Why wouldn't you prefer a headphone jack in your phone? It is yet another option for headphones that worst case you don't use. The only reason it has been removed is because it saves companies a few cents on the cost to build the product.
They remove it to push people to use bluetooth, on iOS this means you wont disable it permanently and keep Apples tracking network alive. Not that nasty on Android but I suppose the same reasoning
I should have added, that for companies that sell Bluetooth headphones it also helps drive sales for those devices, particularly that is why Apple did it.
Eh… I’m not sure it has anything to do with AirTags and the find my network. They weren’t a thing until a couple of years after the 3.5mm jack was removed. It’s probably a benefit now, but I suspect most people don’t bother turning off Bluetooth anyway.
So many times I've forgotten my Bluetooth headphones or they've died and I always find some wired ones but can't use them, or I can even go into a gas station and just buy some for $1.
Also my Sony headphones have an optional aux port to plug in, nice to use when they die because it doesn't need battery, or if I want to plug into another device without having to pair everytime.
Why wouldn't you prefer a headphone jack in your phone?
I've seen some people literally say that they don't want a phone with a useless hole in it (in fact, it was said right here on Lemmy not long ago), whereas others claim that not having a headphone jack == bigger battery. Some, like Fairphone fanboys in particular, have gone as far as claiming that removing the headphone jack reduces e-waste...
Some, like Fairphone fanboys in particular, have gone as far as claiming that removing the headphone jack reduces e-waste…
That is a terrible argument for someone to make. There is no way to argue that removing the headphone jack does anything but create more e-waste. First from all the perfectly good wired headphones that are now forced to be replaced, secondly from the fact that Bluetooth headphones all have a shelf life due to the li-ion battery after which they become e-waste. Even with the Fairphone headphones the battery becomes e-waste that wouldn't exist with wired headphones, cables do wear out too, but replacing that part will have a smaller energy footprint to replace than a battery.
Oh, cassettes were just designed to go wrong altogether 😆
But while wired headphones are indeed "analog devices" they do not have any mechanical parts moving, so really if you take good care of them they can last a lifetime. (Unlike BT headphones with batteries with approximate estimations of life). 🤒🤕
Credit where it's due, Bluetooth headphones have come a long way. I like the ones I have now. That said, removing the jack and micro SD slots was extremely anti consumer and they should come back.
My issue with BT isn't quality it's the cost and the battery. I do have a very nice pair that I enjoy on occasion but I have another set of wired headphones that I use sometimes 12 hours a day at work. BT headphones would quickly wind up in the garbage under those circumstances since batteries are wear items with limited charge cycles and once they go bad, they render the rest of the device useless.
I also don't like having another device that needs charging or that'll leave me 'stranded' because I wasn't monitoring the charge close enough and it died.
I don't think we should be forced to choose one or the other. Both have advantages and we should get a real choice as consumers. Currently I'm limited to low spec'ed phones if I want 3.5mm or high spec'ed with no 3.5mm (and no SD card and no replaceable battery). It's a shitty choice all around.
Cheap knock off ear pods are getting a lot better. I can get a pair of 20 dollar ear pods that are actually better than name brand wireless ear buds I got a few years ago.
When it comes to audio quality they're better than the audio jack earbuds I have for my tablet and I don't have ti worry about pulling the cable. Also usbc ear buds never seem to break no matter how much they're pulled on or chewed on by the cat.
I feel you there. I had to get a new phone ASAP after breaking mine on vacation a few months ago. Didn't even think to check the specs because I was in a pinch and completely forgot some android manufacturers started dropping them since my last phone purchase.
Some manufacturer dropped them? I think at this time you can count on the fingers the smartphone models that still have a headphone jack. I miss it so much
Same, I wouldn't mind as much if Apple's lightning-to-aux adapter wasn't so flimsy and had better build quality, while at the same time preventing you from charging.
Same here. I have a charger at home and work. If I travel, I bring a charger. I'm a responsible adult who knows when to charge Bluetooth headphones. I personally don't have a need for a 3.5mm jack.
Buuuut, I'll fight for fucking ever to keep them on phones. I should not be the only demographic on phone construction.
The headphone jack would be less painful of a loss if phone manufacturers started adding a second USB-C port on top of the device. That way you wouldn't have to choose between charging your phone, listening to your game without lag and in privacy, or carry a dongle to try doing both things at the same time.
Hm, that's a good point, although I don't play games on my phone so I haven't experienced that.
I guess if you're a heavy phone gamer and you have the worst bt, the latency could become a pain.
That makes me think of a guy pretending to surf on the roof of his car complaining about the traction. Like that's not what cars are for, but the roof of a car undeniably has poor grip.
My last set of wireless headphones still work, and I used them for 10 years. I've never had a wired set last more than two, usually because the cable gets damaged.
Yes. It's my way of voting with my wallet. I already have a few nice headphones and I'm not replacing them just because phone manufacturers are cheap and lazy.
Besides, I hate batteries. They always die at the most inconvenient time. And USB-c just for audio is way overkill.
This poll kind of sucks for data gathering. You ask two different questions but there's only one set of answers. Even the first question alone asks if we use and/or require, which should be separate.
To answer though: I use my headphone adapter whenever I travel but don't have a regular headphone jack. A jack is not absolutely required for me to purchase a phone but the adapter is.
I hate to say but the poll is biased because you asked two questions that are not the same.
I currently have a phone without a jack, so the first question is obviously no. But the second question, would I prefer it, is a yes.
So there's a group of people who would prefer it, but it's not a deal breaker for them in your data, but they answered a different question than the headline.
This. After my first Android phone I had only gotten Nexus phones. I had a Nexus 6p when the Pixel was announced, and it wasn't going to have a headphone jack. I tried multiple dongles with my Nexus 6p, and none of them both reliably worked with my headphones and fast charged my phone. My wife ordered a Pixel, I ordered a Note 9.
I've gone Note 9, then a One Plus Nord v10, and now an Asus ZenFone 9. Every time a manufacturer ditched the headphone jack (or made it only available at ludicrous price), I just switched manufacturers. I don't even use a headphone jack that often, but when I need it I want it to be there and just work.
