this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2023
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On a recent post, there were a lot of comments, which said that they were missing the headphones on newer mobile devices.

How many actually use the headphone jack?

I ask, because I have one on my phone, since I really wanted one, but I rarely use it. Like Tops 1/Month.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Never for headphones, but I use an aux cable to connect to my amp and play along with music

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Multiple times a day. I have a wired pair of nice pair of headphones at my desk at work. Using cable is the simplest way to switch between phone and computer. In the car 3.5mm, at the gym I have iems I like to use. The other times I find it valuable is plane travel with steam deck and phone easily swapping audio source for whatever I am I'm the mood for. On planes I use circum-aural with active noise canceling. At work I have on-ear. I have different headphones for different situations.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I use mine whenever I want to use my M50Xs. I tried buds, twice. Galaxy buds and Sony XM4s, the XM4s fell into a pool and the galaxy buds were simply misplaced. The galaxy buds sounded like absolute trash while the XM4 were actually decent, but why would I prefer them over the M50X? Now I'm switching from my note 9 to the pixel 8 pro and I don't know what I'll be doing about the lack of headphone jack.

My girlfriend has it even worse, her car only has AUX, no Bluetooth. I got her a Pixel 8 for Christmas, so she'll lose the only way to put music in her car. I also don't know what I'll be doing about that.

Honest take? We've got neural chips on our phones, we got cameras rivaling pro-level cameras, but we keep losing some very essential and basic features for no fucking reason. The headphone jack should've never been removed. Hell, the IR blaster should've never been removed, I'd kill for a high end phone with such things. Radio is another one, it's never going away as a means of communication, but fuck me for thinking I should have an antenna for radio in a box full of antennas for everything else, right?

Hey maybe I'm wrong about radio and it's just unfeasible to provide good quality signal for all things in a 6 inch box. Maybe I'm wrong about the IR blaster somehow even though TVs, LED stripes, and garage doors still use IR. But it's ridiculous to force no headphone jack as a trend that everyone just follows, all for pricier and shittier Bluetooth buds.

We used to be able to fit all this shit into phones back then, there's 0 reason to exclude them over size constraints now. If the reason is "butt fastah phowns", my 5 year old note 9 still feels more than snappy enough. Maybe we should spend more time making our shit efficient in order to use less space for heat dissipation, as well as better battery life or less battery size for the same battery life. Seriously who needs the kind of computing power found on phones nowadays? Is it really worth it to sacrifice basic QOL functionality for more speed?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Since I went bluetooth I have to charge constantly which is annoying. But at the same time while I was wired the cBle always got in the way in a way so the phone would fall on the street or some hard floor at least omce but sometimes twice a year and breal.

Since I'm on bluetooth I didn't break any screen in the last 5 years. I'M NOT GOING BACK TO WIRED, IT'S TOO EXPENSIVE.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

The last time I used it is about 10 years ago. Don’t miss it. Always hated the cables dangling around and pulling the headphones out of the ears. Wireless is just way more comfortable.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

When the 3.5-less trend started setting in, I still had a phone with a headphone jack but started looking into wireless Bluetooth digital audio convertors just to prepare myself for the reality that it'll eventually be hard to find a phone that's both....good...and that I could plug my IEMs into.

One I settled on was the Radsone ES100. Besides allowing me to continue to use my headphones, one feature I really liked was its ability to store equalizer settings that could be used with any source, whether it be a Bluetooth device or one I plug the DAC into via USB. I found that there were equalizer apps for Android, but they kept getting killed because of memory limitations I guess. This device externalized the EQ.

Anyways some of the folks who made that branched off and made an even better version, the Qudelix 5K. It has the same features but does a better job of simultaneously connecting to multiple devices (but sadly it doesn't mix the sources...it just has a priority 😔😔😔😔). So I grabbed that upgrade and now the headphone side of my audio is locked in.

I found that getting a Bluetooth DAC helped me feel better about the trend of removing a standard audio connector from devices (which I gotta say, still makes no sense). It still frustrates me that I need to walk around with another device and the limitations of Bluetooth are annoying, but the cool thing is that when my last 3.5mm jack equip device (OnePlus 5) just stopped turning on, I just grabbed a random replacement phone (Pixel 5) and kept the same audio chain.

tl;dr - Consider just accepting that this is the trend for phones these days and try a portable Bluetooth (or even USB) DAC. When you find one you like, moving to any source will be less stressful. It won't matter if it has a headphone jack: you'll be able to focus on other features or even just get a less costly device that'll sound identical to what u know.

[–] Paranomaly 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Every day.

While I'm walking/commuting, I have my headphones in and am listening to something, be it music, podcasts, or audiobooks. Even on days I don't have anywhere to go I'll go on a walk for about an hour and will be listening to something the whole time. I'd buy a phone without a camera before I bought one without a headphone jack.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

If I had one, I would. I walked my kid to school recently and grabbed some wired ear buds for the walk back. I had to spend the walk back listening to boring nature and shit.

There is really no reason to not have one. It does not significantly increase the cost of the phone. The space saving excuse does not really hold water. If the Zenfone can fit one, then all the other gargantuan phones should be able to.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I use it daily, to connect my phone to my car AUX input and my various (very expensive) headphones.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

another strong "yes" from me. my wired headset has much better speech quality than bluetooth ones. i didn't upgrade my phone since the new Pixels dropped the headphone jack, instead i fixed the screen and battery and keep it another couple of years

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I use it everyday, I still like wired earphones a lot.

