Just randomly sharing my experience here. My sister told me a few weeks ago she was going to change for a new phone (a Motorola, she likes AOSP-like experience). I noticed that her new phone wouldn’t get a jack.
“Yeah, I know, I hope I can make it work with a USB-adapter”. She has nice headphones that she likes to use, so USB-C earplugs were not an option.
Fast forward to today, she told me the adapter she got starts to malfunction:
- she has to twitch the jack in the adapter for the thing to work
- when she plugs the adapter in, Google Assistant takes over and randomly starts skipping songs.
She’s now considering getting wireless earbuds, but she’s not a fan of having to recharge them to be able to use them, and is also cautious about the e-waste potential.
I have a Moto G84 which does the job. It’s not the best phone in the world, I’m eyeing a flagship from time to time and keep the G84 as a “connected walkman”, but would it break today, I would probably get a G55 (https://www.notebookcheck.net/Motorola-Moto-G55-smartphone-review-Inexpensive-doesn-t-have-to-be-boring.932900.0.html)
That’s it for me, do you have similar experiences to share?
I will be sad when my S10 dies, purely for finding a headphone jack. It might sound dumb, but I only see drawbacks to bluetooth audio, as it’s not solving any problem I had to begin with. :)
My biggest regret was swapping out my old S9 for a free* “upgrade”. Miss that phone everyday.
Sony Xperias have headphone jacks.
Thank you! I had a look, as I thought they were discontinued in the UK, and it looks like I can get one sim-only from a few places. :) Awesome, that’ll do nicely when the time comes, thank you again!
I got mine from Amazon (Xperia 1 VI [XQ-EC72]) since the newest one is non-US, but cellular works.
This is why I don’t like the idea of one device for all my communication and media needs. I have smartphones for comms and dedicated audio devices for music and podcasts, with headphone jacks.
Honestly the more I think about this the more I think that you are not only right, but putting all of our proverbial eggs in one basket with smartphones was a horrible horrible mistake. We have done too many trade-offs for convenience.
Try to buy a digital camera today, pocket digital cameras basically aren’t made anymore. And even a mid-range pocket digital camera from the mid 2010s significantly outperforms a modern smartphone camera. It’s simple physics, bigger lens captures more light gives you a better picture.
Try to listen to music. Almost all the digital music we are served up is lossy compressed for streaming. And then we feed it into Bluetooth headphones with even more lossy compression. The sound that actually goes in the ears sounds like crap and bears little resemblance to what the artist laid down on their master, but we’re all used to it so we think that’s what music is supposed to sound like. A late 1990s Discman has significantly better sound quality even with a cheap DAC.
Try to do something online. A whole lot of new sites and services don’t even bother making a website, it’s just a promo to download their stupid privacy invading app. And if you want to do whatever you are doing on a real computer with a big screen, you’re SOL.
And then there is the unintended effect on our kids. I have always been an advocate of mobile technology. But I am looking at the actual effect of growing up with smartphones and tablets, and the result is an awful lot of kids with attention spans measured in seconds rather than minutes. Kids who can edit video and insert images into a document with their eyes closed, but can barely write three coherent sentences.
I have always been an advocate and user and enthusiast of smartphones and mobile technology. I buy this stuff, I use it, I recommend it to others.
But I think maybe I was wrong. I think maybe we all were wrong.
I look at the overall effect smartphones have on society, and I honestly can’t say the world is a better place as a result. We take crappy pictures, listen to crappy music, have crappy attention spans, but it’s all very convenient so we don’t care.I think maybe we were better off the other way. And maybe some of that inconvenience is a good thing, in the same way that having to do physical work is good exercise.
Agreed, really enjoy my fiio m15s
I was dead against losing my 3.5mm jack, and tried to use a USB-to-3.5mm adaptor but it was poor, with issues like your sister experienced.
I finally decided to try a set of relatively cheap earplugs and I wish I’d done it sooner. They’re lightweight, have good connectivity and a convenient charging case. I’m getting better quality audio and experience than I was with my 3.5mm jack - i’d have to replace my headsets every year or less as the wires got damaged over time, and the audio quality is actually better with my bluetooth earplugs. I used to avoid bluetooth after bad experiences over the years with audio drop out and connection issues, but I’ve not had any problems with my newer devices.
I’m not pretending they are audiophile quality but neither is 3.5mm audio in a phone - they just don’t have good quality DACs in phones. Bluetooth is finally a decent and convenient step up for me for day-to-day use and I’m finally not as bothered about losing my 3.5mm port. It’s also worth noting that if you want better audio, you can get bluetooth DACs and plug wired audio into those for an even better experience - I’m tempted but it’s expensive and I’m not sure I’d appreciate the benefit enough to make it worthwhile for me.
“USB-adapter” in this context used to be quite a shitshow.
I’ve seen at least the bastardisations of the USB-c spec where manufacturers just repurpose a couple of pins for analog audio. One for samsung, one for Xiaomi etc.
