Latest iPhone 5 has the loudest iPhone speaker, like, ever

Apple touted the new speaker set it has put in the iPhone 5, and said it went from three to five magnet transducers inside, despite a smaller foot print than the previous one.

We now have an objective test to confirm that the speakers in the iPhone 5 are stronger than in all of the previous iPhone models, measured with a decibel meter.

The final results are as follows, and interestingly enough, the new iPhone 4 redesign at the time rolled back the speaker strength significantly compared to the 3GS:

● iPhone 2G: 91.0 dBA

● iPhone 3G: 95.0 dBA
● iPhone 3GS: 97.6 dBA
● iPhone 4: 92.8 dBA
● iPhone 4S: 97.9 dBA
● iPhone 5: 100.3 dBA

source: iClarified

21 Comments

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posted on 02 Oct 2012, 02:10 2

1. Droid_X_Doug (Posts: 5993; Member since: 22 Dec 2010)

Great test. How about testing the handset speaker (the one that works during calls)? I have heard from friends who say the iP5 handset speaker is not as loud as the iP4S handset speaker.

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 09:18 3

17. darkkjedii (Posts: 24454; Member since: 05 Feb 2011)

It's not too loud, but very clear.

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 02:13 5

2. pgbeckec (Posts: 1; Member since: 02 Oct 2012)

+1 for the Taylor Swift reference in the title... Love it haha

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 03:01 2

10. pikapowerize (banned) (Posts: 1869; Member since: 03 May 2012)

t-swift fan...

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 02:14 2

3. samystic (Posts: 231; Member since: 25 Mar 2012)

Phone Arena did not feel a need to test the loudest Galaxy (there are 10 trillion of them), Optimus or Lumias... why does Apple need so much attention?

samystic

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 02:23 2

4. wattabulb (Posts: 13; Member since: 29 Aug 2012)

Bro....The test was conducted by Iclarified not PhoneArena!!

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 02:40 1

7. samystic (Posts: 231; Member since: 25 Mar 2012)

may i correct it and still say why does Apple attention like this when there are better handsets?

samystic

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 11:43

18. cfprelude (Posts: 139; Member since: 27 Oct 2011)

because there have been complaints about the weak speaker volume on iphones especially since iphone4 redesign.... I've Never complained about my speaker volume on Droid OG, Thunderbolt, Bionic, RazR, Nexus, or SGSIII but have had issues hearing voice navigation on iphone 4 and 4S so i'm glad to hear the 5 is louder.

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 02:29 2

5. wendygarett (unregistered)

volume test? more like a cencer test >.

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 02:40 1

8. XiphiasGladius (Posts: 813; Member since: 21 Aug 2011)

What are you on to this time around?

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 02:58 1

9. Droid_X_Doug (Posts: 5993; Member since: 22 Dec 2010)

Are you referring to a sensor test? If so, what sensor? Decibel meters are an objective way to test sound level.

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 07:53 1

15. nexttime (Posts: 2; Member since: 02 Oct 2012)

At least change the photo back to the hot babe, I will love your senseless comment with joyful view.

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 02:37 5

6. bayusuputra (Posts: 963; Member since: 12 Feb 2012)

wow, had a hard time differentiating the iPhones..

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 03:10 1

11. mrbtree (Posts: 59; Member since: 22 Feb 2012)

gsmarena's loudspeaker test found the iphone 5 to be below average compared to it's nearest competition
http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_5-review-822p5.php
weirdly the iphone 4s did better than the iphone 5

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 03:17 2

12. Bozzor (Posts: 188; Member since: 02 May 2012)

Beat me to this by 5 minutes - yes, this is weird. I think it is possible that Apple may not only be using different screen suppliers for the iPhone 5, but possibly different speaker suppliers. I have compared a 4 iPhone 5 phones to my 4S, using the same YouTube clip, max volume: 3 were definitely softer, but one was noticeably louder...go figure.

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 03:19 1

13. mrbtree (Posts: 59; Member since: 22 Feb 2012)

my parents had the iphone 4 and they could barely hear it (in there 40's+) and now have the galaxy note and s3 and no problems for them. the htc one x is also alot louder than iphones

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 04:33 2

14. speckledapple (Posts: 892; Member since: 29 Sep 2011)

Call me crazy but isn't it always the best ever compared to previous iPhones?

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 09:01 2

16. Fallout09 (Posts: 421; Member since: 17 Oct 2011)

I know this is a little off topic, but seeing all those iPhones side by side.... Apple's design is boring and tired. I still dont get why this phone keeps selling.

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 16:54

19. Nathan_ingx (Posts: 4292; Member since: 07 Mar 2012)

Yo iP5 dudes, don't drive your iphones to the maximum output trying to compare which is louder. The speaker grill might loosen up, you never know...:P

posted on 02 Oct 2012, 16:55

20. Nathan_ingx (Posts: 4292; Member since: 07 Mar 2012)

Yo iP5 dudes, don't drive your iphones to the maximum output trying to compare which is louder. The speaker grill might loosen up, you never know...:P

posted on 03 Oct 2012, 10:53

21. The_Innovation (Posts: 632; Member since: 18 Jul 2012)

Let me guess, they have "The most advanced sound in the world."?

Who cares about this? Who walks around playing music on their phones on loud like a boombox? That was cool on the old Motorola flip phones 6 years ago.