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  • No kidding. All this piss and moan over making our phones slimmer and oh maybe making the battery just a bit bigger and perhaps even more resistant to water infiltration. I guess they COULD drop down to 2.5mm jack’s, but in the end the disappearing headphone jack is gonna be a long term good thing.

  • Twice a year? At least twice a week I charge while using headphones. A dongle is completely out of the question, as is Bluetooth. I already own great headphones, I am not buying new ones. If these eventually break, I’m still getting wired headphones. Because sound quality, because I’m not going to have one more thing to keep charged. Because I don’t like hiccups in my music due to radio interference. Not only do I not need phone to get so thin it can’t fit a headphone jack, I don’t want it that thin. It adds nothing and limits how big the battery can be.

  • Lol…The real issue here is iPhone users mad about losing headphone jack. Makes me laugh! I mean seriously, I have yet to hear any ios device have good quality sound…weird or via Bluetooth. Even my old gen android phones Samsung Fasciante, then S3, then LG G3 sounded far better than the iphone7. got nothing on the LG V10 i have retired now to use strictly as music/media player. Root and Viper4Android sound mod is epic! My Google Pixel sounds great too…even without sound mods. But average user doesn’t care so much about sound quality…they just want it to work…with what they have already.

    Pixel 2 not having a headphone….meh.. I can get used to an dongle for wired use since i don’t use wired much, but then might has well just use the external USB DAC/AMP i have. Works great on Pixel via OTG dongle. One thing i hate about stock phones, not enough volume adjust levels. One setting too loud, one down too low. Several db difference in steps..gahh. USB DAC is so much better! Works on my tablet and laptop to…which have crap sound cards.

    When we gonna see phones that are just small piece of screen? Like the phones used in Season 3 of the tv series Zoo?

  • I wouldn’t end my relationship with Google per say if the next Pixel phone’s don’t have a headphone jack, but as a consumer, if I want one in my phone I can go out and get an S8 for example with one, and still have a sweet phone. Don’t understand why it needs to be taken out all of a sudden. It just feels like companies are doing it because Apple was successful with it so they followed suit.

  • Haha, hey, this is an opinion piece and you are more entitled to your opinion. (And well written, by the way, very funny. 😉 ) Sorry for all the haters. If they can’t get that this is an opinion, and by that right you are entitled to it, then well, haters gonna…

    Unfortunately, I am one of the minority that it would affect. But it doesn’t matter, Google’s gonna make bank! And I am all about forward-thinking, and if I could have everything be bluetooth (or better, wifi access point) I would, but, money don’t grow on trees, y’all. I fall asleep listening to Audible or a 10-hours Youtube video every night. So, that overnight phone charge is out the window if I use the dongle.

    But wait, “Why not just buy some bluetooth headphones?”, you say? Well, because I roll around like crazy in my sleep and those $15 SkullCandy buds last at most 6-months at a time before I am back in Wal-mart buying a new pair. (not-financially-lucrative)

    So I will probably just make sure the phone is fully charged before I go to bed and still dongle it up, then rapid-charge it in the A.M. before work. So, ultimately, meh, whatever… but it still does suck, because there are still plenty of scenarios where I can envision myself wanting to charge via an Anker power pack and listen to something at the same time… and it just can’t be a thing anymore unless I am willing to blast it via phone speakers or find a bluetooth option. (Hmm… my bluetooth portable speaker has an aux-out… maybe I can charge my phone, bluetooth it to the speaker, then plug my SkullCandy’s into the speaker… wait… why does it have to be so complicated?)

    But hey, anyone remember the Pixel ads last year bashing Apple for removing the headphone jack!? I mean… I love Google, but… come on! haha!

  • meh, use mine daily to jack into my cars aux port. yeah my car doesn’t have Bluetooth, and if it did and still had an aux port i’d still physically connect it cause it sounds better than the skippy and poppy wireless connection provided by my pixel. At least get bluetooth better before leaving it as the only option for private listening.

    Long Live the headphone jack!

  • It’s amazing how big of a deal people are making over this. Especially when there are multiple quick fixes that solve all their problems:

    Problem: I already have 3.5mm headphones that I love.
    Solution: Use a 3.5mm adapter. Most phones comes with them free, it adds an extra 3 inches onto your headphone cord.