Yes! No.1 reason: microphone quality! I have to attend many calls every day and no Bluetooth headset (BT v.4 > 5.3, SPS, AAC, LDAC) has even come close to the simple quality of a ~25,-€ wired headset.
Nice bullshit poll making 'Yes' the pre-selected choice and clicking an other option not changing it, even when its highlighted. Dragging choices is absolutely counterintuitive and actively misleading. Lets start a poll if people like murder and wonder about the 50/50 result at the end.
Jesus it's just a simple poll with almost zero reach. Nobody is going to sneak into your house and install a headphone jack into your phone while you're sleeping.
Thats not my point. A poll usually serves the purpose to gather information. If you know from the start the outcome is completely useless, why even start it in the first place?
Yes!
I do still use the headphone jack. Bluetooth is trash and suffers from extreme latency and is not capable of the same quality of a wired connection.
I recently bought some bluetooth earphones (sony wf-c500) after many years of avoiding it.
I was under the impression that things had improved but bluetooth is still as bad as I remember them. The audio latency on windows alone is unreal but another kettle of fish.
The real disgrace is that phone manufacturers removed the MicroSD card slot and then tried to justify it with weak excuses that didn't add up. MicroSD/SD cards have also recently become much quicker but nobody was using a MicroSD card as primary storage anyway so it was irrelevant and a weak argument at best.
The only reason why phone manufacturers did remove it was to charge you much more for the large storage capacity phones. I would also say the price increase for that given storage space was and is also vastly more expensive than it actually is. In other words it is a cash grab. Its also of no coincidence that many phone manufacturers also now sell their own shitty Bluetooth headphones.
We can also sight the absence of charging cables/cords and wall plugs/power bricks.
Not to mention that people these days are more privacy focused and tech savvy and begrudgingly use android or apple phones as they know with each update their privacy is being further eroded away. Whilst also being undermined by manufacturers with such things as planned obsolescence and them deliberately making it difficult if not impossible to repair your own phone.
...and phone manufacturers wonder why nobody wants to buy a phone anymore. Dumbasses!
The truth is there are many more number of reasons why phones are garbage these days.
I'm not a fan of BT headphones. It's three things (2 pods and the case that charges them) that you have to juggle and keep charged, vs just one that works whenever the device it's plugged into works. Wired headphones have a nice additional perk of discouraging people from interacting with you, while (at least anecdotally) the BT ones seem to lose that deterrent... and the venn diagram for times I want to use headphones and the times I don't want to deal with other people is just one crisp circle.
I always try to pick out a phone that has a 3.5mm jack, but that's becoming increasingly hard to do.
The poll/voting process is flawed & I don't like that.
That said, idk, I'm a blue collar working adult & the aux/wired connection isn't a necessity in my daily life. I can often, if not always, blast my music on an Ion loudspeaker. Car has Bluetooth. Home, I've got Bluetooth.
But that's just not the point for me; my phone has an aux port & I rarely use it. Used it to connect headphones on a walk last week. It's nice & I like having the option. Getting rid of it was purely an anti-consumer move, so needless, and obviously they can build it into the phones without detracting from battery or taking away from water resistance. Everything I've heard justifying removing aux is either a lie or an excuse.
I usually use wireless headphones nowadays, but there are still plenty of instances where I'm happy to have the headphone jack. Random parties where someone needs to play music via the aux cable, going somewhere with only some small wired headphones in my pocket because I dont have space, etc. For me it's still quite important that my next phone has one.
On the one hand, you make a compelling point for a headphone jack. On the other hand, you can just create a collaborative queue on Spotify or whatever music app you are using.
I was gifted a phone without a headphone jack after my last one died a few years back. I miss it all the time, remembering to charge bluetooth headphones and not losing bluetooth buds is tricky for me. So a lot of the time I just dont play music anymore. Very annoying.
I mostly use bluetooth, but the jack of my phone is not sitting there unused. I have wired headphones too, and I frequently use my phone as a microphone (because it is one) by connecting it to my computer by a jack cable.
Also, the next headphone of mine will probably be wired. Always keeping it charged is not really a problem, but the privacy aspect of Bluetooth has started to disturb me.
With a wired connection, you exactly know and control who connects to your devices, and at the same time you don't announce to the world that you are here.
Also, as I understand you can't use USB-C for audio and charging or data transfer at the same time, or even all 3 at the same time. Is that right?
That is critical functionality for me. Audio is not just entertainment, it could be an online meeting or other things too, and at one point I'll have to change my phone, or transfer files from it. However I don't have a USB-C phone so I can't test it, so I would appreciate if someone could confirm if this is actually the case.
No. I had jumped to BT long before Apple* first dropped the hole. I hate cords; I hate the tangle and snagging. It's another lever with which to break a connection on the circuit board, and another ingress for water.
I know audio is better over cords, but I don't hear the difference, so the convenience won for me.
I just discovered that my phone sometimes autocorrects "Apple" to "asshole." Fun.
I feel like if I ever become an audiophile, I'll probably be looking at getting a separate music player with a DAC, a Tidal subscription, and a pair of kickass wired headphones. But for now, I'm mostly listening to podcasts and for music I use Spotify for it's discovery features, and their audio quality is subpar already. Even if I had a headphone jack, I'm not really benefiting from superior sound quality but I am getting frustrated with tangled cords and getting caught on doorknobs. I'll take the convenience of Bluetooth, especially while working out. And Bluetooth standards have been getting better anyway, in a few years it might be on par with wired.
My current phone does not have a jack and my previous one did. I would prefer to have it since there are times I don't need/want noise cancelling and bluetooth, but I have no choice but to run down my headphone batteries more.
Yes, I mostly use wireless earbuds but you never know when you have to use a wired earbuds like if you forget your case and your earbuds are out of charge.
I'd say the only thing more rare than forgetting your case and your buds being out of charge...is remembering to have a spare set of wired headphones in your pocket for just that scenario.
I found an ideal solution for this (in my opinion). A Bluetooth DAC. The specific one I have is the FiiO BTR5, but there are others.
For mine specifically, it has the standard 3.5mm output (TRS), as well as a TRRS balanced connection (I believe it's 2.5mm), and it can receive a signal from either Bluetooth or over USB from is USB C port.
