[andz]

serious question: what is your use case for 3.5mm in 2022? I am really happy with the wireless options available and couldn't imagine going back to cables. You have been missing out on great phones if lack of jack is a dealbreaker for you.

[cypherpunks01]

For me, I already own a number of headphones/earbuds that I really like for different situations. They all "just work" when you plug them in. I don't have to worry about the headphones running out of batteries, and don't have to worry about additional power draw from using headphones when I have to stretch battery life for whatever reason, e.g. backpacking or in an emergency or if I just forgot to charge my phone. I don't have to buy new headphones regularly.

Bluetooth has gotten better over the years but it's certainly still buggy, at least with Android. I don't like the environmental impact of buying unnecessary electronics, particularly battery-powered ones, constantly just to be able listen to music. I like technology that can "just work" every time without the constraints or anxiety. I don't like having wireless transmitters directly on my head or in my ear when it can be easily avoided, even if I know they are low power.

I am lucky that I could afford the added cost of wireless headphones if I wanted them, but with billions of people not able to afford basic expenses and phones increasingly required to live a life these days, it seems fairly cynical to industry-wide remove an obvious cheap feature and force everyone to much higher-cost and higher-resource consumption technology. Yes I acknowledge the Pixel line is not a budget item, I just mean for this type of change in general.

[BizarroLand]

Do you have anything against USB-C to 3.5 adapters? They're pretty cheap, it wouldn't be a huge stretch to buy one for every pair of headphones you regularly use.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324680368007 is one that looks like it would do the job.

[toastercat]

I actually found out the hard way that a lot of these adapters are trash and completely ruin the audio signal, or don't work with all devices due to the lack of a DAC or just having a bad quality DAC.

Unfortunately, if you want to buy a good and reliable one, you should probably spend at least $15-$20 on one. I've had luck with the Anker-branded one, though the audio quality is noticeably worse than when I used a phone with a direct 3.5mm port. YMMV.

[cypherpunks01]

Yeah, nothing extreme against those adapters, that will certainly be the way to go for me if I end up with a phone without headphone jack. I just don't love how they stick out and can snag things more easily in my pocket or bag, but I'd probably put up with it.

How long until USB-C is discontinued and all phones are zero port?

[amrocha]

For what it's worth, I went through the same internal debate, and bought a pixel with the Apple adapter since it was highly recommended.

The adapter is awful, my headphones randomly stop working if I move too much, I constantly have to plug it on and off again, etc. Yeah, it's probably because I damaged it, but with the way it dangles off the phone and snags on everything there's no way it wasn't gonna get damaged.

[Timshel]

Initially though that the connection was stronger on the jack port than the usb-c but they appear to be quite similar and searching for rating they are both around 10k cycles.

Still I probably put more strain on the jack port than the usb-c, when used only for charging, so if the first one fails at least it does not brick my device.

And i can still charge while listening to music :).

Edit: probably would not buy the adapter you linked put even more strain on the port but corded one exists.

[knaik94]

I have expensive headphones and I don't care to have one more thing I have to charge daily. My daily hours of use of headphones means that I'd have to buy two pairs of headphones and switch them halfway through the day to charge. Wireless headphones are still very far in terms of audio quality, compared to wired headphones. More importantly, for certain applications, the audio latency due to bluetooth is unacceptable. A single device might be okay, but it's not across all of the devices I use.

Most importantly, I want to charge my phone while using headphones at the same time.

Phones aren't getting faster enough for me to care about having the newest phone anymore. If my laptop and my tablets and my tv remote, and game controller all have 3.5mm jacks, buying a phone without one is a dumb decision. Why would I intentionally pay for a worse daily experience?

Usb c to 3.5mm adapters all have had worse quality than a native port. A phone lacking a headphone jack isn't a feature, it's a way to generate a new revenue stream.

I know I am in a very small population of hours spent listening to audio in a day, probably top 5%, but I believe my phone should make my life easier, not harder. Bluetooth still isn't anywhere close to having feature parity to the 3.5mm headphone jack. If it was, companies would have dropped headphones jacks from their laptops.

