Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 Will Both Ditch the Headphone Jack

I've been using the iPhone 7 since November. Not having a 3.5MM head phone jack really sucks. Yes, you get 1 lighting headphone. Invariably, when I want to use my headphones, I have left my single lighting cable somewhere else.
You want to borrow one or buy a cheap set of headphones? Nope.
I guess I could buy a bunch of lighting headphones and put them in my offices, backpacks, etc - I'd only have to spend an additional $120 or so. No wait, I'll buy AirPods because I will always have them charged and never lose them!
 
Gah, i need a new phone and was really hoping to dump the iPhone finally. Pixel 2 was my first choice :(
 
Fuck you Google. I'm out.

The compressed shitty quality of Bluetooth audio is completely unacceptable.

That and, all of my audio amplifiers wherever they reside have line in.

Very few of them have Bluetooth.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
That's fine, I'll spend my money elsewhere.
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That's what I'm inclined to say too, but the truth is, Google is the only acceptable Android handset brand I am aware of. No other brand gets regular security updates.

It's a rock and a hard place scenario. Use the highly customized garbage from other OEM's that gets extremely infrequent updates, or use Google and have a critical feature omitted just because...


Seriously fuck this.
 
As someone who has owned an iPhone 7 Plus since launch; losing the 3.5mm headphone jack has been quite inconvenient at times. I have wireless earbuds that I typically use at the gym, but it would get intermittent interference from all the other people using wireless headphones. Has happened a few times on the train and plane as well.

I've also come across situations at work where I want to listen to something on my phone and realized that I only had a pair of regular 3.5mm headphones near me and didn't have my adapter so I wasn't able to use them. Having to always either have my wireless earbuds (charged as well) or lightning adapter on me has been frustrating. Always was easier to just grab one of the ten 3.5mm headphones I have lying around home or work.

Lastly, playing music in someone else's car is such a pain. They'll have their phones connected to the Bluetooth and thus the only way to play music off my phone would've been through the AUX cable...but that is a no-go now. Disconnecting their phone and pairing mine is a process that requires someone to pull over park in most modern cars due to safety measures. Not worth it at that point.

I'm actually planning on getting the Samsung Note 8 (maybe the S8) or LG V30 in the coming months. The Pixel 2 was also under consideration until this news dropped.
 
Now in the Android world, your choice will be high security/no jack with Google Pixel phones, or low to no security but a headphone jack.

I think this is 3 major manufacturers ditching the headphone jack, Google, Apple and I think Motorola (Lenovo) did it with their newest phone.
 
I bet in 5 years, "vintage" used 2015 phones with headphone jacks, removable batteries, and sdcards will be selling on the used market for more than they cost new.
 
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I like it when something gets removed and replaced by something better....AUX is still not replaced
 
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Replaced my 6p with a 6p and then again with a Pixel.

Looks like my next phone will be an apple when this dies.

Software is where all the upgrades are nowadays,hardware is at gimmicky stuff like curved edgeless screens with no input jacks bc $800 phones can't fit it in their budget .
 
Megalith said:
9to5Google’s managing editor, Stephen Hall, has received another tip that the Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 will ditch the headphone jack: if you look at his latest tweets, you will find increasing indication that Google has terminated the 3.5mm plug. For instance, OnLeaks has revealed that the headphone-jack cutouts on those leaked cases are actually cutouts for the microphone. I guess I'm going to have to buy a new car stereo, since the Bluetooth functionality on mine is broken and I have to use AUX...
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Just get a bluetooth-to-aux receiver for your car.
 
Can't say this bothers me too much personally.. I have a plantronics bluetooth headset for calls. And I have a dedicated media player for music (Cowon Plenue D). I very rarely use earphones on my phone. The only speaker i'd really connect it to is a U.E. Boom which has bluetooth functionality so, eh. Moot point! I still plan to go from my Nexus 6p to a Pixel 2 (5"), time to downsize!

That said, 90% of people on the train to work/home etc I see use phones for their music, and only a handful have bluetooth/wireless devices, so I understand the frustration!
 
I listen to the radio in the train on my daily commute, using the headphone wires as an antenna.

This would mean that the only way to listen to the radio would be over a Data connection, which is not free.
Also, in the case of a terrorist attack or something, where they cut all cellular/data transmissions to prevent triggering IED's, you cannot get important info over the airwaves (they can't/don't block the radio signals).
 
