a 5W charger, Apple stickers and a SIM ejector tool. The provided 5W charger is outright insulting by 2020 standards but at least the iPhone SE (2020) supports both wireless charging and faster wired charging - up to 18W. So if you...
Samsung's long term goal is to deliver a 600MP image sensor to rival the human eye, but in the shorter term it's focusing on a 250MP imager. According to the most recent report from sources familiar with the matter, the company is working on a 250MP sensor that could be up to an inch in diagonal. For reference the Galaxy S20 Ultra's 108MP sensor is 1/1.33", which is still considerably smaller than the rumored 1" unit. The same report says that Samsung is done with the research and development of its 150MP sensor and we will see it appear in devices launched in the second half of...
Xiaomi's sub-brand Redmi is expected to announce the Note 9 smartphone in a few hours, on April 30 at a special online event. In the meantime, a set of official-looking press renders of the device has surfaced on Twitter. The Redmi Note 9 is said to come in two RAM/storage versions: 3GB of RAM with 64GB of storage, and 4GB/128GB, respectively. The model is expected to cost around €200. It will have a plastic back and frame, with Gorilla Glass 5 protecting the screen. Speaking of, it's going to be a 6.53" IPS LCD panel with 1080x2340 resolution. The Redmi Note 9 is powered by the...
Samsung's Galaxy S20-series are about to get a new Cloud White paint job. First we saw the vanilla Galaxy S20 for Verizon and earlier today we learned the S20 Ultra will also get the new color. Well, luckily for some of you Europeans who aren't particularly impressed with the current color schemes of the S20-series, the Galaxy S20 family will be made available in Cloud White in the Old Continent. The news came from reliable leakster rquandt, who said all Galaxy S20 variants will get a white paint job. And if you are wondering how it might look in person, check out this Galaxy S20...
Honor just added three new members to its Honor 9 line in Russia with the 9C, 9A and 9S. All three come with modest specs, large batteries and attractive price tags. Honor 9C The Honor 9C is built around a 6.39-inch HD+ (1560 x 720 pixels) IPS display with a punch-hole cutout in the top left corner for the 8MP selfie cam. The spec sheet features a lot of similarities with the Honor Play 4T including a 48MP main camera with autofocus but the 9C also boasts an 8MP ultrawide shooter alongside the 2MP depth helper. The back also houses a fingerprint reader. Under the hood, we have...
Sony has designed the Xperia 1 II to be the smartphone equivalent of its Alpha cameras. Indeed, the phone borrows many features and hardware solutions from the company's digital camera division. Sony is sticking with 12MP resolution this year, but the large 1/1.7" main sensor has 1.8µm pixels and boasts 50% higher sensitivity than the 12MP sensor on the Xperia 1. This will improve low-light performance, says Sony and offers these down-scaled camera samples comparing the Xperia 1 II to its predecessor. Low-light samples: Xperia 1 II and Xperia 1 Data from the whole...
The Nokia 150 was the very first phone that HMD announced after rescuing the brand from Microsoft. Now there's a new version on its way along with a Nokia 125. News of these new feature phones comes from leakster Roland Quandt, who doesn't say anything about the specifications of the devices. These will mostly likely not be a part of the KaiOS lineup, HMD really only uses that for remakes of classic Nokias. Original Nokia 150 (left) and Nokia 130 (right) And the Nokia 150 is hardly a classic, it's three years old, and considering that it launched at only $26/€25, we really can't...
The Xiaomi Mi 10 Youth is the most affordable, thinnest phone with a periscope zoom lens yet - the company posted a detailed explanation of periscopes and how the Youth edition managed to claim those titles. First of, you may have heard the term focal length used to describe the zooming capabilities of a lens. It comes from the distance between the lens and the image sensor, which is proportional to the distance from the lens to the object being photographed. But since modern phones are not much thicker than 10mm or so (even including the camera hump), focal length on traditional...
The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro were listed on the company's Indian website, but the launch date wasn't announced, until today. Amazon India has revealed it will start selling the flagships on May 11 and is already gathering pre-orders. There is a promo that will allow you to get INR1,000 back in your Amazon Pay account. You need to purchase a gift card worth at least INR1,000 now, then use it towards the purchase of a OnePlus 8 series phone between May 11 and June 30, and in 30 days INR1,000 will be back in your Amazon pay account. OnePlus is also selling its phones through its...