The best feature of it is that I can charge it, while I'm using it. Which is something that most all-in-one Bluetooth headphones miss entirely. Even if they can be worn while plugged into a charger, many don't operate while they're being charged. All the true wireless (aka airpod style) by headphones, can't even be plugged into power directly, nor would it be possible to use them while they're charging in their case.
I can pick any headphones I want to use with it, provided they can operate from a 3.5mm connection (or something that can be adapted to 3.5) or by a balanced headphone connection.... Basically any ear-mounted sound generating devices that use a wire, can be used with a few exceptions.
I'm naturally very cautious, so I also have a charging dongle that has a 3.5mm audio jack on it as a backup. It can literally charge my phone and play sound at the same time... I'm tethered to my phone, which IMO, isn't ideal. With the BTR5, I can thread the wire through my shirt or something, and clip the unit to me or stuff it in a pocket and not worry about it. If I need my phone, I'm not fighting with how long (or short) my headphone cable is. The BTR also supports LDAC as well as aptX and related codecs, so it generally sounds excellent. It's a bit of a bear to get it set up, so I generally pull it out for long walk/work sessions away from my desk, or if I'm in a situation where I'm waiting for something to happen for a long time. I also have a handful of Bluetooth headphones, all of which have their (dis) advantages, and I flip between what I have as the need arises. I prefer the BTR5, but it's not always the best or most feasible given the situation.
IMO the BTR5 is better than just having a headphone plug on my phone, since the DAC and AMP in the device is known-good (many reviewers of audio stuff give it great ratings all around), and I can be untethered from my phone, so typing/scrolling/whatever is the same as normal; I'm not having to position my hand funny to avoid a bulky cable/adapter.
I had benchmarks that led me to the BTR5, and between it and the dongle, I have all my benchmarks covered.
I have excellent Bluetooth headphones that last multiple days on a single charge. You would think that makes the headphone jack just not important anymore. But I live in a neighborhood with a very satured frequency band which is so bad sometimes that the thing I'm listening to cuts out every few seconds.
Every time this happens I am so happy that I can just plug in a cable and I'm making sure this option will be available to me in future devices. Wireless is not always great.
I don't get it. This poll is largely in favor of jacks. I love my Bluetooth buds so much more. No more with I have to deal with broken wires. No more do I have to deal with moving my hand and accidentally snagging the cord, forcing my phone to the floor. No more do I have to deal with the cord creating noise as it rubs against the zipper of my jacket...
I keep my bluetooth and location off so it easier and faster to just plug in headphones. For now I'm trying to get a phone with a jack. Hope they will keep making some.
Wireless are more convenient for most use cases. I like the compactness of wireless earbuds, no tangled wires, and the charging case. I can even use just one bud at a time.
However, wired headphones have some advantages in rare use cases that wireless can't handle yet:
connecting two headsets at once so 2 people han watch a movie on a plane. Bluetooth can stream sound to only one device at a time (at least on android). With Jack you can just use a splitter
switching between devices easily. Just unplug and plug where you want it. With Bluetooth you have disconnect and reconnect.
you can easily plug it into aux without any pairing process, just plug and play. With rental cars i noticed the device memory is often full and i have to remove a device before pairing. Not as seamless as audio jack for once off uses.
I don't mind missing audio jack, but at least make usb c dongles interchangeable. Iirc you can't use the same dongles on samsung and Pixel device. I ordered one that did not work.
I use a headphone jack when I'm looking for a particular listening experience, which I have amp / DAC / etc for. If I'm using my phone to listen, I'm both not worried about sound quality, and don't want to be tethered to it by a cord.
I suppose if I were really arsed about it, I'd just get a USBC dongle. That said, I can see where that would be a hassle for people that prefer wired, and I think I've held only a couple of phones in my life that couldn't have just accommodated a headphone jack instead of saving the 1.5 cents it probably costs to leave it out.
I'll admit, my initial decision to just use wireless was more from seeing the writing on the wall; airpods sales would need to basically evaporate to get most of the manufacturers to course change at this point. Hell, the phone I'm currently using is the first I've had in years that even came with a charging brick in the box, so I'm assuming ditching the cable is next, followed by microtransactions to use various built in apps and services... like the phone dialer. Need to keep them margins infinitely expanding to appease shareholders.
Man, fuck this straw poll website. VPN voting is not allowed? I’m not even on a VPN.
In answer to your question, OP: No, it’s not a requirement for me. I would much prefer if I had one, but it’s not that important for me, I don’t often listen to music from my phone, and when I do I’m in the car, so I just play it over Bluetooth.
I'm somewhat surprised by the result if I'm honest. I have switched to wireless and won't go back at all. I do understand the use case for those who want them too but I did not realise it was such a popular request in modern phones!
That and the Lemmy demographic. Lemmy and the fediverse currently attracts folks who have rather strong feelings about the technology they use, which I won’t knock so long as they don’t give me shit for hading being tethered to my phone by a wired headphone.
That is my poor reading comprehension biting me in the arse 🤣.
I can only speak for myself but real estate on the phone is so tight now, I'd rather forgo a jack for whatever else the manufacturer squeezes in. I went from my Asus Zenfone (with a jack) to a pixel (without) and I haven't considered it a downfall. Even without, you can just pop and adapter on the end of the headphones permanently. Though, I do also recognise that it's less conveniently placed than a jack would be
Agreed. The only time I use a wire is on Delta flights with seat back entertainment. I can’t stand wires, they drive me nuts. I’ve been using Bluetooth headphones since they came out and their flexibility is unmatched.
Running on a treadmill watching tv? Done.
Watching a TV 20’ away so the sound doesn’t wake my wife? Done.
Working at a Starbucks and being able to walk to the counter for an order? Done.
Automatic start/stop and device switching? Done.
Yes they runs on batteries, but so does the rest of my life. Keeping things charged has never been an issue. I have over the ears with 24+ hours of battery life and in-ears with 6 hours. I have never had an issue with them being dead.
One reason I can see for a jack, maybe, is for audiophiles who run high end setups. But even those I think use a DAC and not the jack.
I’m not saying people don’t want the jack, I just don’t understand it. 🤷♂️
I wonder how much is a result of people just blindly clicking through not realizing they have to physically manipulate the response options to move the choice to the top. First time interacting with that site and it is an incredibly stupid user interface.