    Problem: I might lose the adapter.
    Solution: Amazon sells a 2 pack of them for about $5. Sites like Aliexpress you can get 10 of them for $5.

    Problem: I like to charge and listen to music at the same time.
    Solution: Another adapter which Amazon sells for about $8. Aliexpress again has them cheaper in bulk.

    Problem: I have to carry around extra adapters.
    Solution: Keep them attached to the components you already have to carry around (charging cable and headphones).

    This is an addition to the fact that they have USB C headphones and of course Bluetooth. People just love to complain.

  • When you work in pro audio, it makes a difference since its so widely used to get audio out of a device. You need music at an event? Ok just plug in this phone, or this tablet, etc. This port was developed by the hard line phone industry (Then miniaturized and used in the early sony walkmans; however prior to, its a descendant of the 1/4in connector that was introduced by the dawn of the telephone switchboard, not by cellphone manufacturers. So, politely, don’t be so ignorant. Some people, for now, rely on this feature.

    I am for moving on from the 3.5mm spec. The issue will simply be mitigated by a adapter. Sure I cant charge on it but that just comes right back to the real root of all these issues. Battery technologies. We use devices longer. Expect them to last literally 24hours of power usage. Yet we don’t have the batteries to keep up with our massive consumer usage.

    If you had a battery that lasted 2 days of SoT while streaming music, you wouldnt bitch about a port going away or not being able to charge while listening on your tethered headphones… Because than you would have those same battery technologies on your other wireless devices like your bluetooth headphones and speakers, which would also last much much longer.

    So the real problem you should be ranting about on your blog is how battery tech needs to improve.

  • IMO if companies remove features and are going to give me NOTHING in return, might as well keep an old feature. Or, they can charge me less.

  • I charge my phone and listen to music DAILY. So much for that part of your weird little rant.

  • This is funny! At 1 point people used to be upset about the switch from 2.5mm to 3.5mm jacks. My how the times have changed. I agree with most. There are no obvious benefits to removing it. It’s not like they’re giving us bigger batteries.

  • It seems you are more concerned with flexibility than quality here. Yes, dongles and wireless headphones/earbuds can do the trick but they won’t sound as good as 3.5mm jack with a decent built-in DAC. That is why I like the LG V series so much. I commute on public transit far too long every day and I rely on my phone for music during the trip. As soon as you connect a USB dongle or bluetooth (or other wireless tech) you’re negating the purpose of the phone’s DAC and using $0.05 DAC is in the dongle or wireless device. Of course I’m also listening on a relatively expensive pair of Sennheiser headphones using high-quality tracks (FLAC instead of low quality MP3 or streaming) If you only use the headphones that come with a phone or only buy cheap replacements, then the quality isn’t as big of a concern for you. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Neither one of us is wrong, we simply have different priorities.

  • I’m OK with dongles and bluetooth, but I don’t really want to spend any money on it. I only own wired 3.5mm headphones right now. But it’s fine, I just have an extra excuse to get a decent pair of Bluetooth headphones. The most important thing is in my car, and I’m already using Bluetooth there.

  • I don’t use it for headphones but it comes in handy since my truck doesn’t have bluetooth.

  • I too listen to music etc at a desk. But being in a very large office environment we are not allowed to use external speakers. I generally use Bluetooth outside of the office. But in the office the batteries will not last all day, so I use wired. Now most phone companies in include an adapter to plug in the charging port so you could still use a wired headset. But because I’m streaming all day and other phone activities, my phone needs charging. Yes I know you could purchase other accessories to take care of both issues. But this makes the over all cost and convenience a factor in my next phone purchase. Is it enough to make me have a miserable day? NO! but with more phone companies reducing bloat, (And Lenovo going to stock Android) and speeding up update times. I now have more options to choose from. That is just one man’s opinion. It’s not a wrong one, just like Kellen’s is not a wrong opinion. 🙂

  • So I left android for iOS, after 7 years of being a loyal google diehard. I did not come here to troll or invite criticism, although I’m sure my post will do so. My reason for posting here is to say: THANK YOU! I am on reddit all day and the amount of crying people are doing over this jack is driving me nuts. Your post is something I can relate and agree to. It’s never been an issue with me and I haven’t had a jack since Sept.

    Nice article, Kellen.

