What happened to the proposal to fund production of a reasonable-size stock Android phone that was going around a few months back? Did anything come of that?
About 75% of the current android version market share is Android 11.0 and lower. Android 11 came out in 2021. What's wasteful is thinking you have to throw away a phone because it won't receive security updates. You absolutely should not scrap phones like this.
In all my life, I have not once seen an android phone actually exploited. I have read about a lot of them online. But I haven't seen an exploited phone in person. Other than exploits that I have used to gain root access on devices, which all require physical access. Around 18 percent of the current android market share is made up of devices running Android 9 and earlier. Android has 3 billion active devices according to the most recent Google I/O. That's 600 million devices. I imagine I will be fine for the next 4 to 5 years regardless of the security update situation.
I will support phone manufacturers that have proper hardware, like a headphone jack and sd card slot over manufacturers that promise security updates every single time. I will continue to boycott phones that don't have a headphone jack. I will not make my current technology deprecated by design in order to have a supposedly flagship phone/device. We should support decent companies like Sony that don't remove useful features in order to create new revenue streams. I have really nice headphones, any phone manufacturer that removed the headphone jack is encouraging me to generate e-waste in order to use their product.
Right now is a terrible time to judge a phone company, the chip shortage hasn't gone anywhere, international markets are still heavily limited. Sony doesn't seem to be looking into becoming a replacement for LG, it seems to be happy existing in its current niche. The advances in camera technology engineered into Sony phones show it does not plan on going anywhere. I will be very disappointed if Sony leaves the phone business.
There are interesting phone manufacturers that I would like to buy a phone from, but they have essentially zero presence in the US.
I have a pair of qc25 which are awesome when I'm working or travelling (train or plane); don't need wireless when I'm sitting.
Swapping battery is trivial and if I'm out headset is still usable just no ANC.
1. Lack of latency
2. Lack of unreliable and dodgy bluetooth
3. No need to charge battery
4. Ubiquity (my 3.5mm audiophile headphones plug into about every device I own except my phone)
5. Wired headphones/earbuds have a better audio quality for the price compared to wireless alternatives, and are cheaper to replace.
6. My car (a Civic from the mid 2000s) only has an AUX output, which I prefer anyway because it's simpler to unplug/plug into my phone or a passengers phone rather than fiddling with Bluetooth settings
I carry around a USB-C dongle with me in my backpack as well as in my car, but I would prefer not to.
I have been on calls with people where their audio cuts out midway through due to charge or connection issues. Those issues are impossible and rare, respectively, with a jack based mic/headphone.
I have seen and heard of people dropping one of their buds on the street, in the sink, or into a vat of liquid nitrogen... Not something that happens with a jack.
Don't get me started on the cost. In many cases you pay 5-10 times as much for wireless buds at the same level of audio/call quality.
TL;DR bluetooth is shit, batteries are shit, tiny expensive easy to drop/misplace devices are shit.
- My wired mic/earbuds pick up less environmental noise than my "fancy" wireless earbuds
Bluetooth has gotten better over the years but it's certainly still buggy, at least with Android. I don't like the environmental impact of buying unnecessary electronics, particularly battery-powered ones, constantly just to be able listen to music. I like technology that can "just work" every time without the constraints or anxiety. I don't like having wireless transmitters directly on my head or in my ear when it can be easily avoided, even if I know they are low power.
I am lucky that I could afford the added cost of wireless headphones if I wanted them, but with billions of people not able to afford basic expenses and phones increasingly required to live a life these days, it seems fairly cynical to industry-wide remove an obvious cheap feature and force everyone to much higher-cost and higher-resource consumption technology. Yes I acknowledge the Pixel line is not a budget item, I just mean for this type of change in general.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/324680368007 is one that looks like it would do the job.
How long until USB-C is discontinued and all phones are zero port?
The adapter is awful, my headphones randomly stop working if I move too much, I constantly have to plug it on and off again, etc. Yeah, it's probably because I damaged it, but with the way it dangles off the phone and snags on everything there's no way it wasn't gonna get damaged.
Unfortunately, if you want to buy a good and reliable one, you should probably spend at least $15-$20 on one. I've had luck with the Anker-branded one, though the audio quality is noticeably worse than when I used a phone with a direct 3.5mm port. YMMV.
Still I probably put more strain on the jack port than the usb-c, when used only for charging, so if the first one fails at least it does not brick my device.
And i can still charge while listening to music :).
Edit: probably would not buy the adapter you linked put even more strain on the port but corded one exists.
Having a headphone jack built into my phone would be great so that I didn't need an extra dongle. I still carry around a DAP to listen to music to that way I don't have to rely on streaming services, since my last few phones haven't had a headphone jack.
I think part of the reason is that I like listening to acoustic music rather than pop rock edm or whatever is popular and consumer headphones tend to be bass heavy rather than going for clarity. I followed up with some studio speakers and they sound really excellent to me in comparison to the expensive consumer speakers I had before.
Most importantly, I want to charge my phone while using headphones at the same time.
Phones aren't getting faster enough for me to care about having the newest phone anymore. If my laptop and my tablets and my tv remote, and game controller all have 3.5mm jacks, buying a phone without one is a dumb decision. Why would I intentionally pay for a worse daily experience?
Usb c to 3.5mm adapters all have had worse quality than a native port. A phone lacking a headphone jack isn't a feature, it's a way to generate a new revenue stream.
I know I am in a very small population of hours spent listening to audio in a day, probably top 5%, but I believe my phone should make my life easier, not harder. Bluetooth still isn't anywhere close to having feature parity to the 3.5mm headphone jack. If it was, companies would have dropped headphones jacks from their laptops.
Dell xps 13 plus, released feb 2022, doesn't have a headphone jack. No laptop since has followed this decision, not even apple.
Also, I refuse to deal with Bluetooth until pairing reliably works and sound is always high quality even with microwave interference. I don't expect them to succeed.
If I have an helmet on, the only thing that fits in my ear are run of the mill jack and cord buds. Bulky bluetooth buds don't fit. And having something physically attached to me is a plus, since I lost one wireless earbud in the woods once.
When I run and sweat, I can feel the larger and heavier wireless earbuds slip out of my ear.
In the gym, wireless and 3.5 are largely interchangeable.
And my car stereo has only 3.5mm aux in, that's how I listen to music while in it.
1+ has some.
That should buy us 2 or 3 more years of wired headphone, and let the wireless tech continue to improve.
You can buy adapters that pass through power and also have a 3.5mm jack - I have one of those and find it even flakier.
I sleep with earphones on. No wireless earphones have the thin form factor nor the battery life to last all night - and without the wire they'll get lost in the bed.