Smartphone vs. Real Meters for Sound and Light Measurement?
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Are there inexpensive alternatives to light and sound meters? How about a multimeter that will measure both lux and decibels? Or what about your smartphone? In this video, I will test if they are any good...
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#Smartphone #Multimeter #LightAndSound
yes please make one one for the magnetic sensor
In my country, argentina, I had seen some "qualified" technicians evaluate MRI installations only with the magnetic sensor on the phone hahaha
Yes
@@MrManatres joderme, me imagino que no de dalde
@@MrManatres lol
@@franciscoj.a.5294 no me acuerdo el nombre del señor, pero son de radiofisica los que van a evaluar que las lineas de gauss no lleguen a las salas de espera en las clinicas o sectores asi
I find these side-by-side comparisons you do very helpful- the results are so surprising! Thank you for doing them, and I'd love to see more
Glad you like it. Guess there is some consumer information value for videos like this. Will have to try the magnetic sensors too :)
The trouble with dB meter apps I tried is that by default they all show different levels.
I already had the app shown in the video before and was considering it as one of the most accurate (with no calibration).
Probably despite the limited functionality the MM sound meter function might still be more reliable than apps which rely on internal hardware (fine if you have top smartphones, far less if you have 2nd and 3rd tier devices).
@@brainiac75 what app is this? Im not sure if it was mentioned and i missed it. I want to roughly measure the brightness of a flashlight i have but have nothing to measure with. It doesnt make sense for me to guy a meter for this one off thing
It should be noted however that the smartphone will do horribly with certain sounds. It's hard to describe accurately because i'm not entirely sure what frequencies this is happening at. I have never been able to catch it when carrying a proper sound meter. Quite annoying as it's quite common to run into these sounds at random times.
If anyone has more details on these "difficult to record sounds" I would like to learn more about them.
my subwoofer dual 18inch plays at of the level of 138db ngl@@brainiac75
I would love to see the smartphone compared to a real gaussmeter! That would be awesome!
Right???
uhh technically they have one in them because of the digital compass
@@jennalove6755 Yes
LOL! I was just thinking that! I have a 5% Gauss meter (the price difference for a 1% Gauss meter just isn't justifiable for hobbyists like me - they're crazy expensive) so I may just give it a shot & try. And God knows I have enough magnets! I spend way too much money on them. :D
@@Ryan_Smyth have you tried it?
In my Physics lessons, I occasionally use the phyphox app, which lets you capture the raw output of all the phone's sensors. It's quite amazing how accurate they can be, and definitely enough for schoolwork! I've had good experiences with the magnet sensors as well.
+1 for phyphox!
phyphox FTW!
I always pull out that app when I’m in a tall elevator:p
+1 for phyphox! Check how the pressure changes by just moving the phone a few meters up or down. Or use the pressure sensor on an airplane to detect when the toilet is flushed.
The accelerometer or noise spectrum analyzer can tell you the frequency of vibrations in your 3d printer. Great app.
As a live audio engineer, having a spectrum analysis and SPL on your phone if you don't have anything else has seriously saved my butt a couple of times
Would be interesting to see older phone models in similar tests if possible, not just current gen ones.
Will consider it. I have access to an S10+ and iPhone 7 too.
@@brainiac75 Do you prefer iPhone, Samsung, or Pixel?
And a modern but very cheap phone would also be fun to throw into the test
@@brainiac75 Yes, very good idea. I don't think a test with 10 years old phones would matter. Most people have there phone no longer than 2-4 years.
@@rebane2001 Absolutely!
I'd love to see the sound meters tested at different volume levels. The main issue I found testing different Apps is they vary a lot above around 90dB. Generally the only time I open a sound meter App is when I'm at a loud venue, etc.
@@scorpioassmodeusgtx1811 Nothing beats a dedicated microphone.
Really interesting, i have wondered about the sensitivity of smartphone sound apps, especially as a sound level meter and where they max out, at concerts etc. A magnetic flux test would be good to see too.
I really appreciate this one. I've been using the sensor capabilities of my smartphone lately and was wondering just how meaningful the output was.