  • I just bought the Bragi Dash Pro Bluetooth earbuds for my Nexus 6 because I was tired of getting the damn cord caught on everything, and also having my music pause as soon as the cable gets jostled slightly but is still jacked in. The issue is that the Bluetooth connection either sucks on my phone or on the ear buds because they drop out constantly when I’m outside and if the phone is more than about a foot from the earbuds. When I’m inside it’s fine if I’m like 20 feet away as long as nothing blocks it.

  • Gallery121s

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  • Edu61s

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    !pa91d:
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  • Couldn’t agree more Kellen. All the whiners need to grow up, I basically preach what you post here all the time.

  • Reads like a pre-rationalization of the Pixels’ likely underwhelming release.

  • Really? the thing i find the most ridiculous is your statement that sites are complaining about losing the headphone jack because of a slow news day when you just did the same thing in reverse. And im glad you were able to express your feelings about it, what this has to do with anything im still trying to figure out. Kellen really obviously someone put headphones in your cheerios or something but come on this is the most worthless article i have ever seen on here. i think we heard same thing from one plus bout not including nfc, now there is one i dont need, paying for something from a phone makes no sense to me, but would i ever buy a phone without nfc, no friggin way because someday i might need it for something. when no phones have a headphone jack than ill have to go that way,, until than no headphone jack no purchase and yes i would indeed dump a company over this, and the reason is to me no headphone jack makes it not the best phone out there so its pretty darn easy.

  • Ok so you don’t care. To each his/her own opinions but not everyone is the same especially if you bought an expensive pair of wired headset that goes to waste cause connectors/dongles don’t all work well with some pairs of headphones. Plus I don’t care much about loosing the 3.5mm jack either but I’d stay quiet instead of going out n bashing people with my personal opinions.

  • Look the first world dude, who can buy “anything” airpods, dongles, etc. For some of us, who pay an ridiculous price for a phone, and also we had to pay a ridiculous price for a good pair of headphones, the lack of a sh*tty 3.5 mm is a big deal, but hey, your page, your opinion.

  • Finally! I completely agree. I’ve had Bluetooth earbuds for the past 4 years and in those 4 years all my phone’s have done is collect pocket lint in that headphone jack. Plus the Bluetooth headphones that go around your neck are so comfortable I lost a pair taking a shower because I forgot I had them on.

    I’ve had my Nexus 6p since it launched and just put in a new battery and screen protector since it’s the best phone I’ve ever had besides the Bluetooth and Android auto constantly bugging out.

    Seriously Google please just get Bluetooth to function normally and add water resistance and I’ll retire my Nexus 6p to my backup collection.

  • I never use a cord any more. Time to move into the present, not 1962 anymore.

  • People just need something to complain about, that’s all it is. If you can’t adapt to changes in life that’s a much bigger problem really

  • That was the stupidest thing I’ve read for a long time. Seriously, how does this guy even have a job at Droid Life?

    • I believe he owns droid life. Not sure where this came from apparently something pissed him off about it and he didnt have the dont post when your angry sign up today.,

  • What a freaking idiot. We choose products based on what those products offer. If Google decides to lose the headphone jack for no good reason, then they don’t get my money.

  • Will a phone not having a headphone jack stop me from getting a phone? It might. If the Pixel 2 isn’t drastically better than the original it honestly might keep me from getting it. My work expenses my phone (even on payment plans) so it would technically be free but the lack of the headphone jack makes this no longer a sure thing I’ll do.

    I have $10 sony earbuds and I think they sound great. laugh all you want but have (i guess) a weird size ear and headphones just dont fit me right. These are the only headphones I’ve found that fit my ears. I know I could just use a dongle, but then i’d have to use a dongle

  • The point is, we’re paying more and more for these phones, and they’re slowly getting fewer and fewer features, all for the sake of copying Apple. First the removable battery, then the ir blaster, now the headphone jack. What’s next? Hell, let’s just get rid of the ability to make phone calls next! Most ‘users’ don’t care about making phone calls either.

    If one person can name one God Damn legitimate advantage of getting rid of the headphone jack, I’ll buy an iPhone and pixel both.

    Say the jack is useless all you want. The simple fact is, you’re wrong. It’s not like phones with headphone jacks CAN’T use BT headphones.

