(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?
I’ll die alone on this headphone jack hill if I need to, I only buy phones with headphone jacks.
Currently using a Motorola of some sort, replacement for another Motorola.
Only With the 3.5 mm audio jack. Bluetooth devices always have some delay, never are immune from connection problems or intermittent readback (especially if you have other devices you switch between), and don’t last as long as they advertise. The delay thing is particularly irksome on the phone and watching videos. Much less important for music, but I’m not the kinda guy who plays music a lot. The battery thing is probably less of an issue these days, and could maybe be discarded, but I also forget to charge important devices, so that’s a me thing and party of the reason.
Agree on most of your your points. Which phone do you use?
The No-Longer-Supported LG G7 ThinQ. Not upgrading until it blows up in my pocket.
My hill is the microsd card slot. I might have to figure out how to make my note 20 ultra last another 40 years, though. :-(
On another note; if compatible, APTX Bluetooth codec is pretty lag free when watching streaming videos. For local videos, there is a bit of noticeable lag on a lot of players, but I use VLC and it has an audio/video sync setting you can manually adjust so it matches up correctly and it will forever save that setup for you.
No jack = no buy.
What do you currently use?
One of the one plus that tmobile gave when they required 5g capability. It’s partially degoogled, but otherwise pretty standard. Headphone jack + sd slot, and it gets the job done. I can’t recall what the general name is, something like a nord 200 or whatever, but the model is de2118.
Decent phone overall tbh. I thought I would hate it, but the battery life is solid, the audio is “good enough” for road trips, and the size is just right for my hands.
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 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.
I had to give up removable batteries in phones but I will never give up 3.5 mm.
Which phone do you use?
Moto G7+, its old and wouldn’t recommend seeking one out.
Thanks!
I seek out phones with audio jacks. My current Moto G Power 2020 has one and I use it all the time. No dongles or adapters in the car or on various headphones. Plus I actually use the FM Radio built into the phone and that uses the wire for the headphones as an antenna. I just cut off some old earbuds and plug that in, then direct the audio to either the phone speaker itself or BT.
I’ve given up on it. While I think it was silly to remove, I’ve come to find it just as silly to be so attached to a cable. Bluetooth and USBC headphones have worked just fine for me.
Yeah I’m a bit salty that it’s gone, but I’ve actually found using Bluetooth earbuds to be a way better experience. I’m no longer snagging a cable on everything and ripping them out of my ears. Maybe I’m just a clumsy idiot, but I did this all the time with wired headphones.
One thing that Bluetooth headphones still suck for is gaming. The lag is too obnoxious. So I have a pair of headphones that can convert to wired for that purpose. I don’t game on my phone so that part is a non-issue for me.
You can also get a decent pair at a relatively inexpensive price nowadays. It used to be crazy expensive to jump in, but there are a lot of cheaper ones out there nowadays that still offer great sound.
Edit: I saw a commenter complain about the lag when watching videos. This doesn’t happen for me. I’m not sure if the tech is in my phone itself or in my headphones (I have two different pairs from different companies), but there is some sort of processing that goes on that makes it so the audio and video are synced, no matter if I’m watching a local video on my phone or a YouTube video. I can even manually adjust it with a “Bluetooth metronome” setting/app, but I’ve never needed to manually adjust it. For me, lag only happens when playing video games.
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
No, I stopped using it once I got wireless headphones. I hated hearing the cord brushing against my clothes while moving.
Yeah, once I made the switch to wireless earbuds, I didn’t miss the jack at all. People have valid complaints about them, like the price and the limited battery, but I think the convenience is worth it.
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Why would he buy a phone with headphones jack, when the selection of phones is so shitty. And he is not even using the jack?
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Thanks for the article. It still shows that medium-range Samsung such as the A34 and A54 don’t have it anymore, while the A52 and A72 still had it.
you list three large brands already
- RedMi have reliability and quality issues
- Zenfones and Sony prices are quite pricey: Zenfone 9 is 500€ on Ebay in Europe and a Sony Xperia 5 V is 700€
Indeed, some Nokia phones have jack, but the issue comes from the CPU: the G42 has a Snapdragon 480, while the X30 has a Snapdragon 695, but no headphone jack. Also, the G42 has battery issues
However, the Nokia G42 5G cannot stand out from comparable phones in any of these areas. The battery life and WLAN speed are also mediocre rather than leading.
