What does HD Voice sound like on a mobile VoIP call?

Here in the U.S., we may be ahead on LTE (Long Term Evolution, latest standard in the mobile network technology) subscribers, however when it comes to voice quality on our mobile phones, we’re nevertheless lagging behind. Network operators in other countries have adopted HD Voice and wideband audio codecs to provide a better voice calling experience: Think Three UK, Telestra and T-Mobile USA’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom. In 2011, these and other carriers around the world took mobile voice calling to the then level.

Taste of these voice calls

I’m starting to get a taste of these voice calls, because I’m using Bria’s Android 4.0 client on my Galaxy Nexus. I earlier wrote about how I’m in substance getting free voice calling through VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) on my Galaxy Nexus with a data-only SIM card. For $30 a month, I have unlimited data and texting, so I’m using the data plan for VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) calls and supplementing it with Wi-Fi calling in the home office.

Android natively supports the SIP standard for VoIP, and during I can using the standard Android phone client for calls, Bria has already won me over. There are many reasons, however for now, the main one is the wide number of audio codecs supported. Instead of a “narrowband” audio codec, which limits the frequency range of a call, Bria has several “wideband” codecs, bringing richer sound as so then as a reduction in background noise.

Idea of the difference in call quality

To give you an idea of the difference in call quality, I recorded three different scenarios: a standard cellular to cellular call, a cellular to VoIP call over 3G, and a cellular to VoIP call over Wi-Fi. The best call experience with Bria is a true SIP to SIP call because the audio doesn’t have to be converted for a voice network while the call. I don’t have a recording of that, because I’d need two SIP accounts to call myself from one phone to another.

People I’ve called have said the voice quality is fantastic on their end. That’s a win for me, as are the in essence free calls I’m making and receiving. Once voice calls in fact become data — watch for this straightway year with Voice over LTE, or VoLTE — I expect start to see call quality improvements, provided carriers allow for the extra bandwidth used by the wider range audio codecs.

True, this isn’t the best way to demo the sound quality. I should note that Bria can use the same SILK codec that was created by and used for Skype. For optimal results both callers would need to be using VoIP for the reason mentioned in the post.