How Good is the iPhone’s Microphone?

The iPhone’s various apps have undergone a lot of scrutiny (for a while, I wrote about three articles a week on the amazing options of the app store), but the core components of the little computer/phone have been all but ignored. As an audio enthusiast, I was particularly amazed at the quality of the iPhone’s microphone, and on the forums, users tend to agree with me. I wondered, how good is the iPhone’s microphone? Does the iPhone microphone quality compare to, say, the quality of a studio mic?

I happened to have both around, and did a quick, unscientific test. Here’s my analyisis of the iPhone microphone quality.

Sensitivity – I plugged in a studio standard, the Shure SM57, set it beside my iPhone, and recorded myself strumming a guitar and speaking from several distances around a room. The idea was to see which mic would pick up more of my sound. Not surprisingly, the iPhone was a bit more directional, but surprisingly, both mics picked up sound at a decent cardioid pattern (a pattern that arcs out in a sort of circle in front of the mic, trailing off at the sides). The iPhone’s mic, primarily built to pick up telephone conversation, recorded sounds well across the room.

Tone – Listening back to the tracks, there was definitely less bass on the iPhone’s microphone. Again, not by much, but by a noticeable amount. The iPhone microphone quality took its first hit here, but it still picked up more bass than a cheap $20 mic I had laying around from a practice session. The higher range of frequencies seemed very well represented and easy to hear. I applied some digital equalization, just out of curiosity, and could make the iPhone microphone sound very similar to my SM57 (but again, not perfect).

Reproduction – The quality of the iPhone mic suffers a bit in that it’s meant for voice memos, and the sound it exports is not quite up to par with what’s capable from a better system. Still, the difference is hardly noticeable to the average ear, save for occasional bits of phasing that pop up. It’s a very good sounding, near-professional microphone of decent quality.

All in all, I don’t think it’s ridiculous to say that the iPhone’s microphone is on par with a $50-60 project studio dynamic microphone, which is certainly saying something–most cell phones record terribly. It’s also notable that the iPhone has a host of applications that allow for very versatile recording situations, so the quality of the mic is backed up with quality software. If you’re looking for a simple way to make decent (though not spectacular) field recordings, don’t overlook Apple’s flagship device. In the words of Han Solo, she may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts, kid.

What do you think if the iPhone’s microphone quality? Post in the comments section below.