Smartphones > Apple iPhone 14 > Audio Test Results
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Apple iPhone 14 Audio test

September 26, 2022
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141
audio
OTHER AVAILABLE TESTS FOR THIS DEVICE

We put the Apple iPhone 14 through our rigorous DXOMARK Audio test suite to measure its performance both at recording sound using its built-in microphones, and at playing audio back through its speakers.

Overview


Key audio specifications include:

  • Two speakers, (One top front firing, one side bottom firing)
  • No Jack audio output
  • Dolby Atmos technology
  • Spatial Audio playback

Scoring

Sub-scores and attributes included in the calculations of the global score.


Apple iPhone 14
141
audio
144
playback
Timbre
141

158

Dynamics
138

149

Spatial
148

162

Volume
144

162

Artifacts
91

157

135
recording
Timbre
130

147

Dynamics
124

146

Spatial
107

159

Volume
126

170

Artifacts
137

145

Background
146

166

AUDIO
Position in Global Ranking
13th
1. Black Shark 5 Pro
161
2. Asus ROG Phone 6
155
3. Asus ROG Phone 5
151
4. Asus Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders
149
4. Black Shark 4S Pro
149
4. Black Shark 4 Pro
149
4. Honor Magic3 Pro+
149
8. Xiaomi Mi 10 S
147
9. Huawei Mate 50 Pro
144
9. Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro
144
11. Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
142
11. Apple iPhone 14 Pro
142
13. Apple iPhone 14 Plus
141
13. Apple iPhone 14
141
15. Apple iPhone 12
140
15. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
140
15. Xiaomi 13 Pro
140
18. Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
139
18. Apple iPhone 13 Pro
139
18. Apple iPhone 12 mini
139
18. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (Snapdragon)
139
22. Apple iPhone 13
138
22. Asus ROG Phone 3
138
22. Google Pixel 6 Pro
138
22. Honor Magic5 Pro
138
26. Apple iPhone 13 mini
137
26. Google Pixel 7 Pro
137
26. Google Pixel 6
137
26. Honor Magic4 Pro
137
26. Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus (Snapdragon)
137
31. Google Pixel 6a
135
31. Oppo Find N2
135
33. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4
134
33. Xiaomi 13
134
35. Huawei Mate 20 X
133
35. Lenovo Legion Y90
133
35. Samsung Galaxy S23 (Snapdragon)
133
35. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon)
133
35. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos)
133
35. Samsung Galaxy A54 5G
133
35. Vivo X90 Pro
133
42. Vivo X Fold
132
42. Vivo X90 Pro+
132
44. Apple iPhone XS Max
131
44. Oppo Find X2 Pro
131
44. Oppo Find N2 Flip
131
47. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4
130
48. Vivo X80 Pro (Snapdragon)
129
48. Xiaomi 12S Ultra
129
48. Xiaomi 12 Pro
129
51. OnePlus 11
128
51. Oppo Find X6 Pro
128
51. Oppo Find X5 Pro
128
51. POCO F4 GT
128
51. Xiaomi Redmi K50 Gaming
128
51. Xiaomi 11T Pro
128
57. Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
127
57. Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
127
57. Xiaomi 12T Pro
127
60. Apple iPhone 11
126
60. OnePlus 10T 5G
126
60. Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
126
60. Xiaomi 12T
126
60. Xiaomi 11T
126
65. Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
125
65. Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
125
65. Vivo X80 Pro (MediaTek)
125
68. Lenovo Legion Phone 2 Pro
124
69. Google Pixel 7
123
69. Oppo Reno8 Pro 5G
123
71. Apple iPhone SE (2022)
122
71. Apple iPhone SE (2020)
122
71. Xiaomi 12
122
74. OnePlus 9 Pro
121
74. Samsung Galaxy S22+ (Exynos)
121
74. Sony Xperia 1 IV
121
74. Xiaomi Mix Fold 2
121
78. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
120
78. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Snapdragon)
120
78. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Exynos)
120
81. Asus ROG Phone 2
119
81. Huawei P50 Pro
119
81. OnePlus 9
119
81. OnePlus 8
119
81. Xiaomi Redmi K40 Gaming
119
81. Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
119
87. Realme GT Neo 3
118
87. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
118
87. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Exynos)
118
87. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon)
118
87. Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (Snapdragon)
118
87. Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (Exynos)
118
93. Asus Zenfone 8
117
93. Google Pixel 4
117
93. OnePlus 10 Pro
117
93. OnePlus 8 Pro
117
93. Vivo iQOO 9 Pro
117
98. Motorola Edge 40 Pro
116
98. Motorola Edge+
116
98. Realme GT Neo 2 5G
116
98. Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (Exynos)
116
98. Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Exynos)
116
98. Xiaomi Redmi K40 Pro+
116
98. Xiaomi Mi 11
116
105. Motorola Edge 30 Pro
115
105. OnePlus Nord 2T 5G
115
105. Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
115
105. Xiaomi Mi 11i
115
109. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G
114
109. Vivo iQOO 7 Legend
114
111. Google Pixel 5
113
111. LG V60 ThinQ 5G
113
111. OnePlus 7 Pro
113
111. Samsung Galaxy S20+
113
111. Samsung Galaxy S10+
113
111. Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G (Exynos)
113
111. Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ (Exynos)
113
111. Sony Xperia 1 III
113
119. Nubia RedMagic 6 Pro
112
119. Nubia Red Magic 5S
112
119. Realme GT 5G
112
119. Xiaomi 12 Lite 5G
112
123. Oppo A78 5G
111
123. Sony Xperia 5 IV
111
125. Oppo Find X3 Pro
110
126. Honor 70
109
126. Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G
109
126. Oppo Find X5
109
126. POCO X3 NFC
109
126. Realme GT 2 Pro
109
126. Vivo X70 Pro+
109
126. ZTE Axon 30 Ultra
109
133. Huawei Mate 30 Pro
108
133. Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)
108
133. Oppo Find X3 Neo
108
133. Realme X2 Pro
108
137. Nothing Phone(1)
106
137. Oppo Reno8 Lite 5G
106
137. Oppo A77 5G
106
140. Lenovo Legion Phone Pro
105
140. Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro
105
140. Samsung Galaxy A23 5G
105
143. Honor V30 Pro
104
143. Oppo Reno8 5G
104
143. Oppo Reno5 Pro+ 5G
104
146. Black Shark 3 Pro
103
146. Nubia RedMagic 8 Pro
103
146. Oppo Find X5 Lite
103
146. Sony Xperia 1 II
103
150. Huawei P40 Pro
102
150. Motorola Edge 20 Pro
102
150. Oppo Reno6 5G
102
153. Motorola Razr
101
154. Honor Magic5 Lite 5G
97
154. Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro Premium Edition
97
156. Black Shark 2 Pro
96
156. Honor 20 Pro
96
156. Oppo Find X3 Lite
96
156. Vivo X51 5G
96
160. LG G8 ThinQ
95
160. Sony Xperia 10 IV
95
162. Nubia Red Magic 3S
94
163. Fairphone 4
93
163. Sony Xperia 1
93
163. Vivo X70 Pro (MediaTek)
93
166. Vivo X60 Pro+
91
167. Nokia 7.2
87
168. Vivo X60 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)
86
AUDIO
Position in Premium Ranking
5th
1. Black Shark 5 Pro
161
2. Asus ROG Phone 5
151
3. Black Shark 4S Pro
149
3. Black Shark 4 Pro
149
5. Apple iPhone 14
141
6. Apple iPhone 12
140
7. Apple iPhone 12 mini
139
8. Apple iPhone 13
138
9. Apple iPhone 13 mini
137
10. Xiaomi 13
134
11. Lenovo Legion Y90
133
11. Samsung Galaxy S23 (Snapdragon)
133
13. OnePlus 11
128
13. Xiaomi 11T Pro
128
15. Xiaomi 12T Pro
127
16. Apple iPhone 11
126
16. OnePlus 10T 5G
126
18. Lenovo Legion Phone 2 Pro
124
19. Oppo Reno8 Pro 5G
123
20. Xiaomi 12
122
21. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Snapdragon)
120
21. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Exynos)
120
23. OnePlus 9
119
23. OnePlus 8
119
25. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon)
118
25. Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (Snapdragon)
118
25. Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (Exynos)
118
28. Asus Zenfone 8
117
28. Google Pixel 4
117
28. Vivo iQOO 9 Pro
117
31. Xiaomi Mi 11
116
32. Motorola Edge 30 Pro
115
32. Xiaomi Mi 11i
115
34. Google Pixel 5
113
34. LG V60 ThinQ 5G
113
34. OnePlus 7 Pro
113
37. Nubia RedMagic 6 Pro
112
38. Realme GT 2 Pro
109
38. ZTE Axon 30 Ultra
109
40. Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)
108
40. Oppo Find X3 Neo
108
42. Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro
105
43. Honor V30 Pro
104
43. Oppo Reno5 Pro+ 5G
104
45. Nubia RedMagic 8 Pro
103
46. Motorola Edge 20 Pro
102
47. Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro Premium Edition
97
48. Vivo X51 5G
96
49. Vivo X70 Pro (MediaTek)
93
50. Vivo X60 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)
86