The never ending journey when companies race to make the phone as 'thin' as possible.

This, my friends, is why I think too much competition is bad, everyone will want to try to stand out and copy each other, and in the end we get products that no one wants.

I still use 3.5mm jacks because all the bluetooth earphones I have used all have a ~1s delay. Not much of an issue when listening to music, annoying when you want to turn it off and it doesn't do so immediately, completely unbearable when watching video of any kind.

Basically, the lag on Bluetooth in general is why I avoid all bluetooth devices like the plague.
 
Chose a new iPhoneSE recently over the 6/7 because of the headphone jack. It's nice to have both that and the lightning port without having to use dongles.
 
Major turn offs for a new phone:
Non-removable batteries
Locked phones
No regular updates
Vendor crapware
Vendor customizations
2:1 ratio skinnies
No headphone jack

Every feature(less) leak pushes me farther away from even considering the Pixel 2. I want an HQ flagship. What alternatives do I have as phone makers continually chip away at our most desired list?
 
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elation said:
Every feature(less) leak pushes me farther away from even considering the Pixel 2. I want an HQ flagship. What alternatives do I have as phone makers continually chip away at our most desired list?
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The Moto Z Play has a headphone jack, removable battery (sort of, it has a battery Moto Mod that you can attach), a microSD card slot and a clean Android install with actual useful Motorola features added on. The Moto Z2 Play kept all of that though they made the battery slightly smaller for some silly reason (the overall battery life is still better than most phones though). I don't know how well Lenovo has handled software updates though.
 
*sigh* my phone is thin enough, I'd rather have the headphone jack OR another usb C port for headphones. Fine I get it apple had the "courage" to ditch it, but bluetooth headphones sound like shit. I use mine at the gym, they're fine, but i'd rather use dedicated headphones. Stop eliminating shit people want!

I own a LG V20, awesome DAC, removable battery and SD card. Think i'll be holding onto this for a while. The only downside is the lack of updates from LG even though carrier branded V20s seem to get security patches, so weird.
 
I demand balanced xlr connections on my phone.

Clearly I'm the outlier here, but I don't use my phone for media consumption. Snagged a pioneer xdp-100r so I can enjoy music at work, couldn't care less about courageous phones ;)
 
I use my headphone jack to plug into my car every day. I am guessing there is a usbc to headphone jack adapter. Great, now I can't charge my phone. Also Bluetooth has never worked for anything I own without major problems or me spending 5 minute re-pairing it every other day.
 
pretty soon they'll remove the USB jack as well and require you to use a Google service to get anything off the phone. Want those pictures? Send them to google drive so you can download them to your computer!
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
That's what I'm inclined to say too, but the truth is, Google is the only acceptable Android handset brand I am aware of. No other brand gets regular security updates.

It's a rock and a hard place scenario. Use the highly customized garbage from other OEM's that gets extremely infrequent updates, or use Google and have a critical feature omitted just because...


Seriously fuck this.
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Samsung phones seem to be doing decent, at least on Verizon. My coworkers S6 Edge+ seems to get security updates every month or two at least and that's a 2 year old phone now. It's on the July security patch right now.
 
bluetooth is not a viable replacement for a headphone jack. You can use both at different times, but having a wired headphone really comes in handy (like when your bluetooth headphones are out of battery power).
 
InorganicMatter said:
Be as mad as you want. The margins on Android phones are razor thin; every penny counts for these guys. You better believe they'll shave 22 cents off if they can.
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If cost is as important as you make it sound, why make a phone out of things like full gorilla glass front and back, why bundle headphones, why give a 6' usb cord instead of a 3' usb cord. There are so many places they can save money, cutting the 3.5mm jack isn't one of them. The entire point is to force people onto accessories.
 
I still use the headphone jack on my phone often enough to warrant NOT buying a new phone without one. And screw having to buy a Bluetooth set or having a dongle hanging off the phone.
 
Seventyfive said:
We should be more courageous and do this kind of thing on our PC's. Every PC should only have 1 usb port. We can always add more and more and more dongles so why would anyone need more than 1 port?
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Every laptop should have a cd-rom drive, vga port, dvi port, hdmi port, sd-card reader, and pcmcia port. Oh wait, we gave up all that old ass arcane bullshit and ultrabooks are now the desired device.

