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Comment by git-pull | Hacker News Reader

I'm a new bluetooth headset adopter. I've been growing increasingly keen with them:

You can grab them on Amazon for $20 to $50.

- SoundPEATS Bluetooth headphones is $19.99 with Amazon Prime. Some hiccups on this one with connecting. I keep this one as a backup when battery runs out.

- Phaiser BHS-730 works like a charm. $39.99 with Amazon Prime. Nice magnet feature that allows you to wear the unit around your neck when not using it.

They work with your smartphone and your laptop.

So the major downside? These things run out of battery power after 4-5 hours on average. This sucks because you're typically using them on the go.

Hopefully more people using bluetooth will result in future headphones with improved battery life.

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So your solution here is to hope that battery life improves, rather than using the already present, more widely supported an almost objectively better solution of headphones jacks?

My wired headphones don't run out of battery and drain a tiny amount of power from my phone - far less than bluetooth.

> They work with your smartphone and your laptop.

You mean like my wired ones do? With the added benefit of better audio quality?

I relied on wired headphones for a long time.

The problem is smart phones are beginning to ditch these ports: it's not just the article, the iPhone is the latest device to get rid of the headphone jack. (Though you can get an adapter)

Over time though, I learned to manage dealing with wired headphones. Even in tricky situations. The best compromise for me was headphones that allowed the wire to disconnect from the headset with enough force (and potentially be replaced). https://i.imgur.com/Ud1e6QU.jpg

I gave bluetooth headphones a try since I used RS 185, sold them, and sennheiser bluetooth over ears (which I sold). Then, there were $20.00 bluetooth headphones on Amazon. So what the hay, gave it a shot?

The sound quality was decent. Not having to worry about leaving your seat with wires was also pleasant. Especially if you switch headphones between laptop and phones often, you can lose orientation.

So, while I used to have cynicism of bluetooth headphones, I gave them a shot with $19.99 headphones and was pleasantly surprised.

Or, you know, learn to route a cable through your clothes and then there's one less battery to be concerned with.

Outside of the RIDICULOUSLY narrow and short-sighted use-case of "I want to listen to the tunes on my phone" and a few other like scenarios, bluetooth headsets are is absolutely USELESS for anything else.

Not justifying the removal of the headphone jack by any means, but bluetooth earphones (good ones) are amazing when it comes to running, working out, skiing, biking etc. when you don't want to deal with wires running through your clothes.

I use my Bluetooth earbuds and headphones to listen to music and podcasts on my phone, my tablet, and my laptop, and to connect to my TV to watch movies or play games late at night when my roommate is sleeping. I use them at the gym, where having a cable get in the way could be a problem. I also use them to make phone calls when my hands are occupied. They work wonderfully for all these uses. I'd say that covers a lot of peoples' needs, though it sounds like it may not cover yours.

So instead of buying headphones for about $5 which last as long as your phone does, has no connection issus, and can be kept plugged in so it won't get lost, I have to spend $30 for something which is easy to lose and needs to be kept charged (and no, there's no way a little ear piece will have as big of a battery as my phone, and besides for which, I can keep my phone plugged in during the day at work).

And for what?

I forgot to add:

I went through maybe 10? in-ear headphones over 5 years.

Those things break all the time. And boy does it get annoying and expensive to replace these things:

- Sennheiser CX300-B In-Ear Stereo Headphone

- Sennheiser CX 400 In-Ear Headphone (Black) - 4 of these

- Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones (Black)

- Many Sony headphones from the corner store :P

It's been maybe a year, with bluetooth headphones, my first bluetooth in-ear headphones still work. Maybe because there's less stress on the ear piece-wiring connection? I don't know.

Maybe I wasn't gentle enough with them, had bad luck, or got bad products. I don't know.

Also I forgot to mention how lame it is when the headphone jack itself on the laptop wears down or breaks. And you have to take the whole unit in for repair.

I look forward to never having to worry about that again :P

Personally, I never really invested money into them. I found that the moderately expensive ones break just as often as the cheap ones, but even if you break a $2 pair twice a year, that's $4 a year. To pay off a $20 piece, it'll take you five years of breaking earpieces without losing or braking your Bluetooth.

And no one is saying that Bluetooth is _bad_ and should be banned. We're just complaining that a usable and ergonomic technology is going away.

The trick is to buy headphones with replaceable wires so you don't have to buy new headphones, just new wires.

So what you are basically saying is: they are shit?

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