According to Apple, the iPhone 5 has much better call quality than its predecessor thanks to its new wideband audio technology. Unfortunately, no US carrier supports this feature yet.
This means that call quality on your iPhone 5 still greatly depends on your location and who your service provider is. And according to a new report, Sprint is the one to beat in this category…
CNET set out to find which carrier had the best voice quality on the iPhone 5 out of AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. So they put all three models to the test in New York, and this is what they found:
“Sprint: This is the winner, and the more, we listened the more we agreed. Background noise isn’t a factor, and my voice comes through loud, clear, and even a bit richer. I also noticed that Brian’s call came through clearer and louder on my end. The audio sample shows off how much better it sounds.
What does this mean for you? Well, they all sounded good relative to the iPhone 4S, and frankly, a lot of the iPhone’s appeal has little to do with voice calls. LTE data speeds and availability may matter far more. Reception and coverage vary by area, so your experience may be different from mine. But, if all you care about is the best-sounding voice calls, our quick test favored Sprint.”
Now, this test is nowhere near scientific. In fact, they didn’t even try different locations. But they did make several phone calls, and they uploaded all of the audio so you could hear the difference.
It’s worth noting that Sprint does have a service called HD Voice, which is supposed to make audio quality on phone calls much better. But to our knowledge, the iPhone 5 doesn’t support it.
In addition to wideband audio, the iPhone 5 features a new three microphone setup that Apple says should also make for clearer phone calls. But I can’t tell much of a difference from my 4S.
What do you think of your iPhone 5’s call quality? Is it better than your previous handset?