Play back depth is a red herring...
...But these Sabre DACs sound very good.
The 24 and 32 bit DACs fitted to, amongst others, some LG, HTC and Sony phones sound very good indeed - but not because they can handle 24 bit audio per se. They sound good because care has been taken by ESS in their design and manufacture - and they are mated with a good amplifier that can drive a large variety of headphones. Having gone to that effort, they may as well be made to play back any file natively, so it's better to say they are 32 bit because they sound good, rather the other way round.
Still, it's a moot point if you are using headphones with their own DAC, or merely using the phone as a remote control for a device like a Chromecast or Sonos. Good headphones should last you over several generations of phone.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
