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.
I use wired headphones every day. I always used my headphone jack.
My latest phone doesn’t have one, so I have to use a dongle to convert USB C to jack. I’ve looked at USB wired headphones but they just integrate the dongle and the choices are limited.
I much prefer wired in-ear headphones when I’m out of the house, versus larger over ear Bluetooth headphones at home.
Wired headphones are super convenient as they don’t need charging, are cheap and easily replaced, give good quality audio because the technology is simple and analogue (converting now loses that benefit), and are convenient as I can pop them in and out, hang them round my ears and don’t worry too much about losing them as they’re on wires.
It pisses me off 3.5mm audio jacks are disappearing - just to save phone manufacturers money or to make devices pointlessly thinner. Phones need a minimum heft and thickness to be comfortable to hold; I feel like they’re chasing pointless design goals now at the cost of what the customer actually wants/needs.
And wireless audio can be annoying when you have interference with Bluetooth, or the device runs out of battery, or are just more expensive so you worry about losing or breaking them.
It’s enshitification in the phone space.