I've always loved testing the sensors in my phone and have wondered how accurate they really are. This video was great to see and I would definitely like to see a video on the magnetic sensor
The suite of sensor on some smartphones are absolutely amazing. I used to use the barometer on my old Galaxy S5 to help me troubleshoot Aircraft Cabin pressurization issues since the phone would often have a greater degree of accuracy than some older pure analog and pneumatic based pressurization systems.
This is a brilliant video!! Thanks for comparing. For anyone looking for the apps used in the video:
Lux Light Meter Photometer Pro
Decibel X - Pro Sound Meter
(Can't share Play Store links since the comments get auto-deleted)
Thank you bro!! I was really searching for a comment like this. I literally searched "app" in the finder of the browser lol
The phone was closer than I expected. I have the same app on my phone to play around with. Going to an incredibly loud concert tomorrow so it'll be fun to see roughly how loud it really is
What is the name of the app?
@@simonmikkelsen DecibelX
I was working in a laboratory with sound-measuring equipment (SQuadriga 4) and I did a comparison of one of these sound-measuring apps back then too. And I was really surprised by how close the measurements of the phone were to it.
Of course we would like a video that checks out its magnetic capabilities, would be awesome! Also, I'm curious if your chemical element collection has grown so that you could make another attraction/repelling video? Really liked that series too. Best wishes for 2023!
Yes I do wonder how good is the magnetometer on a cell phone and can only expect a detailed vedio from you............btw love watching your vedios ❤
Thanks - will need to find the limits of that sensor ;) More to come in 2023!
@@brainiac75 Yay!
@@brainiac75 excited
I do know that the pressure meter in a Samsung Galaxy is surprisingly sensitive, and the sensor menu is awesome. It can measure altitude changes of less than one meter based on atmospheric pressure, for instance, less than one pascal.
You would not believe it but I was literally thinking about this a few hours ago! I got new headphones and know they're good to 106db (but obviously my ears aren't) and questioned if my phone would even be accurate enough to read that high reliably. Fantastic time to drop this video!
EDIT: Just finished the video! I am absolutely astounded by the results, I cannot believe that the *very* multi-purpose smartphone held some level of competency in metering. Obviously I wouldn't trust my hearing or headphones with it, but the fact the range is so broad and remarkably accurate does give me confidence in knowing that I was actually being rather "scientific" in my methods where I relied on a specific Hz (tuning belts on a 3D printer) to get correct tension.
This is a really valuable video!
Thank you for this comparison video. I wonder if it would be possible to "calibrate" some of these functions? If a smartphone app had an option for calibration and you had access to a high quality instrument to use as a calibration standard, that would be awesome!
Please make a video for the magnetometer :)
The amount of respect i have for your work for simply putting safety warnings in your videos is ridiculous. Good work friend
I'm pretty lazy when I comes to writing comments, but wow, this really shocked me. A dedicated multimeter was actually beaten - in some categories - by a smartphone! Truly incredible.
Great job my guy, I really learned a lot from you!
There is nothing "dedicated" about a multimeter measuring light or sound...
I regularly watch a guy who repairs all kinds of old computery stuff, sometimes CRT monitors and TVs and he uses an app to determine if the CRT is working by looking at a spectrum analizer on his phone. If the TV/monitor doesn't show a picture but the main circuit is working, he can see a peak in the monitor's/TV's operational frequency on his app, very interesting stuff.
Very interesting topic!
Glad you like it! I am still surprised by the end result...
Indeed!
I had read about the accuracy of the light sensors in phones before when researching indoor gardening light measurements, and the tests I saw agreed with these results, for most uses the phone is just fine (with white light).
I also learned how the proximity sensor worked!
Not surprised, I expected the smartphone to do as good as the dedicated meters, within 1% at least. Because smartphones are basically everywhere, that means also in the hands of people with calibrated tools. And over the years a lot of apps got calibrated with those dedicated meters for a lot of phones.
Most sensors are digital and probably factory calibrated to some extent.
But any smartphone lacks a dedicated high quality microphone, and that means they´re useless measuring really loud volumes. 80 dB, or maybe 90, they can do. Above that, no...
