We put the Apple iPhone 14 Plus 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.
In this review, we will break down how it fared in a variety of tests and several common use cases.
Overview
Key audio specifications include:
- Top front, front facing, bottom right, side facing
- 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 Plus
141
audio
141
Black Shark 5 Pro
Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (158)
138
Black Shark 5 Pro
Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (149)
148
Black Shark 5 Pro
Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (162)
144
Black Shark 5 Pro
Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (162)
91
Asus ROG Phone 5
Best: Asus ROG Phone 5 (157)
130
Honor Magic3 Pro+
Best: Honor Magic3 Pro+ (147)
124
Black Shark 5 Pro
Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (146)
107
Vivo X Fold
Best: Vivo X Fold (159)
126
Black Shark 5 Pro
Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (170)
137
Black Shark 5 Pro
Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (145)
146
Black Shark 5 Pro
Best: Black Shark 5 Pro (166)
Position in Global Ranking

15
th
4. Asus Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders
149
12. Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
143
13. Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
142
18. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
140
22. Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
139
22. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (Snapdragon)
139
30. Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus (Snapdragon)
137
38. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4
134
40. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5
133
40. Samsung Galaxy S23 (Snapdragon)
133
40. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon)
133
40. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos)
133
40. Samsung Galaxy A54 5G
133
56. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4
130
57. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5
129
57. Vivo X80 Pro (Snapdragon)
129
61. Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)
128
61. Xiaomi Redmi K50 Gaming
128
68. Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
127
68. Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
127
72. Motorola Razr 40 Ultra
126
72. Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
126
78. Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
125
78. Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
125
78. Vivo X80 Pro (MediaTek)
125
81. Lenovo Legion Phone 2 Pro
124
84. Apple iPhone SE (2022)
122
84. Apple iPhone SE (2020)
122
87. Samsung Galaxy S22+ (Exynos)
121
91. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
120
91. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Snapdragon)
120
91. Samsung Galaxy S22 (Exynos)
120
94. Xiaomi Redmi K40 Gaming
119
101. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
118
101. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Exynos)
118
101. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon)
118
101. Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (Snapdragon)
118
101. Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (Exynos)
118
112. Motorola Edge 40 Pro
116
112. Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (Exynos)
116
112. Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Exynos)
116
112. Xiaomi Redmi K40 Pro+
116
119. Motorola Edge 30 Pro
115
119. Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
115
123. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G
114
125. Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G (Exynos)
113
125. Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ (Exynos)
113
133. Nubia RedMagic 6 Pro
112
140. Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G
109
147. Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)
108
154. Lenovo Legion Phone Pro
105
154. Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro
105
154. Samsung Galaxy A23 5G
105
160. Nubia RedMagic 8 Pro
103
164. Motorola Edge 20 Pro
102
168. Honor Magic5 Lite 5G
97
168. Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro Premium Edition
97
177. Vivo X70 Pro (MediaTek)
93
182. Vivo X60 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)
86
Position in Ultra-Premium Ranking

10
th
2. Asus Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders
149
7. Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
143
8. Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
142
12. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
140
15. Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
139
15. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (Snapdragon)
139
21. Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus (Snapdragon)
137
26. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4
134
27. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5
133
27. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon)
133
27. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos)
133
38. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4
130
39. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5
129
39. Vivo X80 Pro (Snapdragon)
129
46. Motorola Razr 40 Ultra
126
47. Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max
125
47. Vivo X80 Pro (MediaTek)
125
49. Samsung Galaxy S22+ (Exynos)
121
53. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
120
57. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
118
57. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Exynos)
118
61. Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (Exynos)
116
61. Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Exynos)
116
65. Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
115
66. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G
114
67. Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G (Exynos)
113
67. Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ (Exynos)
113
74. Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G
109
78. Lenovo Legion Phone Pro
105
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 Plus, which contains the A15 Bionic chipset, shares many of the hardware specs as the iPhone 14-series models, except that the 14 Pro, and 14 Pro Max both operate on the latest A16 Bionic chip.
In Playback and Recording, the iPhone 14 Plus’s audio performance was identical in all categories to the iPhone 14.
Given all the similarities among the iPhone 14-series models and that the iPhone 14 Plus’s overall Audio score was 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.
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