I'm a single-issue voter when it comes to cell phones - if it doesn't have a headphone jack, I won't be buying it.
I use my Airpods on my android phone, and they're pretty nice for when I'm doing housework and working around the shop. When I'm at work, I plug in my plantronics headset for conference calls, and my regular cans when I'm listening to music. Airpods don't have the stamina to keep up with a long day of work, nor the sound quality I want - they are a compromise device.
I don't really care about this debate too much anymore, since it seems that a few good manufacturers are still clued in that this is an actual need that a lot of people have (I've been using a Moto G5, and now I'm using an S9). But it is odd to still pushing the claim that "everyone got over it" with regards to headphone jacks - I never got over it, and I continue to vote with my wallet.
If you find it such a hassle to use compatible headphones are carry an adapter, of course there's nothing wrong with you choosing for phone purchases accordingly. But I think it's pretty clear that most people either never run into the hassle at all, or aren't bothered by the fact that they need to choose compatible headphones or carry an adapter.
I want a really large screen as well. The Galaxy Note 10 has everything I want, except the damn headphone jack!!!
It's not impossible to get by without one, but personally I don't have the soldering skills to replace a modern battery (parts are just a bit smaller than I trust myself with) so that's going to be a repair charge when my current phone's battery wears down in a year or so. No reason to replace the whole phone at that point, it still runs great and does everything I need it to do. Why waste the money?
The $9 lightning to 3.5mm dongle has worked perfectly for me, as has my USB-c to 3.5mm dongle.
Is this something people actually do in any situation except low-power emergencies?
One of my cars only has an AUX jack.
Remember, if you're not into conspicuous consumption, then you just aren't suited to be an Apple customer.
Of course, the problem with all this is when other phone makers ape Apple by copying some of these features, somehow thinking they'll gain the cultish customer base that Apple enjoys by doing so.
If you say that the battery is a little bigger because the internals of the phone didn't need to accommodate a headphone jack, does that make you feel any better? How often do you use not-your-regular-headphones (which would just have dongle on them permanently) vs using the battery down to the final 10%?
I've never seen a phone where the battery extended down to near the headphone jack.
If I put a dongle permanently on my headphones, how do I use them on another device that has a standard 3.5mm jack?
Thickness is only an issue for Apple fans. No one else actually cares if a device is 0.2mm thicker.
In any case, I fundamentally agree that it's not worth the tradeoff; I use an iPhone 5S and find it perfectly serviceable (and charmingly small and light). But some people do value those things, and/or only use wireless headphones or headphones with a single device.
[1]:https://strangeparts.com/bringing-back-the-iphone-headphone-...
Then Apple came out with a phone without a headphone jack and they just dropped the head phone jack from all of their worthwhile phones. I was a regular Sony buyer for years because of them being waterproof, but reluctantly had to switch last year to Samsung when my Sony phone was stolen.
That’s how you end up with Homer cars. Get rid of the legacy junk and streamline on useful features I say.
The iPhone 7 and newer are just designed like Eva from wall-e because "fuck compatibility, buy proprietary wireless to solve everything"
Legacy junk is the stuttering, disconnects, game audio latency and shit that bluetooth still is to this day. Analog audio has no such problems! Using bluetooth only makes the wire longer by using radio frequency but you spend more energy maintaining and error correcting this much worse connection.
Yes you could use lightning headphones but how cucked is that? Buying headphones specially for the port that only exists on your phone?
[0] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/09/analog-last-defense-ag...
Honestly this article is pretty weak and relies entirely on speculation of what Apple might do in the future.
Since Bluetooth doesn't offer anything that I consider advantageous, those two faults mean that bluetooth earphones are seriously inferior to me.
Dongles are a nonstarter for me, for all of the obvious reasons.
No dongles, no Bluetooth, no wireless. Everything you ask for.
for the moment I'm going to try out using a bt receiver (just bought a fiio btr3 a few days ago) and when the battery goes i can just switch back to 3.5mm instead of having to wait half an hour for bt headphones to charge back up which is such a daft idea when you consider the price of them
However, I gave up on that fight years ago - I use AirPods (and BT in general) for my audio. Other than CarPlay (which is also lightning connector).
That's just like, your opinion, man. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but bluetooth kind of sucks. If I have two devices that just stay paired together forever, it seems to work fine. But if there's ever any change, I usually have to spend 30-60 seconds fucking around and turning BT on and off, or re-pairing, or selecting output devices or something. Wired headphones are simple, don't need recharging, and they work when I want them to. So much like non-smart-light-bulbs, I do think sometimes 1990-style things are better. And I don't think I'd use the word "lug" to describe carrying something that weighs an ounce or less.
At the end of the day phones pretty much all do the exact same thing. There are little differences to form factor and different camera quality and all that.
But none of that will make any difference to your life for 90%+ of people. You don't need the best camera ever for your snapshots. And you don't need the fastest mobile processor to check your email.