@@mindtraveller100 True! Apps use to tell you that, but now that most apps are created for advertising money I'm guessing they don't do that anymore 😏
@@audiogek I tried 5 or 6 apps before, all of them only measuring up to around 80 dB. Recently i bought a cheap, and i really mean cheap, spl measuring tool. It reached 118 dB when i placed it a few inches from my studio speakers. And the price? 12 euros (around 12 dollars). Downside, only measures dBA not dBC, so no bass measuring. But for the price, i can´t complain, better than any app...
From a quick google search, the TMD4912 light/proximity sensor manufactured by AMS seems to be an infrared based sensor and it's primary function is indeed to be a proximity sensor. It just so happens to be an optical light sensor specialized in sensing infrared light. Interesting to see the sensor choice by Samsung now knowing that it is indeed made to be used for both purposes.
Multimeter is calibrated for use in handheld position, and directing the microphone to speaker may have boosted the response as it may be designed/calibrated to sound coming from top side.
Hi Brian, merry Christmas and a happy new year~ :)
I really like your videos! thanks for making them
Hi tjop. Same to you - hoping for a great 2023!
@@brainiac75 Thanks bro :)
Very cool video. Neat to see the smart phone do that well for light. And that makes sense that is might purposefully be extra sensitive to infrared.
To be honest… it makes sense that “ a free app from the phone” does such a good job, at least as a sound meter, since the phone has some good microphones that needs to make us sound as good as we can when speaking trough them, so an app just take the raw info from the mic and give it to us on a slick UI, what surprise me is that the proccessors on the phones can tell the frequencies of the sounds that are playing
Very well done, technically sound and you also do a great job breaking it down into terms that are easy to understand.
I'm quite surprised with how well the phone did.
I'd definitely like to see you test the magnetic sensor and other sensors (compass, gyroscope, g-sensor, ...) on your smartphone.
This is probably valuable information for people that like to build their own lights for aquariums, terrariums, indoor plant growth, etc. Lights marketed for any of these specific applications tend to be more expensive.
Measurements for those applications cannot be made in Lux. That's because Lumens and Lux are weighted measurements that only apply to human vision.
I just figured out that I subscribed 620 days ago😃
Again, another amazing video. I really love these side by side comparison videos. Love your videos!
Excellent video - I really appreciate you taking the time to do these type of tests. It's really useful to see if apps are worth using
Try the Photone app which uses the camera and a piece of paper to diffuse the light coming in
At the start, I was thinking there is another meter to add to my collection. (Anyway, I couldn't find it for sale here in the UK). Your results have put me off getting one anyway - thank you👍
Let's see if the smartphone truly is *the* ultimate portable digital multitool that can do so much more and see if that magnetic sensor really is good. If it's good enough for the built-in compass app, it could be useful for amateur work.
Keep it up, Brian! And here's to a much brighter 2023!
One thing to say, usually the expensive ones are accurate and don't drift much, and when they drift, some offer a life-time warranty for calibration.
Nice video! Although I do believe you could have mentioned that the readings you obtained are accurate but only for your specific smartphone model (and maybe even unit!) and app used, as there can be great variance between smartphones and even the app used for the SPL reading, for example my phone shows about 10dB below my SPL meter at 1khz using the same app and same weighting, and as well as this the frequency response of the phones microphone is likely not flat, and therefore it wont measure all of the frequencies accurately.
Oh and also, if you do want to perform this test on more phones, I have heard that the NIOSH app for iPhones is relatively "accurate", and ive checked my iphone 6s plus against my SPL meter and it was within a few decibels.
You can get cellphones / tablets that have RGB-IR light meters in them -- I've worked on designing some of them. They are calibrated at the factory with light sources (at least, the products I worked on). The use of an RGB light sensor was to change display color temperature -- eg, it would be cool blue under flourescent lights, and warm under incandescent.
Thanks for the video, this is quite interesting. Do add more discussion and videos on other sensors available in cellular phones.
Now I want a 50w RGB. And I’m not surprised by audio meter in the phone. I played with the capability after using a guitar app, it really is impressive and accurate. I’ve also found aircraft interiors to limit sound to safe levels
interesting. It's like seeing the world from a new perspective, isn't it?
