Research in Audio Apps UX

How packet loss changes audio quality across Zoom, Teams, Meet & Skype

Systematic study of how perceived audio quality changes across four video-conferencing apps — Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, and Skype — under varying levels of packet loss. Audio quality was measured with the PESQ tool across multiple trials per packet-loss level. Zoom consistently maintained the highest quality across all loss levels, thanks to the Opus codec paired with proprietary optimisations, advanced error correction, and dynamic latency-buffer management. Microsoft Teams ranked second, with enterprise-tuned protocols that trade a little latency for stability. Skype was reliable at low loss but degraded sharply as loss rose, likely due to older protocols and weaker error correction. Google Meet — running on QUIC — struggled the most, especially at higher bandwidths, showing the strongest sensitivity to network variability. Overall, the study highlights how codec choice, network protocols, and latency management together determine audio quality in real-world conferencing, and gives a practical guide for picking the right app for a given network condition.