Best Cell Phone For Music - 2017

By Matt Staker. Last updated Feb 15, 2017.

The ReviewGist pick for the best cell phone for music lovers for early 2017 is the HTC One M9. The HTC One M9 comes with front facing stereo speakers for a great surround sound experience, has been tested to have one of the highest volume levels in around a hundred odd cell phones we researched, and has won acclaim from all cell phone experts vis-a-vis its speaker sound quality.

The HTC One M9 is a luxurious feeling flagship Android phone released by HTC mid of 2015. The HTC One M9 follows on its predecessors, the M7 and M8, to deliver a very compelling package put together in a premium and compact build. The display is around 5 inch, which is just the right size for my taste but may not work for everyone. The processor is the beefy Snapdragon 810 ably supported by a 3GB RAM and the latest Android OS. Real world performance is pretty smooth all around.

The two places where the M9 falters is the camera and the battery Life. Even though the 20MP camera is pretty good as far as megapixels go, reviewers have more or less given the camera a thumbs down. There are consistent reports of washed down colors and poor low light performance. The battery life is rated at a low-to-moderate 2840 mAh, but again real world reports leave the M9 gasping for battery juice a tad too quickly.

If you are not too bothered by the camera and the battery life then the One M9 is the best smartphone right now for playing music. The One M9 has a GSMArena Loudness score of 64dB which puts it in the top end of the loudest smartphones in the market. All this sound power is delivered through the front facing stereo speakers for the best surround sound experience that you can get for the money.

The reviews are pretty unequivocal on the sound clarity and music prowess of the M9, which rightfully makes it our top recommendation for a music phone for 2017:

 Brilliant sounding speakers.

 Best speakers you can find on a phone.

   There are two speakers on the front (already exceeding the norm), which deliver relatively powerful sound, a clear vocal range and no distortion.

2. Runner up pick for purists wanting an Android phone with a great music player

Our runner up choice for the best cellphone for music lover is the Motorola Nexus 6. The Nexus 6 is again the Android flagship for Motorola and comes with a clean Android build appreciated by the purists. Its speaker capabilities have been duly noted by most reviewers:

 Dual front-firing speakers have a potent punch.

 Fantastic speaker sound.

 Clear stereo speakers.

3. Budget phone with best music player

The third place in our best music phone rankings go to the HTC Desire Eye. Now the only reason the Eye has come in the third place is because it is a relatively older model, having being launched in late 2014. That being said, you might just get a great deal on Amazon at a sub-$300 price point making it the best music phone you can buy at a budget.

The HTC Desire Eye also stands out as the only one sporting built-in amplifiers along with the stereo speakers and has been widely acclaimed for its BoomSound speakers:

 The audio-reproducing capabilities of the HTC Desire EYE are top-notch – the BoomSound speakers at the front produce pretty deep and loud sounds, with no perceptible audio distortion even at maximum volume.

 I was able to cook in my kitchen and comfortably hear a podcast over the sound of my shopping.

4. HTC BoomSound Flagship with the best music player

The HTC 10 is a great music phone. It comes with HTC's Boomsound stereo speakers whose performance has been certified by one and all. The only reason HTC 10 did not make it to our recommendations for the best music phone is because its loudness levels are rated a tad bit lower than our cutoff (64 dB) at 62 dB. That being said, if you don't like your music too loud then the HTC 10 just might be the best music player phone out there.

 The overall sound quality of the HTC 10 is very impressive, with a good audio reproduction throughout the sound frequencies.

 The takeaway message here is that BoomSound is still BoomSound and the HTC 10 is one of the best sounding handsets around.

 Boomsound not great.

5. Latest cell phone which is best for playing music

The new kid on the block for our rankings for the best music phone is the Apple iPhone 7. The Apple iPhone 7 is the first iPhone which comes with a set of stereo speakers and being an 'Apple' is expected to give top-of-the-line music performance.

However, at this time the reviews are still coming in, and from what we have seen the verdict is still out there on whether it is a top candidate for the best music phone. It does score a healthy 73dB on the GSMArena loudness scores and there are some good reviews coming in on the sound clarity. However, ITPro did not find the iPhone 7 to be inferior to the HTC 10 when it comes to playing music:

 The tone is also good, offering pleasingly chunky midranges, although the bass can't compete with Android rivals like the HTC Ten and its BoomSound speakers.

 The earpiece now doubles as a speaker, so you get surprisingly decent stereo sound out of the phone itself.

6. Budget Android Phone with a great music player

The sixth position for our choice of the best cellphone for playing music is the Sony Xperia Z3. The Sony Xperia Z3 launched around 2 years back with flagship specs - though with the 20 Megapixel camera, 3 GB RAM and a great display, it is still a very good cellphone for doing whatever you might want to throw at it. The Z3 is currently retailing on Amazon at $300 a pop making it a very good budget Android phone to buy with a great music player.

The music capabilities of the Z3 are on point: it supports a 66dB loudness score, sports a stereo speaker system and has been widely recommended for its music performance.The experts at Wired though have given a thumbs down for the Z3's music performance:

 Great front facing speakers

 The twin front-firing speakers were quite powerful and rich - distortion was minimal at high volumes and subtle details actually did come through.

 Music sounds distorted and unbalanced, and things can be grating at full volume.

7. Budget Android Phablet best for playing music and movies

The 7th position for our pick of the best phone with music player is the Lenovo K4 Note. The K4 Note is phablet-sized at 5.5 inches and has been launched by Lenovo as a budget offering. The budget tag aside, the K4 note ticks off most of the feature set pretty well: great screen, usable fingerprint sensor, good performance and a dual stereo speaker setup for a great music experience.

The K4 note also has a very respectable loudness score of 66dB and has atleast one reviewer comment on its music capabilities:

 Sound output from the phone is particularly good, thanks to the dual stereo speakers in front.

The K4 note is retailing on Amazon at around $250 and is the ReviewGist pick for the best budget Android phablet for playing music and watching movies.