[Vinnl]

The audio jack sounds weird in terms of sustainability, but supposedly it's to make the phone itself last longer:

> A notable downside compared to previous Fairphones is that the Fairphone 4 no longer includes a 3.5mm headphone jack, a choice that feels at odds with the company’s otherwise customer-first approach. Fairphone tells me it made this decision in order to be able to offer an official IP rating for dust and water resistance, which was missing from the company’s previous phones. It’s only IP54, which means it’s protected from light splashes rather than full submersion, but that’s impressive in light of its removable rear cover and modular design.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/30/22700014/fairphone-4-rele...

[i21QMgplhRJs2OL]

That would be a good explanation if it weren't for the fact that there have been phones with IP ratings and headphone jacks.

[Vinnl]

The difference of course being that those don't sport the Fairphone's modularity.

[meragrin_]

Motorola can include a 3.5mm jack in the moto x4 and get an IP68 rating. Why does Fairphone have to eliminate it to get an IP54 rating? Clearly, having a 3.5mm jack is not an impediment to getting an IP54 rating.

[oyashirochama]

The S5 had a removable battery and backplate with headphone jack exposed, and had a IP67 rating. It's easy enough to do just no one wants to put in the engineering work.