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Comment by Dalewyn | Hacker News Reader

And Sony Xperias still come with headphone jacks today[1] after they tried Apple'ing for a couple models and got laughed at.

[1]: https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/mobile-phones-table...

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Real question / No trolling: I feel like I am the last living human who still uses the headphone jack. When I walk around my city, I see almost zero other people using it. They using wireless earbuds. I avoid wireless earbuds to avoid yet-another-battery-to-be-charged.

Is this true for other HNers also?

I don't think I have zoomed with another SWE that had a headphone cable in a decade.

That's because they use whatever crap the company gives them.

Do you think i chose my keyboard? No, our IT budget is too low to buy me the 50€ keyboard I'd actually want. For some reason we can afford 200€ wireless headphones that have jittery sound however.

I've been holding on on my 6 years old Galaxy S8 for this reason. <rant> It's yet-another-battery-to-be-charged, it introduced lag in audio especially where it matters(think video playback or games), the battery degrades over time, can't be used with my laptop as seamlessly as unplug-here-plug-there, and I personally like to keep headphones ON all the time even when I'm not listening, in case something comes up. this would be impossible with the Bluetooth ones. sign such a crappy direction they all headed in.

No, here in Spain most people I see use wired headphones.

People here but cheap phones (100€-200€) due to the low wages. Most of those still feature the jack. Turns out that they still prefer wired earbuds when given an actual choice. Because wireless earbuds (eg Redmi airdots) cost 10€ here now so they're accessible to anyone.

I use it with my pro-grade microphone, because I don't want latency or degradation when it matters the most.

But that's just at the office. For casual use out and about, it's all wireless - simply because cables are annoying to store and they break way too easily.

I switched to Bluetooth earbuds way back in 2007 when they were still novel (Sony Ericsson HBH-DS980 represent - with an LCD screen for switching between paired devices!). When I use wired headphones they get caught on door handles etc and have a lifespan of like 6 months before they get torn apart.

I still use wired (with a dongle) for calls, since Bluetooth Headset profile sounds like crap and I have enough trouble understanding people/being understood as it is. MagSafe helps with charging when the port is in use.

your headphones get caught on door handles? How?

How would they not? I can't count how many times I snagged my headphones on something and my phone went flying or the headphones got yanked out of my ear before wireless headphones.

Personally I never particularly liked wired headphones because of the annoyance of dealing with the wire and it breaking any time it got snagged. My Bluetooth ones last for ages without charging so it's not a big deal to charge them. Since they're pretty cheap now I think a lot of people are the same way.

People love to complain about the dongle but really it just adds a couple of inches to the wire. If you can deal with the wire you can deal with a wire with USB-C on the end.

Nah the reason I complain about the dongle is because I don't know where to get a reasonably priced one with good audio except apple and theirs break like crisps crack.

I also don't like having to charge headphones, so I have a Moto G5 stylus phone with a headphone jack. I also don't like most earbuds for comfort.

Besides the charging issue wired headphones are:

- better value, $35 will get you a decent sound - compatible with music production equipment - low-latency - save your phone if you drop it - impossible to lose one side.

I also prefer wired ones.

At work they gave me some wireless ones… they cost about 200€. They occasionally lose connection despite the receiver being ~1m away and the sound jumps.

Nobody really cares about audio quality any more.

I used to, but I realised that my mid-40s ears are now the limiting factor, so I might as well have the convenience of wireless.

The real problem isn't 'another device to charge' though, it's battery degradation and the wasteful, disposable nature of Airpods.

there are wireless in ears with replaceable batteries (notably, the sony WF1000XM_ series), they just have a considerably worse form factor and a comparatively dogshit software experience while competing at the same price point as airpods pro

The sony are better: ANC + LDAC

Can people really hear the difference between wired and unwired headphones? I find it hard to believe. The bandwidth that Bluetooth can provide should be sufficient for very high quality audio. I'm confused by this reply.

>Can people really hear the difference between wired and unwired headphones?

Personally: Yes. Absolutely.

Even if I'm listening to just MP3s instead of FLACs, I can immediately notice that the wired headphone connection is better than wireless in both quality and latency. It's easy to compare since the headphones I use when travelling can do both, and I've used both as practicality demands.

The best wireless has to offer still can't hold a candle to good old wired.

Wired enables a wider choice of higher-end headphones/IEMs, as well as avoiding bluetooth lossiness.

I don't believe codec makes meaningful difference. Most biggest difference should be by integrated small efficient amp vs bigger amp.

- airpods are considerably more convenient than wrapping and unwrapping a cable every time i want to listen to music - a cable also conducts sounds into my ears when the cable is jostled by clothing or while running - nobody makes ANC wired in ears - i just throw my airpods case on my apple watch charger when im at my desk, i basically don't worry about charging

I dislike wired headphones for daily use and I've wanted small wireless in-ear headphones since long before the wireless earbud explosion kicked off. However, I still really, really want the headphone jack back. Mainly for connecting to non-wireless sound equipment, for easily attaching a microphone and for phone calls where sound quality is important.

I avoid wireless earbuds because I don't want bluetooth enabled (tracking via bluetooth is pervasive) and there are way to many drawbacks (poor audio quality, high latency, pairing issues, battery). You get far more options (and higher quality options) with wired headphones.

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