The iPhone 4 has 2 built-in microphones that supposedly work together to reduce background noise. That sounds great, but does it really work? So far, my tests indicate that it does little to reduce wind noise.
First, let's look at what Apple says about the mics.
"While most phones have only one microphone, iPhone 4 has two. The main mic, located on the bottom next to the dock connector, is for phone calls, voice commands, and memos. The second mic, built into the top near the headphone jack, is for FaceTime calls and for making your phone calls better. It works with the main mic to suppress unwanted and distracting background sounds, such as music and loud conversations. This dual-mic noise suppression helps make every conversation a quiet one."
Yesterday I was outside when I got a phone call. There was moderate wind outside, but it was very loud in my earpiece. The caller could barely hear me because the wind was so loud, so we just hung up. Before hanging up, I tried covering up the mics in hopes that the wind noise would be reduced, but it didn't work.
I did more testing today by covering up the mics one at a time. Covering up the top mic makes your voice sound muffled to your callers. Covering up the bottom mic seemed to have less of an impact. This is obviously not a scientific experiment, but while running the same tests on my Sprint EVO and Palm Pre I'm able to block most of the wind noise from the mic.
Gizmodo ran tests on the iPhone 4 and came up with completely different results. Their test consisted of playing music and speech while talking on the phone and they reported fantastic performance by the iPhone 4.
"While we found the iPhone 3G's noise-cancellation to be terrible and the iPhone 3GS' to be fairly decent, we were blown away by the iPhone 4's. After a few seconds of background noise, the device would be able to filter it out almost entirely and provide us with crisp and clear calls. In this regard, the upgrade to an iPhone 4 is definitely worth it for both 3G and 3GS owners."
So, does the iPhone 4's extra mic only help with music and speech or other common indoor noises? Is wind noise a completely different issue? I have no idea, but what is your experience? Is the iPhone 4 outperforming in terms of background noise?
In my unscientific test it seems to perform about the same as every other smartphone I've owned.
Most smartphones have very sensitive mics that pick up loads of background noise. I have an old Sanyo flip phone that has so little background noise, most people think I'm on a landline when I answer, even if I'm sitting on a plane before takeoff. Every other smartphone I've had (Treos, BlackBerrys, Pocket PCs, Palm Pre, Android phones, etc.) pick up much more background noise compared to my old flip phone. Test it for yourself. Turn on the radio in your car (while you're parked) and call someone. Can they hear the music? On my old flip phone they can't hear the music, but on every smartphone I've tested they can. By the way, you know how people like to whisper things to you while you're on the phone? My callers can hear that too -- loud and clear!
The iPhone 4 has decent call quality when compared to other phones, but I've yet to see a dramatic improvement with the addition of the second mic. I suppose some of this is subjective but background noise on smartphones has bugged me for years so I've tested quite a few phones. So far, the iPhone 4 fairs about the same as most other smartphones in my opinion.
First, let's look at what Apple says about the mics.
"While most phones have only one microphone, iPhone 4 has two. The main mic, located on the bottom next to the dock connector, is for phone calls, voice commands, and memos. The second mic, built into the top near the headphone jack, is for FaceTime calls and for making your phone calls better. It works with the main mic to suppress unwanted and distracting background sounds, such as music and loud conversations. This dual-mic noise suppression helps make every conversation a quiet one."
Yesterday I was outside when I got a phone call. There was moderate wind outside, but it was very loud in my earpiece. The caller could barely hear me because the wind was so loud, so we just hung up. Before hanging up, I tried covering up the mics in hopes that the wind noise would be reduced, but it didn't work.
I did more testing today by covering up the mics one at a time. Covering up the top mic makes your voice sound muffled to your callers. Covering up the bottom mic seemed to have less of an impact. This is obviously not a scientific experiment, but while running the same tests on my Sprint EVO and Palm Pre I'm able to block most of the wind noise from the mic.
Gizmodo ran tests on the iPhone 4 and came up with completely different results. Their test consisted of playing music and speech while talking on the phone and they reported fantastic performance by the iPhone 4.
"While we found the iPhone 3G's noise-cancellation to be terrible and the iPhone 3GS' to be fairly decent, we were blown away by the iPhone 4's. After a few seconds of background noise, the device would be able to filter it out almost entirely and provide us with crisp and clear calls. In this regard, the upgrade to an iPhone 4 is definitely worth it for both 3G and 3GS owners."
So, does the iPhone 4's extra mic only help with music and speech or other common indoor noises? Is wind noise a completely different issue? I have no idea, but what is your experience? Is the iPhone 4 outperforming in terms of background noise?
In my unscientific test it seems to perform about the same as every other smartphone I've owned.
Most smartphones have very sensitive mics that pick up loads of background noise. I have an old Sanyo flip phone that has so little background noise, most people think I'm on a landline when I answer, even if I'm sitting on a plane before takeoff. Every other smartphone I've had (Treos, BlackBerrys, Pocket PCs, Palm Pre, Android phones, etc.) pick up much more background noise compared to my old flip phone. Test it for yourself. Turn on the radio in your car (while you're parked) and call someone. Can they hear the music? On my old flip phone they can't hear the music, but on every smartphone I've tested they can. By the way, you know how people like to whisper things to you while you're on the phone? My callers can hear that too -- loud and clear!
The iPhone 4 has decent call quality when compared to other phones, but I've yet to see a dramatic improvement with the addition of the second mic. I suppose some of this is subjective but background noise on smartphones has bugged me for years so I've tested quite a few phones. So far, the iPhone 4 fairs about the same as most other smartphones in my opinion.