[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?

_NetNomad ,
@_NetNomad@kbin.run avatar

i avoid anything wireless like the plague short of wifi. pairing is always a miserable process, and by the time everything is connected, the batteries are dead. it drives me absolutely bonkers. thankfully many motorolla phones still have 3.5mm jacks . i think my current model is the motorolla 5g stylus

BearOfaTime ,

Lol.

BT hasn't been that bad in years.

Rarely have problems with pairing, and have about a dozen BT devices in my house.

Batteries and power are so much better today I worry less about charging BT devices than my phone.

Shimitar ,
@Shimitar@feddit.it avatar

I consider myself an old fart, but you need to get out and do more experiences yourself.

Wireless Bluetooth headsets have been pretty nice for years. Don't go too cheap (but even cheap ones can be good) but don't waste too much money either on them and you will be fine.

Pairing today is smooth and easy, never had an issue in the last 5 years at very least. Battery life is pretty good, my tw buds get a week worth of charge at my usage (and I use them for daily sport training, calls and occasional video). They get charged automatically when I put them back in the box and the box itself recharge in like 30 minutes.

And you can use them one at a time, which is good to get truly unlimited "call time". .moreover, my model can both do noise cancelation or environment sound pass-trough which is amazingly good when running on asphalt (the latter) and trying to isolate in the office (the former).

Moreover having no chord dangling getting pulled and catching around is unreliable better experience.

I had to go back to wired a few times (forgot the wireless home..) And found how much worse experience that is.

Of course, I prefer the choice and I have always purchased a phone with audio jack and will do again if at the same price/hardware level.

_NetNomad ,
@_NetNomad@kbin.run avatar

different strokes for different blokes i guess but i prefer to not have to charge things and not worry about pairing and that's that

dcooksta26 ,
@dcooksta26@lemmy.world avatar

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.

EarMaster ,

I bought some USB-C dongles when I switched, but I only used them once in several years to connect my phone to a rental car which had no Bluetooth audio.

dmention7 ,

Begrudgingly given in.

Good fully wireless ear buds are truly an amazing convenience, but I value having flexibility and redundancy in my hardware more than having a slightly sleeker form factor. Thay includes things like removable battery, SD card slot, etc. Unfortunately, the market has spoken, and keeping those features limits you to a more and more niche selection every year. By now the tradeoff just isn't worth it to me.

As far as USB dongles, I seem to have enough problems with USB-C ports becoming loose or flaky for charging that I avoid using them except when necessary. Wireless chargers abound in my house.

slurp ,

I have had similar issues with USB-C ports but avoid wireless charging as it often causes damage to the battery via excess heating (particularly if not perfectly aligned). I'd give up a 3.5mm jack for a redundant USB-C.

BearOfaTime ,

I've had 4x as many C ports die as I have Micro USB (and I've used micro ports since 2009 on multiple phones, numerous headsets, speakers, and small rechargeable devices).

C ports are awful for durability, despite claims they're better than micro.

petrescatraian ,
@petrescatraian@libranet.de avatar

@BearOfaTime That's odd. My experience with micro USB cables is actually the poorer one. Cables would have their pins worn down all the time and become loose. My current phone has USB C and I had no problem so far. I use the same cable since I purchased it.

@dmention7

Shimitar ,
@Shimitar@feddit.it avatar

All my micro-usb phones have the port mangled or damaged over time. I had even to replace one, once.

All my usb-c phones have had zero issues with the port itself. And that's as well true for my kids. Once they managed to break a micro USB but they never even had a single issues in USBC.

They stand much better the forced insertion/unplugging in my experience. yMMv.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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.

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!

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.

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