(Posting this here rather than [email protected] as it’s a quite general question)
I had a look at the GSM Arena phone finder, and it the choice is getting smaller and smaller every year (only 43 phones from 2023, reviewed by the site, had a jack)
The remaining ones are mostly
- Xiaomi Redmi
- Zenfones
- Sony
- Samsung entry range
So, has everyone switched to Bluetooth / USB-C dongles, or are there still a few people holding to the jack until the very end?
@Blaze I’m not buying phones that often, but I recently changed to a Nokia G22 (yes, they also have phones with jack), and one of the things that made me decide on that was the jack as well. I got a pair of wireless headsets from work and I can say they’re pretty good, but I am still not over the thought that I have one more thing to charge its battery every once in a while. Wired headphones are pretty much okay and I don’t see any problem with them that would make me switch (at least right now).
Edit: I almost forgot. I also listen to the (FM) Radio, so I need the wired headsets to be used as an antenna.
Thanks for sharing! I just had a look at Nokia phones, the G22 is a bit too large for me, but the X30 seems interesting (though a bit pricey)
@Blaze It is larger than I thought, indeed 😁 but I see they still tend to stick with stock Android even though they’re not really releasing any android one phones any longer.
I think it was probably eliminated a little too early, but I switched to a moderately cheap pair of Bluetooth earbuds while I still had a 3.5mm anyway, so I didn’t really care. I don’t even think I own a pair of 3.5mm headphones anymore, actually.
I tried to hold out, but for my current phone I prioritized camera quality over headphone jack. I definitely use the cameras more than the headphones.
With that being said, those two features are essentially mutually exclusive. Good cameras are a “flagship” feature, whereas lacking headphone jacks are also a flagship “feature.”
The only exception is Sony, which unfortunately is very overpriced.
I have been using wireless since 2022 and haven’t looked back. Wires are such a mess I either used to get them tangled in stuff or my hands, they would drop out of my ears.
I currently use a Sony wh-ch510 since 2022 and it’s been rock solid every day. The battery easily lasts a week for my usage. It’s rated for 35hrs.
I also have a pair of lypertek z3 pureplay TWS. They are waterproof and boost 70hrs of battery life. Apart from that they also support wireless charging. The app is not the best but the sound quality is top notch.
Never returning to wires ever again. Now if you ask about sdcard slot, only if the phone supports 512gb-1TB of internal storage within a reasonable price point.
I gave up, so I bought a USB-C to Aux adapter.
I don’t listen to music away from my desktop very often these days, as that experience has mostly been replaced by audiobooks and podcasts. So in a purely selfish sense, the disappearance of the 3.5 mm jack doesn’t really affect me. I am content with Bluetooth for the majority of my use cases. However, I am still not convinced that the 3.5 mm jack had to disappear as early as it did or that engineers and designers can’t find a way to include it on a modern, high end smartphone, so in that sense its disappearance annoys me. Until recently I have also been using a variety of 2017-18 era phones, all of which have a 3.5 mm jack, and it is very satisfying to have the occasional music listening session in a cosy setting like my bed with studio headphones plugged in.
The problem I have with Bluetooth vs wired, is the same problem I have with lossy vs lossless music and low vs high bitrate video. What frustrates me is not that I can immediately discern a difference (though depending on the material and comparison, sometimes it’s quite obvious) but rather that if I think I hear an imperfection my immediate thought is “would this sound better through my wired headphones?”. And as soon as that thought pops into my head I find myself actively listening for further imperfections to prove my theory, instead of just relaxing and enjoying the music like I intended to. With wired headphones I know that it’s very unlikely there will be any quality problems and I can just get completely immersed in the experience.
I never used the audio jack when it was on the phone. I don’t use headphones with my phone. Those are for PC when playing at a LAN party.
I bought some USB-C dongles when I switched, but I only used them once in several years to connect my phone to a rental car which had no Bluetooth audio.
I honestly stopped caring a long time ago. I’ve been using bluetooth headphones exclusively since before the jacks started going away, and I’m just not bothered by it.
It would have been nice for them to stick around, but it’s not really a hill I’m willing to die on.
I’ve got an FM transmitter I use to listen to music in the car and it connects with a headphone jack so I still buy phones that have it. I also am fond of the physical home button so that limits my choices further. Luckily inexpensive late model Samsungs are easy enough to come by, I don’t game on my phone so processing power isn’t a concern.
yes, audio jack is an important differentiator for me when I’m buying new phone
Which phone do you use at the moment?
Moto G23
Given up. Bought a dongle for if I need it but mostly just Bluetooth now.
Likely sound like cranky old man but I’ll be catching phones with a jack as long as I can! Not mad about having the option for wireless, but I’m a bit of a purist.
Plus once in a blue moon I’ll DJ without Wi-Fi and use the phone to pull up a tune I don’t have in my physical storage. Much harder to do that without 3.5mm jack.
Which phone do you use?
Still on a pretty old Galaxy 9, been putting off the upgrade forever. Not even sure what the cool kids are using these days. Need to hit that research phase a bit
I bought the Zenfone 9, but now the new Zenfones don’t have headphone jacks, so I don’t know what phone to buy when I end up needing a new one. There seems to be no phones with headphone jacks that aren’t huge, except for the budget phones
Zenfone 10 and zenfone 11 have both headphone jacks
Huh, I thought they didn’t. Maybe I’m confusing it with the Google Pixels, I switched away from them because they don’t have headphone jacks anymore. I feel like there was something about the new Zenfones that I didn’t like, idk
Yeah, pixels dropped the headphone jack. I’m kinda looking for a new phone. But can’t find any with all the features my Galaxy s10+ has. Zenfones come close.
On the zenfone 11 the headphone jack is even at the bottom. It’s missing the SD card reader.
I used to hate Bluetooth, but that’s because the early versions were terrible. Painful to connect, frequent drops and disconnects, and very short range and easy to block the signal.
Since Bluetooth 4 it’s been great, and rock solid with Bluetooth 5. The only time I’ve had a problem is when I went into the other room and stood directly in front of a running microwave. I lost about half the signal until I took a step back.
Wireless headphones are far more convenient. Phone in my pocket, and I can walk around, clean the house, or work out at the gym, completely untethered.
Yeah I absolutely do not miss snagging my headphone cable on every door or drawer handle in a 1 mine radius. Also I think I used to go through 3-4 sets of headphones a year by wearing out the cable, spending the last few weeks precariously holding the cable 24/7 to enjoy the music.
Wireless does have it’s issues but I’m on my 2nd wireless pair, both bought in the £30 region and it’s probably been 5+ years since I used wired now. Battery hasn’t been an issue really, and although I lost one headphone on my previous wireless set, I can live with it.
I absolutely support the want for a headphone jack so people can choose wired, but I’d still choose wireless.