Uneven stereo speakers

[mgkoeln]

I’m quite happy with my FP5 so far, but one thing is a little bit disappoining: The top/left stereo speaker seems to be quite a bit weaker than the bottom/right one - as you can easily check with stereo test videos like this one: https://youtu.be/ROD-C4WzAEI?si=Le2Wd70LzuO1EprH

So, yay, the phone has stereo sound now - but not quite…

You can adjust the balance in the “Accessibility” settings, but this just makes both sides sound equally weak. And as there are no seperate balance settings for speakers and headphones you have to adjust it, each time you switch. It’s not really worth the effort.

I guess the earpiece hardware is just a little bit too weak to compete with the bottom speaker. Maybe a stronger earpiece might be a good idea for a future spare part upgrade.

[Larry-yrraL]

Thanks for flagging this. I’m thinking about buying a fairphone 5 and this is the type of thing that might frustrate me.
Is it so bad that if you were watching a YouTube video it would be distracting, or you might not hear something coming from the left speaker?

I’ve also heard that the speakers are generally quiet as shown in the speaker test here:

Fairphone 5 review

I think I’d be annoyed if it was too quiet to listen to podcasts with the speakers. This is the type of thing that would be a deal breaker for me especially if I might have this phone for 8-10 years. What’s your experience?

[Meaghan]

I watched videos, netflix and haven’t noticed any difference, on speakers and on Bluetooth headphones.
I am not saying there isn’t any, but it was not noticeable to me.

I guess I am not a demanding listener nor am I listening to demanding sound material but wanted to share my perspective.

[Larry-yrraL]

Thanks. Yes, the difference would only affect the internal speakers, not Bluetooth speakers or headphones.

[mgkoeln]

Even though I opened this topic, it isn’t a deal-breaker for me either. Podcasts in particular are very centre-dialogue-driven, so it doesn’t really matter if it’s not completely balanced. You’d probably have your phone lying on a table anyway. And it’s loud enough to listen to the occasional podcast, too - as the right speaker is quite loud.

But you might notice the slight shift to the right, when watching a movie. And when listening to music, some sound elements on the left side might get lost. Listening via headphones or Bluetooth speakers is perfectly fine, though.