this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2023
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On a recent post, there were a lot of comments, which said that they were missing the headphones on newer mobile devices.

How many actually use the headphone jack?

I ask, because I have one on my phone, since I really wanted one, but I rarely use it. Like Tops 1/Month.

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[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago

I do all the time.

[–] Frenky_Fisher@lemm.ee 9 points 2 years ago

I dont live in a 1st world so I prefer 3.5mm jack headphones over usb c ones because headphone manufacturers don't have to bother with DAC and can use that money to build better audio drivers

[–] rsuri@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago

I use it by default to listen to podcasts when running or at the gym. I only buy phones with a headphone jack because I feel like wired headphones are a better feature than any flagship phone stuff. Wired headphones are much cheaper, interchangeable, harder to lose, no connection hassles, and best of all I don't need to remember to charge them. The only downside is tangles.

I have a pair of wireless earbuds I got ages ago for about 5x what my wired earbuds cost, when I mistakenly bought a non-jack phone. I don't use them since going back to a jacked phone.

[–] shotgun_crab@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago

All the time, every day

[–] Artyom@lemm.ee 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Bluetooth has never improved the user experience of connecting. It's always been super annoying to keep track of connections. Bluetooth is limited to mp3 quality, aka 1/4 the quality of a CD, and that limit will never increase. We can do a little better with fancy codecs, but you'll always be able to tell with good headphones. A headphone jack is still higher quality than any non-headphone jack alternative, and it will always be that way.

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[–] brsrklf@jlai.lu 8 points 2 years ago

Every time I need headphones.

Wireless is more hassle than convenience. Bluetooth, especially for audio, is rather shit and having to charge batteries is annoying.

And speaking of batteries, earbuds are yet another bit of trash you are just supposed to throw away when they stop working, because there's nothing you'll be able to do about it.

[–] Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Current model doesn't have one, but I find myself missing it frequently. 3.5mm jack will be a must on my next phone.

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[–] imouto@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

If you play rhythm games you just have to

I use it every time I listen to music.

[–] BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee 8 points 2 years ago

if my phone had one i would use it everyday, 8 hours a day

[–] kameecoding@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I have always hated wired earbuds, the cable would tangle up, it would break, it was a mess, I love being wireless.

When I do miss a jack is when you want to connect to a sound system beacause you are somewhere and it could use some atmosphere and they have a 3.5 jack, but you can't use it, it's rare, but in those instance it's annoying to not have it.

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[–] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I used to use it daily until I broke my last phone with a headphone jack. I switched to a usb-c adapter, but that lasted all of one week before it stopped working. (phone would only recognize it as an unknown device that the phone needed to charge...)

Reluctantly I switched to a free pair of basic wireless headphones and was pleasantly surprised with the convenience and battery life. Used those for 6ish months before buying a nice set from Raycon (mostly because of a promo code from a YouTuber). That added Active Noise Cancelation, Awareness mode (boost surroundings instead of suppressing them), and wireless charging the case. I've been really quite happy with them since.

Now I just keep a usb-c to aux adapter with each stereo/set of speakers that I may plug my phome into. I'd like to find a simple Bluetooth receiver that then outputs to aux.

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 2 years ago

If there was one I think I'd prefer it.

[–] Phen@lemmy.eco.br 8 points 2 years ago

My phone doesn't have one and I miss it daily. I ended up getting Bluetooth earpieces because being unable to plug anything else in my phone while listening to music was driving me mad, but then those little shits' batteries only last for a few hours and I still have to be switching things up during the day while they recharge.

[–] Naz@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Literally every day. I got a new phone without one -- P7P, and when I reached to plug my wired headphones in, my next action was ordering a USB-C DAC. It's stupid that the industry has gone in this direction. An analog jack costs you basically nothing in material costs, it's like 5mm of plastic and copper, some solder, no more than 0.30-0.52 ¢ on a phone that market retail sells for $900-1200. It's insanity.

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[–] LieutenantDan@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

I have an aux port for audio in my car. So everytime I drive I'll use it

[–] TooManyGames@sopuli.xyz 8 points 2 years ago

Use it every single day on my Zenfone. Have bunch of headphones to use with it too.

[–] Zpiritual@lemm.ee 8 points 2 years ago

Daily. Bought my sennheiser wired noise cancelling headphones in 2017 and they look quite rough now but still sound great and nc is still on par or better than most new headphobes. My brother and sister bought the bluetooth counterpart and both have replaced them years ago since they broke.

[–] Thteven@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

Multiple hours per day. I listen to a lot of podcasts at work on my porta pros and music on my etymotics. I don't like dealing with wireless stuff.

[–] mirisgaiss@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

still using an LG V30 (24bit 96k dac) with a few varying pairs of IEMs almost daily. going to keep using the V30 until it doesn't work on cell networks anymore. really don't want to have to fuck about with carrying an external dac to use good headphones.

[–] lipilee@feddit.nl 8 points 2 years ago

I actually don't have a headphone jack, which i only realised when i got my new phone. So i had to buy one of those usb-c to jack dongles and i use it daily. (I like to go to sleep listening to some English historian talking in my head, but i also like having my phone strictly in airplane mode in the bedroom, so bluetooth is out of the pot.)

[–] dumpsterlid@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

I use mine to connect to my sound system. Also I don’t use the audio jack most of the time but it feels like an essential backup for when Bluetooth wants to be dumb and glitchy… which is actually not that uncommon now that I think about it.

