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The removal of the phone jack is so obviously planned obsolescence, it is ironic that this project for sustainability follows the trend. Wired headphones still
by bombela 1y ago
The removal of the phone jack is so obviously planned obsolescence, it is ironic that this project for sustainability follows the trend.
Wired headphones still have better sound quality. Don't need charging. Don't break with software update. But because of that it means less consumption.
Think about how insane it is that companies can remove the phone jack and glue in the battery with the very obvious goal of planned obsolescence. And this is legal.
- KingOfCoders 1y agoAfter years of a Fairbuds XL (never again!) and Bose QC for my Zoom sessions, I've ordered a Sony MDR-7506 because it does not need to be charged, and bluetooth doesn't need to be reconnected etc. Hurray for headphone jacks.
- kevincox 1y agoI'm generally a fan of wired-everything but headphones are the one thing that I love to have wireless. Not only is it not a tangle with the cord but I can go grab a glass of water without any interruption even still listening to a meeting while I do. The biggest downside is worrying about the battery level. But they last so long on a single charge that it isn't even an issue if you forget to plug them in many days in a row and the battery charges fast even on a slow charger.
- KingOfCoders 1y agoMine don't last an 10 hour day :-(
- jack_pp 1y agoI don't think it's about planned obsolescence. It's about cutting costs and having one less hole water can get in. Also wired headphones are a very niche market. If you care so much there are wireless DACs that can feed your wired headphones better than any phone in history.
- winternewt 1y agoHow do they avoid lossy compression?
- emsign 1y agoBy applying Psychoacoustics. Lossy compression is a problem long solved.
- meepmorp 1y agothat's not avoiding lossy compression, that's choosing a form that people (hopefully) won't notice
- kayson 1y agoBy that logic, so is using 16 bits and 44khz sampling rate.
- okanat 1y ago16-bit 44 Khz almost perfectly reproduces human hearing. It wasn't a coincidence that the makers of CDs chose it. Anything above is studio-grade stuff to give extra headroom for editing (applying filters in studio editing can amplify noise which is unwanted, for just playing audio there are no advantages). With standard Bluetooth codecs you get nowhere close to that and there is a significant noticeable delay for video content. Headphone jack is easy to make IP68. All rugged phones have it and all non-rugged ones have a USB port which is bigger and more irregular than a frigging circle.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- chaosharmonic 1y agoMy hotter take is that this is the same problem as IR blasters, and relative to the old normal -- when device makers like LG were specifically advertising how awesome their built-in DAC was -- this whole thing could be solved in a much more elegant, flexible way if anyone at all would just give us a second fucking USB port.
- BariumBlue 1y agoI use my USB-C port to listen to my wired headphones all the time, no problem. Phone jack is now redundant now that USB-C can output audio
- dotancohen 1y agoThat USB-C jack is not nearly as strong and robust as a proper headphone jack.
- LexGray 1y agoI do not think I have owned a single device where the headphone jack was the first item to have issues or fail. Even unused debris would trigger switches changing sound sources. I am happy to be done with wired headphones being yanked off my head.
- o11c 1y agoUnfortunately there are major, intentional, compatibility problems with USB audio. During early COVID, USB audio worked perfectly, but an Android update disabled, supposedly for "security" reasons.
- bigstrat2003 1y agoA proper headphone jack will always and forever be superior to needing a dongle.
- illiac786 1y agoNo, that’s not planned obsolescence. Why would it become obsolete faster due to the lack of a phone jack? Not delivering updates, that’s planned obsolescence. I do agree however, that a jack is nice. Wired USB-C headphone do exist though, if you insist on wired.I am not an audiophile, wouldn’t that provide an even better sound quality potentially (digital to analog conversion happens later, not distortions due to cables for example)?
- SlowTao 1y agoThere seems to be more movement in the standards space on wireless headphones. The wireless standard today could be very different in 5-10 years time. The 3.5mm jack is over a century old, it isn't being changed dramatically in any way. Personally, I am just not a fan of something that requires both a software connection that usually isn't always the smoothest thing rather than a direct hardware connection. And having yet another battery to deal with and the down stream impact of that. Typically all on hardware with the battery sealed inside that will die long before the rest of the hardware will. Nothing wrong with wireless as an option but mandating it, I do not like that one bit. It is now the first thing I check on a phone as it is an absolute deal breaker for me.
- illiac786 1y agoBut what about usb-c wired headphones, as I suggested?
- beeflet 1y ago>Wired headphones still have better sound quality I don't know about that, I still get analog noise all the time. Maybe it's just due to using a cheap DAC? They also sell wireless earbuds and headphones with replaceable batteries. I think the solution is to ship wireless earphones with a usb-c capability, and ship smartphones with multiple usb ports.
- MostlyStable 1y agoA more accurate statement would have been "you can get better sound quality out of wired headphones at every price point". But you definitely aren't guaranteed to get better quality. However much money you are willing to spend on headphones, with a tiny bit of research, you will find a wired option with dramatically better quality. But also, the very low end of wired headphones are truly, truly abysmal, but getting wireless at those price-points is just literally impossible. $20 is enough to get pretty decent sound quality (better than my ~$100 Samsung Galaxy Buds)
- tho234234234234 1y agoTwo yen: buy Sony phones before Xperia gets shutdown. Sony obsesses about sound quality to the extent that they try to develop specialized solder materials (!) for the DAC-Jack pathway. Bonus: Sony's AOSP program also releases images, and even oddballs like Sailfish release images spec. for Sony devices.
