Top 10 Best Android Music Smartphones 2011-2012

If there is one thing Android smartphones can do best, that would be playing music with great quality. Even ordinary Android devices are capable of delivering good quality audio with the help of some apps that serve as audio enhancers. However, there are certain Android Smartphones built and designed for music, thus they provide more quality that couldn’t be found in any other phones in their category. So, for music lovers out there, here are 10 of the Best Android Music Smartphones released since 2011 to 2012.
1. HTC Sensation XL. This is a music-oriented Android phone from HTC and it is also known as HTC Rezound. While communication is still the main purpose why this device was built, HTC added more element to it so as to offer superb and one of a kind music experience for the owners. It was released in November 2011 and since then it attracted good feedback and reviews from mere users as well as tech enthusiasts and Android lovers.

It runs on Qualcomm’s MSM8255 single-core Scorpion system on chip (SoC) clocked at 1.5GHz. Its surround system is extraordinary which you can really appreciate either you’re listening through its loudspeaker or its specialized headphones. And you should know that HTC didn’t call it ‘Sensation XL’ for nothing. Basically, the musical sensation you’ll feel while listening to its audio is so soothing that you’ll always feel wanting to listen and to never stop.
2. Motorola DROID RAZR. When we hear of Droid line of phones from Motorola, it is inevitable to think that it is built and designed to showcase power and style. Well, that is definitely true and it is evident with the specs and design of the phone. However, there is one thing we often overlook, the audio. Motorola Droid Razr has higher audio quality output than we ever thought of the device. In fact, music is one of the inspirations of the engineer who designed it so there is no way it would provide you a second-grade music experience.

Motorola Droid Razr offers better virtual surround sound with a mind-blowing 3D stereo audio quality. You can easily notice how heavy the bass is when you’re listening music with the headphones on. The surround sound system gives out 5.1 channels that gives you better audio effects than what other smart phones in the same category can provide. But the quality of the audio is not only limited with music, you can experience the same when you’re watching movies or talking with someone on the line.
3. HTC Desire HD. It was scheduled for release in November 2010 but it actually reached the US, UK and Europe in the first quarter of 2011 so I consider putting it on this list. Besides, there are still millions of units available worldwide of this handset. Apparently, HTC was after the music-loving audience when it built this handset. The name itself connotes that it is up for providing better and higher surround sound quality and you could never be disappointed with HTC Desire HD as far as music and audio are concerned.

HTC Desire HD was adorned with Dolby Mobile and SRS sound enhancement system that would blow your mind away when you hear how good the audio is either you are using headphones or simply listening to the loudspeaker. Superb sound quality natively reside in this device and with the help of other Android apps that also serve as audio enhancer, you couldn’t just stop listening. This device sports Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon clocked at 1GHz so it is also as powerful as it sounds.
4. LG DoublePlay. Released in October 2011, this Gingerbread operated Android Smartphone was also built for music lovers. While it only offers Hi-Fidelity (Hi-Fi) 2.0 Stereo, the quality of its audio as well as the bass boost provide quality that you could easily differentiate from audios of other devices. We often think that 2.0 stereo sound system is dated because mostly all of electronic devices built for music make use of higher channel rating. However, if a company could harness the real beauty of 2.0 stereo, people would be able to appreciate it and that’s what happened in this phone.

LG DoublePlay operates on Android 2.3 Gingerbread while running on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S2 MSM8255 SoC. It surely not built to compete with other powerful devices available in the market today but it offers something others failed to do–simple and good music. So, it’s something music-lovers want to try just for the sake of having good musical experience.
5. Sharp Aquos SH8298U. Now, this is an Android smart phone with a sharp distinction when it comes to better audio output. This is actually one of the very few Android phones released by Sharp to date. This handset was released in September of 2011 and was targeting the 3D-loving market. I could say it was not really built for music but its good audio was the effect 3D features stuffing.

