Speakerphone loudness test
A loudspeaker that is nice and... well, loud, is a nice asset for your mobile. Whether its hearing the other person on the speakerphone or your phone ringing from the other room, or even pla ying music on your get-togethers, a loud speaker is definitely something thats nice to have.
And while the quality of the loudspeaker sound is difficult to measure and is for the most part a subjective matter, we can effectively measure how loud it is.
We do our tests in a soundproof studio taking measurements with the handset loudspeaker facing the loudness meter at a distance of exactly 1 m. For each test we make several consecutive measurements - we usually disregard the highest readings and take the lowest of the maximum values, as thats least likely to have been misread. We test three different types of audio samples for three different scenarios:
1) A phone ringing. For the first part of the test we use a ringtone which resembles the ringing of an old rotary phone, because it seems that most phones do well when we use it.
2) Pink noise. Next we try a sample of pink noise. Our readings with it are pretty indicative on how well the handset loudspeaker can play most music.
3) Human voice, male. This is an important test, since if you tend the use the loudspeaker for speakerphone purposes, loudness is really important, regardless of whether you are in the conferen ce room or in your car.
Once we have the results in db for all three sound samples, we sum them up and use a in-house developed formula to produce a qualitative description of the loudness levels: Below Average, Average, Good, Very Good and Excellent.
As many of our results are separated by a difference of only a few decibels, it is important to keep in mind that the decibel is a logarithm ic unit, which means that a reading of +3dB represents roughly two times the power.
Wed like to reiterate again that this test is not about the quality of the sound produced by the loudspeaker. A mild, relatively deep-sounding loudspeaker that soothes the ear wont do well in this test. Instead, what we are after is pure peak loudness - its our hunt for the loudest phone, ever.
Battery life
In gauging battery life, its hard to perfect a methodology that lets you cover all of the various use scenarios without having to test for weeks on end. Whether it be display, audio quality, or camera, the goal with all of our tests is not only to provide you with the clearest, most comprehensive examination of a particular device, but to also provide it to you in a timely manner. Our battery test is no exception.
With each battery test youll see four different numbers, each ref lecting different types of battery-consuming activities. The test revolves around three basic tasks, which we feel are most commonly performed by smartphone users: making calls, browsing the web and playing video.
The first test is the talk time test, which measures how long it takes to deplete the battery by making voice calls. Bearing in mind that most screens automatically turn off during a call, weve made sure our set up accounts for this. We close all applications which may further strain the battery, too.
The web browsing test is performed using an automated script which reloads a webpage every ten seconds. There are no flash elements on the web pages, so the playing field is even. The brightness of the phones displays is set to 50% and we use a Wireless N router placed a few meters away to get full connectivity bars.
In our video playback test we measure how long it takes for a device to run its fully charged battery down to 10%, while looping a standard-definition video. We stop at 10% since most devices shut their video players at this point. The display is again set to 50%, and all radios on the device are switched off (Airplane mod e).
Finally, our overall longevity rating gives you an idea of how much battery backup you can get on a single charge. A score of 40h means that youll need to fully charge once every 40 hours if you do one hour of 3G calls, one hour of video playback and one hour of web browsing daily. Essentially, its an aggregated and normalized score, which factors in the three mentioned tests along with the real-life standby power consumption, which we also measure.
I have recently moved house and as anyone who moves house will know the internet connection they have wont be instantly activated at their new home. Fortunately thanks the "The One Plan" from 3 Ive not been without internet thanks to the ability to tether that the plan includes.
To start you will need to open up the phones "Settings" menu. If you dont know how yo do this, you will need to go to a home scree and press the phones "Menu" button, then select "Settings".
The screen you will then be taken to should look like the one on the left with 4 options. The one you need to select at this point is the 3rd one down, the one called "Tethering and portable hotspot".
After selecting the "Tethering and portable hotspot" option will see a new menu with 4 options (including "Help") from this set of options click on "USB tethering" and make sure a little tick goes in to the box.
After youve ticked the "USB tethering" option you should notice that not only has the box got a tick in but that a new icon has appeared at the top of your screen (a little blue one that you can see in the bottom screen on the left). This means the phone is sharing a connection with your device.