[–] silverdiamond 3 points 1 year ago

I've been using a phone without a headphone jack for 3 years now with galaxy buds, if i didn't accidentally break the included usbc headset id be using that instead (even on pc) but i did so now i use the headphone jack on my wireless xbox controller on pc (connected to my pc via usb because my motherboard's audio makes noises when the pc is basically doing anything and echoes my mic into my left ear on windows (not a toggle in software or anything but said problem goes away if i power cycle pc by psu and then boot into linux)) and on phone i get to deal with Bluetooth and if i did have a usbc headset again i wouldn't be able to use it and charge the phone in a practical way (wireless charging is an option but my phone discharges faster than it changes wired (when connected to pc), wireless charging is even slower)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

All the time

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I use mine 2x per week and despise Bluetooth for many of the reasons described in this thread by others

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I use it every day, to store valuable pocket lint and bits of dirt.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Bluetooth earbuds are everything younger me dreamed of when dealing with when taking a tangled wire mess out of my pocket.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Every day as my headphones have a wire aswell as bluetooth. The latency is definitely there while the wire sounds fuller too. Im sure there difference would be mitigated with a more expensive pair of headphones but I also need to be battery concious with my 5 year old phone and bluetooth drains faster.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Never.

You’ll never hear from the people who don’t miss it because it’s nothing for us to talk about, so it seems like everyone only wants them back when in reality the vast majority don’t care.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I don't have one anymore but even if I did I wouldn't use it. Much prefer wireless.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Weekly, since i moved i don't really care how much noise i make, but i still use my wired headphones daily with my computer

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I want it mostly for aux in various cars. Also neat to plug into PC speakers and such.

I'd pass up on fingerprint scanner and nfc before the jack tbh.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Every evening in bed I hear audiobooks for a bit. Simple wired in-ears are good for laying on your side (only one side in) while they won't be lost that easily as wireless ear buds. Also they never need to be recharged

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I use it every day

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I use both practically daily.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I used to use mine almost every day with the same set of earbuds that I've had for probably close to a decade at this point. Since getting a phone without a jack, I listen to music significantly less now which is quite upsetting. I'm not the type to use the speaker on the phone since I've always seen that as rude, and the wireless earbuds that I have are just inconvenient to use at best and not the same quality compared to the wired ones (That's not to say that they're poor quality but I can absolutely tell the difference on my favourite songs).

I've been very tempted to just go back to my old phone once the contract on my current one has ended if modern phones are going to move away from 3.5mm jacks.

It has been an excellent universal standard for decades and the arguments about it being obsolete make no sense as it isn't being replaced by something superior, it's just being deleted entirely and a cumbersome workaround is being sold as a positive thing. The only real argument I can see for deleting the jack is that it saves the manufacturers a couple of pennies per unit.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I had wired headphones, went to a good wireless one (Sony WH-1000XM3), and I will never go back.

Most people I know that want the headphones jack back want it to be able to use good quality wired headphones they already own, mainly because they can't afford (or just don't want to buy) a good quality wireless one.

Seriously. If you can buy a new mid-range smartphone, you have enough to buy premium wireless headphones. If you can't, most cheap smartphones have audio jacks. Just skip this smartphone generation to buy good wireless headphones and you are set for years.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I haven’t used wired headphones in about 8 years. Bluetooth all the way.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I thought I'd use it when I got my phone but I've since found Bluetooth headphones that are actually convenient so I don't. Now this headphone form factor is dying so I might go back to wired once they stop working. I hope the jack still exists by then.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I have a headphone jack on my phone, I still use a USBC-aux dongle because it doesn't suck.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I use it quite frequently for both making calls and listening to music or videos.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I do but it's certain circumstances where it make sense (on aircraft or when I've got a good pair of wired earbuds/headphones on me). Sometimes I use Bluetooth, sometimes wired but I appreciate having a CHOICE!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I bought the USB c to 3.5mm adapter to keep using the headphones I bought back in 2008.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I had wired headphones for very specific times, and since my new phone doesn't have the jack I'm not fully sure how I'll deal in those situations.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

At least a few times a week, or when a new album releases when I'm not at home.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Used to use it daily but dropped it a few too many times with a cable inserted and now it can only be used in the car in a very specific angle.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

everyday at work. I have Bose bluetooth earbuds, but there is sometimes a slight pause once in a while. Technology isn't perfect. But I like my hardwired classic earbuds.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Not at all. Bluetooth earbuds are too convenient for me. I could just leave my phone anywhere in the house playing podcasts while playing with my baby.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm djing and I care about good audio, but the comfort of wireless headphones is just too big of an advantage for me when I'm not specifically planning the next set. The limiting factor regarding freedom of movement with wired headphones always bummed me out. I was never regretting the switch.

At home and for gaming I use the arctis 7 (wifi headset) and a wireless mouse, never had latency issues with fps shooters or anything. And I love the comfort of being able to just walk to kitchen or the bathroom without loosing audio, e.g. when I chat with my friends. On my phone I could use an aux adapter and I thought about buying it, but didn't ever really feel the need to do so. On my laptop however I wouldn't wanna miss aux, cause I don't always have an external soundcard with me :)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Very very rarely. I have a cheap Bluetooth adapter in my car, and I don't regularly use headphones because everyone I care about is immediately annoyed when they see headphones over/in my ears.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Daily. Mostly Spotify and Youtube or when I don't want to listen to my wife.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I have not owned a phone with a headphone jack in a long time.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I used to use it, before buying a USB C headphone amp cause my headphones lacked bass

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