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Comment by Fnoord | Hacker News Reader

> (in part thanks to Apple and many Android OEMs dropping headset jacks).

That only happened on high-end smartphones. Low-end and mid-range still have 3.5 mm socket.

(Also, I actually look around regularly at the train station, and I still see mostly wired headsets. I'm using a wireless one, btw.)

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> I actually look around regularly at the train station, and I still see mostly wired headsets.

I see the occasional default Apple headphones, but the vast majority of people are using Airpod-alikes.

Maybe an American thing. Look around at Amsterdam CS or Utrecht CS or Rotterdam CS. Mostly wired.

Berlin still has Walkman in the wild.

I saw them everywhere in Rome last summer. Lots of tourists of course, but I try to go off the beaten path and I saw quite a few locals wearing them too.

That might be a dutch thing, dutch people are notoriously tight-fisted

Indeed. Here in SE Asia, everybody still uses 3.5mm jack smartphones. It's a rare occurrence to see wireless earpods, and almost always these are cheap Chinese AirPod knockoffs.

Some of the cheap knockoffs are getting really good. Mine get 4.5 hrs battery life, have the optical sensor on the bud that pauses when taken out and wireless charging case including an cloned (stolen) apple SoC that gives the real battery life of the "airpods" and case when the case is opened.

Interesting! Have a link?

https://a.aliexpress.com/_coFTZK

> Here in SE Asia, everybody still uses 3.5mm jack smartphones

This does not match my experience at all, but SE Asia is a diverse place.

Doesn't match mine either. Here in Japan (at least in Tokyo) it's uncommon to see wired headphones. Most are random wireless headphones, I would estimate 20-40% only being AirPods.

Japan is technically NOT in SE Asia.

Singapore, I see a lot of airpods though it probably depends on the area.

I should have been more specific. Probably should have said, "everywhere in SE Asia outside of Singapore."

I was thinking Bangkok, where almost everyone is rocking some kinda wireless headphones. Lots and lots and lots of cheap AirPod knockoffs

I'm in Hanoi, I see airpods everyday (and no, I don't go to tourist areas). I myself use Huawei Freepods 3, which cost about the same as Airpods (~180 usd).

Go to a random rural town in a midwestern US state and I'm sure you probably won't see people wearing Airpods, which is probably what people are picturing when someone says SE Asia.

We have paved roads believe it or not, as well as a large class of people who use the newest iPhones.

I think the number of wireless phones in Brazil is astounding. At least one in ten people.

Which means that almost everyone still uses wired phones.

In NL, I see mainly AirPods. less wired. and some other wireless brands.

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