An update for some Mi Band 4 owners has arrived bringing some a couple of neat features. The new software version is V1.0.9.48 and lets you share your heart rate data with other devices or applications and re-designed display settings in the app on the phone allows you to rate watch faces in the store. The heart rate sharing bit isn't exactly new as it has been around ever since Mi Band 3 but Xiaomi later removed it from the Mi Band 4 feature list. We are happy to see it return as some prefer other fitness-related apps instead of being forced to use the Mi Fit app. The band can even...
Xiaomi is fast-tracking the unveiling of a new phone, the Mi Note 10 Lite will launch tomorrow, and it seems that in the rush a store in Russia published all the details, including the price. That would be RUB 24,500 or around $345/€320. The 6.47" AMOLED screen has 1080p+ resolution and is just as curved as before. It has a teardrop notch for the 32MP selfie camera. The phone will be powered by a Snapdragon 730G chipset, the same as its siblings, and the memory configuration also matches the non-Pro model. So, what's "lite" about this? The main camera drops down from 108MP to the...
The Samsung Galaxy M31 was unveiled back in February but remained exclusive to the Indian market. Now, the midranger is making its way to the UK where it will retail for £245 (€280) and will be exclusively sold through Amazon. The main highlight of the device is its beefy 6,000 mAh battery which unsurprisingly held up quite well in our testing, leaving no speculation that it can last two days on a single charge. The phone also sports a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution. Around the back, we have a 64MP main camera, an 8MP ultrawide shooter and 5MP macro...
The LG Premier Pro Plus (L455DL) first leaked in early January, but the company hasn't made it official yet. That can't be far off now as the Google Play Console already lists details about the phone and its User manual has surfaced online. LG Premiere Pro Plus • Phone details from the Google Console This is a basic phone with a 720p+ display and a MediaTek Helio P22 chipset (quad Cortex-A53 processor). It comes with 2GB of RAM and runs Android 9.0 out of the box. The storage is expandable using the microSD slot, the manual helpfully shows you how to put the card in. The phone...
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is getting a new color without straying from its grayscale palette - it will soon be available in White. Cloud White by the looks of it, though these opalescent colors are quite tough to show realistically in a static image. Still, you can see a hint of color at the edge. The official launch is scheduled for May 1 and may be tied to International Workers' Day celebrations. Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra in Cloud White Anyway, Ice Universe has been teasing this for nearly a month, but note that the famed leakster previously said that this color is heading to...
Realme launched its 6 series in Europe a few weeks ago, but many were disappointed to learn that only the vanilla Realme 6 and the even cheaper Realme 6i were launched at the Old Continent - there was no Pro version in sight. The brand is finally changing that as the Realme 6 Pro will finally be launched and we even have an official date - May 5. Realme is promising a live stream for the online event that will take place at 10:00 AM (GMT +2). Fans can subscribe to learn more about the broadcast, and new registrations will enter a raffle for some free goodies - 20 pairs of Realme...
Samsung has launched the Galaxy A51 5G in South Korea. The phone is on sale through Samsung's own website in three colors - Prism Cube Black, Prism Cube White and Prism Cube Pink. The Samsung Galaxy A51 5G has a few differences, compared to the Galaxy A51. It's powered by an Exynos 980 chipset with a 5G modem, has a bigger 4,500mAh battery with 15W charging, and has 6GB of RAM, not 4GB. Samsung Galaxy A51 Otherwise the Galaxy A51 5G has the same 6.5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED and the same set of cameras - a 48MP main, 12MP 12mm ultrawide, 5MP macro and 5MP depth sensor. The...
In December the Xiaomi-owned company Amazfit announced that it's developing a smart band with a curved OLED display called Amazfit X, but gave us little in terms of specs. Now we have all the specs as the wearable went on pre-order through Indiegogo. Its asking price for early backers is $149, but the company says it will cost $329 when it launches in August 2020. The available colors are Eclipse Black and New Moon Gold. The Amazfit X has a 2.07-inch curved AMOLED screen with 206 x 640px resolution and peak brightness of 400 nits. Amazfit is really proud of its design as not...