Re: headphone jacks, its 2023. If someone still demands an unshielded analog electrical connection for their headphones, I have zero sympathy for them. Its like demanding cars have a dedicated hitch to connect a horse.
People still have wired headphones that still work perfectly fine. We used to be able to use them directly with our phones. We also had the option of using wireless too if we wanted. The option was removed, so now in order to keep using some of still perfectly fine electronics with our phones, it requires adapters. That's annoying. What is the benefit to me as a consumer now that the jack is gone? Some marketing bullshit about weight or cost savings? I don't buy it. Phones are larger than ever and more expensive than ever.
I've never had a need for the headphone jack, so I didn't care one way or another when they started dissappearing. But, I can definitely see how removing such a simple and cheap port from phones would be such an issue for a lot of people. No one should be forced into replacing accessories that work perfectly for no reason, just adds to all the damned e-waste already generated.
I use wireless headphones for everything, I have a Bluetooth to aux adapter for my car, and I still won't give up my headphone jack. It's so useful when the batteries in those things die, or when you hop in a friend's car and want to play something without fiddling with Bluetooth pairing.
I'm still mad that all these major manufacturers just blindly followed Apple and took it out.
I use a Samsung galaxy note 9 which has a Jack because i want a Jack. I replaced the screen twice after it broke just not to buy a diff phone. Fyi note 10 comes without a Jack
Honestly, I hated the wire part of my wired headphones for years. I tend to listen to things while I'm doing chores around the house and I can't tell you the amount of times the cable caught on something and sent my earbuds or my phone careening to the floor. Or was forced to untangle myself from a door knob. Or forgot I had earbuds on and stood up from my desk only to throw my phone to the ground.
I went on a bit of a journey with bt headphones but eventually got a pair of Sony Linkbuds and a $30 Bluetooth thingy for my car that plugs into the aux jack, and never looked back. Every other day I plug the case in on my nightstand along with my phone. Nbd. Linkbuds don't have the best sound quality I've ever experienced in BT buds, but the comfort wins over all others.
I also recently got a pair of PineBuds Pro for $70 and man that battery case is legit. I only have to charge that beast once a week. Just waiting on someone to release a better sound profile for those things because they are BAASSSY. But beyond the bass, the potential sound quality is actually quite good. I'm looking forward to what the pine64 community does with these.
I'll also say that I have audiophile hearing (I've been tested) and I absolutely hear the difference in sound quality using BT and a good set of cans - when it comes to earbuds, the difference is negligible between wired and wireless. Given that 1. I'm more often listening to words than music from my phone and 2. The convenience, I'll go for wireless more often than not if given the option. Plus, outside of niche phones and defunct LG phones, I never saw a headphone jack that could properly drive a good set of cans. There are way more output devices I would choose over a phone to drive high quality audio.
That all said, do I think manufacturers should remove the headphone jack? No. Apple did it to sell more airpods. Everyone else did it to save a nickle on their costs. Just because I don't use it doesn't mean it should go away. If anything, there's an accessibility element. BT buds are expensive. USB-C / Lightning buds are expensive. Aux buds are cheap. And wired buds are the easiest and cheapest way for someone to get audio out of a phone or talk on the phobe without fucking holding it in the air to broadcast their conversation to the world. And for that reason, I think the jack should ABSOLUTELY come back.
I have once owned wireless earbuds. It was cool to have free head, but I was too lazy to keep recharging them like every week or so. They finally died. Or at least the case did. I have replaced the charging chip in it, but it only extended the lifespan by a few weeks. It's now unable to charge both earbuds at once. Still, better than self-heating short-circuited case.
I just don't like them overall. Battery, latency, audio cuts after a bit of silence (power saving), and at the end, more waste.
I still use Bluetooth audio, but differently. With my laptop. When working on laptop, I have my earphones connected to it. But it is more convenient to play music on my phone, so I connect my phone to laptop for audio as well. In fact, I feel like the sound card in my laptop sounds a bit better than my phone, and with laptop I can use aptX HD.
Nope. Just what comes integrated. I don't have extra money for that stuff. I don't even have a desktop, and I am not sure if there are any good USB sound cards.
I only buy phones with headphone jack. But the way things are going,these greedy manufacturers will sooner or later make it obsolete. Just like the new shitty trend of selling phone without charger in the box.
I ended up getting Bluetooth headphones when I upgraded my Pixel. I deliberated over it for AGES.
Charging them is less annoying than I thought it would be (I bought my headphones in January and have only had to charge them about 4 times??) but it annoys me that you can't just plug them in and they work. Talking to anyone on the phone using them is terrible. Bluetooth cuts out sometimes, randomly. I miss my wired headphones :(
I'm fine with the dongle because all I ever use the headphone jack for is for listening in my car (no bluetooth), so the dongle just stays on the end of the aux cord in my car.
No dongle would obviously be better, but it's a very minor inconvenience for me,
I find in the car is the most inconvenient. Having the GPS open drains the battery pretty quick on my old phone, leaving no way to drive for hours with both music and navigation.
I feel like every comment I'm reading assumes there's only two options - either headphone jack + wired headphones, or no headphone jack + Bluetooth.
I just use a USB-C dongle with a headphone jack on it. It'd be nice to have it built-in, sure, but the dongle is only a few bucks, small, doesn't really add a lot of extra stuff to carry if I'm already carrying headphones.
It's not a deal-breaker for my if a phone doesn't have a headphone jack because if it doesn't I can easily add one.
As someone who currently uses headphones throughout pretty much all his free time, yes I use wired whenever possible and my current phone was one I got because of the headphone jack. Last thing I want is to have to stop listening to whatever I'm listening to all because my bluetooth headphones need a charge.
Currently I'm stuck with a pair of shitty dollar store headphones, but they are so much better than the wireless ones I have because of just how long I can enjoy music, videos, etcetera, without needing to worry when my headphone battery needs charged. A headphone jack is extremely important to me.
It could possibly be an acceptable compromise. Though I prefer the jack to be part of the phone so that way it's one less accessory I have to worry about losing or accidentally destroying.
