Apple iPhone 6S Plus vs Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge – Sound Quality Comparison

This should be a simple test but actually it could be if I made it simple but I’m not going to do that.

I have some early impressions of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge audio quality using the speaker, headphone jack, bluetooth and USB Audio. However, before I give it my opinion I also want to test third Party apps being like Poweramp and USB Audio Player Pro as well as the default music apps on the phone.

For the Apple iPhone 6S Plus I will be using Onkyo HF Player, Audio Gate Player and Neutron Music Player apps. I will also be testing the sound quality via the loudspeaker, bluetooth and USB Audio.

Equipment. Headphones will include a selection of in ear, bluetooth and wired over the ears. In my review I will list all the headphones used. I will also be using a number of portable DACS, Oppo HA-2, Fiio Q1 and iBasso D-Zero MK2.

If there is anything you would like to know, let me know and I will try and answer it in my sound quality review between the two phones.

22 thoughts on “Apple iPhone 6S Plus vs Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge – Sound Quality Comparison

  1. Gavin I hear the head amp quality is poor on the S7 compared to the Note 5. I am assuming the Exynos based S7 uses a Wolfson DAC therefore expecting good results over Aptx but using wired headphones. I also heard the SD 820 DAC is very poor.

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  2. Would love to hear your impressions of the UHQ-BT codec vs apt-x if you can get some time with Samsung’s LEVEL headphones.

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  3. I have an S7 edge and was thinking of pairing it up with the HiFiMeDIY Sabre Android USB DAC but was not sure if that would be a good match, so really keen to read your review. My headphones are Sennheiser Momentum

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    1. Right here goes my results. Just using it with Google Play Music and the Samsung Music app worked well. Using USB Player Pro app the difference was phenomenonal. So much more power, dynamics and volume. I used my Sennheiser HD598 Special Edition headphones which are harder to drive than the Momentum. So it really works well if using USB Audio Player app!!

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  4. Hello Gavin, How would you compare the overall sound quality of the Samsung S7 vs iPhone 6S whilst using the Sennheiser HD598 SE ? I have the same headphones and I’m in the market to upgrade my current phone which is an LG G2. I’m stuck between choosing the S7 Edge (OR) the HTC 10. Awaiting your reply and Regards from India 🙂

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    1. Hello 🙂

      The S7 has a quality signal, but the headphone amp is not that powerful and definitely wouldn’t do the HD598se any justice. S7 vs iPhone 6S. Both good quality, iPhone is slightly warmer sound.

      On the other hand, the HTC 10 is a much better choice and you can create a personal audio profile for every pair of headphones on the HTC 10.

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      1. Thank you 🙂 I’ve tried different music players like Neutron, Power Amp, Onkyo HF Player, Stellio Music Player and what I’ve learnt is digital enhancement of sound signals is never as good as connecting an external amp dac or having a better internal amp. So I want to make the right choice by choosing a better phone with regards to listening music. The LG G2 fares poorly in that regard. Even the volume in my iPad Air 2 needs to be at about 85-90 % to get good sound levels in the HD 598 SE. S7 Edge seems like the quintessential choice except for its music listening experience. I guess I have to tilt towards the HTC 10 then. Thanks once again 🙂

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  5. Please do a review on the HTC 10, Gavin. I would very much appreciate your perspective on the phone. Right now, the majority of reviewers have given their vote towards the S7/S7 Edge as being the best android smartphone. HTC seems on par except that the camera and display remain as question marks.

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  6. I heard if you use Power amp alfa (or called something else) sound on s7 is gr8.. I mean how good sound quality is on HTC or other phones compared to s7 Edge. If we need to rate on the scale
    of 1-20 how much would you give for iphone 6s, s7 edge and HTC 10

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  7. Thx for responding in advance (:)) Can you rate audio quality on s7 edge compared to iphone 6s , iphone 4s other phones on the scale of 1-10. I do not know the specs but i love sound quality on iphone 4s

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