I’ll go first: Silence Unknown Callers and Filter Unknown Senders on iPhone. No unwanted calls or texts. If someone really needs to reach me but isn’t in my contacts, they can just send a text - it goes into a separate list.
I’ll go first: Silence Unknown Callers and Filter Unknown Senders on iPhone. No unwanted calls or texts. If someone really needs to reach me but isn’t in my contacts, they can just send a text - it goes into a separate list.
3.5mm audio jack - unfortunately, most smartphones no longer have this.
Audio jacks only matter if phone makers are going to put a quality DAC in the phone and most didn’t anyway. Meaning that Bluetooth is just as good as the audio jacks in most phones. There is a reason most PMPs these days have a 6mm balanced jack instead of or in addition to the 3.5mm.
There are more reasons than sound quality to have a jack.
Like?
I have to say, I felt the same until I got my first pair of wireless earbuds. Idk if I’m just clumsy, but I always managed to get headphone cables caught on things or I would like forget I was plugged into my computer or something and try to get up. I would get snagged on door handles and it would frequently rip the headphones off/out of my ears.
And oh my God when this stopped happening with wireless buds I was amazed at my freedom of movement and lack of being infuriated lmaooo. It felt so amazing.
I know that like for gaming, the slight delay in wireless buds isn’t really going to cut it for most, though.
There are other downsides too, obviously, but I finally understood what all of the fuss was about with wireless headphones/earbuds. I don’t miss wired anymore.
Yes, that’s true. Bluetooth is handy, and I also have wireless headphones. However, I also have some older, high-quality Beyerdynamic headphones with cable. This really makes a difference, especially with lossless audio files, which is why a headphone jack is important to me in a smartphone.
But what’s your wired use case? Are you mostly sitting at a desk working or sipping your favorite drink and listening, or are you using those headphones while traveling/out and about?
For a home/desk setup, I ended up buying a small, fairly inexpensive external DAC/amp specifically for high-quality lossless listening. It works great with my iPhone/iPad and my PC. It’s small enough to take with me (fits in the palm of my hand), but it does start to feel inconvenient when you’re traveling.
When I’m out and about and still want wired, I usually just use the USB-C to 3.5 mm adapter. And honestly, once you’re walking around with background noise, the main advantage of lossless is mostly lost anyway. It’s hard to hear the difference between lossless and a good high-bitrate codec unless you’re really in a quiet environment and actively listening.
Also, on the technical side: a 3.5 mm jack is analog, so the “quality” isn’t about the jack itself, it’s about the DAC and headphone amp behind it. Many built-in phone jacks (when phones have them) aren’t that great compared to even a modest external DAC.
If you’re talking about Apple Music “Lossless” (up to 24-bit/48 kHz), the small USB-C to 3.5 mm dongle is typically enough and it’s easy to just leave it attached to the headphone cable.
If you’re talking about “Hi-Res Lossless” (up to 24-bit/192 kHz), a lot of built-in jacks won’t support that full rate, and you generally need an external DAC anyway. So if you’re chasing hi-res playback, the presence of a built-in headphone jack matters less because you still care most about the DAC/amp quality and capabilities, not the hole in the phone.
That’s why I don’t see a built-in jack as a must-have, it takes space inside the phone, and for higher-end wired listening you’re better off with a dongle or DAC/amp anyway.
I mostly use my Beyerdynamic headphones when I’m outside (I often go for walks). I’m not really an audiophile, but they’re decent headphones and most of the music I’ve digitized over the years is in FLAC format anyway. So I use my smartphone as an MP3 player, so to speak, and I have a Sony Xperia 5 IV, which actually still has an audio jack. This means I can continue to use my headphones as usual, and since the device also has a slot for an additional micro SD card (up to 1TB), there is enough space for various albums even in high quality FLAC format.
Basically, I just wanted to continue using my headphones. I didn’t choose my smartphone solely because of the headphone jack, but it’s nice that it has one, even if I may not be getting the highest possible audio quality - it’s good enough for me.