Dell xps 13 plus, released feb 2022, doesn't have a headphone jack. No laptop since has followed this decision, not even apple.

[toastercat]

I prefer wired devices for:

1. Lack of latency

2. Lack of unreliable and dodgy bluetooth

3. No need to charge battery

4. Ubiquity (my 3.5mm audiophile headphones plug into about every device I own except my phone)

5. Wired headphones/earbuds have a better audio quality for the price compared to wireless alternatives, and are cheaper to replace.

6. My car (a Civic from the mid 2000s) only has an AUX output, which I prefer anyway because it's simpler to unplug/plug into my phone or a passengers phone rather than fiddling with Bluetooth settings

I carry around a USB-C dongle with me in my backpack as well as in my car, but I would prefer not to.

[CameronNemo]

Regarding 6, plugging an aux cable into a car also doesn't encourage me to leak my contact database and call history from my phone.

[thefz]

Agree with all of the above. 3.5mm has been a widely adopted standard for what, 30 years?

[fetus8]

My $150 IEM 3.5mm headphones sound better than any wireless headphones in that same price bracket.

Having a headphone jack built into my phone would be great so that I didn't need an extra dongle. I still carry around a DAP to listen to music to that way I don't have to rely on streaming services, since my last few phones haven't had a headphone jack.

[jemmyw]

Free "studio" wired headphones that came with some other equipment sound better than my $400 wireless ones. I never thought much about audio quality before then so the difference really surprised me. Now I only use wired ones.

I think part of the reason is that I like listening to acoustic music rather than pop rock edm or whatever is popular and consumer headphones tend to be bass heavy rather than going for clarity. I followed up with some studio speakers and they sound really excellent to me in comparison to the expensive consumer speakers I had before.

[thefz]

Serious answer: I listen a lot of my music while on my MTB, while running or while at the gym.

If I have an helmet on, the only thing that fits in my ear are run of the mill jack and cord buds. Bulky bluetooth buds don't fit. And having something physically attached to me is a plus, since I lost one wireless earbud in the woods once.

When I run and sweat, I can feel the larger and heavier wireless earbuds slip out of my ear.

In the gym, wireless and 3.5 are largely interchangeable.

And my car stereo has only 3.5mm aux in, that's how I listen to music while in it.

[Timshel]

Headphones working without battery :o

I have a pair of qc25 which are awesome when I'm working or travelling (train or plane); don't need wireless when I'm sitting.

Swapping battery is trivial and if I'm out headset is still usable just no ANC.

[dividefuel]

- Aux cables, such as for my home stereo and some cares.

- My wired mic/earbuds pick up less environmental noise than my "fancy" wireless earbuds

[NewJazz]

A single cable means that a user no longer must deal with two extra batteries to keep charged and two bluetooth devices to keep paired.

I have been on calls with people where their audio cuts out midway through due to charge or connection issues. Those issues are impossible and rare, respectively, with a jack based mic/headphone.

I have seen and heard of people dropping one of their buds on the street, in the sink, or into a vat of liquid nitrogen... Not something that happens with a jack.

Don't get me started on the cost. In many cases you pay 5-10 times as much for wireless buds at the same level of audio/call quality.

TL;DR bluetooth is shit, batteries are shit, tiny expensive easy to drop/misplace devices are shit.

[prewett]

I don't use earphones on my phone that much, so non-wired earbuds would either be on their charger and inaccessible outside the house, or in my bag but out of battery because I forgot about them last time I came back. I can put wired earbuds in my pack and forget about them for months and they still work when I pick them up.

Also, I refuse to deal with Bluetooth until pairing reliably works and sound is always high quality even with microwave interference. I don't expect them to succeed.

[alvarlagerlof]

The trick is to never ever unpair. Then you won't have to pair either. You just turn Bluetooth on and off and let it connect itself.

[ksec]

I do not like the idea of disposable earphones.

[tabiv]

I've had certain wired headphones that last me 10+ years. Blutooth devices with small batteries would end up in a landfill in that time.

[supertrope]

When I’m in Manhattan Bluetooth doesn’t work due to 2.4 GHz congestion and interference.