Hi Brianiac75. How did you find the light sensor service menu? I can't find it on my samsung service menu, only accelerometer and megnetometer for example. Thanks.
Midway, I want to say, kudos for giving excellent music credits. Thanks!
The main issue with the smartphones is that you never really know if your model is as good as another with any particular app. You'd have to test it against a reference meter for everything before you can trust it at all.
Of course cheap dedicated tools can also have their issues. For example I have a lux meter that gives me pretty high readings when I shine some 400nm light on it - because the plastic in front of the sensor fluoresces and changes the color.
Big yes for the magnetic test with the smartphone !!!!!
Yes please! Would be interesting to test the other smartphone sensors!
Oh wow! Didn't see that coming (no pun intended) 😄
And yes, please do a vid on the phone magnetic sensor readings.
Happy New Year!
I used the decibelX app at an airshow for a eurofighter typhoon, it gave a max reading of only around 110 decibels while the actual volume was definitely in the 130-140db range. I would think phones start to struggle when the sound gets really loud, but I can't confirm that as I only have that single test.
Considering that 110 decibels it's permanent damage zone at least its doing their job...
Yes! I'd love to see a video covering the magnetic sensor
Yes please make a video for the magnetic sensor on the phone!
Yes make a video about the Magnet sensor of your smartphone.
Would be a very... interesting video!
Now I want a comparison between different smartphones.
I hope you have a great new year with many more interesting discoveries!
6:30 even if the pun was not intended, I laughed 🤣
Awesome! I was looking for a decent soudmeter on my tablet. I've tested several but they show very different values and what's more they detect the rise of a sound but if the sound continues, the measure drops down ... Decibel X does not. One question, how can I be sure that the calibration is correct as yours on your phone ? Is it guaranteed because the app is the same or it can depend on the phone ?
The thing with the db meter apps is that popular phones often get their own calibration profile making them fairly accurate, while less popular phones are often waaaaaay of, making them completely useless, also dedicated db meters often do way better at very loud sounds like 110+ db because the phone mic will clip
Good video! Yes, I’d definitely like to see how good the magnetic field sensor is! (It’s probably only good for very low gauss levels though, as it’s only there to act as a compass :-/)
Yes, it will be very interesting to see what the magnetism meter is like.
I always thought that apps where way off. I guess not. Great video as always!
I use "Physics Toolbox Sensor Suite Pro" to access my phone's sensors. There's a free version that I upgraded from because I liked the app so much. Both versions include access to the camera and microphones, proximity sensor and light meter, accelerometer and gravitometer, and the magnetic sensor. I'd love to see all the phone's sensors put against dedicated devices!
yes make the gaussmeter phone video ive always been surprised with the sensors in phones!
samsungs older phones used to have heart rate monitors built in (mine does)
I appreciate you sharing this rigorous experiment. God bless you.
Yes! Please make a video about the magnetic sensor.
Great scientific breakdown & comparative analysis. Thank you!!!
Now watch the downloads for Decibel X and Photometer Pro skyrocket, great publicity for those apps! But I would also like to see a comparison for the magnetic sensor.
Truee!!!
Thanks bro fir this professional video all informations I need are there and more, you are the best 💖👌👌
Smart phone apps though have the big downside of having to rely on whatever sensors the manufacturer decided to put into the device. So it could vary a lot.
However, I am not the slightest bit surprised over the spectrum being fairly spot on. The frequency references a phone has access to is fairly decent. Very few quartz oscillators are worse than 0.01% absolute accuracy. However, having access to time things from this oscillator isn't always available, but the audio chip itself will deliver its samples using that oscillator as its own reference. So one can be very certain that if the ADC provides 44800 samples/second that it will be fairly accurate.
But exact audio amplitude will depend on a lot of things. Both the manufacturing tolerances of the microphone, amplifier, and ADC. So it could vary a lot. Especially since absolute amplitude isn't particularly important in audio applications regardless. (as long as it is nice and linear it doesn't matter if it has a different amount of amplification.) So I am surprised about the amplitude accuracy. But perhaps they factory calibrate this, otherwise I would expect a 2-10% accuracy there alone, perhaps your phone is just above average.
The magnetic sensor part could be interesting to look at.