I hope most have gone over to being proper USB soundcards with a DAC today.
Might have missed it but still shocked that there are only a couple models that go for more than one USB-C port.
I have been of the opinion that the adapters are acceptable because you gain flexibility with things like external DACs, which several people have brought up, but having to trade between charging and wired devices or a truly overkill dock style dongle just seems so silly when phones absolutely have the space to put two ports.
I get it. However, I switched to having a good set of overear headphones connected via Bluetooth some years ago. I’ve never looked back, the freedom is amazing!
Yeah. Headphone jacks are essential only for people who own nice wired headphones they want to continue using.
If you are making music, so is the latency.
she has to twitch the jack in the adapter for the thing to work
This is the downfall of all headphone jacks tbh
I just keep buying phones with headphone jacks. I use bluetooth headphones too, but have a wired set for fallback, especially when travelling.
Also, if you’re on a call or vc, a good wired set wth a well placed mike on the wire (e.g. marshall mode) gives you better sound quality and better exclusion of environment noise than any bluetooth headphones, and you don’t have to worry about earbud batteries running out mid call.
It limits phone selection a lot, but so far there has been good phones with headphone jacks every time
My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy A32, the last in the A3x line that has one. It’s really nice to have a headphone jack because… well, you plug your pair in, and it just works. You don’t have to worry about Bluetooth connections, or another battery that will die one day that you constantly have to recharge. Also, you get FM radio functionality on your phone, which isn’t really useful, but it’s pretty fun to mess with. I’m surprised Apple never had it on the iPod Touch despite the Nano and Classic both having it (some with a special accessory that unlocks the feature, some have it built in).
Also, support for my phone ends on Android 13 (One UI 5.1), meaning if I want new features (or even emoji updates), I have to get a newer phone, and that means either getting a lower tier model to keep that headphone jack at the cost of performance, or getting the same tier (or higher) at the cost of the jack. And I was never convinced by other Android phone manufacturers either, especially since companies like OnePlus don’t sell their products in my country, so my options are either Samsung, Google, or a whole bunch of Chinese companies, many have really terrible skins of Android. Either that or I get an iPhone, and none of the ones that are currently supported have the headphone jack. So I guess I’m sticking with my A32 until the day it nukes itself.
I got some bose bluetooth headphones probably 7-8 years ago at this point and they’re still working fine. I hate earbuds, personally, so that was never an option. I do hate having one more thing to charge and possibly die, but the noise canceling is also super helpful so that’s fine for me. I’ve had zero problems with google assistant or anything else, but I’m pretty sure I have it mostly disabled on my phone.
My friend group used to be very big on “pass the aux cord” when we’re hanging out. It was incredibly easy to switch out our phones (or iPods and portable CD players before that) to let all of us contribute music for the gathering.
Now? Ok, I disconnected from the BT speaker. Do you see it yet? Lemme try turning the BT speaker off and on again. [BING BONG!; “Connected”] Ugh, it reconnected to my phone. Let me just turn BT off on my phone and you try again.
It’s just such a PITA with BT, and having to keep USB-C and Lightning adapters on hand is even more annoying than that. If only there were a reliable and dedicated connection for audio devices…oh well.
On the other hand, YouTube and Spotify let you add songs to the queue from your phone without taking over the whole thing.
Also BT has allowed multiple devices to connect to the same one for ages. Like since 4.0 at least.
I can have my headphones connected to my phone and my computer so that I just pause the audio on one and start up in the other. Sometimes the switch takes a second or two but that’s it.
It’s been like that for years on BT speakers, but probably not the very cheapest ones from like 5 years ago, (no offense to anyone I buy the cheapest ones I just happened to get a morr expensive one by luck back then), but my cheap-ass Chinese headphones can do that as can my generic brand bt speaker.
If you connect two devices, it usually prioritises the one which started playing media most recently. As in I put a song on, but then you click a song on your phone so it takes over.
So I feel like it’s more a skill issue with the guy you’re replying to but might just be older BT.
yeah, in case all of you use their services
Lol welcome to old age pops. “You kids with your blue tooth get off my lawn!”
Headphone jack and removable battery are the two features I will not compromise on. Makes selecting a new phone pretty damn easy. I would have loved a fairphone but sorry, no exceptions.
At some point, you’re just not going to have a phone at all then, the way things are going.
The way things are going? EU just recently mandated that in the future batteries must be able to be replaced by the end user. There’s likely going to be more devices like this soon, not less.
Yeah, sure, but I don’t recall hearing the EU mandate headphone jacks. And I doubt we will, considering they’re tech that’s decades old, and less 3.5mm wired headphones are being sold each year. The EU is mandating things everyone wants in their phones, and most people want wireless. Now I know there’s a segment of the population that would violently protest that such a thing could even be possible, but digging your heels in and trying to stop the march of time has never, in all of history, worked out for anyone.
Well obviously if there was literally not a single new device matching the criteria available, then I would need to compromise on the headphone jack but if there is even a single device that still has it along with the other features then that’s what I’d get.