I would probably prefer having a headphone jack. I am using wireless buds though. The problem with them is the price. While you can get decent wired earbuds for around $100 or even slightly less you have to pay at least $300 for decent wireless ones. Seriously I tried a few, but they all sounded like absolute garbage. It's probably a cheap DAC in all of them combined with even less available space due to batteries and other electronics.
Another downside is that you can only use them for like 5 hours at a time. It is fine most of the time, but on long train rides I hit the limitation a few times.
Overall I am happy with the wireless ones, they are convenient, but it is really expensive to replace them and you have fewer choices, so having wired headsets as an option would be great.
I never tried wireless Bluetooth interfaces though and I suspect they might be better than the inbuilt jack of phones which would make them obsolete in my opinion.
I simply cannot imagine buying a phone without a headphone jack. I want as few things as possible that I need to keep the battery life of into account in my day to day life. Phones and laptops at least have display symbols for the battery life by default, I have never seen anyone in my country using cordless headphones that had some sort of indicator for how much battery charge remains in them. If some are sold in the first world then they would be out of my expense, and if there are apps available that would solve my gripe I have not encountered them. I do own a pair of my own, but I only use it in very niche circumstances for which I will have known to have charged it right beforehand, and I am lending them to family/friends more often than I am using them.
Even supposing that the battery thing wasn't an issue, the other hassles involved with going cordless (I've had to help people find them one they fall out of their ears way too many times for one lifetime) forbid me from ever even thinking about buying a phone without a headphone jack.
Also when connected, they may show battery percentage on your phone. But the ones I had didn't really understand percentage.
100% = full
90% = half discharged
80% = consider recharging
70% = dead in a few minutes
Yes I need, I use more the jack headphones than my Bluetooth ones. If I had to buy a phone this feature would come into consideration, with a heavy weight
Definitely prefer a phone with a proper jack over one without. I know there's adapters, but that's taking up the only available slot, and I don't appreciate that at all.
I've been using my Bluetooth buds for a couple of moths now, and while loving them, I don't want to be limited to only Bluetooth for my audio, be for unfortunate cases when the buds don't work, or for something as simple as having a great wired pair at hand.
I don't even want one. I was initially mad that big comoanies have such power to decide what I want for me. People always say "let the market decide" but the decisions really do come from the top and are often cynical as fuck. But no, I don't really want one.
I'd rather ditch the phone entirely than switch to one without a headphone jack. Too long to explain, but I have a thing against wireless, a thing against corporations making decisions for me, and a thing against phones in general.
I strongly prefer there to be a port. I mostly use Bluetooth headsets, but sometimes your battery runs out, or you really want to use your super nice plug-in noise canceling headphones. It's better to have the option.
I use it, and would pick it over not having one for sure. It's not the end of the world for me. I can use wired head phones till the foam falls apart, and even then you can get new muffs, but bluetooth ones just die on me at some point and the pain of repair is pretty high compared to how much I care.
I've managed to avoid giving up the headphone jack, using a Pixel 5a right now. Although when I eventually have to get my next phone I have a feeling there might not be many choices left with the headphone jack.
Wish it did. My Airpods I was gifted died (I am not an Apple user and only used them because they were free), and I bought an inexpensive amazon replacement but it turns out they're so sensitive that the slightest adjustment of the earbud in my ear turns the sound off but very firm tapping does not turn it back on. It's so annoying and I have great wired headphones.
I use wireless headphones. However, I like to have non-distracting background music at work (open-plan office), and I won't put my personal files (music) on a company-owned laptop. So I run a wire from my phone's headphone jack to the laptop line-in, and can thus play music without any mixing of data.
I voted wrong. Didn’t realize you had to drag. Oh well. I’m indifferent. Haven’t used one for years, but there are a few times it would have been useful
I have too many pairs of headphones and have been buying more wired ones rather than Bluetooth as they just don't last as long (they are convenient, I'll admit).
The 3.5mm Jack is just so handy to have ratger than a dongle (SD card for storing all the music helps too).
I have a jack. I do use it on occasion. But man some of you really, really hate Bluetooth.
It's not THAT bad. Maybe your phones just have a really shitty transmitter/receiver? Sure, it's not as good as it can get with a jack.
But I also don't want to have wires hanging while running or biking. Being able to change volume and songs without picking up my phone from pocket is also very convenient.
I still want a jack in my phone. But I really don't get the extreme hate on Bluetooth. It's not 2005 anymore. Bluetooth technology has progressed.
Not all, in fact most, of the higher quality headphones that justify the inconvenience of the cables won’t have those in-line controls. I know not everyone uses wired because it’s better quality (privacy is a legitimate concern) but that’s the only reason I ever did, and none of my good headphones had in-line controls.
There’s also the fact that in-line controls create another opportunity for sound quality degradation, and my own searching suggests that it almost always has a negative impact on the overall sound quality of a pair of headphones.
Barring privacy concerns, I really don’t see the inconvenience of always having to deal with a cable as being lesser than having to periodically make sure my AirPods are charged. If I used them for 8+ hours a day, I would probably feel differently though.
The big issue for me is that there is any disadvantage between generations. My current 5 year old flagship has a headphone jack, expandable storage, and support for Bluetooth 5.0 which is all that most devices need. The only new phones that still have all 3 are cheap budget phones that lack in other areas compared to the one I already have.
I felt the same way. I recently broke my LG V20 and had to "upgrade" to a newer phone, and nothing felt like it was actually better in terms of features than my phone from 7 years ago
Sony WH-1000XM5 (which I use in both wired and Bluetooth modes)
Galaxy Fold 4
MacBook Air M1
These are all fairly recent devices, with the Sony one being the most recent headphones in it's series, running the latest firmware too, which was released last month.
Now here are my issues:
- Fold 4: When I get a call on Google Meet or Duo and I turn on my headphones, the audio doesn't work. I have to disconnect the call, close the app, and reconnect for it to work.
- MacBook: Similar thing happens with Microsoft Teams. In this case though, my headphones is already paired with my MacBook and connected, so I fire up Teams (from scratch) and dial in to a meeting. You'd expect it to work fine right, but the audio doesn't work, even though Teams detects my headphones as the output device. I have to turn my headphones off and on during the call (or reboot my MacBook) for it to work properly.
