Palm Treo 700p Cell Phone Review - Audio Quality
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Alfredo Padilla Published on March 15, 2007 Comment on this |
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The quality of the sound played back and captured by a cell phone is a vital part of the overall package; there’s no point in having the latest and greatest phone if the calls you make on it make you sound like a chipmunk. So we do a lot of testing on the sound quality of cell phones to discover how good (or bad) they sound. We use the professional sound analysis system SoundCheck from Listen Inc in collaboration with a Head and Torso Simulator from Brüel & Kjær to do this. This combination captures and analyzes sound in the same way the human ear does, so our testing shows how good (or bad) cell phones really are. We test the phones in use as a handset (to the ear), and we’ll be adding more tests soon to examine the performance of the speakerphone and the headset.
Sound Receive Frequency Response (7.68)
Treo 700p on Sprint: Handset Receive Frequency Response
The receive frequency response is how well the cell phone reproduces the sound that it receives, such as the voice of a friend calling you. The blue line represents the frequency response of the phone (high frequencies at the right, low at the left), and the red lines represent the limits defined by the ITU; an international body that produces standards for the telephone industry. The frequency response of a phone should fall within these limits, and better phones will chart a course right between the upper and lower limits. The 700p had impressive performance in this test; the frequency curve only bumped up against the limits in a couple of spots, so most frequencies will be accurately reproduced, so you should get clean and sharp sounding voices on the other end of the line. The 700p didn’t score as highly in this test as some phones, though: the Treo 750w had slightly better performance, and the thin profile Razr V3m also had a slight edge here.
Sound Send Frequency Response (7.68)
Treo 700p on Sprint: Handset Send Frequency Response
This test examines the quality of the sound sent by the 700p; that’s how good your voice sounds to the person on the other end. The 700p scored highly here; the curve was within the limits (with just one minor exception) and didn’t have any major jumps or drops (which can cause voices to sound odd and disjointed). This means that the quality of the sound captured and sent by the 700p is high, and the people you are calling should have no problem understanding you.
Handset Side Tone (5.3)
Treo 700p on Sprint: Handset Side Tone
Because they block your ear, cell phones play back a bit of your own voice to help you appreciate how loudly you are talking; a technique called side tone. But the amount of this has to be right; too much or too little can lead to whispering or shouting, neither of which what is you want to be doing to a cell phone. The 700p produced 21.4 decibels of side tone, which is a little higher than than what the ITU standard calls for (18 decibels). That might lead to you talking a bit quieter than you need to (because your own voice sounds louder in your ear), but that’s better than talking louder, especially if you are sitting on the bus next to me.
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