  • The problem isn’t that it’s impossible to get around having no headphone jack, the problem is that consumers shouldn’t have to cater to a company’s needs. After paying nearly $1k for a phone, one shouldn’t have to shell out more money for adapters and new headphones just to do what a phone should be able to ordinarily be able to do. These phone manufacturers need to cater to the consumers and we should let them know by holding back our wallets until we get what we deserve in our phones.

  • Here’s my issue: When connected via Bluetooth to my car, if media is set to stream, then ALL media streams, not just music. If I don’t have my car’s stereo tuned into Bluetooth audio (I’m listening to satellite radio, for instance), then I don’t hear my text-to-voice reader or any other notification bc the phone’s sending it to the car instead of through it’s external speaker. Since I can’t find a way to set only certain apps to stream via Bluetooth, I leave media streaming off and plug in my 3.5 mm aux cable when I want to listen to something on the phone, and unplug it and let it use it’s external speaker for notifications and text-to-voice when I’m listening to the radio. I travel for work and use the phone’s hotspot to connect my laptop in rural towns to do my job which drains the battery considerably. With no headphone jack, if I get the pixel 2 it appears I have to choose between keeping my phone on the charger while driving and actually hearing it’s notifications if I’m listening to the radio, correct? I would just switch media streaming for my car on and off in Bluetooth settings on the phone but for some reason it requires restarting the vehicle before it will actually switch over, which obviously I cannot pull over and do frequently. Am I the only one that has run into this situation? Anybody know of a workaround? Is there really no way to control which apps stream via Bluetooth in 2017? I thought I had found a good solution to this problem by just turning off Media streaming and using the aux cable but the removal of the headphone jack looks like it will be the end of that solution.

    • You’re not the only person who experienced this. Radio manufacturers need options to set Bluetooth to take priority over or overlay and mute/attenuate other sources even if Bluetooth is not set as the primary input. Then you’d keep your radio/satellite source & still get the TTS you want. That and there needs to be separate Bluetooth settings in Android for Navigation, Media, Calls, & Alerts so you can customize each BT connection. Bluetooth implementation is really so jacked! And way more complicated than a simple, 3.5mm plug!

  • Of course you don’t now that your beloved pixel is losing it. Getting as bad as the Apple fans

  • I’ll accept the removal of headphone jacks when the following happens:

    My $200 V-Moda M100’s magically obtain bluetooth capabilities without me dropping an additional $300 on the wireless variant.
    My $220 Ultrasone DJ1’s do the same thing (though I think these are discontinued….d’oh!)
    Bluetooth audio catches up in sound quality to using an AUX cable/physical connection.
    No bluetooth drop-outs when listening to music off my phone via bluetooth.

    ‘Til then, I’ll continue to ignore every phone without a headphone jack, no matter how much I want it.

  • I think you are missing the point, if people want a port that bad companies should listen and include it. Doing it any way and then selling adapters and expensive Bluetooth headphones is selfish, and rolling over like a dog and accepting it isn’t how you deal with iffy business practices

  • #SaveTheHeadphoneJack
    #NoHeadphoneJackNoBuy

    – Headphone jacks create utility.
    – Headphone jacks are cheap.
    – Headphone jacks don’t deplete battery power as rapidly as Bluetooth.
    – Headphone jacks allow for lightweight and audiophile quality earbuds that never die on you in the middle of a jog.
    – Headphone jacks allow you to stream radio, use GPS Navigation, and charge in a rental car without pairing.

    Seriously, how is making a smartphone less useful an “upgrade”? It’s like a Swiss Army knife without scissors. Sure, you can cut with the knife alone, but sometimes the scissors are more efficient.

  • I haven’t used the 3.5mm headphone jack on my phone for two or three years. Like the author I don’t know what the tantrums are about. Tech changes. The world changes. You’ll be okay. There are almost a billion people without access to clean water in this world.

    • I hope you did actually something for those thirsty and hungry around the globe:) imagine something you care on the smartphone that is unjustifiable removed. Maybe manufacturers could give the profit they gained through 3.5 removal for solving problem with pure water around the globe.

  • I do give a sh1t.
    I use the headphone jack all day everyday. While charging my phone often.

  • You don’t care, but some of us do. I listen to my phone while it’s charging a lot. Also, my phone is connected to a headphone switch at work that allows me to switch between it and my desktop.

