Why Phone Makers Are Trying to Kill the Headphone Jack

Megalith

Megalith

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Xiaomi India’s product lead, Jai Mani, has provided insight on why phone makers are dropping headphone jacks: he says that they are “actually pretty big” and that the increasing size of other smartphone components and the latest design trends (e.g., bigger cameras, smaller bezels) justify their removal. Mani also suggests that while customers do not outright ask for thinner phones, it’s what they desire.

People often say that nobody is asking for thinner phones. I agree with that–you rarely see people requesting it. However, I’ve been spending a lot of time offline recently and design is an important factor in the offline purchase decision. If you ask people to pick up five different phones and tell you which one has the nicest design, thickness/hand feel tends to be the number one deciding factor for them. There are a lot of popular phones that really don’t look good specs-wise, but once I actually pick them up, it’s much easier to understand the appeal. A lot of it has to do with industrial design – thickness in particular.
 
Well, if eliminating the headphone jack means that I'd never again have to listen to some tech support hotline guru with an unintelligibly heavy Indian accent telling me his name is "Frank", then I'll agree with Jai Mani that eliminating the jack would be good.

Otherwise, get your hands off my jack.
 
It'd be nice if they just made a third smaller jack size if that were the issue.... We've got two sizes of headphone jack already.
 
dholcombe said:
It'd be nice if they just made a third smaller jack size if that were the issue.... We've got two sizes of headphone jack already.
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There is three sizes. 6.35mm, 3.5mm, and I think 2.5mm (might not be the actual size). It's tiny, but rarely used. Majority of usage has it as a mono plug, but I have seen it in stereo on an old Windows Phone from 10+ years ago (including a dongle).

If they created a standard that was adopted by the phone makers (except Apple of course) and got the headphone makers on board with including it as standard (plus an adapter to go to the old 2.5mm size).
 
i won't buy a phone without a headphone jack. In the end if I am forced to I will just get the cheapest phone I like and just move my music over to a hi res portable. I don't stream anyway or use BT so... my phone is my music in my car and at work.
 
percydaman said:
Phones are already so thin I have to put on a case if for no other reason that it makes them easier to hold. I'm not one of those this Mani speaks of.
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No shit. I mean I really don't buy this excuse. It's ridiculous. On a flight, I can't charge and play/read/play on my iPhone at the same time.
 
c3k said:
Well, if eliminating the headphone jack means that I'd never again have to listen to some tech support hotline guru with an unintelligibly heavy Indian accent telling me his name is "Frank", then I'll agree with Jai Mani that eliminating the jack would be good.

Otherwise, get your hands off my jack.
Click to expand...
I don't understand that in relation to a head phone Jack but ok.
 
Sounds like a conspiracy to make us all buy new headphones. To which I raise a middle finger into the sky and shout "not today, motherf*ckers!"
 
Ya that's a load of crap. The real reason they are doing it? Because Apple did it. Apple still enjoys status as a hip, trendy, company with many and so other companies look on them as they way things have to be. If Apple does something clearly it must be the right answer, I mean it is Apple! Well Apple eliminated the headphone jack for two reasons:

1) The obsession with the cult of thin and hatred for wires. Apple leadership HATES wires, thinks they are evil and ugly, and want them all out.

2) Because they own Beats and they wanna sell more headphones. Almost nobody else made BT headphones (and there still aren't very many) so it was a way to drive sales.

Makes sense in their world, I guess. However the other cell makers are just hopping on it because Apple did it. You can see lots of shit in the history of cellphones that is like that. Apple does X, next generation of phones everyone does X. If it is actually a good or popular idea, it usually stays around, if it was stupid then it tends to slowly go away. But let's be real here: This is NOT being done because of some real market change or research, it is being done to chase Apple.

Personally, I'm going to be a hard sell on a no-headphone jack phone. I have a very nice pair of headphones, and a very nice pair of earbuds. They are wired, which means they work with my phone, my laptop, my desktop, my home theater system, and so on. I'm not terribly interested in getting another set just for my phone. I like the universal compatibility, and not having to charge. The cord is just not a big deal.
 
Bought a pair of Shure SE425's awhile back for a hefty sum & they sound great with whatever device they're hooked up to, including my Android phone. Hopefully Android continues to support the standard 3.5mm headphone jack, would be a shame for them to go the proprietary route of Apple.
 