[–] Canuck@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 years ago

I walk through some neighbourhoods with many high-risk apartments, and there is so much interference from all the Wi-Fi routers, Bluetooth devices, and other wireless devices using 2.4 GHz, that even the best wireless headphones skip & stutter playback.

It also takes so much longer to switch wireless headphones to a different device, especially when they all compete to connect to the headphones.

Let me make the decision when to use wireless, don't make it for me. A DAC USB-C dongle is dumb.

[–] MennoRobert@lemm.ee 7 points 2 years ago

I'm using my headphones jack right now! I use it mainly when I am commuting on the train. I don't want to worry about battery life and charging my headphones.

[–] Rayspekt@kbin.social 7 points 2 years ago

Multiple times a week. I make music and connect my phone to the PA to practice or listen to playbacks. It also goes into the e-drums as playback device. If you're using proper audio equipment, the headphone jack is useful for a lot of stuff. I even have a rumble-metronome that connects via headphone jack.

[–] covert_czar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 years ago

I will no longer buy a phone without a headphone jack

[–] yuki2501@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

If you live with other family members and watch pornhub on your cellphone even once, trust me, you ARE gonna use the headphone jack.

[–] Siegfried@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

I used it daily when i had one

[–] NounsAndWords@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I used to use it every day until I realized my new phone doesn't have one. Now I still use wired headphones for music when I'm near my computer. I have bluetooth earbuds that work...okay, but I have to deal with one earbud not connecting, or making sure I haven't lost one, or I take one out for a second to hear something and the music just stops, or it just doesn't connect to begin with, or I want to switch between two devices and it would be sooo much easier to just unplug something and plug it back in than to go through settings, unpair/re-pair between two devices, and hope that it actually worked the first time.

[–] Iwasondigg@lemmy.one 7 points 2 years ago

I use mine.

[–] Calcium5332@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

I only use wired headphones. I don't like earbuds, and Bluetooth headphones are too bulky and need charging.

[–] viking@infosec.pub 7 points 2 years ago

I bought a USB-C to 3.5" converter so that I can use my headphones. If I had an actual jack, I'd be using it every day.

[–] andallthat@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

I do. Right now I'm listening to music on my phone through wired headphones. I have too many smart things already connected via bluetooth to my phone: 2 different wireless speakers, an electronic drumset, smart TV, car, fitness tracker (I'm sure I'm forgetting something) and I came to like the idea of physically plugging something in order for sound to be played through it, especially if both phone and external device are physically close to me during the whole interaction, like with a headset.

[–] Lorindol@sopuli.xyz 7 points 2 years ago

I use mine almost on a daily basis, with my headphones and when I connect my phone to my stereo system.

I do have Chromecast Audio hooked up and I own good wireless Hi-Fi earbuds, but I prefer to use cables. They just work better, no interference or any other hassle.

[–] exocortex@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 2 years ago
[–] JoJoGAH@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

The kitchen disco requires really good headphones. You don't get ear covering sound without a jack.

[–] AceFuzzLord@lemm.ee 6 points 2 years ago

I have been using the headphone jack on every single smartphone I've owned. When I was in school I'd listen to music whenever I was in the bus, when I was going from class to class, when lunchtime came around, whenever I could. When I got home, I would listen to music and watch videos. Hell, I still use my phone way too much for videos and music when I don't have anything to do.

I listen to so much audio that I couldn't imagine a world with a limited battery for my headphones.

[–] Nanomerce@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

I use wired anytime I'm listening for more than an hour or so.

[–] emptiestplace@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 years ago

Definitely wired for more serious listening and important calls.

I see a lot of people talking about latency - I am generally very sensitive to this, but I think Apple gets the delay down pretty low with AirPods.

I have another complaint, though: the Bluetooth spec doesn't allow for enough bandwidth to simultaneously send and receive audio at proper bitrates, so any time you are doing both, it dramatically reduces the quality of both. This means if you are using Bluetooth for anything better than PSTN calls, you sound like shit.

Also, the microphones in AirPods make this so much worse by emphasizing sounds of anything you are doing - if you wash dishes or crumple a bag or basically anything, even if it seems relatively quiet for you, there is a good chance it will be loud as fuck for the other person.

[–] creditCrazy@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

Anyone else find it annoying to have to constantly charge your earbuds. I've been so used to just plugging my headphones in and forgetting them. I'm tired of constant "low battery" because I forgot to charge them last night.

[–] AdmiralRob@lemmy.zip 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I prefer wired for almost all cases. The reasons are threefold:

  1. It seems like the only Bluetooth headphones being sold lately are either tiny individual ear buds that are easy to lose or big bulky over-the-ear headphones. Right now, my preferred wireless ear buds are connected by wires to an around-the-neck device, and I'm worried I won't be able to replace them easily when they finish falling apart.

  2. Wireless ear buds are one more thing I have to charge. I already have to charge my phone, watch, game accessories, and vape. I don't need one more battery to manage.

  3. Latency makes it obnoxious to watch video with wireless audio.

Right now, the only use case for my wireless ear buds is when I'm walking the dog and don't want to worry about the wire bouncing around and getting caught on my clothes when I've already got the leash in one hand. The only reason I use Bluetooth in my car is because my old car had annoying feedback when I listened on the aux cable while the phone was charging. I'm considering trying aux again in the new car because the latency on the car's Bluetooth is even worse and I've found myself watching videos in my parked car while on break from work.

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