I can reproduce these issues consistently. I'm not a 100% sure if it's an issue with my Sony headphones, but the point is, all these products that I've listed are fairly recent and fairly expensive, and I deserve a better user experience. Bluetooth has indeed come a long way, and at least for me, audio quality isn't really an issue, but the fact that these sort of connectivity issues are still occurring on recent, premium devices, is unacceptable.
Those all sound like software issues from Sony on their headset, rather than limitations of Bluetooth. I have a pair of BOSS that is connected to both my laptop and phone at the same time, and the switch between them is seemless.
Listen to music on phone. Pause, go to laptop. Put on a video on YouTube. And it instantly switches to my laptop for sound.
Be on a call on discord from my phone while I'm out. Get home, enter the call from laptop, and boom. Automatically switched from phone to laptop and I don't have to change a single setting.
Sorry you have a bad experience with SONY. But I can assure you. It's not a Bluetooth problem. It's a SONY problem.
That's not a Bluetooth problem. It's a device problem. Google wrote shitty software.
I got some boss headphones and Jabra earbuds. Never had any of those problems with my devices. Not even when switching between devices. The boss is always connected to both my laptop and phone. And the switch between which one it should use is seemless and pain-free. But like I said. It's a question about software rather than protocol.
I don't hate bluetooth. I hate not having the headphone jack. Bluetooth headphones are nice but don't cover all use cases. It doesn't have to be a one or the other thing. Especially when they aren't adding anything additional on the phones that don't have a headphone jack. They're just cutting features. The phones aren't even cheaper for it.
I agree. I want a jack on my phone. I probably use Bluetooth 9/10 times. But that 1/10 I'm really glad I got a jack. It's fine if the phone has to be a little bit thicker to fit a jack... use the extra space for a larger battery while you're at it.
Not sure when I'll buy a new phone. Still using a Galaxy S10. But if it doesn't have a jack. I'm not interested. And give me access to a SD memory card too. Fuck internal storage.
I really like that bluetooth devices can still work at distances farther than a typical cable would allow. I have a decently-sized studio apartment and I can see my computer screen from most places. It's nice to continue watching a video as I move around the apartment to clean, get up to stretch, play with my cat, etc.
You could probably get wired headphones that long, but then you'd be dealing with that giant cable all the time. Or you'd have to constantly swap cables and interrupt the audio during that time. My AirPods work reliably from 15ft away. I can't argue with that convenience.
I live in a 3 bedroom 1000sqft house and walk around with my AirPods on between rooms no problem. I’d need a 100’+ cable to have that type of freedom with wired. Range is unparalleled between the two.
That said, this is a phone we’re talking about which is quite easy to bring with me between rooms, and even if I’d prefer to be charging my phone there’s a high likelihood I’d be going back to my desk shortly anyway since I predominantly use my AirPods while I’m working.
It's better than it was, but it still isn't great. I would rate Bluetooth as tolerable now, and sometimes frustrating depending on the devices being used.
Wired has a charm of simplicity that is unrivaled. Dependable, quick and easy to use.
The hanging wires were the #1 reason why I always cracked the screen of my phone. I would hold it in my hand and listening to something and then one wrong swing with my arm and the phone was on the floor with a cracked screen. Since I switched to bluetooth headphones it has literary stopped happening, I have not cracked any screen in the last 5 years.
I remember that. But with portable CD players... mom was not happy when I broke the second one after accidentally sending it to the ground by getting caught in the cable.
My phone doesn't have a headphone jack but even before they started disappearing I rarely used them anyway, much prefer wireless
I'm of the probably unpopular opinion around here that the less cables and IO I need the better, will often transfer large files over lan on WiFi rather than plug in because often in the time I've found a cable, plugged in, set the right USB mode, found the file on my phone's filesystem and transferred it the slightly longer wireless transfer would be done
Have a ThinkPad which has a ton of IO, but I think a couple thunderbolt/PD ports, a usb port and maybe an ethernet port if you do lots of fiddling with networking are plenty
Oh micro SD on the inside of phones too someone else made a point about that but that's more an upgradability/maintainability thing imo
A lot of phones are still limited to USB 2.0 speeds anyway and wireless won't be all that much slower and could potentially be faster.
Not supporting microSD annoys me a lot too. Especially on some phones that still have a dual SIM slot but don't support microSD on one of them. It's not even space at that point.
I do totally agree with your wireless mentality, i do the same with my mouse, keyboard, xbox controller, etc.
However, when it comes to headphone audio, i will always prefer wired, mainly for the better audio quality.
But... i have tried various bluetooth headphones in the past, and while the audio quality is decent enough, but everything else falls apart:
Battery won't even last 3 hours, and the battery meter on the phone is always wrong, (and i really don't want to keep an eye on the battery of THE device that makes everyday life bearable).
The buds themselves are either uncomfortable or fall too easily.
I went farther than 3 meters? Too bad, connection lost!
This is entirely dependant on what kind of headphones you buy though, if you buy nice ones they work just as well as wired
My over-ear headphones last a day of constant use and have a hot swappable backup battery (they also have a receiver for my PC) and can go anywhere in my flat with them without it cutting out
Earbuds I've got last most of a day and have a charging case that lasts weeks, similar range to the over ear ones
Both of which are very good sound quality (though the over ear ones are better when using 2.4ghz rather than Bluetooth), the same or better better than wired ones I've had before of similar price
If you're looking for good wireless buds try jabra elite 65t, those are the ones I've been using though they're a few generations behind at this point
Heck yeah, rocking the Sony Xperia with the headphone jack as a big selling point for me, alongside the lack of notch etc. I use it most days with my Apple ear buds coupled with wavelet auto eq. Genuinely sound great and subtle enough to feel comfortable with them in public. I have a pair of wh1000-xm3s In my bag but I go for them far less often.
My fold 4 doesn't have one, and it's a huge pain in the ass, since literally every other device I have has one. Even my 2021 car has one.
On a plane? Forgot my dongle at home. In a friend's car? It doesn't work, all they have is 3.5mm and then a lightning cord. Can't even use it at home with my noise cancelling or opened backed headphones.
It's the most annoying part of this device. It came bundled with the bad Samsung bluetooth earbuds, which helpfully developed a click in one of the earbuds less than one year into ownership. They retail for about $300, laughably.
