# Decibel - sound level meter — user reviews > 48 indexed App Store user reviews of Decibel by Paula Jeff, rated 4.10/5 from 412 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/decibel-sound-level-meter/id1587049294/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/decibel-sound-level-meter/id1587049294.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 284 · 4★ 37 · 3★ 21 · 2★ 8 · 1★ 62 ## What do users think of Decibel? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 👍 Easy to use and intuitive interface - 🎯 Accurate and reproducible readings - 📱 Convenient pocket-sized sound meter - ⚡ Fast and instant measurements - 🎨 Clear visual display - 💼 Useful for professionals and various applications **Cons** - 💰 Extremely expensive subscription model ($30-$40/month or $5-$10/week) - 😤 Deceptive free-to-download marketing strategy - 🚫 Completely unusable without paid subscription - ⚠️ Misleading App Store listing as free - 🎣 Aggressive upsell tactics and review fishing - 🔒 Paywall appears immediately upon download - ❌ No functional free version or trial period **Commonly reported bugs** - App doesn't work on some iPhone models - Pushy notification system for upselling **Most requested features** - Functional free version with basic features - Free trial period before requiring subscription - More transparent pricing disclosure in App Store listing - Comparison with professional audio equipment accuracy ## Newest reviews (12 of 48) ### 2/5 — 하하하하… *2024-03-04* 유료네요 데시벨 측정기에 돈쓰긴 좀 아까워서 깔자마자 지웠습니다 무료로 바꾸면 좋을것 같아요 ### 4/5 — 환불요청 *2023-10-31* 실수로 결제되었어요 환불해주세요 ### 3/5 — 환불부탁 드립니다 *2023-09-01* 무료 어플인줄 알고 받았습니다 ㅠㅠ홥불 부탁드립니다 ### 4/5 — 실수로 결제가 되었습니다 *2022-03-21* 무료 어플인줄 착오했습니다 ㅠ환불 부탁 드립니다. please do me a refund.. ### 1/5 — Lies *2022-01-25, version 1.0* Just be straightforward about charging for your service. Why waste people's time? ### 1/5 — Unusable Without Subscription *2022-01-23, version 1.0* Without paying $40/mo, more than my entire cell phone plan, the app is entirely unusable and cannot take any readings. Waste of time scam app. ### 1/5 — Terrible, deceptive *2022-01-14, version 1.0* They asked for a review without letting me even use it so, here ya go! This is not free it is in fact very expensive and won’t let you do anything. This developer is unethically misrepresenting their app. All while fishing for good reviews. I wouldn’t trust a word. DELETED IT IMMEDIATELY. ### 1/5 — Requires a $10/week subscription *2022-01-09, version 1.0* Seems like a scam, app forces you to get a subscription. Who would pay $520/year for the ability to check noise levels? ### 1/5 — Can’t use without paying $5 a week. *2022-01-07, version 1.0* Title ### 1/5 — Clickbait. Not free *2022-01-05, version 1.0* They require to buy a subscription right after downloading ### 1/5 — Click bait. It is not free *2022-01-01, version 1.0* I absolutely hate applications that are free to download but when you want to use them you can’t. This app is like that. You can’t even get a basic reading. Instead the app requires that you subscribe for a whopping 40 dollars a month. Good God! That is insane. I immediately deleted the app and decided the developer’s unethical click bait deserved a poor review ### 1/5 — I found it useless *2021-12-28, version 1.0* I found this app pretty much useless in its free version. Deleted it immediately. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — 저 아예 사용한적 없는데 제발 환불 해주세요 거의 3달동안 일주일에 5000원이 나갔어요 ;;;;;;;; *2026-02-19* 저 사용한적 없는데 환불 부탁드립니다 ### 1/5 — 성능도 낮고 유료배너 엄청나게뜸 *2024-04-06, version 1.0* 간단한 소음체크로 큰 유료 구독을 하게 만든다 피해야할앱 ### 1/5 — 환불 *2023-10-16* 유료인거 알고 바로 삭제했습니다 자동결제 안되게 해주세요 만약 된다면 환불해주세여 ### 1/5 — 취소해주세요 *2023-09-02* 중간에 멈췄는데도 결제가 됬어요 취소해주세요 유료면 유료표시해주세요 ㅠㅠ 취소부탁드립니다. ### 1/5 — 환불신청 *2022-08-18* 환불부탁드립니다ㅜ 무료어플인줄알고 깔았는데 결제되었어요ㅠ ### 1/5 — 유료앱인 줄 알았어요ㅠ 제발 환불해주세요 Please give me a refund. *2022-07-10* 제발 진짜 제 5000원 ### 1/5 — 환불 부탁드립니다 *2022-07-06* 실수로 결제버튼 눌렀는데 바로 돈이 빠져나가네요. 앱 실행 안 했고 안 할 예정인데 환불 부탁드립니다. ### 1/5 — 무료어플인줄 알았어요ㅜ *2022-06-20* 사용 안했는데 환불 부탁드립니다 ### 1/5 — Isn’t free *2022-03-04, version 1.0* Have to pay $30. Don’t list it as free on App Store and then require $30 purchase. I understand a charging for a good product, but this is a lot of money up front and deceptive. ### 1/5 — Not intuitive *2022-01-26, version 1.0* It doesn’t seem to do anything without a subscription. I used it for about 2 minutes and then deleted it. If it needs a subscription to function, it should say that in an obvious place. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — 유료에요? *2024-10-11* 제가 초등학생이라서 돈 못하거든여? 결제안되긴했는데 무료로되길바랍니다. 불편하지만 별5개드릴게여 ### 5/5 — . *2022-10-17* 실수로 결제가 되었습니다. 사용하지 않았는데 환불 부탁드립니다. ### 5/5 — 환불요청드립니다 *2022-09-27* 아이가 경로를 알 수 없이 다운받고 구독까지 신청된듯합니다 환불을 요청드립니다 ### 5/5 — 무료어플인줄알고 눌럿습니다 환불요청합니다 *2022-05-09* 무료어플인줄알고눌럿다가 삭제합니다 환불요청합니다 ### 5/5 — 영어로 써져있는거 막 눌르다가 돈이 나갔습니다 *2022-05-05* 사용한적이 없는데 환불해주세요 ### 5/5 — 결제 취소 *2022-03-19* 무료인줄 알고 다운받았는데 40,000(krw) 결제됐어요 ㅠㅠ 어플 사용한 적 없는데 결제취소 해주세요 ㅠㅠ ### 5/5 — 실수로 결제가 됐습니다.. *2022-01-11* 무료 어플인줄 알고 깔았다가 정신없이 뭘 눌렀는데 결제가 되었어요.. 환불 좀 부탁 드립니다.. ### 5/5 — 결제취소 *2022-01-10* 실수로 결제했어요 취소 부탁드립니다 ### 5/5 — Works well *2021-11-26, version 1.0* I love the convenience of this very useful measurement device. And, I love how unobtrusive it is. I can get a reading at a restaurant in a few seconds. Or, in a mall, I can easily determine the relative levels, and therefore dangers associated with shopping at various times of day. Noise is connected to fatigue in a direct relationship. How noisy is your workplace? ### 5/5 — Great app *2021-11-26, version 1.0* I am a Environmental Health Practitioner this is handy to have as a sound meter in your pocket to decide if you need to install a sound meter in a noise complaint it would be interesting to know how accurate this is compared with the big expensive meters used for noise nuisance complaint investigations --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-04.*