Note 4 External speaker is terrible

delco714

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Re: External speaker is terrible

Also Let's be vigilant with the bitrate and audio quality! Crap audio will sound like crap. Can't polish a turd
 

Sdn2995

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Re: External speaker is terrible

Also Let's be vigilant with the bitrate and audio quality! Crap audio will sound like crap. Can't polish a turd

Also people messing with the demo unit changes the treble,bass,etc... could cause an issue too and crap audio on top of that... bad speaker performance. If anyone is concerned wait till you can mess with it yourself.

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beh

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Re: External speaker is terrible

I'm in my local Best Buy testing the three Note 4's on display. The display is phenomenal but the speaker is terribly distorted at any volume above 50%.

I hope this is something that can be adjusted with a software update and not hardware related.

Anyone else try the external speaker yet?

And your point is???
Do you truly believe a speaker the size of a poppy seed is going to give you the sound like that of the MET opera hall? Like DAH!
 

Willn

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Re: External speaker is terrible

Any chance to make a video comparison between note 4 and note 3 speaker? No one has done that on youtube yet.

There was a video posted in this forum recently which compared various features of the N3 and N4 including the speaker. Downside was the video is in Russian I believe. But in the video it seemed as if you he N4 was louder but higher pitched. The N3 sounded more quite with more echoed bass.

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Yathani

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Re: External speaker is terrible

There was a video posted in this forum recently which compared various features of the N3 and N4 including the speaker. Downside was the video is in Russian I believe. But in the video it seemed as if you he N4 was louder but higher pitched. The N3 sounded more quite with more echoed bass.

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I will look out for it.
 

fwinst

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Re: External speaker is terrible

I keep my Tone Pros on 90% of the time.

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Sorry for the off topic question. BUT.....
I have a pair of Tone +. While I really love them, I'm annoyed that they continuously cut out if ANYTHING gets between them and the music source. It's a known issue for this device. How do the Tone Pros perform??
 

goin_nil

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There have to be more Best Buy's that have the Note 4 (and Edge) on display now. Please test the external speaker at or near high volume with the sample videos and music and report back if there is distortion.
 

goin_nil

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I went to another Best Buy to test the external speaker on the Note 4. This one had both the black and white versions.

Again, they both sounded terrible with the demo videos when they exceeded 10 on the volume scale of 15 max.

BUT, when I flipped the phone over I noticed that the security brackets that locked the phone in place were completely covering the external speaker. And I bet THAT'S why they sound terrible at higher volumes.

Most likely the phone is fine. They just didn't design the security brackets with the speaker in mind.

That being said, this phone is INCREDIBLY loud. So much so I felt like people were starring at me like I was testing out some loud stereo system.

Cool! 😨
 

Reggie T

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Re: External speaker is terrible

Like what are you using the external speaker for? As long as I can hear notifications, the phone ringing, and it's good for watching video, I'm good. I usually plug in earbuds for music.
 

Gator352

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Re: External speaker is terrible

Also Let's be vigilant with the bitrate and audio quality! Crap audio will sound like crap. Can't polish a turd

This is what I was going to say in a way....

Samsung speakers suck. Period. Always have. To some they are good enough but when you listen to an HTC One or an iPhone, the difference is clear.

But people need to take into account that audio bitrate has a lot to do with it. If what you're listening to at the store is playing sound with a bitrate of 96, it's going to sound horrible....even on an iPhone. If the bit rate is 256 or higher, it will sound much, MUCH better. But since you don't know what it is at the store, it can't really be judged till you play high quality audio through the speaker. It's not going to WOW you but it will be better than what you think.

I have ringtones saved that I put on all my phones and all are of high bit rate....196 or higher to get better reproduction of the sound. Never do I put low quality audio on my phones because it does, in fact, sound like crap.
 

jayochs

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Re: External speaker is terrible

guys, remember, all speakers suck until you can somewhat adjust to a good EQ. once this thing gets root, you install viper4android, and then load up some profiles on it and it'll sound nice.

my G2 speaker was god awful. tinny, no low end, just sounded awful. now i constantly run viper on it, and i've turned on the "small speaker" profile thing, which brings out more of a rounded out sound that includes lows, and then you can add some EQ to that to bump it up even more. now i think my speaker sounds much better for voice and music than it ever did stock.

only thing that worries me is the speaker being on the back. that's a step backwards, IMO
 

DarkUncle

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I honestly would not listen to anything other than ring tones through an external speaker of any device. It's either head phones or Bluetooth through my car speakers or Bose soundlink.

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Formerly Known As

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I'm in my local Best Buy testing the three Note 4's on display. The display is phenomenal but the speaker is terribly distorted at any volume above 50%.

I hope this is something that can be adjusted with a software update and not hardware related.

Anyone else try the external speaker yet?

My best buy had a metal security brace overlaying the rear speaker. Couldn't even see it. Hopefully you were listening to a covered up speaker.
I am somewhat hearing impaired and have problems with the n3 ring volume. Have hopes n4 is better. Otherwise will wait for n5.

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goin_nil

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My best buy had a metal security brace overlaying the rear speaker. Couldn't even see it. Hopefully you were listening to a covered up speaker.
I am somewhat hearing impaired and have problems with the n3 ring volume. Have hopes n4 is better. Otherwise will wait for n5.

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Great observation! I hope this is the cause of the distortion. Makes sense to me.
 

msavic6

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I tested the Note 4 in my local Samsung Store and found the speaker to be really quite good. The loudness of the speaker is incredible and frankly I couldn't keep it on max volume since everyone in the store started staring at me. I also didn't notice any distortion, it sounded fine to me.uploadfromtaptalk1412978312069.jpg

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
 

goin_nil

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I tested the Note 4 in my local Samsung Store and found the speaker to be really quite good. The loudness of the speaker is incredible and frankly I couldn't keep it on max volume since everyone in the store started staring at me. I also didn't notice any distortion, it sounded fine to me.View attachment 140463

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

That's awesome! Thanks for posting back and for taking a picture of the back of the phone.

All of the Note 4's in my local Best Buy's are all strapped in tight in 5 point harnesses and for some strange reason, they adjusted the harness so that it almost completely covers the speaker (some are completely covered). This must be the cause of the distortion I heard.

The Note 4 in your picture clearly shows that the speaker is unobstructed.

But, I agree on the volume on the highest level, I had to turn it down too since people were looking my way.

(I embarrass my kids in stores, testing out audio at high volumes - they literally take several steps away from me as if to say, "I have no idea who that guy is. He's not MY dad!) 😆
 

Preach2k

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When I went to my local Best Buy I played with the GNote4 for about 15 Minutes. The speakers was pretty good for phone rings and Notifications. Now when I went on to Google play to listen to Music I had to adjust the equalizers to get the sound I liked. But rarely listen to my phone using the speaker anyway. Mostly through my Beats Bluetooth headsets or my Bluetooth speakers around the house or plugged in the car. I always have great sound.