[POLL] Do you use/require a headphone jack on your phone?
[POLL] Do you use/require a headphone jack on your phone?
Alternatively, if your current phone doesn't have a headphone jack, do you wish it did?
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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!
It sucks when headphones run out of battery, especially on a long trip
My earbuds have 8 hrs of playtime, and the case has like 4 complete recharges in it. The limiting factor on a trip by far is my phone battery.
I don't have any with replaceable batteries but I do have the option to connect the jack when batteries are dead.
I don't have any with replaceable batteries either? Not sure what you are getting at here.
You said you have a case with recharges? Not sure what else that means
Yes, the case has its own built in rechargable battery that can recharge the buds while they are in it. It does not have removable batteries (unless you want to get real technical about "removing" the earbuds with their own batteries). It's pretty much a standard feature of earbuds today.
Ok, makes sense
Yeah but that costs a lot, meanwhile I have quite a few wired headphones laying around that solve the issue altogether without costing me a kidney
It's because the question is attracting mainly people who've already got a bee in their bonnet about headphone jacks.
Most people don't even think about it because they went Bluetooth years ago.
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.
It's not surprising because OP asked two questions. (Poor Poll)
Does your phone have a jack?
Do you want your phone to have a jack?
So everyone with an old phone is going to say yes
And then on top of that why wouldn't you want a jack in a hypothetical situation. People always going to want more.
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. 🤷♂️
Same. I’m just happier with wireless and I have a nice pair of wired headphones. Wireless is just more freeing.
Wireless has always been an option. Having the headphone jack doesn't mean the Bluetooth module gets removed.
But it does mean a half cubic centimeter of space in my device that I'll never use.
Ok? That space ain't getting used by other shit when you remove the jack y'k.
Not when I remove it. But it allows the manufacturer to reassess the locations and sizes of everything, which in the end saves space.
Really? Because so far despite removing consumer choice the phones have been getting bigger rather than more efficiently using their space. Also you just use the screen, I don't recall a screen having to make way for a tiny headphone jack. In fact I don't really see any benefits coming from freeing up that little space. Not that I can verify that for myself since that would mean being able to open my phone more than once and therefore being able replace the battery and repair my phone and we can't have that because it would hurt the bottom line of small mom n pop businesses like Apple or Samsung.
A headphone jack is certainly not such a big deal in terms of space that it warrants removing it at the expense of consumer choice just because redballoon here wants an extra cm³ inside their phone to be empty.
That has nothing to do with what I was responding to though.
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.
Sympathy? What a dumb take.
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.
There's half an argument to be made about waterproofing, but it kinda falls flat when the waterproofing we get isn't that good.
"This phone is IP68 rated!"
Oh cool, so I can go swimming with it and take it into the shower?
"Haha, no."
Great, so glad we gave up a ton of features for this.
Don't let yourself be gaslit by anti right to repair and apple propaganda. We had a smartphone with removable battery and headphone jack that you could swim with, it has been done. The water resistance argument does not hold water, at all.
That and headphone jacks were able to be made waterproof pretty easily too. It does introduce a new area for potential incursion, but it’s pretty minimal for the vast majority of users.
How is a cheap adaptor for your legacy headphones any more annoying than literally being tethered by a cable attached to your head connected to an object in your pocket? You ask what the benefit is as a consumer. Simple: not having a cable wired around your body. You’re championing an out dated, superfluous connector just ‘cause you’re used to its objective inconvenience.
You can still use wireless even if other people use wired. Less options is worse for the consumer, full stop.
Counterpoint: products having to maintain a wide array of specialized connectors where one connector can perform every needed task is bad for the consumer as they are then required to own the specialized products for those specific connectors. Full stop. No one seems to be bothered by the fact that computers no longer have PS/2 ports for mice and keyboards. Oh but “loo loo loo now I have to get a new mouse when I have a perfectly good one here!” It’s been nearly a decade since 1/8th inch jacks were depreciated from mobile devices. Just get some wireless headphones, or some usb-c / lightning wired headphones.
Yeah! I want my PS2 and my 15 pin D-Sub connections so I can use my trackball mouse and CRT monitor with my phone. Giving me those options doesn't take anything away from anyone else!
the consumer as they are then required to own the specialized products for those specific connectors
No they're fucking not. If you want to use USB-C or wireless you still can in a phone that still allows perfectly functioning headphones/hardware to operate.
In fact on the opposite it's removing the connectors that forces people to either get adapters or new shit, which is exactly why companies remove them: so they can sell you those shits for profit. They don't do it for your or anyone's convenience in fact it's inconvenient and unsustainable.
As a consumer, I could already use wireless headphones when phones still had headphones jacks. As a consumer I had the choice if I wanted to be inconvenienced by a cable, or inconvenienced by having yet another thing to charge that is easy to lose.
And you have the absolute wrong take here. Nobody in this argument has ever said we only want the ability to use wired. We absolutely understand the convenience of wireless headphones. But by removing the jack, the option to choose was removed.
You are championing essentially making perfectly good headphones obsolete or requiring extra adapters in favor of something that we already had the option to use before anyways.
This has never been a situation where only one could exist at a time.
I used wireless headphones for a while, then went back to wired because:
- wireless headphones cost a lot more and break more easily. Ain't no way a 70€ wireless crap that breaks after 1 or 2 years better than the years old wired ones that still work.
- "Battery low! Charge the unit now!" Is not what I want to hear coming from my headphones during a long day out walking/biking
- the audio quality is significantly better on wired than wireless
- the wireless ones can be lost easily
The only real advantage wireless has over wire is not having to have your phone on you and the wire getting stuck in stuff. But for the first case you still have to be fairly close and the occasions when I don't have my phone in my pocket are too rare to bother and the second case I just tuck the cable under my clothes or backpacks strap if I am really worried about that minor inconvenience.
The only complaint I have about my current wired headphones is that they use USB-C instead of the jack and it annoys me because I then have to choose between charging my phone or listening to stuff instead of doing both. Or use them for my laptop.
That exact thing happened to me lol. So there’s at least one wrong vote in there due to the UI.