[General question to the Android community] Have you given up on the audio jack, or do you still only buy devices that have it?

(Posting this here rather than !askandroid 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?

judooochp ,

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.

Blaze OP ,
@Blaze@lemmy.zip avatar

Agree on most of your your points. Which phone do you use?

judooochp ,

The No-Longer-Supported LG G7 ThinQ. Not upgrading until it blows up in my pocket.

ColeSloth ,

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.

shortwavesurfer ,

I buy mid-range devices, so while I haven't gone out of my way to get a device with a jack, my current device still has one, and it is the OnePlus Nord N200 5G, but if I did not have it, I would not be upset about it.

petrescatraian , (edited )
@petrescatraian@libranet.de avatar

@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.

Blaze OP ,
@Blaze@lemmy.zip avatar

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)

petrescatraian ,
@petrescatraian@libranet.de avatar

@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.

videogamesandbeer ,

I've given up but I do wish there were better USB-C audio solutions. Android has always been lacking in the USB audio department and I have often been left feeling defeated when a car or other stereo system has USB audio input that only works with iPod/iPhone. It's just sad that even now with USB-C, audio output with Android is still so finicky.

HorreC ,
@HorreC@kbin.social avatar

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.

Kelo ,
@Kelo@lemmy.world avatar

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.

slurp ,

I had that only when they got damaged, but they easily get damaged

HorreC ,
@HorreC@kbin.social avatar

To be honest I would have thought I would have got the same, I got some random one and its worked good for over two years now. I only use it for audio books so maybe I am missing out on some fucked up things in the connection.

dingus ,

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.

ISOmorph ,

Still a requirement for me. I listen to music and podcasts while I run, and I run a lot. But I don't want to deal with the privacy issues of leaving my BT on when I leave home. And USB dongles physical connections just aren't as reliable with a lot of motion.

Blaze OP ,
@Blaze@lemmy.zip avatar

Which phone do you use?

ISOmorph ,

Redmi Note 7. It's pretty old. Luckily the batteries are still ok.

Blaze OP ,
@Blaze@lemmy.zip avatar

Thanks!

Shimitar ,
@Shimitar@feddit.it avatar

I run also, and trust me try wireless, such a better experience without the entangling cables. Specially for sport.

ISOmorph ,

I know, it's defo more comfortable. Like I said, I just can't deal with the privacy issues related to BT. If there were earbuds supporting some kind of privacy friendly wireless protocol, I'd use them.

Shimitar ,
@Shimitar@feddit.it avatar

Do you want to elaborate on the privacy point?

I personally don't care if somebody snoops on the music I hear...

ISOmorph ,

It's not the music, it's location data. BT broadcasts a unique ID to your device. Every device with BT will receive that ID to check if it knows you. That's inherent to the protocol and works as designed. Apps will be able to learn yours and other peoples location that way. That's basically how Apples Airtag network operates.

Shimitar ,
@Shimitar@feddit.it avatar

That would be in the few meters range BT works...

And maybe the attacker needs to know already that you are you for that to work....

Of course if you use apple or google or Samsung stuff, in general if your stuff is already tracked to you...

I drive mostly around, they can already track me with my car license plate. BT doesn't give out anything of added value.

So no, I do not really understand the issue, but this doesn't mean I don't respect your choice.

ISOmorph ,

I think you severely underestimate how our devices are networked nowadays. It's not about the device directly next to you. It's about what is beeing agreggated in the back end. Google and Apple have an extensive BT and Wifi map that can locate specific devices very accurately at all times. Which of course is enriched with other device data from installed apps, like where you shop, what you shop, maybe even vitals from your smartwatch etc. to create a scarily accurate persona attached to your name. That's on a whole other level than what you can do with a license plate.

That being sad I respect your choice as well. Being privacy conscientious is a bit of work.

Shimitar ,
@Shimitar@feddit.it avatar

I agree, you are perfectly right.

Better pollute the data and make it less economically meaningful?

Sorry, I am not degoogled and I even have maps with history enabled!

Wugger ,

I'm still on my zenfone 6, and my next will be something sony. I don't really want a low-mid end phone but if the xperia 10 is the best I can get then that's what I'll get.

thequantumcog ,
@thequantumcog@lemmy.world avatar

Only with audio jack

Blaze OP ,
@Blaze@lemmy.zip avatar

Which phone do you use?

thequantumcog ,
@thequantumcog@lemmy.world avatar

You won't find it in the west. Its Infinix X6831

Blaze OP ,
@Blaze@lemmy.zip avatar

Thanks

smeg ,

I always hated the noise you got from wired headphones every time you moved, so I was very happy as soon as wireless headphones stopped being terrible. Now I only use wireless so I really don't need a 3.5mm slot, and I can use an adapter on the off chance I do. Also I use GrapheneOS so it's not like I really have a choice!

AMillionMonkeys ,
@AMillionMonkeys@lemmy.world avatar

I'm pretty happy with Pixels for the moment, so it's a $5 USB-C to 1/8" dongle for me. That or the Pixel Buds I got for free as as promo with the phone. I've never had to charge and use the converter at the same time, but I believe there are cheap dongles that can do that too.

slurp ,

There are but they are not reliable, even from reputable companies. I had both the ones I tried break very quickly, and moved back to requiring a headphone jack after that.

Blaze OP ,
@Blaze@lemmy.zip avatar

Which phone do you use at the moment?

slurp ,

Sony Xperia 1V

Blaze OP ,
@Blaze@lemmy.zip avatar

Thanks

slurp ,

It's very good but very expensive and the software support is not defined (but previous ones have been 2 years of security updates, which is terrible). I'm hoping Lineage OS will extend the usefulness or I may regret it. I couldn't find another phone that had microSD and headphone jack that I wanted.

catloaf ,

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.

Khrux ,

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.

kokesh ,
@kokesh@lemmy.world avatar

Honestly, what's the need for the jack? I've got Bluetooth earbuds and charger with BT/FM in my car.

ISOmorph ,

Read the comments. Plenty of good reasons to want a jack.

Skua ,

I'm still using it. I've got nice headphones and speakers that run off of a cable and no interest in top-end phones, so it makes sense to get a phone that fits the more expensive audio stuff rather than a bunch of adapters. Nokia's cheaper smartphones have served me quite nicely

theredhood ,

I'm lucky to be in Asia since I can easily use redmi phones here (doesn't work well with USA carriers). 3.5mm is still really useful for me, but if there's no more options I'll probably get a 3.5mm to BT adapter.

limerod ,

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.

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