Orange UK is trying out a new service with a select sample group across southern England that will provide dramatically increased sound quality in voice calls. To get these results, HD Voice uses a wider range of sound (50–7000 Hz) versus traditional voice (300–3400 Hz) with the help of the Wideband Adaptive Multi-Rate code (WB-AMR). Watch the video above to get an idea of what that means in terms of quality difference.
In an era of data-centric smartphones, it’s easy to forget that not only can these little things make calls, but there are still technological advances to be made. When reviewing handsets, I find voice is such an afterthought: “Yeah it’s there, no calls didn’t drop.” With a system like Voice HD in there, I could imagine the phone part of a smartphone becoming a properly impressive feature.
If you’re itching to try this out, you won’t have to wait long. Orange intends to have a full nationwide rollout by the end of the summer.
[via Orange]