Sharp Aquos SH8298U was given a stereoscopic (glass-free 3D) display and camera. But what can you do with these features if the sound is second-grade? That’s why Sharp also added 3D audio feature for this device. Eventually, both the recording and playback has really good quality and it is very noticeable even for the people who are not really keen to music. In truth, this device was given positive reviews because of its audio. It’s not clear whether Sharp has forgotten to include audio in the list of features for this device but it seems like it is one of the Android smartphones that has the sharpest audio with superb quality weight.
6. Huawei U8650 Sonic. Huawei has always been struggling to be able to acquire its space in the Android market and eventually gain a bigger chunk in revenue generation. That is the reason why it never stops releasing device to have bigger following and acquire more customer. Huawei released devices for almost every genre available in the market today and one of which is the music. Huawei U8650 Sonic was release to attract music-loving smart phone users and while we don’t know what this device performed in terms of sales, Huawei did a good job in putting everything needed in this device.

Only a few have known that Huawei U8650 Sonic comes with 5.1 surround sound system that if you will connect it to a home theater or a bigger sound system, its real audio quality is noticeable. Of course, using headphone for this device would also provide the same quality of sound. It operates on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and is upgradeable to Ice Cream Sandwich.
7. Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman. While many people think Ericsson is the one pulling Sony down to producing topnotch devices, their partnership actually produced something good and one of the devices Sony Ericsson released was Live with Walkman, a Gingerbread-operated smartphone designed specifically for music-lovers. It boasts of the Sony xLOUD audio enhancement system that apparently made its audio quality beyond what everybody expected. It supports and plays almost all types of music and video files including 3GPP and MP4 file extensions. It also features TrackID music recognition and FM Radio with RDS.

It makes use of Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon single-core Scorpion SoC clocked at 1GHz. Basically, it was built not just for music but for entertainment as it is also capable of HD recording and playback, 3D gaming and 3D Sweep Panorama. As far as music and entertainment is concerned, this could be the device that would best suit your needs. It’s been release in October 2011 and still doing great in the global market.
8. LG Connect 4G MS840. So aside from offering the fastest internet connection to date, this device also offers one of the best audio ever heard in the world of smart phones. LG Connect 4G is apparently built to offer 4G connectivity to its owners but what most people don’t know is that this handset was also built and designed to target music-loving communities and geeks. It sports a dual-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz while operates on Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Released in January 2012, this handset features Dolby Digital surround sound system and pre-loaded with Rhapsody Unlimited Music Service, although these features couldn’t easily be noticed because most of the times people set their focus on the specs and capabilities of this device as far as connectivity is concerned. But feedbacks and reviews point to its audio as one of the best features this device could ever get.
9. Motorola MOTOSMART MIX XT550. This was recently announced by Motorola to be released in the Chinese market this month. And while it hasn’t been released yet, it has the right to be included in this list simply because Motorola designed this device for music and entertainment. Speaking of which, Motosmart Mix XT550 comes with Dolby Mobile and SRS sound enhancement system that ensure better and competitive audio quality despite having mediocre specs. This phone will come with just 800MHz processor and run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. These are enough to turn you off but when you look into it a little closer, you will understand that it doesn’t really need powerful specs to deliver the best sound a human ear could ever hear.

There’s no information available whether Motorola would bring and distribute this device outside the Chinese market. I guess, the company would have to see how this performs and decide whether to release it to other countries. Nonetheless, it’s something we could always look for. Also, it comes with its specialized headset which also enhances both audio recording and playback.
10. Samsung Galaxy S3. The last but simply not the least is Samsung’s newest flagship–Samsung Galaxy S3. On the list of the features, its audio hasn’t been included but everybody knows this kind of device also comes with better audio system. If you are Samsung and you have put all the best stuff in your device and even built a powerful CPU exclusive for it, would you compromise one aspect of its quality by not putting a good audio system in it?

Samsung Galaxy S3 has the most powerful processor in the world of Android today and it comes with tons of unique and great features including high-definition display and intelligent command execution. We are almost certain its audio would also be better than we expect. I speculate that Samsung should have put some Dolby technology in it or if not a technology that allows it to produce high quality sound for music and entertainment.
So, there you have ten of the music-oriented Android Smarphones available in the market today, although the last two devices are yet to be released this month. There could be other devices designed for music out there but these devices I’ve mentioned here have received good feedbacks as far as audio output is concerned.