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Bluetooth Headphone Jacking: A Key to Your Phone [video]

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Re: Bluetooth Headphone Jacking: A Key to Your Phone [video]

#131

Post by Rygian »

wat10000 wrote: post #127
Rygian wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "???" is "hey, Apple are doing it! since we already copy so many ideas from them, let's shave a few cents on the amp and jack receptacle, and if anyone complains, just claim that it's the trendy thing to do now".

And why didn't any of the multitude of phone makers say "turns out that people actually want a headphone jack, let's spend a few extra cents and steal all of our competitors' customers"?

"The Best Phones With an Actual Headphone Jack", Nov 2025 [1]

[1] https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-headphone-jack-phones/

Re: Bluetooth Headphone Jacking: A Key to Your Phone [video]

#132

Post by bink »

pxeger1 wrote: post #81
TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #8

Haven't watched the video yet, but I think this capability was leaked by VP Kamala Harris during her recent interview with the Late Night Show [0]. She stated she doesn't use wireless headphones because she's been in security meetings and knows they're not safe. [0] https://youtu.be/BD8Nf09z_38 (Timestamp 18:40)

> this capability was leaked I think the policy Harris is referring to is based on the _risk_ of something like this - it is easy to imagine wireless devices being vulnerable and enabling this capability - rather than being based on definitive existence of this capability.

The government also doesn't let people conduct sensitive or classified conversations over un-certified protocols or devices. Unless the NSA was participating in the bluetooth encryption standards decisions they aren't going to allow those devices to be used by the President or VP. IMHO though, it's probably more that there were security trade-offs made when developing the standards and the government isn't OK with those types of trade-offs. It doesn't mean they're horrible, just that they aren't verified to be secure enough for sensitive governmental purposes.

Re: Bluetooth Headphone Jacking: A Key to Your Phone [video]

#133

Post by hamburglar »

simpaticoder wrote: post #57
makeitdouble wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most frustrating part is when Apple dropped the jack we laughed at the "courage" bit, Apple's given reasons where already seen as bullshit, Samsung had their finger pointing moment. And it just went on, Apple weathered the critics, the other makers also dropped it, and at some point there was just nowhere to go for anyone still wanted a 3.5 jack with a decent phone.

I agree the loss of the 3.5mm jack is a short-sighted and poor decision. There is at least one mitigation, which is the ability to recover the jack through a USB-C DAC. Apple sells them for USD10. I have several, in the car and in my backpack. It's not a good solution though. In particular I find the USB-C port gets worn out pretty quickly. Its also easy to lose the dongle and of course it's more complicated to setup…

Also, seemingly without exception, the dongle itself is fragile and ends up causing constant crackling after a while.

Re: Bluetooth Headphone Jacking: A Key to Your Phone [video]

#134

Post by brewmarche »

astrange wrote: post #128
p0w3n3d wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3$ adapter will have low quality DAC

The DAC in Apple's $10 adapter is higher quality than most "audiophile" DACs because Apple has a larger R&D budget and is better at manufacturing than the entire audiophile industry combined. Same for Google's, though it's slightly less good iirc. They aren't perfect - the maximum volume and impedance are pretty low so you do need an amp to electrically drive insensitive headphones.

There’s a difference between the European version of the Apple dongle and other regions. The European version maxes out at 0.5 Vrms instead of 1 Vrms.

Re: Bluetooth Headphone Jacking: A Key to Your Phone [video]

#135

Post by wat10000 »

Rygian wrote: post #131
wat10000 wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And why didn't any of the multitude of phone makers say "turns out that people actually want a headphone jack, let's spend a few extra cents and steal all of our competitors' customers"?

"The Best Phones With an Actual Headphone Jack", Nov 2025 [1] [1] https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-headphone-jack-phones/

Are these popular models? Pretty sure they aren’t. So there you go: people have a choice, and they largely choose not to get a headphone jack.

Re: Bluetooth Headphone Jacking: A Key to Your Phone [video]

#137

Post by makeitdouble »

dweekly wrote: post #85
makeitdouble wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see the point for ultra slim phones. Except the only phones that are slim enough to have their thickest point thinner than that have only started to come up recently. Imagine the same argument for USB-C: at some point phones will be too slim to allow for that port, should every maker start dropping it right now ? That would be nonsense. On adapters, it's no panacea: you still want the USB port available. Split adap…

On slimness: wouldn't an alternative implementation be to "do the Magic Mouse" and put the USB C port on the back of the phone instead of the edge? Alternatively I could imagine MagSafe alignment / charging magnets plus an NFC like inductive communication (or contact pads) to allow for a range of "snap on" peripherals for phone backs that could be implemented on devices thinner than a USB C port.

If we really engineer around the same connector with extra thinness the best bet could be on partly open ports: if the phone covered 75% of the barrel circumference by left out the other 25% exposed I assume it would still work.

I see it through the same lens as the cassette players like the Toshiba KT-AS10 that left part of the cassette outside for the absolute minimal footprint:

https://qth.tzpfsokx.cloud/index.php?main_page=product_info&...

PS: there is a mini headphone jack standard, but I'm not sure it's any good. At least it would clear the DAC problem, just still need a dongle.

Re: Bluetooth Headphone Jacking: A Key to Your Phone [video]

#138

Post by immibis »

wat10000 wrote: post #135
Rygian wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The Best Phones With an Actual Headphone Jack", Nov 2025 [1] [1] https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-headphone-jack-phones/

Are these popular models? Pretty sure they aren’t. So there you go: people have a choice, and they largely choose not to get a headphone jack.

Almost like there were at least three other features more important.

The most important letters in English are E, T and A. I'm sure you won't notice if we remove H from all keyboards, right? After all, the survey says it's not in the top three. And given a choice between a keyboard without E and one without H, nobody buys the one without H, proving they really don't need the H.

Re: Bluetooth Headphone Jacking: A Key to Your Phone [video]

#139

Post by H8crilA »

LargoLasskhyfv wrote: post #71
stefan_ wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not a Bluetooth issue. The chip manufacturer Airoha just felt it acceptable to ship a wireless debug interface that allows reading the SoC memory with no authentication whatsoever, enabled in retail customer builds. They are just not a serious company (which is why their security email didn't work, either).

Wireless 'JTAG'! The Dream :)

Now that's a premium product if I've ever seen one.

Re: Bluetooth Headphone Jacking: A Key to Your Phone [video]

#140

Post by TimCookroach »

smallstepforman wrote: post #17

Most audiophiles ignore bluetooth headphones due to sound quality + latency, so we (audiophiles) stick to wired at home and we also have dedicated headphone amps since the pissy sound card D/A convertors are incredibly bad. Bluetooth only when I’m doing yard work. Sadly, modern music is tuned to crappy headphones, crappy car systems, crappy speakers … I miss the 80’s audiophile obsession, the equipment had heart, and…

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