I understand a lot of you old timers still rely on wires and cables for that occasional earbud wearing session, or dont mind cables strewn about the dash of your car with your ugly ass cellphone mount because you have no sense of style, but some of us say GOOD RIDDANCE to cables. I havent used the headphone jack on a phone since 2010.
 
This doesn't bother me at all for Android devices. A dongle or new headphones will simply plug into the USB-C connection. Eventually everything will be using that. So it's all a moot point and people are arguing over technology created in the 19th century.

My issue with this when Apple did it was because they use that stupid bastardized USB connector...err...lightning connector and tried to force people into those shitty AirPods.

To properly replace 3.5mm you need another open standard and we have one. By the end of next year no phone worth buying will have 3.5mm anymore.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
That's what I'm inclined to say too, but the truth is, Google is the only acceptable Android handset brand I am aware of. No other brand gets regular security updates.

It's a rock and a hard place scenario. Use the highly customized garbage from other OEM's that gets extremely infrequent updates, or use Google and have a critical feature omitted just because...


Seriously fuck this.
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It's why I'm still running a Galaxy Nexus. I refuse to have a battery I can't change or lack of control over updates. I don't trust Verizon for shit.
That said it's becoming increasingly more likely my next phone is a flip phone. I have a tablet with cellular built in. I really don't need it on my phone anymore. I would rather have a larger tablet and a smaller phone. I'm this case, two devices really are better than one.
 
Ur_Mom said:
I'm hesitant to upgrade my iPhone because of the lack of a headphone jack (can't use Android for work).

Apple has discontinued their iPod Nano/Shuffle lines, so the phone would be my main travel music player. Lack of headphone jack would kill it.

While I wouldn't have bought one of these (unless I move jobs and need a personal phone, which I'd go Android), it's still something that is a big mistake, IMO.
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I believe they include a dongle that can hook up the headphone jack via the lightening port, because what consumers really want now is more friggen dongles all over the place. Not sure what Pixel will do in response. Hopefully other companies won't follow Apples lead in creating dongles for everything.
 
HockeyJon said:
I believe they include a dongle that can hook up the headphone jack via the lightening port, because what consumers really want now is more friggen dongles all over the place. Not sure what Pixel will do in response. Hopefully other companies won't follow Apples lead in creating dongles for everything.
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There is a dongle that comes with it, but I don't know if there is a "y" cable for charging and using headphones at the same time. That dongle is just an added piece to lose. If I'm going to be inconvenienced, then I might as well get a higher end portable music player and some good cans. Might not be as portable or as 'quick' as grabbing my phone and cheap headphones/ear buds, but it might become more convenient.

Not that I really care either way. I'm trying to prolong the life of my iPad Nano. After that, I'll probably look into the Zune. Livin' in the past! :D
 
capt_cope said:
I demand balanced xlr connections on my phone.

Clearly I'm the outlier here, but I don't use my phone for media consumption. Snagged a pioneer xdp-100r so I can enjoy music at work, couldn't care less about courageous phones ;)
Click to expand...

I was going to make an XLR comment. :D
 
Bandalo said:
I kinda thought this was a dumb idea when Apple first announced it...the headphone jack is useful!

Then I thought about it, and realized I haven't used the headphone jack on my phone ever. I have a set of BT headphones for the gym (mainly so I don't get tangled in the wires). Other than that, I've never used it on the phone I've owned for >18 months now. I don't think I'd miss it if it was gone right now...

Crap..I'm actually agreeing with a decision Apple made! Do I have to hand in my man-card? Someone help me!
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You must go to a trash can empty gym? Or workout at weird hours. I have friends with new iPhones that had to buy shuffles and nanos because Bluetooth is too unreliable with 200+ people all trying to use wireless in the same facility....
 
nysmo said:
Every laptop should have a cd-rom drive, vga port, dvi port, hdmi port, sd-card reader, and pcmcia port. Oh wait, we gave up all that old ass arcane bullshit and ultrabooks are now the desired device.

I understand a lot of you old timers still rely on wires and cables for that occasional earbud wearing session, or dont mind cables strewn about the dash of your car with your ugly ass cellphone mount because you have no sense of style, but some of us say GOOD RIDDANCE to cables. I havent used the headphone jack on a phone since 2010.
Click to expand...

 
babochee said:
You must go to a trash can empty gym? Or workout at weird hours. I have friends with new iPhones that had to buy shuffles and nanos because Bluetooth is too unreliable with 200+ people all trying to use wireless in the same facility....
Click to expand...

