Just randomly sharing my experience here. My sister told me a few weeks ago she was going to change for a new phone (a Motorola, she likes AOSP-like experience). I noticed that her new phone wouldn’t get a jack.

“Yeah, I know, I hope I can make it work with a USB-adapter”. She has nice headphones that she likes to use, so USB-C earplugs were not an option.

Fast forward to today, she told me the adapter she got starts to malfunction:

  • she has to twitch the jack in the adapter for the thing to work
  • when she plugs the adapter in, Google Assistant takes over and randomly starts skipping songs.

She’s now considering getting wireless earbuds, but she’s not a fan of having to recharge them to be able to use them, and is also cautious about the e-waste potential.

I have a Moto G84 which does the job. It’s not the best phone in the world, I’m eyeing a flagship from time to time and keep the G84 as a “connected walkman”, but would it break today, I would probably get a G55 (https://www.notebookcheck.net/Motorola-Moto-G55-smartphone-review-Inexpensive-doesn-t-have-to-be-boring.932900.0.html)

That’s it for me, do you have similar experiences to share?

  • @Buffalox
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    12 hours ago

    Flagship phones are crap IMO, my personal hatred for glass as a material used unnecessarily for the back is immense.
    Glass sucks in every aspect, it’s slippery, it’s heavier, it’s a finger print magnet, and it’s fragile in a place where you can choose synthetics that are better in every way.
    Losing the jack and SD cards suck too, and preventing replaceable batteries is so bad, it’s actually illegal in EU from 2027. I have no idea why that couldn’t have been sooner.

    https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/06/22/new-eu-law-to-force-smartphone-makers-to-build-easily-replaceable-batteries

    The rules will come into force in 2027.

    I’m so sick of this, that I’ve decided NO WAY I’m buying a flagship next time, despite I absolutely love features like an amazing camera and screen.

    But they can piss right off with their bullshit, pardon my French.
    I bet a manufacturer could get sales advertising that it’s NOT a glass back, and that it HAS mini-jack.
    But I also miss the notification LED, how did they figure it was a good idea to remove that too???

    The weird thing is they ALL do this shit? Where’s the competition on maintaining well established functions? A mini jack doesn’t prevent use of wireless earphones, but lack of it absolutely prevents the use of wired ones.

    • @[email protected]
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      28 hours ago

      There are some manufacturers that have kept these features and it’s definitely a selling point. The one I know is Sony but I think there was another one. I’m still sad they removed the notification led though, it seemed like they would keep it as they also kept the top bezel.

    • @[email protected]
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      210 hours ago

      A used flagship is a great phone (except for the glass nonsense, give me all plastic please). It’s all I buy, 2 or 3 year old flagship for 1/4 the price of new.

      I just upgraded from a 2017 flagship to a Pixel 5, for $120!

        • @[email protected]
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          18 hours ago

          They probably meant the 5a which was the last Pixel with a jack. I am still holding onto my 4a as I haven’t found a replacement that can support the ROM I use.