We've already heard about the Huawei P Smart 2020 and it appears its launch is fast approaching. The folks over at WinFuture have brought us a bunch of images along with the detailed specifications of the entry-level phone. The Huawei P Smart 2020 will sport a 6.21-inch LCD with an FHD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) resolution and a waterdrop notch on top for the 8MP selfie cam. Around the back, we have a 13MP main shooter paired with a 2MP depth sensor and an LED flash. There's also a capacitive fingerprint reader. Under the hood, Huawei is expected to come with the Kirin 710F chipset...
The Honor V30 Pro is a top-end device in the Huawei subsidiary’s lineup. Released last December, it prides itself on a 6.57-inch IPS LCD display, a high-end HiSilicon Kirin 990 chipset, 8 GB of RAM, and a triple main camera. With a Camera score of 122, the Honor V30 Pro made it easily into the top ten of our mobile camera ranking. Let’s see if it performs just as impressively in our rigorous DXOMARK audio test protocol.
Key audio specifications:
• Single-speaker design
• Bluetooth BT5.1, BLE/SBC/AAC/LDAC HD audio
• No headphone jack (USB-C adapter included)
About DXOMARK Audio tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone audio reviews, DXOMARK engineers perform a variety of objective tests and undertake more than 20 hours of perceptual evaluation under controlled lab conditions. This article highlights the most important results of our testing.Note that we evaluate both Playback and Recording using only the device’s built-in hardware and default apps. (For more details about our Playback protocol, click here; for more details about our Recording protocol, click here.)
Test summary
59
audio
54
playback
74
recording
The Honor V30 Pro delivers an unbalanced audio performance, with middling playback results but stellar recording achievements.
Three identified flaws impair audio playback quality. First, its single-speaker design brings the phone’s Spatial sub-score to a very low 28. Second, the lack of low-end extension affects tonal reproduction on the timbre field, as well as bass precision in the dynamics area. Finally, excessive compression at high volumes not only impairs dynamics, but reduces maximum volume capability and induces temporal artifacts.
The Honor V30 Pro delivers the best recording performance we’ve measured to date.
On the other hand, with a Recording score of 74, the V30 Pro delivers the best recording performance we’ve measured to date, with no less than three category-leading sub-scores (Timbre, Spatial, and Dynamics), thanks to an exemplary frequency response, well-preserved dynamics, and excellent spatial rendering. The overall recorded loudness is more than satisfying, few artifacts are noticeable, and background sound is very natural.
Sub-scores explained
The DXOMARK Audio overall score of 59 for the Honor V30 Pro is derived from its Playback and Recording scores and their respective sub-scores. In this section, we’ll take a closer look at these audio quality sub-scores and explain what they mean for the user.
Playback
Timbre (59)
DXOMARK timbre tests measure how well a phone reproduces sound across the audible tonal range and takes into account bass, midrange, treble, tonal balance, and volume dependency.
The V30 Pro delivers a decent timbre performance, thanks to clear and precise high-ends. Mids (midrange frequencies) and treble are consistently good in every genre (Pop Rock, HipHop, Electronics, Classical, Movies). On the other hand, the lack of bass extension strongly impairs the Timbre sub-score: as shown in the graph below (blue curve), the speaker cuts abruptly below 150 Hz.
Music playback frequency response
Additionally, high frequencies can sound aggressive at high volumes.
Dynamics (60)
Our Dynamics tests measure how well a device reproduces the energy level of a sound source.
As expected, the lack of bass affects the bass precision sub-attribute (especially at soft and nominal volumes), which in turn affects the Dynamics sub-score. However, good attack, thanks to the precision of the upper frequencies, keeps the score afloat. At maximum volumes, dynamics are reduced by a maladjusted compression, which slightly crushes the transients.
Spatial (28)
Honor equipped its latest flagship phone with a single speaker, and naturally, this design severely limits the phone’s abilities, as wideness is essentially non-existent. Balance and localizability are also impaired, as most of the sound is shifted to the right (when listening in landscape mode), where the only speaker lies. However, it reproduces distance well, once again thanks to mids and trebles.
Poor spatial balance
Poor spatial wideness
Volume (62)
Our Volume tests measure both the overall loudness a device is able to produce and how smoothly volume increases and decreases based on user input.
