Comparison

Decibels Meter vs Sound Meter dB

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Decibels Meter

Monitor real-time decibel levels at concerts and festivals. Capture moments with watermarked photos and receive alerts for potentially harmful sound levels to protect your hearing.

Highlights
  • Real-time decibel monitoring
  • Watermark camera for concert photos
  • Hearing protection alerts
  • Sound pressure level measurement
  • Venue sound terminology
Features
Read full description

Concert Decibel Meter - Your Professional Sound Wave Monitoring Assistant When you're surrounded by the sound waves of a concert or music festival, are you curious about the decibel level? Want to share the electrifying experience with the world? The Concert Decibel Meter is your professional sound wave monitoring assistant. 【Core Functions】 Real-time Decibel Monitoring: Accurately captures and displays the real-time decibel value of the venue. From "rhythm warm-up" to "raging sound waves," it uses the most knowledgeable terms about the venue to intuitively tell you the sound pressure level you're in. Watermark Camera: Built-in camera captures moments directly from the venue. Automatically generates cool watermarks, creating a unique souvenir of your visit. Hardcore Hearing Protection: More than just measurement, it's your intelligent guardian of hearing. When the volume reaches a dangerous level, the app will issue a strong alert, reminding you to immediately activate hearing protection mode.

About

Sound Meter dB

Transform your phone into a decibel meter and noise detector. It provides live dB readings, tracks noise history, offers safe exposure guidance, and includes a hearing test and frequency analyzer. Features like night mode and daily noise dose tracking help you understand your sound environment.

Highlights
  • Live decibel (dB) readings
  • Noise history graph
  • Safe exposure guidance
  • Night mode noise logging
  • Hearing test
  • Frequency analyzer (PRO)
  • PDF reports and noise diary (PRO)
Features
Read full description

Sound Meter dB turns your phone into a decibel meter and noise detector: a live dB reading on a color-coded dial, from quiet teal to dangerous red, with a history graph, safe-exposure guidance, a night-long noise log, a hearing test and a frequency analyzer. Open it and it's already measuring: the party next door, the office air conditioning, the restaurant that "isn't that loud". Ten readings a second, time-weighted like a real sound level meter, and your music or podcast keeps playing. NEW: NIGHT MODE Leave the phone by the bed, plugged in, and go to sleep. Night mode learns how quiet your room is, then logs every noise above it: when, how long, how loud and what kind of sound. In the morning, a report: the whole night on one chart, every noise marked, the loudest called out, your longest quiet stretch. Made for noisy neighbors, traffic, a barking dog, or whatever wakes you at 3 AM. NEW: HOW HIGH CAN YOU HEAR? The highest pitch you can hear drops with age. A one-minute hearing test climbs through tones up to 20,000 Hz and shows which age group your ears match. Share it and see how your friends do. For fun, not a medical test. NEW: YOUR DAILY NOISE DOSE How much of today's safe sound allowance have you used? The meter adds up every measurement of the day against the NIOSH limit (85 dBA for 8 hours) and shows it as one percentage. NEW: FREQUENCY ANALYZER (PRO) Third-octave bands from 50 Hz to 16 kHz and the dominant tone, live, with its musical note. A guide shows what usually makes each part of the spectrum (rumble, hum, whine, hiss), and the analyzer flags electrical hum. Find the source, not just the level. NEW: PDF REPORTS AND A NOISE DIARY (PRO) Turn any session into a clean PDF: the chart, the average and the peaks, every noise event, the measurement settings. Or put weeks of nights into one noise diary, the way a landlord, an HOA or the council asks for it: every noise with its date, time, level and type, and room for your notes. MEASURES LIKE A REAL METER A-weighted readings (dBA), Fast or Slow response, and Leq, the energy average: the same maths as a sound level meter. The dial holds the session peak and turns red past 100 dB. Have a reference meter? Calibrate against it in Settings. EVERY READING, IN PLAIN WORDS 40 dB is a quiet library, 60 a conversation, 75 a vacuum cleaner, 95 power tools, 110 a rock concert. Following the NIOSH guideline, the app shows how long the current level is safe for and counts the time over 85 dB. EVERY SESSION, SAVED Measurements stay on your device with their timeline and loudest moments. Share one as an image, export it as CSV, or make it a PDF report. FOCUS MODE The reading as big as the screen, and the whole screen turns red when the room stays above your limit. Made for classrooms, workshops and venues. PRIVATE, AND WORKS OFFLINE Sound is analyzed on your device, as numbers. No recording is kept or uploaded, not even in Night mode. No account, no connection needed. THE HONEST PART Phone microphones are built for voice, not metrology, and every model hears a little differently. Readings are good estimates for awareness and comparisons, not a substitute for a certified Class 1 or Class 2 instrument. GOOD FOR - Documenting noisy neighbors, traffic and night-time noise - Checking noise at home, at work, in a classroom or workshop - Concerts and events: knowing when to give your ears a break - Finding the hum, whine or rumble in a room - Sleep and study rooms, nurseries and baby rooms FREE, WITH AN OPTIONAL PRO Sound Meter dB is free, supported by a small banner and an occasional ad when the app opens. Sound Meter dB Pro is a one-time purchase, not a subscription: it removes the ads and unlocks the frequency analyzer, the full event list in night reports, PDF reports and the noise diary. The meter, Night mode, the hearing test, history, sharing and everything else stay free for everyone. Privacy policy: https://noise.chinesepowered.com/privacy.html

Screenshots

Decibels Meter4 screens
Sound Meter dB4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Decibels Meter at none against Sound Meter dB's 1. Decibels Meter also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 4 months). On price, rating, ratings volume and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Sound Meter dB sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Decibels Meter asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Decibels Meter against 5.0 for Sound Meter dB. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Decibels Meter ships an update every 9 days, Sound Meter dB every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
Decibels Meter versus Sound Meter dB: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDecibels MeterSound Meter dB
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB56 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer剑 罗Nelson Lai

In-app purchases

None

Decibels Meter

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Sound Meter dB

One-time1
  • Sound Meter dB Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Decibels Meter free?
Decibels Meter is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sound Meter dB free?
Sound Meter dB is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Decibels Meter or Sound Meter dB?
Decibels Meter and Sound Meter dB are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Decibels Meter or Sound Meter dB have ads?
Sound Meter dB shows ads; Decibels Meter does not.
Which is updated more often, Decibels Meter or Sound Meter dB?
Decibels Meter ships an update every 9 days, and Sound Meter dB every 4 months. Most recently, Decibels Meter was updated on November 5, 2026 and Sound Meter dB on November 6, 2026.

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