We think people really like the lower speeds on the highway. I mean no one says it publicly, but they all do it, so to me that says they agree with it.

trapx-large.jpg
 
rsaotome said:
Bought a pair of Shure SE425's awhile back for a hefty sum & they sound great with whatever device they're hooked up to, including my Android phone. Hopefully Android continues to support the standard 3.5mm headphone jack, would be a shame for them to go the proprietary route of Apple.
Click to expand...

Both Lightning and USB-C support re-assignable pinouts, which allow them to switch some of the channels for analogue output. I believe Motorola is the first company to sell a USB-C phone in the US without a headphone jack. I see it as the future, BUT, it adds obvious compatibility issues that the 3.5mm does not.

moto-z.jpg
 
I guess luckily for me - I could not care any less as I'm deaf and I have no use for one. Although, I'll say it does seem strange to try and eliminate something that has been around for so long and is practically UNIVERSE for just something new and thinner phones.

I don't know what the drawbacks are though.
 
I think it sucks that they're phasing them out. I listen to a lot of music on my phone and it is so much easier and nicer to just be able to grab any old set of ear buds and off I go. My piece of shit Motorola Z has the USB-C jack and while they give you a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter, it's just one more thing to keep up with.

I also disagree that we want thinner phones. This POS is incredibly thin and I can barely hold onto it. I'm sure it's just me tho as I always seem to be out of touch on the latest trends. The Samsung Note 4 is essentially the perfect phone. Perfect size, 3.5mm jack, SD card, removable battery and the S Pen. I just wish they'd keep making it.
 
"It could be an issue for iOS fans, though. You can only choose between the current and previous generations of iPhones, and Apple’s already dropped the jack last year, which means your options are limited to the iPhone 6 and the SE."

What an asinine article - instead of sticking to an older phone just use the lightning to 3.5" adapter included in the box?

Then again that's not as dramatic as making a big deal out of it.

I was pretty ticked that Apple dropped it, but I soon realized I only used a 3.5" jack in two places. I bought a second lightning adapter, and just leave them in the two places I need the audio jacks. Problem solved.

Granted, I still would have preferred they left it in there, but it's really not that big a deal after all.

What I really would like to see - Apple and all other phone makers standardize on USB C - that would be far more useful then adding the analog audio jack back.
 
permanently tape a dongle to your headphones. Plug in when needed. How hard is that?

If they want to save space for other components, I'm down with that. I'll happily trade a headphone jack for an SLR camera sensor
 
I can't remember the last time I used it. My "give a shit" factor on it was pretty low.

Won't miss it.
 
Kdawg said:
permanently tape a dongle to your headphones. Plug in when needed. How hard is that?

If they want to save space for other components, I'm down with that. I'll happily trade a headphone jack for an SLR camera sensor
Click to expand...

That's fine and dandy if your device is fully charged. If your battery is almost dead, though, it's gonna suck because you can't listen to music and charge it at the same time.
 
I don't miss the headphone jack. I rarely use headphones anymore, but I do realize a lot of people do. There is an adapter, so it's not like your existing headphones were instantly garbage. If I were to look for a new pair, I would look at wireless anyway. Isn't that really what is replacing the headphone jack anyway - Bluetooth? Before you go into "My Audiophile headphones sound so much better on analog" or "Bluetooth Audio is garbage" -- I don't doubt you, but how many audio purists are using their phones to drive their $1k+ headphones anyway...

I don't like the bigger screen = better phone mentality. I liked my iPhone 4S. The 5 and up are just a hair too big for me to navigate with one hand (I know about swiping the home button - that still sucks), and I loathe how they placed the standby button on the 6's.

I wouldn't mind if my phone were a bit thicker - as long as it fits in my front pocket comfortably I don't really care how thick it is.
 
Brian_B said:
I don't miss the headphone jack. I rarely use headphones anymore, but I do realize a lot of people do. There is an adapter, so it's not like your existing headphones were instantly garbage. If I were to look for a new pair, I would look at wireless anyway. Isn't that really what is replacing the headphone jack anyway - Bluetooth? Before you go into "My Audiophile headphones sound so much better on analog" or "Bluetooth Audio is garbage" -- I don't doubt you, but how many audio purists are using their phones to drive their $1k+ headphones anyway...

I don't like the bigger screen = better phone mentality. I liked my iPhone 4S. The 5 and up are just a hair too big for me to navigate with one hand (I know about swiping the home button - that still sucks), and I loathe how they placed the standby button on the 6's.

I wouldn't mind if my phone were a bit thicker - as long as it fits in my front pocket comfortably I don't really care how thick it is.
Click to expand...

