So I’ve been messing around with a few phones lately, a nexus 6p, a pixel 3a xl, and a s21 ultra, and I’ve noticed that on the 6p and 3a xl both sound louder, punchier, and clearer when compared to the s21 ultra. They also both have that thicc notch design with a massive speakerphone which might add to the high volume levels.
I haven’t. If anything they keep sounding better. The only phone of the past I remember that didn’t sound like garbage was a Sony Ericsson that was designed as a media player first with a phone shoehorned into it. When I actually turn my pixel 8 to the side for a video, it sounds as good as my headphones with noise cancellation off. Though I also have all the adaptive sound shaping stuff on and setup the equalizer. It might not sound as good with all that shit turned off (which is the default).