30-40k A phone with good audio through 3.5mm jack

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red dragon

red dragon

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My Note 10 lite is driving me crazy. It's not an old phone ( max 6 months, and used extensively) but the battery barely lasts a working day (9am- 4pm) with around 3.5-4 hr of SOT and the phone is getting sluggish everyday ( only emails, browsing, YouTube, Tidal streaming...that's basically what I do on a phone)
Can buy the Note 10 for the stylus, but it does not have the 3.5 out.
And even with a passive dongle it sounds like garbage.
The Xiaomi phone I use as a second phone has completely spoiled me with the awesome clean audio out!!
But don't want to buy another Xiaomi as there's no service center here.
I know my options are really limited ( LG V60 / 8X)
Shall I go with LG or buy a cheap samsung with Snapdragon and a DAP ( lost the M3 Pro) like M11 or iBasso DX160?
PLEASE DON'T suggest a dongle DAC, first the battery drain and the tendency of loosing things ( lost a very cheap but good dongle...Sonata something...) I'm not careless and break things nowadays, but started loosing smaller gadgets..the Sonata was such a good cheap portable amp/ DAC..but the battery draw was considerable.
Budget: Max 600 EUR for a phone only
If end up buying a DAP and phone, would like to buy the cheapest usable phone ( and use the rest of the phone budget plus 200 EUR for a decent DAP) with a decent SOC and big battery ( camera/ gaming etc. is not a priority) for phone calls mostly.
The Xiaomi phone is fast enough for emails, browsing, YouTube etc. But I need another phone to make calls ( both normal and video..)
What's the cheapest Samsung with Snapdragon?
 
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how about ZenFone 7 Pro ?
if it's available in your country, may not be the best but audio must be very good as it's a flagship device.

oh it doesn't 've 3.5 mm jack :confused:
 
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I am too looking for a mobile phone with some good audio and was also considering K20 pro for myself but realized it's now outdated item. It was absolutely VFM item at one time.
Now recently launched k40 , k40pro or K40 pro + all removed the 3.5mm jack.
In this month of march many new flagships and other mobiles are to be launched but most of them without the 3.5mm jack,
so I almost finalized this item iqoo 3 see details here , it was available in deal for 25k (absolutely VFM) but the next day it's same 30-31k so waiting for some deals again, probably a price drop around holi sale or with some upcoming phones, definitely looking for the new ones too but as of now it's kind of final (for 25k it's absolutely killer config & don't care for 5G support or some flagship camera)
reviewers aren't happy with it's speaker performance but I'm ok with it as it has got a 3.5mm jack with DAC (may be as written in this review - review here )
 
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Yes, K20 Pro is really outdated now ( unless you get a very good deal) and it's extremely fragile. Mine didn't survive a 2-3 feet drop with a bulky case ( the panel had to be replaced)
My last couple of weeks have been really bad with gadgets..headphones stopped working (received a new pxc550, glued the bl03 with epoxy..one earpiece just cracked open from the joint), the K20 Pro broke ( thank God I'm not in Prague..replacing the screen there would have been really difficult)
 
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Mann said:
The DAC on the K20 pro is far better than the LG g8x
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I have no experience of the k20 pro so have no idea how it sounds. But the G8x features a 32 bit ESS Sabre ES9218P Quad DAC while the K20 pro spprts a Qualcomm WCD9340 audio chip with a 24-bit/ 192kHz DAC on board.

I know LG is moving out of mobiles so you may be able to land a pretty cheap deal on a used one. The phones are not bad at all and will surely last a few years, if cared for. Enough has been said about the kind of audio quality they dish out so I need not add anything.
 
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I never had a chance to A/B them. Is it the DAC or the AMP section?
ibose said:
I have no experience of the k20 pro so have no idea how it sounds. But the G8x features a 32 bit ESS Sabre ES9218P Quad DAC while the K20 pro spprts a Qualcomm WCD9340 audio chip with a 24-bit/ 192kHz DAC on board.

I know LG is moving out of mobiles so you may be able to land a pretty cheap deal on a used one. The phones are not bad at all and will surely last a few years, if cared for. Enough has been said about the kind of audio quality they dish out so I need not add anything.
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Don't go by the specs, 24 bit is what 99.9 percent of audio is produced. Upscaling DOES NOT improve audio quality only adds noise. I have tried it many times with a spectacular DAW Sequoia...one of the most refined ( and insanely expensive software) digital audio workstation with superb graphical representation of audio, all I could see was noise and my ears couldn't hear ANYTHING!!
My audio interface supports 32 bit audio.
 
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Either way k20 pro is old and don't think iqoo can match lg phones if audio is your preference . Tbh lg g8x was perfect price when it went on sale.


But of those I would still get g8x ( plus you get dual screen which is fun) or if you can get a phone from US lg v60.
 
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red dragon said:
I never had a chance to A/B them. Is it the DAC or the AMP section?

Don't go by the specs, 24 bit is what 99.9 percent of audio is produced. Upscaling DOES NOT improve audio quality only adds noise. I have tried it many times with a spectacular DAW Sequoia...one of the most refined ( and insanely expensive software) digital audio workstation with superb graphical representation of audio, all I could see was noise and my ears couldn't hear ANYTHING!!
My audio interface supports 32 bit audio.
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Sorry I did not mean to imply that bit depth would matter but the DAC chips themselves and how they were used in the phone would make difference.
 
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nick.knack91011 said:
Either way k20 pro is old and don't think iqoo can match lg phones if audio is your preference . Tbh lg g8x was perfect price when it went on sale.


But of those I would still get g8x ( plus you get dual screen which is fun) or if you can get a phone from US lg v60.
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I agree, iqoo can't match LG in terms of audio performance reviewers also criticized it for poor software performance.
so suggest something... Not interested in dedicated player as my usage is very limited with a portable device.
 
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Nalin said:
Get a phone which has best software ie. Pixel/iPhone and something like Shanling M2X to accompany it.
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This is why I am considering fiio m6 or activo ct10 as I dont want to compromise on audio quality but then if I want to choose a phone for audio I have very few options so I end up compromising on other things like camera. Both can stream and small enough to carry ! Or m2x ye

But with more and more phones ditching 3.5mm jack ultimately this is the only option I feel. Or just use a good USB c to 3.5mm dongle ! Or a good BT reciever . Sooner or later sadly that's the route we all will have to take .

Its sad the even Chinese phones are starting to ditch the jack
 
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Nitendra Singh said:
yes no more 3.5mm jack on some upcoming phones likes - Iqoo 7, Realme GT, oneplus 9, Rog 5, K40 pro.
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One can always use type c to 3.5mm extension and is soled separately by all these brand phones so that wouldn't be an issue with audio compromise.
Else if you got deep pockets and is one of those audio enthus then better to opt for fiio kinda DACs1.

Soon all holes/ports might come down to one single port for charging/connectivity and audio. Then imagine the splitter cable connectors one has to roam with..
 
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