I’ve had my Google Pixel 9 Pro XL for well over a year, and I’ve always found the speakerphone to be a bit of a mixed bag.
While it sounds great when I’m streaming videos and music, there are times when its power feels lacking or a bit muffled. This issue becomes glaringly obvious during voice calls on speakerphone, too.
Although it wasn’t quite enough to make me loathe the phone, it took me months to discover a hidden native feature that fixes my frustrations.
It involves an old feature called Adaptive Sound, which originally debuted alongside the Pixel 4a and Pixel 5.
For some reason, Google disables it on Pixels by default, though I’m not entirely sure if that was the case with the previous generation.
I’ve been running it on my daily driver for some time now to see if it’s genuinely helpful.
I wanted to find out if it could truly replace third-party equalizer apps for automatic adjustments and sound boosting, and whether you should bother turning it on.
I stopped relying on third-party equalizer apps
Pixels have a hidden smart sound booster
I used to rely on third-party equalizer apps on my older devices, but that was back when phone speakers were universally abysmal.
On my most recent Android phones, I’ve strictly stuck to native audio settings, especially with the built-in speakers.
I also despise dealing with shady privacy practices and granting intrusive permissions to random third-party apps.
Plus, I always worry that letting an app constantly access background processes will do more harm to my phone’s battery life than it does good.
However, on my Pixel 9 Pro XL, I still felt the speaker performance wasn’t delivering adequate clarity, especially during hands-free calls.
So, that’s when I searched for a fix to this, and luckily, it was just sitting right in front of me the whole time.
What’s Adaptive Sound?
And why it matters
Google introduced Adaptive Sound in late 2020 on the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a. The feature later trickled down to newer Pixel models.
Essentially, it aims to enhance sound clarity in Pixels’ speakers by automatically adjusting the equalizer.
It works by using the Pixel’s microphones to listen to and analyze your physical surroundings.
Using ambient data, such as background noise and room echo, it dynamically creates an acoustic profile of the space.
It then automatically tweaks the speaker’s power and equalizer settings on the fly based on your current environment.
The best part is that it works dynamically, meaning it will automatically shift profiles when I move from room to room.
For example, it boosts the high frequencies and mids when I’m playing audio in open spaces like the living room or backyard.
Conversely, it tames the bass in enclosed spaces to prevent unpleasant reverberation.
While this toggle only affects the phone’s built-in speakers, Google has implemented a separate version for its earbuds.
The feature behaves similarly to the connected Pixel Buds, though that iteration focuses more on automated volume adjustments than on explicitly tweaking the EQ.
Adaptive Sound balances sound
It’s not all about the loudness
While I’d argue that almost any Pixel user will notice the acoustic difference – even audiophiles – when Adaptive Sound is enabled, it is practically useful in day-to-day use.
I regularly use my Pixel phone to stream YouTube Music or Spotify. It’s more convenient than firing up my laptop, since I can take my phone anywhere, inside or outside the house.
The most obvious difference kicks in when I place the phone near a corner, and the volume isn’t fully maxed out. The audio noticeably feels more balanced and significantly less tinny.
This is likely because the algorithm detects the high-reverberation environment and subsequently tapers the treble and mids to enhance overall clarity.
It’s a sharp contrast to when my phone is sitting flat on our living room table. Because the area is much larger, reverberation is actually minimized.
When that happens, I notice the sound becomes punchier and more dynamic across the high, mid, and low ranges.
As you can see in the screenshots from one of my testing sessions, the wave’s amplitude is noticeably higher at the introduction.
Plus, the phone handles this dynamically, prioritizing vocal clarity and instrument presence rather than relying solely on raising the loudness.
I’ve noticed a similar improvement when taking calls on speakerphone. In open rooms, the audio is crisper, though there are admittedly times when the difference is negligible.
But that’s usually due to poor cellular reception or a spotty internet connection on either end of the line, rather than a failure of the feature.
Should you enable Adaptive Sound?
Alternative tool on Samsung Galaxy devices
I’m still not entirely sure why Google leaves this switched off by default on the Pixel 9 Pro XL, especially since some users report it being on right out of the box.
Perhaps the initial setup varies across Pixel generations.
Google likely keeps it off due to potential privacy concerns, given that keeping the microphone active can feel a bit invasive to some.
However, according to Google’s fine print, all audio processing occurs entirely on-device rather than being hosted on its servers.
If you want to turn it on, you can find the toggle in Settings > Sound and vibration, then scroll down to the Audio section.
If you’re rocking a Samsung Galaxy phone, you won’t find a direct equivalent. Samsung offers a feature called Adapt sound, but it is limited to connected headphones.
Instead of relying on machine learning, Samsung’s version offers age-bracketed presets that boost specific frequency ranges depending on your hearing profile.
It’s not a true alternative to Google’s ambient tracking, but it’s still incredibly useful if you spend your day plugged into a Galaxy device with your headphones.
Results can still vary. But keeping Adaptive Sound enabled is a simple way to improve audio clarity on your Pixel device, rather than relying on a third-party equalizer or maxing out the loudness.
9/10
- SoC
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Google Tensor G4
- RAM
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16GB
- Storage
-
128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is a reliable flagship camera phone. It’s now on sale at Best Buy and Amazon.