The Nokia G21 mentioned in the article have low performance (which makes sense, it’s an entry level device): https://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_g21-review-2389p4.php
entry range Samsung phones (though I really wouldn’t call $500 phones “entry range”).
The Samsung I was referring to is the A25, 200€ on Amazon, and the A09, 109€.
The 500€ you are referring too is the A55, 370€, but no headphone jack.
not everyone is buying flagship phones.
I’m not either, and that’s what I’m telling you: on top of the flagships, the medium range phones don’t have jack anymore either (as shows your article)
- Samsung A55: no jack, the A52 had (S line is the flaghip)
- Pixel: 7a: no jack, 5a had (7 is the flagship)
Having to buy the entry range device, which last longer and provide a worse experiences, probably doesn’t compensate getting a jack.
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I don’t consider €350+ phones entry level.
Neither do I? I mentioned the 200€ and 109€ as entry level
That’s mid-range for me.
Agreed
if people would’ve bought flagships with headphone jacks during the transition
They didn’t really gave them a choice. As per your article, between 2019 and 2020, Samsung dropped the jack on the S-line. People who upgrade phones regularly tend to stick to a brand they know due to convenience, so indeed most of the people wouldn’t have dropped years of satisfying Samsung experience for a jack, especially as phones came with Bluetooth earbuds.
The loud majority who does care can protest the change by buying from other brands that do sport headphone jacks.
I tried, I have been researching this topic extensively in the last few months, and when you add on top of that I prefer phones less than 160 mm high, the possibilities are very limited.
Which I get from a manufacturer perspective: smaller phones sell less (as their audience tends to keep them longer), and most of the people don’t care about the jack. But thinking that a specific demographic can influence the whole market doesn’t seem realistic.
Now that I think about it, even the Fairphone dropped the jack…
I just add a usbc to audio/charging dongle to them. Getting a phone with a audio jack I feel like is when I wanted to keep the hardware keyboard, I was just walking the boulder up the hill I just was like there was an easy off that mountain.
For me the usb c to audio Jack adapters were a letdown. From the three I bought - all of them had a constant static noise. Especially hearable on lower noises. Don’t know if it was just the adapters I got, or if it was just a quirk my phone had, but I’ll stick with the dedicated usb jack for now.
I had that only when they got damaged, but they easily get damaged
I bought one off the shelf at like Target or something before I got my first pair of Bluetooth headphones. The adapter is trash. Static noise like you said and when slightly kinked it just stops working. It’s not like I used it forever just fine before it started doing all this…it was trash to begin with. Apparently a lot of these adapters are just known to suck.
I’m fine with Bluetooth. My earbuds and speakers all have Bluetooth nowadays.
I bought a Sony Xperia 10iii back in December 2022 for the headphone jack, SD card slot and IP rating. Plus it’s Sony and one of my all time best phones was my Xperia Z2.
When it comes time to replace it I will first look to see which phone offers a jack. I use it several times a week.
However the downside is that the only premium phones with it are Sony but very expensive. I can’t afford a 5v when though I’d love it.
If you get a midrange phone you always lose out on a great camera. Which is crappy. So you have to choose between headphone jack with poor cameras Vs no headphone jack with good cameras.
Or somehow get enough money together to buy an Xperia 5v.
Ps don’t bother with ZenFone. Asus is known for poor quality and very, very bad support
Or somehow get enough money together to buy an Xperia 5v.
Ps don’t bother with ZenFone. Asus is known for poor quality and very, very bad support
Thank you for your message.
Xperia 5 V looks indeed a very nice option on paper, but definitely pricey.
Thanks for the heads up on Zenfones
Wont buy a smartphone without it
What do you currently use?
Samsung XCover 6 Pro. Has a removable battery aswell.