Music volume consistency
The overall volume performance is decent, thanks to good consistency and natural volume steps. However, the excessive compression mentioned in the paragraph on dynamics above affects audio content at maximum volumes. On synthetic signals, such as pink noise, compression occurs on random occasions, leading to different output levels every time. Furthermore, at minimum volumes, high dynamic content lacks intelligibility.
Hip-Hop
Classical
71.4 dBA
68.2 dBA
Artifacts (85)
Our Artifacts tests measure how much source audio is distorted when played back through a device’s speaker. Distortion can occur both because of sound processing in the device and because of the quality of the speakers.
Distortion is measured
Overcompression also lowers the Artifacts sub-score, due to the pumping effect it generates at maximum volumes. Depending on the content, the overly-present upper frequencies can become aggressive by inducing hissing. At nominal volumes, however, audio played back through the Honor V30 Pro’s unique speaker suffers from very few artifacts.
Recording
Timbre (84)
The Honor V30 Pro’s recording frequency response is exemplary: as shown in the graph below, its consistency throughout all frequency ranges is outstanding. While bass extension is excellent, high-end extension is slightly lacking—but nothing serious compared to other devices.
Life video frequency response
This faithful tonal reproduction that occurred in all our simulated use cases, including high SPL scenarios, leads to the best Timbre sub-score we’ve measured to date.
Dynamics (70)
Sound dynamics are particularly well preserved through the Honor V30 Pro’s microphones, thanks to a great SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) and respect of the shape of the sound envelope. All use cases are efficient, with special mention for selfie videos, life videos, and Concerts. Clarity of speech, however, is (very) slightly impaired by the bass response — but once again, nothing serious compared to most devices.
Spatial (74)
The smartphone’s Spatial performance is just as remarkable, earning the V30 Pro another top score. Localizability and wideness are excellent, except when recording videos in selfie mode. Thanks to the exemplary tonal balance, it renders distance accurately.
Good spatial localizability, except when recording selfie movies
Good spatial wideness, except when recording selfie movies
Honor V30 Pro recordings offer excellent localizability and wideness, except in selfie mode.
Volume (72)
Overall recorded loudness is excellent in all tested scenarios (concert, videos, meeting room, memos). The maximum level could be a little louder, however. Here are our test results, measured in LUFS (Loudness Unit Full Scale):
Meeting
Life Video
Selfie Video
Memo
-23.8 LUFS
-19.1 LUFS
-18.3 LUFS
-19.3 LUFS
Recording a meeting with the Honor V30 Pro
Artifacts (77)
Overall, sounds recorded with the Honor V30 Pro suffer from very few artifacts, even in loud environments. A few spectral artifacts (distortion) can occur when recording concerts or selfie videos, while light temporal artifacts (compression) are noticeable when filming videos. That all said, beware of microphone occlusion, especially in selfie mode.
Occlusion can occur, especially in selfie mode.
Background (50)
All the previous ingredients (excellent timbre, spatial and dynamics performances) point to a great background rendering, and great it is indeed, thanks to a very natural tonal balance and very few noticeable artifacts.
Background sound is clean.
Conclusion
By choosing to equip its latest flagship with a single speaker, Honor greatly affected the V30 Pro’s playback performance. A lack of low-end extension and excessive compression at high volumes also impair its timbre, dynamics, volume, and artifacts performances. However, the Honor V30 Pro’s microphones deliver outstanding tonal balance, excellent spatial capture, and faithful dynamics. In the recording area, these category-leading sub-scores, along with good overall loudness, few artifacts, and a very natural background rendering make Honor’s low-cost flagship simply the best.
Playback
Pros
• Decent timbre performance, thanks to clear and precise high-ends
• Attack is preserved for most content at low and nominal volumes
• Distance is well reproduced
Cons
• Poor spatial performance due to the single-speaker design
• Excessive compression at maximum volumes
• Lack of low-end extension
Recording
Pros
• Outstanding timbre and spatial performances
• Excellent tonal balance and very few artifacts in high SPL scenarios
• Great loudness
• Consistent quality regardless of the app used
Cons
• High-end extension is slightly lacking
• Selfie video app suffers from poor wideness