You don't need $1K+ headphones to see the difference. Getting quality cans or buds without shit BT is the point. You can spend a lot on BT headphones and they are junk compared to a lesser priced real normal pair of cans or buds...
 
I use my Jack all the fucking time. Sometimes to make hands free calls with, sometimes to listen to music. It's something I don't want a fucking dongle for and I don't give a shit if you think I want a thinner phone you arrogant dipshit, I want my headphone jack way more.

From my cold dead hands.
 
Give me my hd380's instead of some snake oil $1k headphones. And my 3.5mm because fuck compression.


Rattle said:
You don't need $1K+ headphones to see the difference. Getting quality cans or buds without shit BT is the point. You can spend a lot on BT headphones and they are junk compared to a lesser priced real normal pair of cans or buds...
Click to expand...
 
Kdawg said:
permanently tape a dongle to your headphones. Plug in when needed. How hard is that?

If they want to save space for other components, I'm down with that. I'll happily trade a headphone jack for an SLR camera sensor
Click to expand...

Buy an actual SLR camera, how hard is that? Besides even the best cameras in phones take shit pictures compared to a real one. Sorry but dongles are garbage and there is a long list of reasons why.
 
I use Sony MDR-1000x, makes the road noise nearby disappear, they can Bluetooth into a phone, but I keep my music at home and use them in wired mode.
 
Have an S5. It's about as thin as I want any handheld device in my possession to be. As in, this is it. I do not want it any thinner. This is the absolute limit of thin device for me. Not a single nanometer smaller.

I have it in an Otterbox Defender just because I know I am a clumsy dumbass, and I have a terrible habit I have yet to break of just setting it down just about anywhere. Yes, the phone is practically a brick with a touch screen because of the case, but I am okay with that.

Anyone who wants a phone thinner than this thing is either insane or has baby hands. Maybe even insane baby hands.
 
Leave it alone. This is one of those things that doesn't need to be fixed. da fuk do they want to do make phones the size of credit cards. They are thin enough.
 
Sycraft said:
Ya that's a load of crap. The real reason they are doing it? Because Apple did it. Apple still enjoys status as a hip, trendy, company with many and so other companies look on them as they way things have to be. If Apple does something clearly it must be the right answer, I mean it is Apple! Well Apple eliminated the headphone jack for two reasons:

1) The obsession with the cult of thin and hatred for wires. Apple leadership HATES wires, thinks they are evil and ugly, and want them all out.

2) Because they own Beats and they wanna sell more headphones. Almost nobody else made BT headphones (and there still aren't very many) so it was a way to drive sales.

Makes sense in their world, I guess. However the other cell makers are just hopping on it because Apple did it. You can see lots of shit in the history of cellphones that is like that. Apple does X, next generation of phones everyone does X. If it is actually a good or popular idea, it usually stays around, if it was stupid then it tends to slowly go away. But let's be real here: This is NOT being done because of some real market change or research, it is being done to chase Apple.

Personally, I'm going to be a hard sell on a no-headphone jack phone. I have a very nice pair of headphones, and a very nice pair of earbuds. They are wired, which means they work with my phone, my laptop, my desktop, my home theater system, and so on. I'm not terribly interested in getting another set just for my phone. I like the universal compatibility, and not having to charge. The cord is just not a big deal.
Click to expand...
In my view, this is the most correct answer. Interestingly, Xiaomi, Apple, et al have managed to convince consumers that the decision to drop TRS jacks was "beneficial for the customer!" So now we have people dead set convinced these companies are really doing them a favor and will fight to the death over it.



As for the 2.5mm jacks someone else noted: they existed and were generally widespread, at least in Nokia and Motorola cell phones. Then someone (Apple) decided that 3.5mm was the real audiophile's audio jack, and pushed for that (first in their partners, then via their own products). Everyone else copied Apple to the T. Now Apple claims the jack they wanted (over the smaller 2.5mm jack) was too large, and everyone is now copying Apple to the T. Again. I now see what Jony Ives meant by "courage." It really is just Apple, nobody else has it. After playing around with a Macbook with the touchbar, I can see myself liking it. Razer's implementation years earlier just didn't work nearly as well as Apple's.
 
I have an iPhone 7. It does not have a headphone jack. It sucks.
Apple gives you a pair of lighting headphones (which I seem to never heave with me when I want to use them) and they also gave me a lighting to 3.5 adapter (which I misplaced). I guess I could just buy the AirPods (and lose them)...
 
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