We subjected the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max to our rigorous SBMARK Audio test suite to measure its performance both when recording sound using its built-in microphones, and when playing audio through its speakers.
In this review, we’ll break down how it fared across a variety of tests and several common use cases.
Overview
Key audio specs include:
- Two speakers, (one up front, one side down)
- No audio output Jack
- Dolby Atmos technology
- Spatial audio reproduction
Reproduction
Pros
- Good and consistent performance across all attributes
- Great tonal performance, including deep low-end extension
- Excellent dynamic performance overall
- Excellent spatial yield
versus
- Distortion and compression at maximum volume and when watching movies
- Inverted stereo in the music app, like all iPhones
Registration
Pros
- Good tonal rendering overall
- Good at recording loud content such as concerts
- Good dynamic performance
- Good management of artifacts; wind noise reduction works well, but may need some fine tuning
versus
- Mid-range restitution depending on the use case; it can sound nasal or resonant, depending on the app
- Altered signal-to-noise ratio, as main speech content is slightly masked by ambient noise
- Disappointing audio zoom performance
With a SBMARK Audio Score of 142, the Apple iPhone 14 Pro delivers excellent performance similar to the audio experience of its predecessor, the iPhone 13 Pro Max. The 14 Pro Max sounds great overall through the built-in speakers and is the best. for listening to music and playing games, but also offers great sound quality when watching movies. The test results were consistently good in all attributes of the reproduction test. The beautiful tone benefits from a deep low-end extension. Dynamics are exceptional and excellent spatial performance means you will feel totally immersed in the stereo soundstage. There isn’t much to criticize, but the latest iPhone is still far from perfect in terms of playback performance. For example, our testers observed some distortion and compression at maximum volume when watching movies. Stereo is also still reversed in the music app, like on all previous iPhones.
As a recording device, the 14 Pro Max works best for selfies and main camera videos and is particularly suitable for recording in noisy environments, such as concerts or similar events, thanks to good results in almost all secondary recording attributes, including timbre and dynamics. Artifacts are handled very well; only wind noise reduction could do with some fine tuning. Our testers also found that the midrange changes with the usage scenario, producing more nasal or more resonant results. Voices can be slightly muffled by ambient noise, and the audio zoom function leaves room for improvement.
Test summary
Learn about SBMARK audio tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone audio reviews, SBMARK engineers perform a series of objective tests and undertake more than 20 hours of perceptual assessment under controlled laboratory conditions.
(For more details on our reproduction protocol, click here; for more details on our registration protocol, click here.)
The following section collects the key elements of our exhaustive tests and analyzes performed in SBMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations in the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.
How the audio playback score is composed
SBMARK engineers test playback through smartphone speakers, whose performance is evaluated in our labs and under real-life conditions, using apps and default settings.
Apple’s latest flagship phone performs very well in almost all playback test attributes. The tone is warm and clear, with natural highs and a rich midrange that is virtually identical to the iPhone 13 Pro Max. The bass rendition is practically flawless, powerful with a deep low-end extension. In terms of dynamics, the iPhone delivers good bass accuracy and a powerful punch. The attack is sharp and precise at soft and nominal volume, but at maximum volume it suffers from distortion and compression.
The 14 Pro Max also performs very well in the space category. The stereo sound stage is perfectly centered, with excellent localizability of sound sources and distance rendering. The depth is rendered very well and the wide soundstage makes the consumption of sound a very immersive experience but, as with all iPhones, the stereo is reversed when listening to music with the phone rotated in landscape orientation. However, no such problems when watching movies or playing games.
The maximum volume is identical to the predecessor and the minimum volume is neither too low nor too loud. The volume steps are evenly distributed. The The 14 Pro Max controls artifacts well and is less prone to them than the predecessor 13 Pro Max. The phone’s design means that you can still accidentally cover the speaker with your fingers, especially while gaming, but the effect is quite mild.
Hear about the playback performance of the smartphone tested in this comparison with some of its competitors:
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos)
Recordings of smartphones that play some of our music at 60 LAeq in an anechoic environment from 2 microphones in AB configuration, at 30 cm
Here’s how the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max fares in playback use cases compared to its competitors:
Playback of use case scores
The Timbre score represents how well a phone reproduces sound across the audible tonal range and takes into account bass, midrange, treble, tonal balance and volume dependence. It is the most important attribute for reproduction.
Music playback frequency response
A 1/12 octave frequency response graph, which measures the volume of each frequency emitted by the smartphone when playing a pure sine wave in an anechoic environment.
The Dynamics score measures the accuracy of changes in the energy level of sound sources, such as the precision with which a bass note or the impact sound of drums is played.
Secondary attributes for spatial tests include identifying the position of a specific sound, its positional balance, distance and amplitude.
The volume score represents the overall volume of a smartphone and how the volume gradually increases and decreases based on user input.
