How we test

The testing was mainly based on the Harschacoustic SH-2 custom IEMs and the modded Denon AH-D2000 headphones, as these us to easily draw out the differences between the various smartphones.

We used the Poweramp app on all the Android phones, the Groove Music app on Windows handsets and the iTunes Music app on the iPhone 6s. Each phone also had its equaliser and audio changing features disabled. This was in order to test the hardware, rather than the audio-software of each phone. At the time of writing, all phones were updated to their latest available software (listed below).

Custom earphones

Harschacoustic SH-2 Custom IEM Universal earphones Phonak Audéo PFE 232 DUNU Titan 1 SoundMagic E10 Monoprice 8320

Headphones

Modified Denon AH-D2000 (D5000 dampened cups, D7000 cable, Lawton Audio pads) KEF M500 Bowers & Wilkins P5 Series 2 Audio-Technica ATH-MSR7

Music

Here is a small sample of the songs used to test the phones. They varied between a mix of MP3s and FLAC sound files at various bitrates and sample rates: What It Feels Like for a Girl Variety Lab, London in the Rain Armin van Buuren, Breathe In Deep (The Blizzard Remix) W&W, Manhattan (Craving Remix) John Legend, Who Do We Think We Are Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams, Get Lucky Ne-Yo, Champagne Life Bruno Mars, Uptown Funk Dr. Dre, The Next Episode (San Holo Remix)

Portable amplifier

DigiZoid ZO2 v2.3 and used alongside a 3.5mm to 3.5mm Custom Art silver braided interconnect cable

Software versions

Google Nexus 6P, Android 6.0.1 HTC One M9, Android 5.1 iPhone 6s, iOS 9.2 LG G3: Android 5.0.2 Marshall London, Android 5.0.2 Microsoft Lumia 950, Windows 10 Mobile OnePlus 2, Android 5.1.1 Samsung Galaxy S6, Android 5.1.1 Sony Xperia Z5, Android 5.1.1