[Barusu Lamperouge]

It really is, here ya go. Anything with colours looks washed out/blueish on the Sony. Plus that god awful aspect ratio, the photo on the iPhone has double the area because the aspect ratio forces so many sites and apps to shrink to a tiny size. Anyway to myself and my gf it’s a pretty obvious difference…Her jaw dropped when I told her the price of the sony. And I did a comparison taking pictures of objects in real life, and comparing them side by side on the screens. The Sony did not display how the object looked, colour wise it wasn’t accurrate (again washed out) the iPhone was closer to the actual colour by a long way, specially organge/red etc. This is due to the display, not the camera sensor.

What the Sony has is APtx-hd and a headphone jack, along with the photo pro app. Its why I have it. It’s not that suprising tbh, you have a 2 trillion dollar company whose main focus is phones, vs a much, much smaller (135b) company which treats phones as an afterthought and tiny part of their business.

I also think the Sony is a poor choice for us lot too, the headphone jack has a very weak output, lower than the iPhone dongle DAC in power. I like the quality, though.

Sony smartphones have lost their edge over last decade in terms of competitive specs offered by others like Samsung, Apple or even Chinese brands. Sure it feels premium and all but it's still not great enough to compete in the flagship segment against iPhone and Galaxy series. Sure they have some features that are good but still it's nothing compared to their heydays in late 2000s as Sony Ericsson Walkman phones. Sony has to do something crazy if it wants to be relevant again in the smartphone space. But I don't think it's their priority business so I won't expect much.

 

[Gee Simpson]

Ahh, sorry my bad. That connector will use one end in your phone's type c socket and other in your dongles type c socket. The dongle will rest on the backside and can be conveniently used in wired mode.

Ah okay, so it's the right one, thanks.

I will most likely stick with Bluetooth though because it's more convenient, but I will buy that connector too in case I want to switch it up. I was recommended the Qudelix because it has PEQ, but tbh I never use EQ so it's not worth it to me. I also prefer the look of the BTR5 and I like the fact it has a small display. I'll probably wait for the official release of the new one though.

 

[Gee Simpson]

It really is, here ya go. Anything with colours looks washed out/blueish on the Sony. Plus that god awful aspect ratio, the photo on the iPhone has double the area because the aspect ratio forces so many sites and apps to shrink to a tiny size. Anyway to myself and my gf it’s a pretty obvious difference…Her jaw dropped when I told her the price of the sony. And I did a comparison taking pictures of objects in real life, and comparing them side by side on the screens. The Sony did not display how the object looked, colour wise it wasn’t accurrate (again washed out) the iPhone was closer to the actual colour by a long way, specially organge/red etc. This is due to the display, not the camera sensor.

What the Sony has is APtx-hd and a headphone jack, along with the photo pro app. Its why I have it. It’s not that suprising tbh, you have a 2 trillion dollar company whose main focus is phones, vs a much, much smaller (135b) company which treats phones as an afterthought and tiny part of their business.

I also think the Sony is a poor choice for us lot too, the headphone jack has a very weak output, lower than the iPhone dongle DAC in power. I like the quality, though.

Wow, does every app look downsized like that? I'm so glad I decided to go for the Samsung instead.

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

Ah okay, so it's the right one, thanks.

I will most likely stick with Bluetooth though because it's more convenient, but I will buy that connector too in case I want to switch it up. I was recommended the Qudelix because it has PEQ, but tbh I never use EQ so it's not worth it to me. I also prefer the look of the BTR5 and I like the fact it has a small display. I'll probably wait for the official release of the new one though.

Yeah that cable is super convenient. All the best. BTR5 won't disappoint you. 5K is also good but shipping from US is a pain and the cost overheads of importing don't make sense.

 

[mainguy]

My ASUS phone have this option adjust the color,
maybe yours too,

Lol dude, Ive been buying tech for over a decade I know about display settings. The Sony display is objectively worse, no settings can save it. I use ‘Creator Mode’ because every reviewer mentions it, and it does improve the colours somewhat. But as you can see, its not even close to an Iphone or samsung counterpart.