I don't want to repeat that experience
Then there's the sheer inconvenience of carrying it around. I only have three things in my pockets: wallet, phone, keys. It takes less than a second to ensure that I have all three of those things on me. If I now have to dig past my wallet to the bottom of my pocket to make sure a little dongle is in there, that is dramatically worse.
All I want now is more than one USB input! That works as headphone jack anyway.
They'll have to pry the QWERTY keypad and headphone jack[1] from my cold, dead hands...or stop Android security updates.
[1] https://blackberrymobile.com/us/product/blackberry-key2/
with bluetooth it's not a great comparison since the only improvement is that you don't have to deal with annoying cables anymore but everything else is a step back:
they cost more. you have to charge them. the battery will degrade over time to a point where they will be unuseable while headphones from 20 years ago will work just fine. even if the battery lasts you might run into compatability issues at some point in the future (different bt versions etc). they drain more battery from your phone. they have connection issues. they are awkward to pair to new devices. you cant share your music with someone sitting next to you.
Wireless charging is also essential, because I've had too many worn out or damaged USB jacks.
I’ve been through the obsolescence of floppy disks, cassette tapes, optical media/drives, DB9 serial ports, parallel printer ports, composite video, RCA audio jacks, VGA and countless other display output jacks, yet this silly 3.5mm headphone jack is the one that’s turned people so ridiculously mad! So unbelievable.
Just based on iPhone sales it doesn’t look like many people actually care, but those who do, boy are they vocal about it. Why is this such a burning issue? Just use the adapter or invest in a decent pair of BT headphones and never worry about it again. It’s been probably 4 years since I’ve even used a device with a 3.5mm plug.
The difference is that those things had replacements available that were at least adequate.
Also, I've tried a wide variety of different bluetooth earphones on a variety of different smartphones. If the problem is just that I haven't found the right combination, then I'd say that is an argument against bluetooth for this purpose.
I shouldn't have to do a deep research dive just to find the combination that works. We're talking about listening to music here, not something tricky where a large research effort is justified.
I use a headphone jack for headphones because I'm an audio snob and it's much better audio quality with zero latency, I can use quality headphones, and I don't have to charge another thing. Bluetooth is a step backwards.
pros of headphone jack:
much better audio quality, zero latency, lighter headphones, one less thing to charge every day
cons of headphone jack:
a wire
For me it's no contest, and there's no reason we can't have both.
I definitely won't be buying a phone without a headphone jack, and the suggestion that I have to make that compromise is stupid.
Hmm... You mean how iPhone sales have platued in the 3 years since this change was introduced or do you mean how 2016, the year they got rid of the headphone jack, was the first year in the history of the iPhone where sales decreased? I am not really seeing your point. (These numbers are primarily due to changes in the broader market)
I have lived with no headphone jack and done the dance with Bluetooth dongles and wireless headphones. Even if you avoid the pairing issues, battery is consistently an issue. Making sure that the various dongles are charged when you need them is adding unnecesary cognitive load.
The 3.5 mm jack works - and it works well. I can connect audio devices together which were created a century apart. Heck, I use the same earphones in my phone, my computer, my TV, and my grandparents' record player. No software is required, no time is wasted "pairing". It just works. And I believe every piece of new tech should be held to the same standard - if it can't work as efficiently and as compatibly as a 3.5mm jack, take it back to the drawing board until it does.
>if it can't work as efficiently and as compatibly as a 3.5mm jack, take it back to the drawing board until it does.
100% agree.
The fact this is even a discussion makes me weep for humanity.
They still make CDs, and in fact they're the only way to get many albums in a lossless digital format with no DRM.
> RCA audio jacks
You must not own a nice stereo amplifier. These are still the norm.
> VGA
90% of the classrooms at the university I work at have projectors with VGA only input. While it doesn't matter to me personally, I can see why some people want their laptop to be able to connect to these "obsolete" cables.
> It’s been probably 4 years since I’ve even used a device with a 3.5mm plug.
Well, good for you? Just like CDs and RCA cables, the 3.5 mm jack still works great. In fact it's the best (in terms of quality and reliability) consumer audio connector we've ever had, and probably ever will have. It's more than understandable why people would complain about having to switch to something that isn't as good. Just because you don't care about these issues doesn't mean that other people shouldn't.
Except, everyday, when you need to charge them? And when you need to enable/disable the BT radio (unless you keep it always on but in that case the autonomy of the phone suffers).
I like my bone conduction BT headphones and use them almost everyday, but a passive "dumb" wired solution is very convenient and removing it is a strict downgrade. At a time when the new models don't really add a lot of value over the older ones this removal actually tips the balance to the wrong side. The improvements don't make up for it.
You can buy BT to 3.5mm adapters that charge with USB-C. Most of the time charge isn’t an issue so you get the benefits of wireless headphones but in a pinch you can charge the adapter off your phone.
Is it dumb to use BT for two devices physically plugged into one another — yes. Does it work for the few times it’s needed — absolutely!
there was no reason why phone manufacturers couldn't leave the headphone jack alone until Bluetooth was ready but it was mainly a money grab to force customers to buy their bt headphones