Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack • Hacker News Board

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#91

Post by twic » Mon, Sep 16, 2019, 3:00 PM UTC

el_cujo wrote: post #64

rpmisms wrote: post #16

I sincerely hope that headphone jacks will return as a fad. Not everyone has bluetooth wireless charging everything, nor do many want that. If you must get rid of the 3.5mm port, why not have dual USB-C to charge and listen at once?

This doesn't really fix your "charge-while-listening" dilemma, but I'm surprised more people don't bring up just buying earphones that use USBC as input. No dongle to lose. Sure, they're a little more expensive, but for someone like me who rarely uses headphones and really only cares about having earphones that stay in my ear/aren't uncomfortable, it's made transitioning to a newwer iphone easy.

Because then you can't buy earphones that have been carefully engineered by audio companies to produce good sound, because those all come with 3.5 mm jacks.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#92

Post by magduf » Mon, Sep 16, 2019, 3:01 PM UTC

goda90 wrote: post #66

chuckgreenman wrote: post #18

I'm a single-issue voter when it comes to cell phones - if it doesn't have a headphone jack, I won't be buying it.

My single-issue is replaceable battery, but no new candidates are being fielded. I still have an LG V20. They're now on V50 I believe but haven't had replaceable batteries since the V20.

Yep, me too, I have the same phone. I'm probably going to upgrade to a newer model in this range eventually because the cameras are fantastic, but I'm annoyed they axed the removable battery.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#93

Post by twic » Mon, Sep 16, 2019, 3:03 PM UTC

dobleboble wrote: post #58

Onawa wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, dongles give you the option when the headphone jack is removed. It's just one more thing to remember to bring and possibly lose though. I like being able to grab just the phone and earbud headphones and not have to worry about it.

You could glue the dongle to the headphones.

Or just leave it plugged in, i don't think the glue is really necessary. I bought one of these, on the grounds of some good reviews on audiophile sites:

https://www.hidizs.net/products/dac-cable

It's tiny, so it just becomes part of the earphone cable.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#94

Post by magashna » Mon, Sep 16, 2019, 3:03 PM UTC

wilsonnb3 wrote: post #80

magashna wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got the LG G7 not too long ago, not only has a jack but also a built in DAC

All phones have built in DACs.

There is a significant difference between the barebones DAC and a phone like the LGG7 which has a big focus on audio, both through the jack as well as through their boombox speaker.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#95

Post by magduf » Mon, Sep 16, 2019, 3:03 PM UTC

wilsonnb3 wrote: post #83

chuckgreenman wrote: post #18

I'm a single-issue voter when it comes to cell phones - if it doesn't have a headphone jack, I won't be buying it.

but, why? I sincerely don't understand why the headphone jack is the hill that so many people choose to die on. The $9 lightning to 3.5mm dongle has worked perfectly for me, as has my USB-c to 3.5mm dongle.

Because people don't want to fuck around with a stupid dongle to have a feature that the phone should have had in the first place. Dongles get lost, and you also can't charge the phone and use the dongle at the same time. Maybe you don't think it's a big deal, but when the asking price of the device is $1k, any little annoyance like that is a legitimate deal-breaker: for that much money, it should have everything, instead of stripping features out to save money.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#96

Post by magduf » Mon, Sep 16, 2019, 3:04 PM UTC

dobleboble wrote: post #58

Onawa wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, dongles give you the option when the headphone jack is removed. It's just one more thing to remember to bring and possibly lose though. I like being able to grab just the phone and earbud headphones and not have to worry about it.

You could glue the dongle to the headphones.

And then you can't use the headphones anywhere else.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#97

Post by Dylan16807 » Mon, Sep 16, 2019, 3:04 PM UTC

wilsonnb3 wrote: post #80

magashna wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got the LG G7 not too long ago, not only has a jack but also a built in DAC

All phones have built in DACs.

They don't all have DACs attached to output pins.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#98

Post by schwartzworld » Mon, Sep 16, 2019, 3:04 PM UTC

el_cujo wrote: post #64

rpmisms wrote: post #16

I sincerely hope that headphone jacks will return as a fad. Not everyone has bluetooth wireless charging everything, nor do many want that. If you must get rid of the 3.5mm port, why not have dual USB-C to charge and listen at once?

This doesn't really fix your "charge-while-listening" dilemma, but I'm surprised more people don't bring up just buying earphones that use USBC as input. No dongle to lose. Sure, they're a little more expensive, but for someone like me who rarely uses headphones and really only cares about having earphones that stay in my ear/aren't uncomfortable, it's made transitioning to a newwer iphone easy.

> just buying earphones that use USBC as input

Ugh. No way. Phones are pretty much the only devices that are letting go of their headphone jacks. A USB-C headphone is extremely limited in its use, and is guaranteed to cost more than one with a 3.5mm plug. How are you going to watch a movie on an airplane with your USB-C headphones?

Bluetooth headphones are just as bad. You can get a passable set of wired headphones for < $30. Good luck finding a pair of bluetooth headphones worth it in that price range.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#99

Post by magashna » Mon, Sep 16, 2019, 3:05 PM UTC

wilsonnb3 wrote: post #83

chuckgreenman wrote: post #18

I'm a single-issue voter when it comes to cell phones - if it doesn't have a headphone jack, I won't be buying it.

but, why? I sincerely don't understand why the headphone jack is the hill that so many people choose to die on. The $9 lightning to 3.5mm dongle has worked perfectly for me, as has my USB-c to 3.5mm dongle.

Until a phone has 2 USB-C ports it's absolutely a dealbreaker.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#100

Post by AdmiralAsshat » Mon, Sep 16, 2019, 3:08 PM UTC

anewguy9000 wrote: post #87

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no idea why the industry switched from aluminum backs to glass. I thought the whole point was to enable wireless charging, but some of the phones don't even support that. As long as they don't, I'd much prefer we went back to the aluminum unibodies of the HTC M7-10 phones. They were gorgeous, in addition to being durable.

i have an htc m7 that is still functional! its even been thrown at a brick wall. i guess the industry realized thats bad for business.

I still have an M7 and an M9 in a drawer somewhere. If they were GSM-unlocked, I would probably have thrown LineageOS onto the M9 and continued to use it. Unfortunately, they were both "Verizon" editions (due to the CDMA modem variant), and stopped receiving updates.

I debated switching to an HTC 10 at some point, but I had heard alot of anecdotal evidence about high failure rates for the phone after a couple years.

Again, it's a real shame. The HTC 10's chamfered aluminum looked gorgeous. I would pay for an identical-looking back on top of a phone with a bezel-less front and modern internals.