Playback

Pros

  • Good performance in all attributes, with great consistency across them
  • Great timbre performance overall, enriched by a deep low-end extension
  • Great dynamics performance overall
  • Very good spatial performance

Cons

  • Distortion and compression at maximum volume and when watching movies
  • Stereo is still inverted in music app, as in all iPhones

Recording

Pros

  • Good timbre performance overall
  • Good performance when recording loud content such as  concerts
  • Good dynamics performance
  • Good handling of artifacts overall. Wind noise reduction needs some fine-tuning but it works decently

Cons

  • Midrange rendition is too dependent on the use case, and can sound either canny or nasal depending on the app and use case
  • SNR could be greater, as main vocal content is often a bit masked by the ambient noise
  • Poor audio zoom performance


The differences between the iPhone models when it comes to audio playback and recording have usually been minimal. The same holds true now with the release of the iPhone 14 series.

The iPhone 14, which contains the A15 Bionic chipset, shares many of the hardware specs as the 14 Pro Max, which operates on the latest A16 Bionic chip.

Our testers found that in Playback, the iPhone 14’s timbre has a richer midrange than the 14 Pro Max, but the 14’s high-end extension doesn’t reach that of the 14 Pro Max. Dynamics-wise, the other minor difference between the two models is that the iPhone 14’s sound is less impactful than the 14 Pro Max.

In Recording, the testers noticed very slight timbre variations between the models. The iPhone 14’s loudness was also slightly better than that of the 14 Pro Max.
Wind noise reduction on the iPhone 14 was slightly better managed than on the more advanced model.
The audio zoom isn’t a strong point on both models.

Given the similarities between the models and that the iPhone 14’s overall score came in just a point below the 14 Pro Max’s score, well within our margin of error, we direct you to the full test results of the iPhone 14 Pro Max for all the details of the iPhone 14’s audio performance.

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