4 ms·

I've never had a 3.5mm jack fail me. The wires die, the PCB dies, but the connectors live forever.

plorg 10y ago
I've given up using the 3.5mm jack in situations where there might be stress on the plug (e.g. when you have your phone in your pocket). I've destroyed so many sets of headphones (or, in my case, replaced the cord on so many headphones) that it's just not worth it. But there are situations in which I do use the 3.5mm jack, e.g. in my car. In any case, it seems to me that co-locating the audio port with the USB port has another potential downside. If you destroy the 3.5mm headphone port you can still use and charge the phone (and use bluetooth headphones, for example). But if you destroy the USB port because your headphone cable torques in badly you have maybe 15 hours of life left in your phone before it's completely useless.
hashkb 10y ago
And they are easy and inexpensive to fix and replace.
rhinoceraptor 10y ago
They do wear out if you're plugging and unplugging it several times a day for several years.
goda90 10y ago
Counter-example: I did have issues with my old Samsung Galaxy S3's 3.5mm jack. Luckily the sound board was a relatively cheap and replaceable part and I only had to shave a little bit of plastic off to make it fit in my specific model :)
elcapitan 10y ago
Actually I just gave up my 8 year old iPod Classic because of that. Everything else worked fine, probably the most reliable piece of hardware I ever bought.
Mithaldu 10y ago
Anecdotal evidence. You got lucky. Due to the sheer length of a 3.5 plug, and the sturdy design of most of these plugs, a small amount of lateral force can easily wreck the socket in a split-second; and small amounts of damage over time can easily accumulate. I don't know if the lightning connectors are any better, but just by the fact that they're shorter, i'd hope they'd get removed from the socket, or just have the plug break, instead of the socket.
- riprowan 10y ago
  Are you actually arguing that a USB-C / Lightning connector will be more reliable than a 3.5mm analog connector? You'll have to produce data to back that up.
  - Mithaldu 10y ago
    I was using the wrong word, s/jack/socket/, now it should make more sense. As to your data: Basic physics. Any plug in a socket is a lever. Its length determines to how much force any force impacting the part outside the device is translated to, at the end of the lever; inside the device. USB-C plugs are shorter than 3.5mm plugs. Thus, they're less likely to wreck your phone, and more likely to wreck themselves.
    - pritambaral 10y ago
      > Its length determines to how much force any force impacting the part outside the device is translated to, at the end of the lever; inside the device. > Thus, they're less likely to wreck your phone, and more likely to wreck themselves It's not about the force, since that goes both ways (because Newton's third law). It's about how deep damage may happen or how sooner will a jack give in before the socket does. 3.5mm plugs usually have more strength than lightning plugs (but not more than the USB-C plugs I've seen), so it is understandable if lightning plugs destroy themselves before dealing much damage to the socket. But a shorter lever (of considerable strength to not break first) will apply the same amount of force over a smaller area than a longer lever. Less area => more pressure => more damage to socket. This is exactly why I can (and have done so for the last three years, same phone) pick my phone up with the earphones, but not with the end of its microUSB cable: the shorter socket cannot handle the weight of the phone.
fhood 10y ago
Sorry I'm with snovv_crash here. I can only speak for iphones, but I have never had a 3.5mm jack fail on me, and I used to go through a pair of headphones every 6 months or so.
- coddingtonbear 10y ago
  I have broken one iphone's 3.5mm jack by biking in probably-too-tight pants while listening to something on my headphones, so if you're looking for anecdata, it does happen.
  - fhood 10y ago
    I believe that it happens, I am just saying that I believe the 3.5mm to be the toughest port on the phone in my experience.
barrkel 10y ago
I've had three die in the past 3 years: one on a desktop PC, two in phones. I switched to bluetooth and lived with a muddier sound.

plorg 10y ago

I've given up using the 3.5mm jack in situations where there might be stress on the plug (e.g. when you have your phone in your pocket). I've destroyed so many sets of headphones (or, in my case, replaced the cord on so many headphones) that it's just not worth it. But there are situations in which I do use the 3.5mm jack, e.g. in my car. In any case, it seems to me that co-locating the audio port with the USB port has another potential downside. If you destroy the 3.5mm headphone port you can still use and charge the phone (and use bluetooth headphones, for example). But if you destroy the USB port because your headphone cable torques in badly you have maybe 15 hours of life left in your phone before it's completely useless.

hashkb 10y ago

And they are easy and inexpensive to fix and replace.

rhinoceraptor 10y ago

They do wear out if you're plugging and unplugging it several times a day for several years.

goda90 10y ago

Counter-example: I did have issues with my old Samsung Galaxy S3's 3.5mm jack. Luckily the sound board was a relatively cheap and replaceable part and I only had to shave a little bit of plastic off to make it fit in my specific model :)

elcapitan 10y ago

Actually I just gave up my 8 year old iPod Classic because of that. Everything else worked fine, probably the most reliable piece of hardware I ever bought.

Mithaldu 10y ago

Anecdotal evidence. You got lucky. Due to the sheer length of a 3.5 plug, and the sturdy design of most of these plugs, a small amount of lateral force can easily wreck the socket in a split-second; and small amounts of damage over time can easily accumulate. I don't know if the lightning connectors are any better, but just by the fact that they're shorter, i'd hope they'd get removed from the socket, or just have the plug break, instead of the socket.

riprowan 10y ago
Are you actually arguing that a USB-C / Lightning connector will be more reliable than a 3.5mm analog connector? You'll have to produce data to back that up.
- Mithaldu 10y ago
  I was using the wrong word, s/jack/socket/, now it should make more sense. As to your data: Basic physics. Any plug in a socket is a lever. Its length determines to how much force any force impacting the part outside the device is translated to, at the end of the lever; inside the device. USB-C plugs are shorter than 3.5mm plugs. Thus, they're less likely to wreck your phone, and more likely to wreck themselves.
  - pritambaral 10y ago
    > Its length determines to how much force any force impacting the part outside the device is translated to, at the end of the lever; inside the device. > Thus, they're less likely to wreck your phone, and more likely to wreck themselves It's not about the force, since that goes both ways (because Newton's third law). It's about how deep damage may happen or how sooner will a jack give in before the socket does. 3.5mm plugs usually have more strength than lightning plugs (but not more than the USB-C plugs I've seen), so it is understandable if lightning plugs destroy themselves before dealing much damage to the socket. But a shorter lever (of considerable strength to not break first) will apply the same amount of force over a smaller area than a longer lever. Less area => more pressure => more damage to socket. This is exactly why I can (and have done so for the last three years, same phone) pick my phone up with the earphones, but not with the end of its microUSB cable: the shorter socket cannot handle the weight of the phone.

fhood 10y ago

Sorry I'm with snovv_crash here. I can only speak for iphones, but I have never had a 3.5mm jack fail on me, and I used to go through a pair of headphones every 6 months or so.

coddingtonbear 10y ago
I have broken one iphone's 3.5mm jack by biking in probably-too-tight pants while listening to something on my headphones, so if you're looking for anecdata, it does happen.
- fhood 10y ago
  I believe that it happens, I am just saying that I believe the 3.5mm to be the toughest port on the phone in my experience.

barrkel 10y ago

I've had three die in the past 3 years: one on a desktop PC, two in phones. I switched to bluetooth and lived with a muddier sound.