Live data from Hacker News

Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

wired.com

231–240 of 395 posts

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#231

Apple’s lack of follow-up to the iPhone SE means the SE is still the best iPhone with a headphone jack. I honestly can’t believe Apple did an iPhone event without introducing a new model in that size. I know at least a dozen people (especially women) who had been saying for at least a year that until the SE had a replacement, they’d be using one, or swapping to Android. With the weakest offerings for iPhones yet, in…

Is Apple really not listening to it's customers, or just not listening to a small, vocal subset? I've really only heard complaints about the touchbar from software devs, which are not Apple's main customers. Apple's main customers are creatives and people that want to spend a lot of money for what amounts to a well made (MacBook pro keyboard issues notwithstanding), functional status symbols. Making a smaller, cheape…

>> I really don't think you are Apple's target audience.

I am a creative professional - which, historically, was a very important part of Apple’s user base; and the reason I still use their products.

The ecosystem and workflow of using an iPhone or iPad to write a simple musical idea in GarageBand on the subway, and then finding it already on my iCloud on my MacBook Pro at home, so I can open it up in Logic and refine it, is unparalleled.

Anecdotally, I’ve never had anyone whom I’ve met, dev, creative, or casual user, who enjoys or uses the Touch Bar.

It’s not even just the touch bar. The keyboard, the soldered RAM and SSD which prevent upgrades, the lack of ports, when I spend more for a MacBook now, I’m getting far less than I did in my many years of purchasing them.

Furthermore, I could pull up a heap of references for this, but it’s a much more serious case with the SE form factor than even Apple’s current garbage laptop offerings.

There are practically a lot of people with smaller hands - they would be happy to give Apple their money but have nothing to give it for.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm not really sure what people are paying for when they get those $800+ beasts for phones. The main reason for us is the camera. We do not own a separate standalone camera anymore. You're not going to be able to take a time machine to take better pictures of the past, which is also why we keep replacing our phones every year. Also I prefer Apple's walled garden especially for the less tech savvy members of my exte…

> The main reason for us is the camera. We do not own a separate standalone camera anymore. The next question then, is: how good of a camera does the average person need? I'd fathom the vast majority of people viewing pictures are rapidly flipping through them on some app like Instagram. How much difference does the latest camera make for the average user, really?

> The next question then, is: how good of a camera does the average person need?

I have a family and now time seems to be running much faster than before, and you can't buy back this time which is even more precious now. I want the very best device to preserve this time in amber, while being able to fit in my pocket and simple enough to quickly point and shoot in less than ideal situations and lighting.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm not really sure what people are paying for when they get those $800+ beasts for phones. The main reason for us is the camera. We do not own a separate standalone camera anymore. You're not going to be able to take a time machine to take better pictures of the past, which is also why we keep replacing our phones every year. Also I prefer Apple's walled garden especially for the less tech savvy members of my exte…

> The main reason for us is the camera. We do not own a separate standalone camera anymore. The next question then, is: how good of a camera does the average person need? I'd fathom the vast majority of people viewing pictures are rapidly flipping through them on some app like Instagram. How much difference does the latest camera make for the average user, really?

Nobody needs a smartphone at all, a feature phone can handle calls and texts just fine. People want the latest and greatest camera, processor, etc and are willing to pay for it.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#234
post #30

Still rocking my iPhone SE. Gonna keep using it until it no longer charges, the headphone port dies, or Apple stops putting out iOS updates for it.

I love my iPhone SE but even with a brand new battery, it can barely make it through a day of extremely light use on iOS 13.

Isn’t iOS 13 not out yet?

I don’t have such issues on iOS 12 and my SE.

Of course “light usage” may be different between us...

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#235
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The main reason for us is the camera. We do not own a separate standalone camera anymore. The next question then, is: how good of a camera does the average person need? I'd fathom the vast majority of people viewing pictures are rapidly flipping through them on some app like Instagram. How much difference does the latest camera make for the average user, really?

For low light situations, the latest phones can make a big difference over a budget phone like Moto G6. Faster photo taking, better stabilization, do make a difference when taking anything moving. FWIW I used Moto's for a couple of years and really like them. I used to get my wife's iphone for picture taking but now my pixel 2 is all I need.

It's actually getting to the point where they are competitive with DLSRs in some situations. The processing really is doing some pretty amazing things.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#236
post #66

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.

Curious why you want this? Are you replacing the battery multiple times per day, rather than charging?

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I consider a headphone jack mandatory for two main reasons. First, wireless earphones don't have adequate battery life (not to mention that the last thing I need is yet another thing that requires daily charging). Second, after trying out a variety of bluetooth earphones, I've yet to find one that doesn't give me periodic problems (dropped connections, etc.) Since Bluetooth doesn't offer anything that I consider adva…

Buy headphones with a Lightning or USB-C cable on them?

No dongles, no Bluetooth, no wireless. Everything you ask for.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#238
post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do this all the time, especially while driving. I plug an aux cord into my phone to listen to podcasts or audiobooks and plug the usb connection into power supply in my car. I wouldn't be able to do a long road trip if I had to switch between these.

This is a decent amount of people but I think this is increasingly rare as more and more cars have Bluetooth. And it's not hard to update many older cars to newer headunits that have Bluetooth in them. (as I did for some of my cars) or just get a headunit that does power+transmission over USB too.

You can definitely tell the difference between bluetooth and an aux cord. There's no excuse for using a wireless connection between a phone and a car that are already plugged into each other anyway

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#239
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Every smartphone on that list was overpriced and runs some horrid vendor customized version of Android Literally the first phone on the list: "Pixel 3A and 3A XL" (by google).

Don't the Pixel phones have a lot of features that aren't part of stock Android?

If by "stock Android", you mean AOSP, then yes. Those are mainly proprietary google apps like google dialer or google camera. The system look and feel is mostly untouched from AOSP, though. This is in contrast to something like touchwiz or miui where the whole OS looks completely different compared to AOSP.

Re: Best Smartphones That Still Have a Headphone Jack

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Why? iPhone 11 has wireless charging, and Lightning connector, doesn't that answer the biggest complaint "can't charge and listen at the same time"?
Post reply on HN