{"id":137026,"date":"2025-11-16T23:02:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T23:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/137026\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T23:02:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T23:02:11","slug":"samsung-galaxy-z-fold-7-vs-iphone-17-pro-which-one-for-audiophiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/137026\/","title":{"rendered":"Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 vs. iPhone 17 Pro: which one for audiophiles?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month, I spent a total of \u20ac2600 on two different high-end smartphones \u2013 not for the cameras, the AI integration or the processors, but to answer one simple question: which one best serves the audiophile?<\/p>\n

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and iPhone 17 Pro each cost \u20ac1300 in Germany \u2013 that\u2019s roughly US$1400 a pop. And no, I don\u2019t have contacts at Samsung or Apple who would send me review loaners. I bought both with my own money because audiophiles remain a tiny subset of smartphone users. We don\u2019t matter to Google or Apple, but that doesn\u2019t stop us from obsessing over which phone handles our music better.<\/p>\n

Now, before any stroppy teenagers start yelling inanely about \u2018Fanboi-ism\u2019, \u2018Crapple<\/a>\u2018 or \u2018Sheeple<\/a>\u2018, know that I am genuinely torn between these two smartphones. If it were an easy decision, I wouldn\u2019t have bought both. The \u20ac2600 outlay wasn\u2019t about platform loyalty or brand worship \u2013 it was about finding real answers to real questions that matter to those of us who treat our smartphones as music sources or remote controls.<\/p>\n

After a month of side-by-side testing, I\u2019ve evaluated both smartphones from three different perspectives: as Bluetooth sources, as wired headphone sources (obviously using dongle DACs), and as streaming interfaces. And the results are more complicated than you\u2019d expect.<\/p>\n

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Bluetooth headphones<\/p>\n

Right out of the gate, the iPhone 17 Pro gets something that Samsung cannot touch: seamless AirPod integration. The controls aren\u2019t loaded into an installable app like other headphone brands \u2013 they\u2019re baked directly into iOS. And for phone calls, the AirPods Pro 2 and 3 remain untouchable. Furthermore, the Pro 3\u2019s active noise cancellation beats everything I\u2019ve heard to date, though Apple\u2019s tweaked the frequency response of the Pro 3 with slightly elevated bass and treble, which makes the midrange sound a little reluctant. How much you\u2019ll notice that depends on how loud you listen \u2013 Fletcher-Munson curve correction means the smile-shaped EQ becomes more pronounced at lower volumes. Apple\u2019s DSP is clever here, but it also makes the AirPods Pro 3 a moving target for anyone trying to discuss measurements. And I\u2019m sure I read somewhere that Apple has already subtly altered the Pro 3\u2019s frequency response with a post-launch firmware update.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s where the iPhone stumbles: it\u2019s still restricted to the AAC and SBC codecs. That\u2019s it. Got a pair of Sennheiser HDB 630<\/a> with aptX Adaptive? A Bowers & Wilkins PX8 S2<\/a> with aptX Lossless capability? The iPhone won\u2019t play ball: it\u2019ll stream via AAC to either one.<\/p>\n

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The sonic differences between codecs are small but audible. Using Sennheiser\u2019s BTD 700 USB dongle<\/a> (which supports aptX Adaptive) versus the iPhone\u2019s built-in AAC, Neil Young\u2019s \u201cAmbulance Blues\u201d sounds flatter through the iPhone with less treble refinement and compressed spatial qualities. The BTD 700 opens up the song\u2019s dimensionality and dials back upper-treble distortions. Yes, it\u2019s an extra dongle to remember, easy to misplace, and I worry about snapping it off the USB socket if I sit down wrong. But the improvement is there.<\/p>\n

The Samsung Z Fold 7, like all Android smartphones, comes pre-loaded with LDAC for Sony WH-1000XM series compatibility. The Samsung foldable also includes the original aptX codec: not aptX Adaptive or aptX Lossless, just regular aptX.<\/p>\n

You gotta be careful here! Don\u2019t believe the talk about aptX Adaptive being hi-res capable. It\u2019s a lossy codec that will play 24-bit\/96kHz streams, but not before compressing \u2019em to roughly one-fifth of their original size to fit down the Bluetooth pipe. That\u2019s fine for most situations, but listening to Boards of Canada through the Sennheiser HDB 630, there\u2019s just not enough audible daylight between Samsung\u2019s aptX and the BTD 700 dongle\u2019s aptX Adaptive to make me worry about leaving the dongle at home.<\/p>\n

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But wait. The Bowers & Wilkins PX8 S2 supports aptX Lossless, which promises CD-quality streaming over Bluetooth. And yet the Z Fold 7 doesn\u2019t support it. Neither does the iPhone 17 Pro (or any iPhone). So we\u2019re back to dongles for both smartphones if we want that theoretical best-case Bluetooth performance when streaming Cocteau Twins\u2019 Four-Calendar Caf\u00e9 in CD quality.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing: aptX Lossless isn\u2019t worth the squeeze over standard aptX for me if it means parking a dongle in your smartphone\u2019s USB socket. The sonic improvements are marginal at best \u2013 harder to hear than the jump from AAC to aptX Adaptive \u2013 and you\u2019re trading convenience for a tiny audible advantage. I\u2019d rather leave the dongle at home and accept standard aptX\u2019s very capable lossy compression. I don\u2019t see why Samsung didn\u2019t spring for aptX Lossless when Sony and Asus do.<\/p>\n