Here are some sound pressure levels (SPLs) measured when playing our sample recordings of hip-hop and classical music at maximum volume:
| Hip-Hop | Classic | |
| 74 dBA | 71.1 dBA | |
| Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max | 72.4 dBA | 69.5 dBA |
| Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) | 74.1 dB | 70.2 dBA |
The graph below shows the gradual changes in volume from minimum to maximum. We expect these changes to be consistent across the range, so that all volume levels match user expectations:
Music volume texture
This line graph shows the relative playback volume versus the user-selected volume step, measured at different volume levels with correlated pink noise in an anechoic box recorded on axis at 0.20 meters.
The Artifacts score measures the extent to which sound is affected by various types of distortion. The higher the score, the less noise you notice. Distortion can occur due to the sound processing in the device and the quality of the speakers.
Total harmonic distortion reproduction (maximum volume)
This graph shows the total harmonic distortion and noise in the audible frequency range.
It represents the distortion and noise of the device reproducing our test signal (0 dB Fs, Sweep Sine in an anechoic box at 40 cm) at the maximum volume of the device.
How the score of the audio recording is composed
SBMARK engineers test the recording by evaluating recorded files on reference audio equipment. These recordings are performed in our labs and in real-life conditions, using apps and predefined settings.
The latest flagship iPhone is also a great device for capturing sounds of any kind. Recordings feature a natural and warm tonal balance. Overall, tonal performance is very good, but there is some inconsistency between use cases. The sonority is generally a bit muted, but it is even more so when recording with the selfie camera. Midrange also depends on the use case, with a nasal loudness in the main camera app, a fairly resonant midrange in the memo app, and a more natural midrange in the selfie video. In the case of using electronic concerts, the low mids are weaker. but this is also where the 14 Pro Max shows it can produce powerful low end without sounding boomy.
Dynamics are generally good, with wide dynamic range and good responsiveness, but is held back slightly by some loss of accuracy in envelope rendition, with lead vocal content often slightly masked by ambient noise. Recordings made with the memo app are by default in mono, which is a shame because the iPhone has good spatial capabilities, with good amplitude, correct distance rendering and fairly good localizability.
The 14 Pro Max performs very well in the volume category, thanks to the good volume of the voices, excellent maximum volume and great resilience at high sound pressure levels. Even under such demanding conditions it also controls artifacts very well, making it a good choice for recording electronic music concerts and similar events. Furthermore, microphone occlusion is not an issue on the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Voices remain perfectly intelligible, regardless of the position of the hand on the device. To complement an excellent recording performance, the background sounds natural in all use cases, with good tonal balance and no artifacts.
Wind noise reduction works well. It’s heavy on selfies and main camera videos, but less in the memo app. This means that in strong winds, voices can be a little more difficult to understand. The audio zoom feature on the other hand is underwhelming and a step down from previous Pro Max models. Tonal balance remains constant between zoom levels and there are no artifacts, but background rejection does not increase when switching from telephoto. zoom to super telephoto.
Here’s how the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max fares in use case registration compared to its competitors:
Record of use case scores
The Timbre score represents how well a phone captures sounds across the audible tonal range and takes into account bass, midrange, treble and tonal balance. It is the most important attribute for registration.
Life video frequency response
A 1 / 12th octave frequency response graph, which measures the volume of each frequency captured by the smartphone when recording a pure sine wave in an anechoic environment.
The Dynamics score measures the accuracy of changes in the energy level of sound sources, such as how accurately the explosives of a voice (p, tek, for example) are reproduced. The score also considers the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), such as how loud the main voice is compared to the background noise.
Secondary attributes for spatial tests include locating the position of a specific sound, its positional balance, distance and amplitude on recorded audio files.
Directivity of registration
Smartphone directivity graph when recording test signals using the camera app, with the main camera. It represents the acoustic energy (in dB) on the angle of incidence of the sound source. (Normalized to the 0 ° angle, in front of the device.)
The volume score represents the normalization level of the audio on the recorded files and how the device handles noisy environments, such as electronic concerts, during recording.
Here are the sound levels recorded in the audio and video files, measured in LUFS (Loudness Unit Full Scale); as a reference, we expect loudness levels to be higher than -24 LUFS for recorded content:
| Match | Life video | Selfie video | Memo | |
| -26 LUFS | -22.9 LUFS | -19.2 LUFS | -19.6 LUFS | |
| Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max | -25.5 LUFS | -22.7 LUFS | -20.1 LUFS | -18.2 LUFS |
| Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) | -28.8 LUFS | -21.7 LUFS | -21.2 LUFS | -23.9 LUFS |
The Artifacts Score measures the extent to which recorded sounds are affected by various types of distortions. The higher the score, the less noise you notice. Distortions can occur due to the sound processing in the device and the quality of the microphones, as well as user handling, such as the way the phone is held.
In this audio comparison, you can hear how this smartphone handles wind noise compared to its competitors:
Recordings of a voice sample with light background noise, facing a turbulent wind of 5 m / s
Background evaluates how naturally the various sounds around a voice blend into the video recording file. For example, when recording a speech at an event, the background should not interfere with the main voice, but should provide context for the surrounding environment.
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