But regardless. I personally prefer using dedicated measurement tools. Both because they are often more adapted to the job, but also because they can be more trusted. (especially as far as traceable calibration goes.)
Smart phones really are getting smart. Great video 2x👍
Yeah, they sure are getting expensive too. But maybe I understand the price a little better after making this video. They are packed with sensors of decent quality :) Thanks for the early watch!
Good video!
Thanks! More to come next year :)
Smartphone light meter apps are a mainstay in analog photography. I once asked if they were accurate and the response was, "A lot better than the light meter in your 50-year-old camera." Which is fair.
Great comparison
3:15 Something seams wrong with the leftmost meter, it is 10x lower than the other.
Is it set in the wrong mode or something (like measuring "deci lux" or something strange like that (deci = 10))?
The middle meter, I can't know if it says 1,06 lx or 106 lx?
Or do they ACTUALLY measure that much differently in red light?
Thank you for doing this.
i find your exploration of this topic pertinent.
I would love you to test other smart phone tests. 💚
2:33 That's pretty interesting, on my phone (which is a Galaxy S8) it has both the light sensor and the proximity sensor separately. I also wonder if the light sensor being under the screen in the Galaxy S21+ affects the light readings a little bit, on my S8 it's on the top bezel.
Good video.
...What was the sound measure app used?
For anyone else wondering how to get to the "service menu" at 2:22 that one is specific to most S* samsung phones. It can be access by typing in *#0*# in the dialer (no need to actually press call, no need for a separate app).
from \my understanding, luminosity of lux were calculated by distance of the light and the front camera of the phone might be focus closer (focal length) to the light source then the light meter that you were using
These big companies aren't going to like you haha. Great video and very informative. This is really handy to know. Thanks for sharing
Thanks 👍
Yes there should be an IR LED near the lux sensor as that's how the proximity sensor works, by reading how much reflected IR there, at least that's how it should work. There are other kinds but that's the IR lux meter one, common on smart phones.
9:03 I can hear something happening here. It's very high pitched, but it's there. This is the reason I hated being around any CRT screens.
Great comparison !
I took a family member for an MRI. I entertained myself the entire time I was waiting by exploring the field of the 5T magnet, that was about 20' away in another room, with my smartphone.
I've tried some 'metal detector' apps and found them not useful. Magnetometers are used for underground locating but they are arranged in such a way as to cancel the ambient magnetic field thus detecting tiny anomalies. The phone of course is designed to measure the ambient magnetic field.
Yes please test the magnetic sensor ,also try to see if you can use a smartphone as a metal detector . I know you can find wires and pipes in walls but curios how it compares to the real deal
which app did you use in the video? curious how well smartphones are at measuring low-frequency noise
I'd love if you made a video about turning a LUX meter into PAR meter. There were some projects online, and I'd be great help for hobbyists, since PAR meters are expensive af.
What's the name of the decibel meter smartphone app?
Decibel X
Untrained listeners usually do need a 3dB difference to notice a change in sound level. But trained and practiced listeners can often discern small fractions of a decibel differences under good conditions.
Only if they use a $20,000 filtered mains power cable on their test setup.
@@johncoops6897 Ha! No, no audiophile quackery needed. Just a long time of listening experience and decent hearing. I am 58, can only hear to 13,000 Hz, and yet I can tell fractional dB changes in volume when mixing music over small full-range speakers that cost only about $100.
Wow yes! Please do a magnetism smartphone VS Gauss meter
Audio perception is very fascinating. At the threshold of hearing the distance the eardrum moves about 1 picometer, 100 times smaller than a hydrogen atom.
Which opens the question, are quantum effects involved in hearing?
That's very interesting, never knew a smartphone could be that accurate
I have to say i am really surprised
Amazing video thank you very much.
You know, now that i think about it, this does make sense. A good smartphone is still at its core, a device *intended* for high fidelity, high accuracy, capture of audio.
I expected to test not only different specters but also different amplitudes
Please do the gauss sensor. I found this video very useful.
The a and c weightin I remember measures with mores sensitivity frequencies from 500Hz to 5000Hz. May be this is why you have very different measurements with extreme frequencies.