- MostlyStable 1y agoI've almost pulled the trigger on a Sony phone multiple times specifically because they are the last non-camera-cutout, headphone jack phone on the market. Unfortunately, they don't work on Google Fi, and I don't (quite) care enough to switch my carrier for it....but I'm really close.
- SECProto 1y agoI just took a look and the most recent Xperia looks to be 3x the (already high) cost of a Fairphone 6? I buy my phones outright and that is quite prohibitive.
- tho3242432432 1y agoI'm not sure if comparing Xperia 1 to Fairphone makes sense. Xperia 10 is probably the fairer comparison, but I don't think Sony is releasing them outside Japan :(
- codedokode 1y agoAnd wired headphones have less latency if you want to play music (although touch screens usually have huge latency).
- hashworks 1y agoNothing stops you from using wired headphones with USB-C.
- TremendousJudge 1y agoI had to settle for a phone with no headphone jack. I thought it can't be that bad, I got a usbc adapter. It's a strictly worse experience: - It disconnects easily - It's much more uncomfortable to keep in the pocket with it plugged on, since it's longer - I feel like I'm stressing the usbc port much more - I can't charge and use headphones at the same time (unless I buy a different, bulkier, adapter) - If I don't have the adapter on me, I can't plug my phone in some music system that doesn't have bt. This has bit me in the ass twice already in four months. - The adapter already seems to be breaking down (I didn't get the cheapest one available) and sending weird inputs to the phone which pauses the music or causes the assistant to tell me the time So yeah, nothing's stopping me, but my experience is worse now for the sole reason that Apple decided they wanted to sell Bluetooth headphones
- thaumasiotes 1y ago> I can't charge and use headphones at the same time (unless I buy a different, bulkier, adapter) Well, that's better than things used to be... I had a Zen Stone that I used to play music in the car by plugging a cassette tape adapter into the audio jack. For convenience, I bought a cigarette lighter adapter to power it, so that I wouldn't have to take it out of my car when it needed charging. Except it turned out not to be able to play audio while charging. Not because it charged through the audio jack. It charged through a USB port. You just weren't allowed to do both at once.
- wisenull 1y agoI also had a Zen Phone (if that's what you meant) and it definitely played audio while charging. All the phones that I have had with a audio jack would charge and play audio without any issues, ranging from a lot of different Samsung Galaxy to Wiko phones.
- teekert 1y agoMy headphone cables (usually Sennheiser CX 300 II In-ear) would break consistently within about 2 years. Airpods have been going strong for much longer than that. I use my AirPods with my iPads, my Linux Laptop, my Kids' Android tablet. Expensive yes, but planned obsolescence? Meh.. I also got an (Apple branded even) USB-C to headphone jack plug which also work flawlessly, so I really don't see the issue here.
- WhyNotHugo 1y ago> Wired headphones still have better sound quality. High-grade studio quality wired headphones have better quality than wireless ones. But anywhere lower than the highest tiers, they're both in the same ballpark. For the devices used by 999‰ of the people, the difference is unnoticeable. > Don't break with software update. Why would headphones break when you upgrade your phone? It sounds to me like your phone broke. And an audio jack can also stop working with a botched software update. I've been using cellular phones since 2004. I've never used a headphone jack. Most people haven't either. Sure, some people would use it, and some people would use a DisplayPort connector if present (I would), but it's hard to justify putting one in every single phone when an adapter is so cheap. Shipping a 3.5mm audio jack on every single phone in the world is more wasteful than just manufacturing an adapter for people who actually need it.
- komali2 1y agoI would pay $2000 without a second of hesitation, if that's what it took, for an Android phone with * headphone jack * usbc port * removable, large battery * under 5 inch screen (with phone body size to match) * dual sim * sd card slot * cameras just good enough to take pictures of license plates on illegally parked cars * 5g antenna I don't care if it needs to be hella thick to accomplish this, I don't care if the screen is OLED or has a >60hz refresh rate, I don't care about telescopic cameras or faceid or anything like that. I just want a small fat phone that I can plug my IEMs into and use as a wifi tether for my laptop without the battery dying in a couple hours.
- nolist_policy 1y agoSamsung Galaxy Xcover 4s Olympia Neo Mini Slightly larger: Samsung Galaxy Xcover 5 Cyrus CM17 XA None with 5G though.
- komali2 1y ago> None with 5G though Exactly. I should have added "up to date security patches, and functioning google and banking apps" to my list as well to cover my bases on why I can't just use an old phone with a custom ROM. Otherwise I'd just use the Galaxy S3 for the rest of my life.
- palata 1y ago> The removal of the phone jack is so obviously planned obsolescence I'll keep repeating it; I worked in a hardware company (and one with very toxic upper management) and really, I don't buy the "planned obsolescence" for most products. Employees are usually not villains (I know, it happens, as proven by Meta recently where engineers essentially built a malware into Meta's apps, and as proven by printers - if that's still the case, I don't own one). Most of the time they are not. What happens most of the time is more likely "premature obsolescence": the product could have been engineered to last for 10 years, but it would have taken more development time and it would have cost more, so the company chose not to invest there. Regulations enforce a warranty period, so the company optimises around that. But it's not the same as planned obsolescence. The result is the same: we need regulations that set the framework into which companies optimise. But the intention is different. Also specifically for the jack, the reality is that nobody cares. You want a phone with a jack? Congrats, you're part of a small minority (don't worry, I am, too). How does it feel? :-)