We subjected the Realme GT Neo 3 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 at the bottom right that turns on; 1 upper central front fire
- No audio output Jack
- Dolby Atmos technology
Reproduction
Pros
- Decent mid-range yield
- Artifacts pretty well under control
versus
- Tonal balance too focused on the midrange, resulting in a nasal sound
- Poor overall performance
Registration
Pros
- Good recording intensity
- Good stereo width, even in portrait orientation
- Excellent signal-to-noise ratio, thanks to drastic processing
versus
- Poor tonal rendering overall, lack of consistency, with muffled and / or nasal tonal balance
- Inaccurate localizability and rendered at a distance
- Excessive processing results in compression, gating, phasing and volume jumps
The Realme GT Neo 3 achieved a SBMARK Audio score of 118, with overall disappointing performance in both playback and recording. Recording performance, in particular, was marred by a multitude of artifacts caused by excessive processing.
Although the playback sound was almost free of artifacts and the midrange was rendered decently, there was a pronounced lack of high and low end extension, resulting in nasal sound and poor overall playback performance.
When using the device to record audio, the volume was good and good amplitude was rendered, even holding the phone in portrait orientation while recording. Strong processing achieved an excellent signal-to-noise ratio, but it also produced a number of artifacts, including compression, gating, phasing, and volume jumps. Overall, the device would benefit from fine-tuning the processing algorithms. The stamp was also poor and lacking in consistency. Tonal balance sounded muffled or nasal or both. Overall, it’s hard to recommend the Realme GT Neo 3 to any audio-focused smartphone user.
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.
The GT Neo 3 did slightly better for playback than for recording, but still leaves some room for improvement. Tonal rendering through the internal speakers was rather unbalanced, with a narrow spectrum and a clear emphasis on the midrange. The highs were dull and there was a serious lack of high-end extension as well as low-end extension and bass.
In terms of dynamics, the device performed at an average level. Attack yield was correct, but lack of bass affected envelope yield and punch was weak. The Realme speakers offered medium amplitude, and although the localizability was correct, it was quite difficult to pinpoint the position of individual sound sources in the scene. The voices sounded slightly distant, even veiled on some occasions. The minimum volume level was slightly low, which made it difficult to properly hear weak content, such as classical music. At the other end of the volume spectrum, the device was powerful enough but not at the same level as the best-in-class.
Overall, few sonic artifacts are noticed, just some distortion and compression at high volume levels. While it was possible to accidentally cover the speakers with your hands while holding the phone normally, the occlusion of the speakers didn’t compromise the listening experience too much.
Hear about the playback performance of the smartphone tested in this comparison with some of its competitors:
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 Realme GT Neo 3 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 | |
| Realme GT Neo 3 | 72.6 dBA | 68.7 dB |
| Realme GT Neo 2 5G | 76.2 dB | 70.5 dBA |
| OnePlus 9 | 75.9 dB | 72.3 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.
If you are planning to use Realme GT Neo 3 as a recording device, you may want to consider alternatives. The timbre was poor and too focused on the midrange, with recordings that sounded muffled and nasal. The highs were weak and diminished, and the lack of bass and low-end extension was particularly noticeable in recordings at high SPLs, such as concerts.
The Realme provided excellent signal-to-noise ratio in all test use cases, but strong compression and high noise reduction processing produced a very unreliable envelope rendering, with opaque and explosive attacks as well as a unrealistic sustain. Stereo width was pretty good in the recordings, but the locations of the sound sources in the scene were unstable and difficult to spot. On the plus side, the recording volume was pretty good overall.
Some artifacts were evident in GT Neo 3’s recordings. Both compression and distortion were overall quite moderate, but became more intrusive at high volume levels. Our testers also found that it is easy to accidentally occlude the microphones with your fingers. Finger noises were also quite noticeable in the recorded sound. The background performance was poor overall, with a muffled sound and a resonant sonority.
Here’s how the Realme GT Neo 3 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 | |
| Realme GT Neo 3 | -21.3 LUFS | -20.2 LUFS | -18.3 LUFS | -18.4 LUFS |
| Realme GT Neo 2 5G | -25.2 LUFS | -22.9 LUFS | -21.8 LUFS | -22.2 LUFS |
| OnePlus 9 | -29.5 LUFS | -20.6 LUFS | -19.4 LUFS | -19.4 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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