I did the exact same thing with my previous device, LG V20. I used it closer to seven years while waiting for someone to release a new model with a headphone jack and a removable battery. Then Samsung released such device and that’s the one I got.
If the EU law meets your expectations maybe the Xperia might fit your bill by then?
Well, for your sake, I hope they continue to make phones that meet your standards. Or that you find an alternative that suits you.
Add ip rated and removable storage and you have my list. I have had to compromise on the removable battery on the last few phones though.
My device has both - on top of headphone jack and removable battery.
What is your current phone?
XCover 6 pro
Seems like a nice device, it was on my list for a while, but a bit too chunky
Sony XPeria still has jacks
A “must”, only for a subset of users.
If it were truly a “must”, more people would be complaining.
I get it, you find Bluetooth unappealing for reasons, just like I find larger phones unappealing. Unfortunately, we’re a minority, neither of these are a “must” for most people.
It’s unappealing because it makes you extremely easy to track. So options without bluetooth are a safeguard for your privacy, which is a human right that has been heavily under attack for years. So in that regard headphone jacks are an objective must. Not enough people are complaining, true, but that’s because they don’t understand the technology and the risks are being obfuscated to them.
No not it is not a must. And the vast majority of pwope don’t care.
After experiencing true wireless ear buds, I’m never going back. Yeah no thanks, I don’t want to be literally tethered to my phone.
Did you know?
Phones can have a headphone jack and still have Bluetooth for the people who don’t want to use it!
Ok… Don’t think I said they couldn’t?
Of course it is possible, but it is an inefficient use of internal phone space. It adds another physical failure point. Increases risk of water entry. And adds construction/repair cost.
All for some thing few care about already and that number gets smaller everyday.
Sorry to be harshly pragmatic about it (I have a few niche hobbies myself) but it’s time to let it go.
it is an inefficient use of internal phone space.
It is only inefficient for you. I never use the selfie camera. Should I be campaigning for its removal?
It adds another physical failure point.
As you don’t use it, you don’t care if it fails.
Increases risk of water entry.
No. This is a solved problem.
And adds construction costs
More so for the selfie camera.
and repair cost.
If you don’t use it, you don’t need it repairing
I can’t even lol.
Google should remove the extremely popular camera (and takes a tenth of the size) so you can “you” can have a port…
Given the quality of that response, I’m just stopping there…
Have a good day, I’m out.
I’m showing how biased your logic is by swapping one word.
Headphone Jacks are also popular. Over 60% preference on android and 92% of people prefer the rear camera
My facts beat your feelings.
I still have been able to play games on my phone with truly wireless earbuds because the latency is awful. I’d love to have an option to plug in.
Do both your phone and earbuds support aptx?
Cheap devices almost never support it, but it’s truly what makes Bluetooth earbuds great.
Google pixel 6 Pro with Google Buds Pro. Not really cheaped out but no aptx on the earbuds. I assumed low latency codec would be there when I bought a pro version of an earbud from a company that removes their headphone jack, but noooooooo.
Google buds aren’t cheap but… They aren’t really a prime example or wireless earbuds. Basically just the equivalent of the air pods. Decent sound, but a solid middle ground in terms of features and quality.
Take a look at some other options that do support aptx or at least Bluetooth LE Audio. Aim for BT 5.3 support, but BT 5.2 may be acceptable if you are happy with BT LE Audio latency.I use the Sony WF-1000XMS with BT LE Audio on the Steamdeck and the latency is fine for most gaming. Latexy seems to be around 30-100ms at my best estimation (depending on the quality and complexity of the audio being transmitted).
But the WF-1000XMS don’t support aptx. There are lots of devices that do though. I’d recommend looking for aptx-ll specifically, but aptx-hd is also a massive improvement.As a side note, the reason I use WF-1000XMS is for the excellent ANC (I’m autistic), so I am not recommending them as gaming earbuds, but just as an example of quality earbuds that work for me.
You don’t have to go back. You can have both. A headphone jack does not preclude the use of Bluetooth.
Bluetooth can’t even transport mp3 quality. Let alone CD or even HD quality music.
There is no “mp3 quality”, as that can vastly vary depending on bitrate. And what is HD quality music supposed to be? I bet you couldn’t reliably differentiate high quality mp3, CD audio and completely uncompressed wav in a series of blind tests.
That’s like saying people can’t tell the difference between 720p, 1080 and 4K
No, it’s not
Maybe it’s your ears or system but in this house we can certainly tell the difference between a 2 mb mp3 file and a 400mb DSD.
Try a high Bitrate mp3 and the difference becomes a pure technicality.
That’s not true. It depends on the codecs both devices use. But regardless, I mostly listen to podcasts and my hearing is by far the limiting factor in audio quality.
I actually quite like the Bluetooth DAC I got because of the disappearance of my headphone jack. It breaks that physical attachment of my headphones to my phone while giving very good quality audio.
I’d recommend checking out the Fiio BTR line if interested.
Thanks!