 

[jsmiller58]

OK, I need to upgrade my aging LG v30…. Is the ROG5 the best all-arounder at this point, taking into account performance, storage, camera, audio out of the 3.5mm jack….? Clearly nothing is best at everything, but good at everything and not horrible at anything…

 

[zeinharis]

OK, I need to upgrade my aging LG v30…. Is the ROG5 the best all-arounder at this point, taking into account performance, storage, camera, audio out of the 3.5mm jack….? Clearly nothing is best at everything, but good at everything and not horrible at anything…

Camera and storage is mediocre, camera is not bad but surely not in the same league as other flagship it is acceptable, that’s why I use my iphone 11 for taking pictures. Storage wise there is no memory card slot, but you can always plug an external hard drive and play the media on it (no resampling going whatsoever using UAPP with bit perfect mode on) on the usb type C side port while plugging a dac & amp on the type C port on the bottom. Performance, no doubt among the best out there (but there’s another Rog Phone 5s that uses the SD 888+, other specs is the same). Sound quality coming from the 3.5mm jack is excellent, having output max at 2Vrms it surely can drive a lot of IEMs and portable headphones, soundsign I would describe as very balance with full bodied tones on every spectrum and you can always play with the AudioWizard to tweak the sound. I would like to highlight the soundstage and the separation, it is excellent. Asus did a pretty good job on the rog phone 5/5s when it comes to audio quality and performance.

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

OK, I need to upgrade my aging LG v30…. Is the ROG5 the best all-arounder at this point, taking into account performance, storage, camera, audio out of the 3.5mm jack….? Clearly nothing is best at everything, but good at everything and not horrible at anything…

In a way, removal of 3.5mm jack has liberated audio fans from crappy dependency on the manufacturers as now we can select our preferred DAC in shape of dongles/amps and enjoy music to our own preferences.

My recommendation would be get a phone with genuinely good specs in your budget and invest $ on a dongle like BTR5 or ibasso DC03 or something per your preferences. Good dongles are available from as little as $10 and go up to $300. So you can pick and choose basis your budget and preferences. It will definitely sound better than 99% of the phones with 3.5mm output.

 

[artpiggo]

Yes, just go any phone + dongle.

Audiophile phone is now for collection only.

 

[Gee Simpson]

Yeah I'm on that train now too

Received my S21 Ultra today, still unopened atm but I will give it a shot later With the S21 Ultra + the new FiiO BTR5 I will be in mobile and audio heaven

I'm waiting for it to become available at AMP3 because they are based in my city, so I won't have to order from AliExpress. @Barusu Lamperouge Is there one of those connectors available elsewhere? Maybe I'll find one on Amazon UK? I don't mind ordering from AliExpress, done it once and it went smoothly. I guess I can order from there and wait a while as the new BTR5 may not be out for a while anyway.

 

[Percival]

Yes, just go any phone + dongle.

Audiophile phone is now for collection only.

Some people (I include myself here) prefer not having to carry around a dongle plus cable. The Asus ROG 5 looks to be pretty good all round (unless one demands the best camera - and let's face it, most of us just take snaps for personal use/fun).

 

[jsmiller58]

In a way, removal of 3.5mm jack has liberated audio fans from crappy dependency on the manufacturers as now we can select our preferred DAC in shape of dongles/amps and enjoy music to our own preferences.

My recommendation would be get a phone with genuinely good specs in your budget and invest $ on a dongle like BTR5 or ibasso DC03 or something per your preferences. Good dongles are available from as little as $10 and go up to $300. So you can pick and choose basis your budget and preferences. It will definitely sound better than 99% of the phones with 3.5mm output.

It has been years since I thought about a new phone…. Makes sense. I already have a lot of dongles (S1, W2, S8, S9, 9038s, Bolt, and Rhodium to name some), and Bluetooth BTR5 and Q5K. I don’t really like the dongle solution as eventually you face the loose cable connection problem, and, well, BT is BT…. But I probably I have to accept the headphone jack is no more.

 

[mainguy]

Yes, just go any phone + dongle.

Audiophile phone is now for collection only.

Yeah I don't think phones are good enough to match dongles. DAPs on the other hand...

I've got supposedly one of the best dongles going, the Dragonfly Cobalt.

I spent an hour with a good DAP recently (AK380) and the sound quality was noticeably better than my Cobalt. It was pretty dramatic. Dongles like BTR5 are absolutely no match for the good DAPs (wm1a/sp1000/ak380) etc.

Or a Mojo, not really a dongle, but that can be a nice option.

 

[YuzuSorbe7]

Where is its hifi mode setting?

Settings>Sound & vibrations>Sound effects>Hi-Fi audio

 

[Percival]

Yeah I don't think phones are good enough to match dongles. DAPs on the other hand...

I'm not sure about that. Most dongles and DAPs are not that good. I reckon the Quad DAC LG phones beat most of them. The ROG 5 might also (I haven't seen any measurements yet).
Besides, this thread has "best smartphone" in the title, not "best dongle."