I work out at 4:30am in a very nice, but mostly empty gym on a military base...So maybe my particular case isn't the best "test case" for this...but that being said, I still personally don't need a headphone jack anymore.
 
Ur_Mom said:
There is a dongle that comes with it, but I don't know if there is a "y" cable for charging and using headphones at the same time. That dongle is just an added piece to lose. If I'm going to be inconvenienced, then I might as well get a higher end portable music player and some good cans. Might not be as portable or as 'quick' as grabbing my phone and cheap headphones/ear buds, but it might become more convenient.

Not that I really care either way. I'm trying to prolong the life of my iPad Nano. After that, I'll probably look into the Zune. Livin' in the past! :D
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I believe you're correct, because my question was how would one charge and use their headphones at the same time.

I don't personally understand how this is "progress". I get that companies want to make phones thinner, but do consumers really want that? My iPhone is uncomfortably thin to hold in my hands until I put the case on it. I don't see the need. They're thin enough as it is, I'm not going to rush to upgrade when they make it 0.2mm thinner.
 
nysmo said:
Every laptop should have a cd-rom drive, vga port, dvi port, hdmi port, sd-card reader, and pcmcia port. Oh wait, we gave up all that old ass arcane bullshit and ultrabooks are now the desired device.

I understand a lot of you old timers still rely on wires and cables for that occasional earbud wearing session, or dont mind cables strewn about the dash of your car with your ugly ass cellphone mount because you have no sense of style, but some of us say GOOD RIDDANCE to cables. I havent used the headphone jack on a phone since 2010.
Click to expand...

So, you obviously don't care too much about the quality of audio you're hearing, and that's totally fine it's something you don't care about. If you prefer the tradeoffs (possible convenience, though charging extra batteries is hardly convenient) then cool. If you can live with the added compression brought to you by the fine folks at Bluetooth Corporation :p that's great. If you don't need your headphones in any semi-professional or professional capacity, then that's also a good thing for you. This has nothing to do with being an "old timer". This has everything to do with companies trying to ditch a standard in an attempt to sell you more shit. Inferior shit.

I get wanting less cords/cables. I do understand the draw there, but with every device trying to go wireless, good luck having it work reliably in many situations. With limited protocols and bandwidth, good luck getting a decent sounding stream to the devices in the first place. Batteries is the other thing. Yuck...

Just a little qualifier about the audio thing. I'm pretty picky, but completely within reason. I require professional audio equipment, because I design audio electronics. However, I'm far from what you'd call a typical "audiophile" type guy. I'm not going to be spending tens of thousands on tube amps, turntables with platters as tall as I am, or mortgage the house on speakers. I do require accurate sound, but not ridiculous sound. I think I'm pretty level headed when it comes to this stuff. There's definitely a difference though plugging analog headphones into a device that has a stage of conversion, and streaming over Bluetooth. (even when playing compressed audio (though let's say "reasonable" compression rate.)

Edit: I will also admit, there are times when Bluetooth comes in handy. A little Bluetooth speaker setup for hanging at the beach, a quick hookup to a soundbar maybe to play something for a friend. I can see the benefit of this tech in general. Even in the car, while it wouldn't be my preference, allowing your friends to pair up, and pop a playlist on is kinda cool (though I prefer passing around the auxiliary cable :D ) For something in direct contact with my ears though, even if there are some limitations somewhere else in the signal chain, I'd prefer not to add any additional limitations.

Also, let's be realistic... Google and Apple are hardly reading through these forums to find my opinion on their design choices, so it really doesn't matter what I think of it. :D
 
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I'm personally not super concerned with switching to Bluetooth (at least not anymore, I was not too long ago) for smartphones specifically because most smartphones have pretty shitty DAC and amps anyway. The Nexus 6P in particular is known to have a pretty bad headphone section, so I highly doubt switching to Bluetooth will result in a noticeable loss of quality. Smartphones that have actually good headphone sections are well known and that's typically advertised as a feature (e.g. LG V10 and V20 make a big deal about the Quad DACs and headphone amps they're packing). This is only for smartphones though. I will only use wired headphones for my desktop setup, but then that setup is actually worth it.
 
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