All this to say, Android\u2019s Bluetooth codec support is a hot mess of confusion, but even with the lossy compression complexities of Qualcomm\u2019s various aptX codecs, the Z Fold 7 has the edge over the iPhone 17 Pro for non-AirPod headphones. And we should always keep in mind that a headphone\u2019s hardware has a much greater impact on what we hear than any of these codec differences.<\/p>\n

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Wired headphones<\/p>\n

Neither the iPhone 17 Pro nor the Samsung Z Fold 7 has a headphone socket. You knew that already. For wired headphones, we need a dongle DAC. I\u2019ve been using the Campfire Audio Relay lately, though what follows applies to any USB DAC.<\/p>\n

And this is where the iPhone pulls ahead decisively. The iPhone 17 Pro, like all iPhones, sends audio bit-perfectly out of its USB-C socket. Play a 16-bit\/44.1kHz stream? It arrives at the DAC as 16-bit\/44.1kHz. Play a 24-bit\/96kHz file? Same deal \u2013 24-bit\/96kHz at the DAC. iOS doesn\u2019t mess with the digital audio stream.<\/p>\n

Android does mess with it. The Samsung resamples everything to 48kHz. That 24bit\/96kHz file becomes 24bit\/48kHz. Your carefully ripped CD collection at 16bit\/44.1kHz? Now it\u2019s 16-bit\/48kHz. How audible is this resampling? That\u2019s hotly debated in audiophile circles, but the purists detest it.<\/p>\n

The workaround involves apps that bypass Android\u2019s resampling algorithm. Roon ARC can talk directly to the dongle DAC once you activate its USB driver in the settings. Suddenly, you\u2019re getting bit-perfect playback on Android, plus options for crossfeed, volume levelling and headphone correction. But you shouldn\u2019t need third-party apps to achieve on Android what iOS does natively.<\/p>\n

If iOS developers can deliver bit-perfect audio, Android\u2019s could too \u2013 if they wanted to.<\/p>\n

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Control surfaces<\/p>\n

This is where things go a little off-piste. The iPhone 17 Pro offers the typical smartphone experience: portrait-oriented display, familiar navigation, nothing revolutionary. It works well.<\/p>\n

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is a different animal. Open it up and suddenly you\u2019re holding a mini-tablet. Most streaming apps take advantage of the extra screen real estate, and it\u2019s an utter joy to use. Roon, Plexamp, Apple Music \u2013 they all transform into magazine-like experiences. Album art becomes art again, not just postage-stamp-sized thumbnails.<\/p>\n

I use the fold-out screen far more than expected, even on the U-bahn. Yes, it makes me look like an audio wanker \u2013 big headphones, big smartphone, browsing Brian Eno B-sides. It\u2019s not like flipping through a crate of vinyl, but it is as satisfying as streaming control can be in 2025.<\/p>\n

And for this smartphone comparison, I didn\u2019t make a playlist to listen to. I made a playlist of songs pulled from albums with iconic album covers: Bowie\u2019s Low, Cocteau Twins\u2019 Four-Calendar Caf\u00e9, Boards of Canada\u2019s Music Has the Right to Children, Bj\u00f6rk\u2019s Vespertine, Eno\u2019s Another Green World\u00a0and Neil Young\u2019s On the Beach. Apple Music even animates the waves on that Neil Young cover \u2013 such a nice touch.<\/p>\n

Roon Remote needs work here, though. Switching between the Z Fold 7\u2019s open and closed modes demands a complete app restart. And Roon ARC\u2019s \u2018now playing\u2019 cover art display could be bigger too. This is one area in which Plexamp one-ups it. But I\u2019m sure Roon will have these issues licked soon enough. After all, they are now owned by Samsung.<\/p>\n

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Trade-off matrix<\/p>\n

After a month with both smartphones, I still can\u2019t pick a clear winner. The iPhone 17 Pro delivers clam-tight AirPod integration and bit-perfect USB audio output without any fuss, but it won\u2019t do anything but AAC with headphones from Sennheiser and Bowers & Wilkins. For someone deep in the Apple ecosystem with AirPods Pro and a dongle DAC collection, it\u2019s the obvious choice.<\/p>\n

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 counters with better-sounding Bluetooth codecs for non-Apple headphones and that absolutely glorious fold-out display for music browsing. Android\u2019s resampling is annoying, but, for all but hi-res fanatics, it is easy to ignore. And if you\u2019re worried about the Samsung hinge\u2019s fragility, I won\u2019t call you a boomer. Just go watch<\/a> JerryRigEverything stress-test it in ways you cannot imagine. It holds up fine.<\/p>\n

Essentially, both of these smartphones make compromises that shouldn\u2019t exist at this price point. Neither one is the perfect fit for every audiophile. You\u2019ll need to choose the compromise\/s you\u2019re best prepared to tolerate.<\/p>\n

And your final choice, should you have one, will largely depend on your existing gear. If you\u2019re an AirPods user who occasionally uses wired headphones, you want the iPhone 17 Pro. If you own Bluetooth headphones made by the likes of Sony, Bowers, Focal<\/a>, T+A<\/a>, Sennheiser or Mark Levinson<\/a> and you have a vinyl-collector\u2019s appreciation for album art, you\u2019ll probably want the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7.<\/p>\n

Want the best of both worlds? You\u2019ll need to buy both and feel slightly ridiculous about it, as I did. Not to mention excessive.<\/p>\n

The real answer might be to wait for a smartphone that does everything right. But knowing the smartphone industry\u2019s attitude toward audiophiles, we\u2019ll be waiting forever. We\u2019re still a vanishingly small niche of power users, and they know we\u2019ll buy their smartphones anyway.<\/p>\n

Further information: Apple<\/a> | Samsung<\/a><\/p>\n

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