You can also get 90 degree angled headphone plugs which don't stick out much at all. Mskes me less worried when i have my phone in my pocket and I'm walking around.
As for 90 degree usb-c headphone adapters... nowhere to be found.
Yes yes two thousand times yes, Why would I have to worry about charging one more device if a cable can deliver ten times the quality at the same price?
Until reading this question, I completely forgot head phone jacks used to be a thing in phones.
In love my first gen AirPods and JBL over the ear wireless headphones. The battery lasts forever, and they easily switch between my devices.
I love not having cords!
In my car I just connect with wireless CarPlay and charge wirelessly as well.
I just got a new phone that doesn't have it, and I very strongly miss it. I hate having to charge wireless devices. Everything that I can, I get wired.
Doesn't help much that lately it's been getting harder and harder to find good compact wired earphones, most companies pivoted to wireless... And of those that I find, most are the in-ear type with that rubber tip you squeeze deep into your ear... I also don't like that. Guess I'll have to move to over-ears for everything.
I'm not sure what compact wired earphones that aren't earbuds could be but um... they have these things, search for earbud ear hook. Maybe they could be a solution for you?
Since I have to use wireless, I did find myself a pair of those for my new phone. Still waiting for them to ship, though. Over the ear hooks are pretty nice, I used to really like them years ago when they were more common, before the damn rubber in-ears.
I finally tried a little Bluetooth amp and found my wired earphones sound better than they ever did plugged into the phone directly. Couldn't hear an improvement when plugging into the usb port and using as a usb DAC. So i guess the high quality ldac codec must be kinda good.
Would still prefer the 3.5mm option of course - much more useful for aux out.
Yes. I use my headphone jack at least 3 times a week for 4 hours at a time went I'm on dialysis.
Plus for home listening I have a nice pair of over ear headphones which I run off a mobile DAC/AMP which connects to the phone via 3.5mm aux cable.
I won't buy a phone if it doesn't have a headphone jack. Hence my previous phone was an LG30 and my current is a Sony Xperia 10iii.
I once tried using Bluetooth in ear headphones at dialysis and the damn thing fell out of my ear and onto the floor. Had to leave it there for hours until I was unhooked from the machine. Thank goodness the cleaner never came to sweep otherwise it would be lost forever.
With wired this is not a problem, neither is forgetting to charge them since they don't need charging.
No, and I don't miss it at all.
I've used BT headphones even when my last two devices had jacks and wouldn't want to go back.
Prior to that, I can't count the number of times I would snag the wires on something or get them tangled in some way.
Now I use my BT bone conduction headphones everywhere.
I greatly prefer it. Basically all high quality headphones are wired only... and even an equivalent wireless headphone is more expensive and more stuff to carry (gotta carry those charging cases with them). Just give me my damn port.
As someone who currently uses headphones throughout pretty much all his free time, yes I use wired whenever possible and my current phone was one I got because of the headphone jack. Last thing I want is to have to stop listening to whatever I'm listening to all because my bluetooth headphones need a charge.
Currently I'm stuck with a pair of shitty dollar store headphones, but they are so much better than the wireless ones I have because of just how long I can enjoy music, videos, etcetera, without needing to worry when my headphone battery needs charged. A headphone jack is extremely important to me.
My phone (Pixel 6) doesn't have one but I wish it did. I still use an aux cord to listen in my car or to plug into my amplifier when I practice on headphones, so I have to use 3.5mm to USB-C converter dongles. I also can't charge my phone while using an aux cable now which is annoying.
I mean, why in the world with someone at all concerned about security want a way to listen to their phone without the chance of someone listening in because of bluetooth?
I use my audio jack in my car. The car has Bluetooth but only supports calls, no support for music.
Another point to make is that people here are saying wireless headphones are just as good as wired ones nowadays, but I don't think that applies to cheap ones.
Nowadays I very rarely use headphones with my phone out in public, so I don't see much purpose in spending money on a good pair for myself. I bought a cheap set of wireless ones awhile ago and they're terrible. They always struggle to connect to my phone and they have abysmal range, it struggles if my phone is sitting next to me rather than in my hands. I find any pair of cheap wired headphones you can get from any corner shop or supermarket is way cheaper and much more reliable than most cheap wireless ones.
My phone (Pixel 7) does not have one. On occasion I use a pair of wired USB-C headphones but only for media. I do not use headphones for calls. Bluetooth in the car for calls and YouTube Music.
I don't care about the headphone jack. Bluetooth earbuds are super convenient, and when I want higher quality I plug in a Fiio BTR5 to the USB-C port and use that to power good headphones. Way better than a built in dac/amp would be.
I do not use mine, because if I want to listen to something in public, I just save it for later, when I'm home. Then I can play it at whatever volume I want.
Back when I went to the gym before covid, I had a dedicated music device I used for music, not my phone.
I much prefer wireless headphones, because I keep breaking every plug. I even tried soldering them, but that ended in a catastrophe lol. That being said, I recently lost my wireless pair and had to pick my old K450. Now I'm grateful that I picked a phone with a headphone jack. I wasn't even checking if it has one while buying.
It's preferred, but not a requirement. There are plenty of cheap usb-c to 3.5 headphone jack adapters available. My current phone has a headphone jack though.
I missed it until I got AirPods. Now I got the pro ones and they’re amazing. I also use BT receivers if I want to plug to a stereo system or something like that.
I want it and use it and therefore got a S10+ just bc it's Samsung last flagship that featured it. What's even more annoying, that my 10" tablet hasn't got one there is absolutely no shortage in space on that device why you had to drop it.
I have it but I have never used it. I've been using my Galaxy note 9 user since December 2018. I have active noice cancelling headphones for most scenarios and true wireless earphones for gym.
No, I really enjoy my shokz bone conduction headphones for general work calls, audiobooks, chores, running, etc. It's like I simply have the audio in my head.
They are Bluetooth and last all day, sometimes multiple if I'm not in meetings all day. They are waterproof, I can even swim with them.
