Does anyone still use headphones socket on phone?

#1

Did a search (*) couldn’t find a thread.

With the Oneplus5T confirmation and has a headset jack / earphone socket, wondering who uses them still?

Really the Anker Bluetooth options are so good, if anything they last longer than wired alternative and one less cause of accidental damage to phone, I rarely now use them, I might carry as a backup but nearly always with the Slim til they break.

Anyone here, given Anker Bluetooth options still using the 3.5mm socket?

(*) Earplug, earphone, headsets, headphones, socket, jack, plug.

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#2

Surprised this hasn’t been asked before outside of iPhone threads…

Been using Anker BT headphones since getting my iPhone 6s and iPod Touch 128GB around two years ago, the jump to being wire-free was a godsend, especially in the gym :smile: , plus most of the wired headphones often ended up failing due to internal wire breaks.

While I can see the uproar that comes from removal of the jack port ala Samsung S8 and iPhone 7 onwards for use in older environments that rely on purely wired interfaces, dongles are readily available (or included) with your phones and are not exactly pocket bursting to carry, that and 3.5mm ports tend to fail quicker…

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#3

Anker buds $20 about the same cost as wired for about the same audio quality.
.I can see the uproar of a cheap gimmick of forcing an expensive alternative, but in Android community, really would not miss audio jack (*) , and prefer a fraction bigger battery instead for same phone.

(*) So many words to mean the same thing

#4

I was using a cheap pair of blue tooth earphones for the gym but sticking to my wired beats for a bit but when Apple removed the port for the iPhone 7 plus I totally went cable free.

I can be dealing with the not charging while listening to music. It’s a godsend that Anker makes brilliant but affordable earphones.

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#5

I still use mine. Partly because I find my wired ear buds very comfortable and the sound is ace, so I am loathed to replace them.

I have been looking at getting a pair of Bluetooth ones for using at the gym though. However they all look massive and heavy :scream_cat:

#6

I defiantly still use it!! Haha im not like the rest of the world, im old fashioned and i like to use it sometimes like when im in bed or im out on the go.

#7

For me the pivot point was the Anker Soundbuds Slim. Before that I had chunkier I think the NB10. Once with the Slim they are ear hugging and good enough battery life that I just swap between the Life around neck type at home (on phone working a lot) and swap to the Slim for moving (bike, walk, airport etc).

Wire is $20 and so are they Slim so that made it happen for me, I’d now surprisingly not miss the audio plug.

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#8

Not in a while on my side.
I only use BT headphones and Anker SoundsBuds. And also Anker SoundCores :stuck_out_tongue:

The jack output is meant to disappear IMO. It will make some room for a bigger battery !

#9

Well I guess the point of moving away from headphone socket, is ultimately technological progress, improved ports that will replace it are intended to improve our experience with current and upcoming smartphones and other devices. The fact is though that having an adapter option, makes it easy for me to have solution in any scenario. I still use my headphones with classic jack, as I really like them and with adapter - I can use them still. The fact is - if the companies wouldn’t push for new I/O ports or peripherals we would still have 3.5" diskette drives in our laptops.

#10

They make Bluetooth adapters that you can connect your headphones/earphones to. You then connect the adapter to audio source via Bluetooth.

#11

I have a pair of shure ear buds and also senheiser headphones that are top notch and I wouldn’t think to get rid if then. But for praticality, while at work I prefer bluetooth

#12

Yea I’ve seen them. Draw back is I’m then left with a massive long cable to hide somewhere… Which as most garments designed for gym wear for women have no pockets is rather annoying (and that is a whole other rant! :joy_cat:)

#13

I still do. I use the 3.5mm jack quite often, anytime my soundbuds are dying, if I want to play music through home or car speaker or with the headsets I have at home. If i’m going to be walking around a lot is when I usually use my soundbuds or if i’m at work.

#14

I think it is always important to account for the millions of people worldwide who arent as technologically savy as some folks out there. It is a hard thing to wrap our heads around with since we are in this day and age were tech is improving so quickly, but some people just cant deal with having to remember to charge it, pair it, etc.

Personally, I too think the wireless is the way to go, especially if bluetooth 5.0 earphones starts to come out in masses, but for now, I also believe that it doesnt hurt to keep the headphone jack in place.

I look at it this way, if the phone is gonna cost the same, why not have an extra feature in there in case I actually need to use it? Or rather, why take it away if there is no other improvements? I am coming from a samsung line of phones and having a headphone jack taken away but having nothing in there wouldnt be cool. At this point, the phones stopped going for slimmer phones so they arent gonna get slimmer as well, so taking the headphone jack away as a reason to have the phone slimmer is a bs reason imo. The only reason I see them (as in samsung) removing it is if they put dual speakers in there. When Apple did it, I believe it was a bit too soon, but now that bluetooth 5.0 is inside the phone and the wireless earphone businesses slowly adapting to the change, I believe the next year’s phone might remove it.

I also personally do not care much about dual speakers or mono speakers because I simply do not even rely on the speaker grills on the phone itself. That is just me though, I cant recall myself using my phone and needing quality sound to be coming out of my phone speakers.

Some companies like LG are adding drivers on their phone to allow for better audio experience and thats cool too.

So basically to sum it up, Im basically saying that the phones now are slim enough…so to remove the headphone jack for thar reason, it is bs…there should be something universally better should replace it, and not something that is controversial or 50-50.

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#15

I have an iPhone 6S, but I rarely use the headphone jack. The Apple AirPods (for work) and Anker SoundBuds Curve (for the gym/running) have been my primary headphones lately. I’m not even sure where my wired EarPods are at the moment…

#16

Most companies removed the headphone jack not to make the phone slimmer but to install a larger battery and to help make the phone more water resistant. As it stands most phones now are made to ip6x rating and the best being ip68, by removing the headphone port they are able to achieve the 68 rating without sacrificing overall aesthetics and battery size

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#17

I use both still depending on what…for gym where I don’t really care so i use the bluetooth for music at home or out I’ll use my sony

#18

I would prefer they keep the headphone jack until Bluetooth 5.0 is more prevalent in phones and 5.0 headphones/speakers are released. I do not see the point in buying expensive bluetooth (pre 5.0) headphones when the audio quality just isn’t there compared with wired headphones. The audio over Bluetooth sounds flat imo. Simply put today’s Bluetooth cannot keep up with audio bitrate and audio quality suffers as a result.

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#19

Exactly, people talk about how much more expensive it is to get wireless headphones, when really it’s at most 5 dollars more!

#20

I do–have to use something while my SoundBuds are charging.