I have an ASUS Zenfone 8 and I love that even the latest version still has a 3.5mm out, but I just started poking around in the settings for my Samsung Galaxy tablet and realized that Samsung Galaxy devices get Dolby Atmos. (Movies have never been better!) It got me thinking, what phones do other auditorily-inclined people use? Does AptX/LDAC support matter to you? Does audio go into your purchasing decisions at all?
I still have an LG G8 which I use strictly as my music player. Then I carry an iPhone 13 for everyday use but mainly because iMessage as its my main communication platform. I don’t much like iPhones but it is what it is. I also had an s22 which has AptX and LDAC, I like the audio but not as much as the LG.
At this point I think if you’re going over wireless, as long as the phone supports the codec your headphones do, it’s fine. I said that because no phone on the market with an aux have a dedicated dac like the LG phones did, so there’s really no point because if you’re going to be using a portable dac, might as well use it with any phone you get.
So when I don’t use the G8, I use the iPhone with my Sony buds and that’s just fine for now.