Android

My car only works with an aux cord so at least until I get a new car I'm sticking to phones with one. I'm not buying a dongle. They can go fuck themselves.

I'm still on my zenfone 6, and my next will be something sony. I don't really want a low-mid end phone but if the xperia 10 is the best I can get then that's what I'll get.

Still a requirement for me. I listen to music and podcasts while I run, and I run a lot. But I don't want to deal with the privacy issues of leaving my BT on when I leave home. And USB dongles physical connections just aren't as reliable with a lot of motion.

Didn't bother me when Samsung went to usbc only becuase now I use my DAC all the time for my wired headphones and haven't looked back (audioquest dragonfly and shure se425). No longer as big of a deal as I originally believed it would be, in fact I use the DAC more often now than I did when it was mostly in my laptop.

Still holding onto the audio jack. My last few phones are the HTC 10 (2016), Galaxy S10e (2019) and Xperia 1 V (got it last year). I commute to work daily and my car has an audio jack, CD player, and PC card slot for playing audio. I'm avoiding adapters for multiple reasons - others here mentioning static, and annoyance/inconvenience (want to be able to charge my phone when needed without more dongles). I held off on giving up a physical keyboard and getting a larger phone but eventually gave in on those. Also not giving up the microSD slot.

I tried to hold out, but for my current phone I prioritized camera quality over headphone jack. I definitely use the cameras more than the headphones.

With that being said, those two features are essentially mutually exclusive. Good cameras are a "flagship" feature, whereas lacking headphone jacks are also a flagship "feature."

The only exception is Sony, which unfortunately is very overpriced.

Still using one with a jack. Other must haves for me are sd slot and tool less sim tray.

My preference while buying phone:

• ">8GB ram"
• ">250 GB storage"
• 120Hz display
• Battery capacity ">5500mah",
• SD card option,
• Headphone jack,
• Pretty recent chip, if not the latest,
• Waterproof ip68 minimum

I don't care wheather its Chinese or Taiwanese or American or any other.

I usually debloat the device on the first day. With ADB

I'm lucky to be in Asia since I can easily use redmi phones here (doesn't work well with USA carriers). 3.5mm is still really useful for me, but if there's no more options I'll probably get a 3.5mm to BT adapter.

I need headphone jack, because fuck doungle and Bluetooth headphones both are unreliable son of a bitch and they can burn in hell

I gave up because that is not the single most important aspect of a phone.

I rarely used headphone jacks even when phones had them. I don't miss them.

I use wired in-ear headphones while cycling for convenience of not needing to charge so they are always ready to go when I go for a ride. Also I wear my phone in the back pocket of my jersey, so its an extra string holding my device in case it would fall out (never happened, but just in case). I use some half-decent BT headphones for media consumption when home.

Its definitely a nice to have feature. It didnt get regularly used because of wireless earbuds for me, but when I NEEDED it, it was always clutch. But I just keep a USB c dongle on my corded headphones now, its fine. Gets the job done.

Also for my wired IEMs, I use a wireless Bluetooth adapter. When I'm on the move I just need some noise not audiophile quality so its fine for me.

Begrudgingly given in.

Good fully wireless ear buds are truly an amazing convenience, but I value having flexibility and redundancy in my hardware more than having a slightly sleeker form factor. Thay includes things like removable battery, SD card slot, etc. Unfortunately, the market has spoken, and keeping those features limits you to a more and more niche selection every year. By now the tradeoff just isn't worth it to me.

As far as USB dongles, I seem to have enough problems with USB-C ports becoming loose or flaky for charging that I avoid using them except when necessary. Wireless chargers abound in my house.

I've got an FM transmitter I use to listen to music in the car and it connects with a headphone jack so I still buy phones that have it. I also am fond of the physical home button so that limits my choices further. Luckily inexpensive late model Samsungs are easy enough to come by, I don't game on my phone so processing power isn't a concern.

I'm in a mixed case, I do use bone conducting headphones that are wireless when on my bike, because ear headphones are a 100€ fine I would like to avoid. Well, also use a Cardo on my motorbike..

But on the treadmill or at home I use some good quality wired earbuds, with thick ribbon cable that doesn't tangle up. It is just confortable for me and one less thing to charge and throw away after the batt says goodbye.

The phone: Ulefone Armor 21.

I think it was probably eliminated a little too early, but I switched to a moderately cheap pair of Bluetooth earbuds while I still had a 3.5mm anyway, so I didn't really care. I don't even think I own a pair of 3.5mm headphones anymore, actually.