4 ms·

No, 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.

No, 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 ago
There 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 ago
  But what about usb-c wired headphones, as I suggested?
  - silon42 1y ago
    That is an acceptable compromise... it would be nice to have a second USB-C (for reduncancy, if nothing else).
  - jabl 1y ago
    Personally, I have several decent headphones with 3.5mm connectors. Having to buy a separate pair of headphones for phone use is dumb.
    - pjerem 1y ago
      USB-C to jack adapters exists. Even USB-C to jack cables exists if you own headphones with removable cable. Not saying it’s a good situation, I also miss the jack connector. But you’ve got the option to keep your headphones :)
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
- cosmic_cheese 1y ago
  Hot take maybe but I think it would be a worthwhile endeavor to come up with a replacement for the 3.5mm audio jack. It’s served us well but there’s several improvements that could be made to it that’d make it more durable and less prone to issues like becoming loose. It’s probably longer than it strictly needs to be too.
  - wilsonnb3 1y ago
    Regarding the length, the smaller 2.5mm jack used to be pretty common on smaller devices. Now the only thing that I know uses it is the input on Bose QC headphones.
codedokode 1y ago
Wireless headphones use lossy compression, so the sound is of worse quality. Also some of them use low bitrate profiles like 256 kbit or even 128 kbit to get longer battery life. Also as I understand they are a pain to use because you need to charge them daily.
- illiac786 1y ago
  I was suggesting usb-c wired headphones
karteum 1y ago
UCB-C headphones use the same USB-C connector as the charging one (there are no smartphone with 2 usb-C connectors), therefore increasing the wear every time you plug/unplug. When using USB headphones you cannot charge at the same time, and when using USB-to-{usb+jack} the behavior is sometimes strange (e.g. does not detect and switch to internal audio when unplugging the jack). Besides, in many situations (especially when walking/moving), a USB-C connector tends to unplug itself so easily while a jack connector will just stay in place. Nothing really replaces an internal jack port ! (+ in some cases, the jack connector would also provide a debug UART :). In comparison, Moto G84 has LineageOS/Calyx support, headphone jack, 2 SIM (or 1 SIM + SD-card), 12G RAM, and 7/10 repairability score in France (although I lack the details - I hope at least it's relatively easy to replace the battery and USB-C slot) + it weight 160g => even though I'd like to support Fairphone, I won't buy again a phone without jack port ! I totally agree with previous comments which highlight that we used to have removable jack + batteries + SD + root easily 10 years ago (and we also had more options for tiny phones, such as Galaxy S4 Mini).
- illiac786 1y ago
  I do agree USB-C physically sucks, especially compared with lightning or audio jack. But “reusing the same port for multiple purposes” can’t mean “planned obsolescence”. Making that port unrepairable, that, yes.
- wilsonnb3 1y ago
  Minor nitpick - ASUS ROG phones have two USB C ports, I think some other gaming focused phones do as well.

SlowTao 1y ago

There 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 ago
But what about usb-c wired headphones, as I suggested?
- silon42 1y ago
  That is an acceptable compromise... it would be nice to have a second USB-C (for reduncancy, if nothing else).
- jabl 1y ago
  Personally, I have several decent headphones with 3.5mm connectors. Having to buy a separate pair of headphones for phone use is dumb.
  - pjerem 1y ago
    USB-C to jack adapters exists. Even USB-C to jack cables exists if you own headphones with removable cable. Not saying it’s a good situation, I also miss the jack connector. But you’ve got the option to keep your headphones :)
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
cosmic_cheese 1y ago
Hot take maybe but I think it would be a worthwhile endeavor to come up with a replacement for the 3.5mm audio jack. It’s served us well but there’s several improvements that could be made to it that’d make it more durable and less prone to issues like becoming loose. It’s probably longer than it strictly needs to be too.
- wilsonnb3 1y ago
  Regarding the length, the smaller 2.5mm jack used to be pretty common on smaller devices. Now the only thing that I know uses it is the input on Bose QC headphones.

codedokode 1y ago

Wireless headphones use lossy compression, so the sound is of worse quality. Also some of them use low bitrate profiles like 256 kbit or even 128 kbit to get longer battery life. Also as I understand they are a pain to use because you need to charge them daily.

illiac786 1y ago
I was suggesting usb-c wired headphones

karteum 1y ago

UCB-C headphones use the same USB-C connector as the charging one (there are no smartphone with 2 usb-C connectors), therefore increasing the wear every time you plug/unplug. When using USB headphones you cannot charge at the same time, and when using USB-to-{usb+jack} the behavior is sometimes strange (e.g. does not detect and switch to internal audio when unplugging the jack). Besides, in many situations (especially when walking/moving), a USB-C connector tends to unplug itself so easily while a jack connector will just stay in place. Nothing really replaces an internal jack port ! (+ in some cases, the jack connector would also provide a debug UART :). In comparison, Moto G84 has LineageOS/Calyx support, headphone jack, 2 SIM (or 1 SIM + SD-card), 12G RAM, and 7/10 repairability score in France (although I lack the details - I hope at least it's relatively easy to replace the battery and USB-C slot) + it weight 160g => even though I'd like to support Fairphone, I won't buy again a phone without jack port ! I totally agree with previous comments which highlight that we used to have removable jack + batteries + SD + root easily 10 years ago (and we also had more options for tiny phones, such as Galaxy S4 Mini).

illiac786 1y ago
I do agree USB-C physically sucks, especially compared with lightning or audio jack. But “reusing the same port for multiple purposes” can’t mean “planned obsolescence”. Making that port unrepairable, that, yes.
wilsonnb3 1y ago
Minor nitpick - ASUS ROG phones have two USB C ports, I think some other gaming focused phones do as well.