Blackberry 8700 Cell Phone Review - Audio Quality
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Alfredo Padilla Published on March 16, 2007 Comment on this |
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The audio performance of a cell phone is one of the most important aspects of our testing, and we do in-depth testing to examine it. (For more on how we test, see here). To do this, we use SoundCheck, a professional audio analysis system from Listen Inc that analyzes the sound that the phone produces and captures. We use this in collaboration with a H.A.T.S : a Head and Torso Simulator from Brüel & Kjær, which is built to pick up sound in exactly the same way that the human ear does. This means that our testing produces the same results that your ear does. We test the phones, in use, as a handset (to the ear). We’ll be adding more tests soon to examine the performance of the speakerphone and the headset.
]Sound Receive Frequency Response (8.07)
Blackberry 8703e on Sprint: Handset Receive Frequency
This test looks at the frequency response of the sound that the phone receives and produces at the speaker (such as someone talking to you) The blue line represents the frequency response of the phone (low frequencies at the left, high at the right), and the red lines represent the limits that are set by the ITU standards. The response of a phone should fall within these lines and ideally right between them. As you can see, the 8703e falls just within the limits, and it isn’t too far from the ideal. The response at high frequencies does fall off a little quickly, though; people with high-pitched voices could sound clipped and muffled.
Sound Send Frequency Response (6.34)
Blackberry 8703e on Sprint: Handset Sent Frequency Response
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The send frequency response is a test of the sound that the 8703e sends, such as your voice talking into the phone. This is a bit less impressive than the receive. The frequency response (represented by the blue line) falls outside of the limits at lower frequencies, which makes voices sound deeper and more bassy. Some might find that attractive, but most people want a phone that reflects how their voices really sound. But, to be fair, this is not a huge problem, and the sound quality of the 8703 was more then acceptable.
Handset Side Tone (5.3)
Blackberry 8703e on Sprint: Handset Side Tone
Cell phones play back a little bit of your own voice to help you appreciate how loudly you are talking; a technique called side tone. But a phone has to produce the right amount of side tone. Too much, and you end up talking too quietly to be heard properly. Too little, and you end up yelling into the phone when there is no need to do so. The 8703e was pretty much in the middle. It produced around 22.7 decibels of side tone, which is a little higher than the 18 decibels that the ITU standards call for. This means that your own voice may sound a little louder in your ear than it needs to be, so you may end up taking a bit quieter than you really need to. There is also a big drop off in the high frequencies, which may make your voice sound a little bit bassy in your ear.
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