It would be nice but honestly it just turns out Bluetooth was good enough for most people. And me, most of the time.
There’s also USB-C headphones which work with basically every device I want it to instantly. Yeah I can’t charge my phone while using them but I rarely ever actually need to. I don’t wear headphones for periods that long.
For me, an audio jack is only important because I like listening to music and have high-quality wired headphones that I’ve been using for a long time. But yes, it’s true that the jack is definitely not essential for most people.
Yeah. I suppose you got a good quality USB-C DAC for them or do you just hang onto a phone model with a jack?
Yeah, for audiophiles this is actually a better situation now tbf
You can get inline USB-C DACs that are head and shoulders above the DACs that were used in 95% of smartphones out there. Or more frustratingly with Samsung, they used to (probably like 8-9 years ago now lol) include half decent DACs but configure them terribly which could only be fixed with custom ROMs, so I had to choose between shit audio or my banking apps.
Average Joe that doesn’t care about that just uses Bluetooth today anyway since you can get cheap Bluetooth headphones for about the same as cheap wired headphones (where the audio is going to be crap whatever you do). And of course there’s the cheap but passable inline DACs they used to include with phones that you can pick up for pretty cheap if you really want to use cheap wired headphones for whatever reason.
It was definitely annoying when they all just got rid of them, but at least now when I want to use my wired headphones on a device, I know it will actually sound good and isn’t down to what was the cheapest DAC they could get away with putting into the device itself.
I have a Sony Xperia 5 IV, which actually still has a headphone jack - and even a slot for an additional micro SD card (up to 1TB). It’s certainly not one of the smartphones with the best value, but I’m still quite happy with it, especially since I like the form factor.
I’ve eyed an Xperia every time I got a new phone but they are damn pricey.
Yes, in comparison, there is generally not much that speaks in favor of Sony phones. I was mainly interested in the form factor and am satisfied with that, but you can certainly get better devices for the price.
I was also thinking of buying the steam machine but then I realized: no 3.5 mm audio jack… only a usb-c.
So I’d either have to buy new headphones or a dongle to use it which I really do not want to do.
Or solder in a replacement somehow…
Neither do most headphones
This gripe is almost 15 years old. Get over it. If you want to be a Luddite, stop acting like it’s everyone else’s fault.
Edit: ITT people who willingly make themselves miserable and their enablers
Most headphones absolutely have 3.5mm connections!
Just because you are looking at a small subset of gaming headset or standard consumer headphones does not mean that most headphones doesn’t have it.
Also, calling someone a luddite for wanting stuff that just works is idiotic.
The earliest ancestor to the 3.5mm plug is the phone connector, invented in the late 1800s for phone switchboards, this means that the 3.5mm standard has more than a century of active use and development.
You make a classic mistake of equating complexity with advancement.
Good engineering is to strive for the simplest solution given the constraints of the problem.
I’m not making myself miserable. I’m a happy wired headphone user. They’re quick to switch between devices and battery-free.
If you weren’t so insecure, you wouldn’t be trying so hard to convince others
And you really should talk to someone about your fear of batteries
Oh, I see. You’re trolling. Got it.
The human ear cannot differentiate between a lossless, digital signal, and whatever analog garbage you’re talking about
If you think you can tell the difference, you’re hallucinating. You are making yourself miserable by choice. Why should anyone feel sorry for you or capitulate to your absurd, Luddite, antique demands?
What characteristics did I cite as reasons I like wired headphones? Was audio quality among them? Did I ever claim to be miserable or that anyone should feel sorry for me?
I have a phone with a headphone jack and I’m content with it. If I break that one, I know what I’ll replace it with, and that model also has a headphone jack.
Stop feeding the troll.
Easy block honestly. (Them, not you)
lol
Your choice to torment yourself with your own imaginings is not the fault of anyone other than you.
Delete this commenh and take a nap.
Whatever you say, grandpa