Honestly running got me away from wired headphones the most
I used to be quite hardline on this, however now I use a portable DAP (Hiby R5 Gen 2) for my music. It has a class A amplifier, balanced output, a Terabyte of storage, and streams Qubuz Hi-Res. So I don't use my phone now.
it depends on the activity. if i'm walking or running i prefer bluetooth, otherwise the chord will get tangled and my ear buds will get yanked out of my ears, or my phone will fall on the pavement and break. that shit always happens to me. if i'm sitting down then i prefer wired because i don't want to worry about the battery dying and bluetooth doesn't add to my experience.
I have had exclusively Bluetooth headphones for almost a decade at this point. I keep a backup pair of wired usb-c earbuds in my glove box in case I don't foresee needing my wireless buds.
Controversial take - sometimes you've just got to adapt to the times. I'll never forgive everyone for removing SD expansion in phones, because there's absolutely no replacement except "buy our expensive cloud storage and own nothing ever!" or "spend SIGNIFICANTLY MORE THAN THE ACTUAL COST OF FLASH STORAGE to increase your onboard storage!" which are both unacceptable. But wireless headphones are perfectly acceptable. If I want an audiophile experience, I'm absolutely not using my phone anyways.
I use bluetooth earbuds for work - I used wired buds up until this job, but I ended up constantly ripping them out of my ear by accident, UUUUGGGGHHHHHH. But I would still be using wired if I could. My husband also uses wireless earbuds at work, but needs a headphone jack to play music through his ancient work truck. He had an adapter while he had a phone w/o a jack, but then he couldn't charge his phone while listening to music. I know there are splitters out there, but we didn't end up buying one, and he just replaced his phone with a new one that includes a headphone jack.
I'm probably the odd one out, and I used to be infuriated by the idea that my phone didn't have a headphone jack, but I got used to not having it.
I only use wireless headphones now, and I have a USB-C adapter I can use in case I do want to use an aux port. Have been tempted to buy some decent "Chi-Fi" wired earphones, I do miss higher quality sound.
I wish my tablet had a headphone jack. I have to use an adapter but I would want one on there by default. I haaaaate bluetooth headphones. Too much delay. And no, I don't have a phone.
I stopped using wired headsets loooong before they started taking them off...my HP iPaq had Bluetooth and my iPod didn't--that's when I bought my first Bluetooth headset.
I thought I did and was so against manufacturers removong them. Until I got Airpods. So much better. Perfect ear fit like no other. No cable mess. Instant auto connect between devices. I can ping them. And they’ve held up longer than any cable headphones as well, whose cables always break. And they get tangled. I’ve had the Airpods for three years now and they still hold battery for a full day use for me. Charging them fully takes like 15 minutes.
I’m sure there are similarly good headphones for other brands, this is just my own experience with Airpods.
In case I must have a cable for some reason I can plug in a tiny 3,5mm adapter through the charging port. So that’s not a problem either.
Also the phone has better water and dust resistance with one port less.
The relationship I have work my phone is that I don't necessarily have a phone that I can use as a music player, as much as I have a music player/internet device that I can call with.
I bought a used phone and needed good low light camera for documentation of network closets, so I had to compromise on the wish for a headphone jack. Now I got an adapter that I use at home to use my headphones for calls. On the go I have noise cancelling equipment that uses bluetooth anyway. It would still be more handy to have the jack built in.
Pretty much any smart phone should be able to do this with software, really - it’s all just a factor of ISO (light sensitivity) and exposure time, and pretty much every phone sensor can have an absurdly high ISO.
I don't know enough about the details of dynamic ranges of the sensors etc to dispute the point that they should all be able to do that. You could be right for all I know.
I agree that the software seems to play a big part. And it looks to me like Google is still offering the best camera software on Android, so I ended up buying a used Pixel 6 in the end. With the additional hope of it being open and popular enough that I'll enjoy many years of Lineage OS or similar once official support stops.
I bought a new smartphone a few months back and I didn't realize it doesn't have a headphone jack until recently. That was the first instance when I wanted to use it. But it turned out that BT was supported in that case too.
I absolutely see how removing jack is a problem for some people, but there is also a significant group which couldn't care less. I haven't used wired headphones in years.
Admittedly I tend to always see as a bad thing whenever I see phone models without headphone jacks, that said for the last five years I've been using phones without headphone jacks and using the wired headphones they came with is enough for the few times I need to use them.
Mine doesn't have a headphone jack but Xiaomi did provide a Type C to Headphone jack adapter in the box. It would have been better to have it embedded in the phone itself. But now, what happens is I don't use the phone while it's charging. So good enough for me.
I haven’t used wired since around 2013, and would have switched to jack-less if available at that time. I don’t understand the “anti-consumer” theories around their removal. Most people who end up buying phones without jacks end up buying BT headphones from a manufacturer other than the phone one. Unless you think there’s a conspiracy where Sony and Bose are giving kickbacks to Samsung and Apple…
I am once again telling you to use an adapter or external dac.
Not as someone who only uses bt headphones, but as someone who owns more sets of wired headphones than almost everyone itt.
Stop relying on a dac included as an afterthought. Stop relying on a port that was never designed for pocket use and routinely tears the end off your $300 senhausers.
Not like you even notice it's there with wired headphones.
You can even get one that charges and plays at the same time, yes it's a little bulky, but if you're charging and have wired headphones it's always going to be bulky.
Because I do notice it, and it's an extra thing to carry around and keep track of. It adds two extra inflexible hard points in my pocket which are kind of annoying. Right angle headphone plugs exist to reduce the protrusion of the plug in your pocket, and the USB C headphone dongles don't do that.
An extra part to fail and cause issues, get lost when rummaging around. Why would anyone want to walk around with an extra part when it used to just be included
I seriously don't get people justifying the adapter. But I guess it's a non issue for them and how they use the device.
I haven’t missed having a headphone Jack on my phone for at least 10 years. I’m perfectly happy with the performance of my AirPods and other Bluetooth headphones when I’m on the go.
Fidelity on the go isn’t a concern for me as long as it’s ‘good enough’. All the ambient issues makes high fidelity pointless imo when I’m anywhere but home, where I’ve got my real audio setup.
With the jack-to-lighning adapter that came with my iPhone I can easily use my wired headphones those 2 times of the year. The rest of the time, my phone is a tiny bit smaller that it otherwise would be.