  • This is akin to wanting people to stop complaining about the subway going down because you have uber. Nobody really cares that you don’t care. The reason people voice their concerns is because something matters to them, and (good) brands listen.

  • If people didn’t abandon Google phones when they shifted to only one speaker, they never will.

  • Wait. So, it doesn’t have to have a headphone jack, but if it does, it damn well better be on the bottom.

  • “My opinion is more important than yours, so shut up and listen to me.”

    Which is kinda the feeling I got from this post. You don’t think a 3.5mm jack is important? That’s cool, that’s what works for you. However, please don’t act like everyone else needs to feel the same way. Everyone has different needs and wants. What may work for one person may not work for another. It’s why we have so many different smartphone manufacturers who all do different things; they appeal differently to different people. If we all felt the same, then we’d all be part of the iPhone hivemind or whatever.

  • This really trivializes the issue. The removal of the headphones jack is added complexity for the user that isn’t likely to yield better results.

    The USB-C to 3.5mm dongles aren’t universally compatible with USB-C devices.

    And is this 2 for $10 solution is often inferior to the 3.5mm jack. So why bother?

    I’m not going to get a phone with a headphones jack just because it has one, mind you, but I don’t want to have to get an external DAC to ensure that my audio signal is comparable to phones from last year!

    So while you, a so called music guy, might not care about an objective inferior audio experience or a much more expensive one, there’s plenty of reason for the rest of us to seek out phones with decent DAC/amps and 3.5 audio jacks.

  • Best discussion EVER! Bunch of whiney stupid people complaining about old fading wires that break and get tangled… Really so idiotic when our new phones are the most amazing fantasies come true!

    Bluetooth works! It’s awesome! All you neanderthal cave people should just stick to your old phones! You DESERVE THEM!

  • I was going to leave LG and go pixel 2. Because of the lose of my precious removable battery. ( LG i wanted hot swap not sealed.)
    looks like im going V 30. My nice headphones will still sound good.

  • Everyone has different needs. Bluetooth sucks for high quality audio since there’s an inherent quality ceiling due to protocol limitations and the nature of being wireless. But since a lot of people are old and/or don’t care about audio quality, or just don’t know any better since they’ve never been exposed to good quality audio, that might not matter as much. The 3.5mm plug from an engineering point of view is pretty remarkable due to its universal and backward compatibility, which is both rare and actually useful. It’s cool to replace it, but you gotta have a viable solution that has all the positives of the 3.5mm plug PLUS more… otherwise it’s just change for change’s sake.

  • As a guy who literally takes his headphones everywhere with him, I couldn’t disagree more. Granted, I could use bluetooth headphones (which I do), but having the option to use wired buds when my Jaybirds die is essential.

    Matter of fact, that and mobile payments are probably the two things I care about on a phone the most.

  • I have over $400 invested in headphones. Between cans and buds. So yes. I give a damn and will not consider the Pixel 2 if they drop the jack. Unless Google cuts me a check for $400 so I can get new ones at the same quality level.

  • A phone without 3.5 is simply a lesser phone. No other benefits we get, but we simply loose. Some ppl own great ear or headphones, some more expensive than phones, and have true lossless audio files that simply can’t be enjoyed without 3.5. if I saw 3500 or 4000 mAh battery or any other benefit as those who did it promised, I would complain less. But removal of 3.5 is not done for getting other benefits instead, or improving audio quality. On the contrary. So maybe you should investigate and enlighten us why that move is donne and some are keep doing it. Except Apple, all are hurt significantly. Sheeples will buy iPhone no matter what. U11 in second month has worse sales than HTC 10. Unpractical beauty fades and ppl are awakening from shiny hypnosis.

  • *sigh * That two pack for $10 doesn’t help me ~right now~. The usb-C/3.5mm adapter isn’t a dealbreaker. I own a Moto Z. But it IS a pain. I have a few sets of earbuds, but I have to go get “the one” because it has the dongle attached to it. I suppose I could leave the dongle on the phone… but that’s just weird.

  • Wow like your opinion matters more then mine or anyone elses. Yes we want a headphone jack.

  • Anyone else worried about adding a digital gatekeeper to your music or any audio? “I’m sorry, this device is not authorized to work with this phone” or something similar. Analog, you can plug in anything. Yes, that means a dongle will work to produce analog signal but does anyone actually like carrying around a bunch of dongles? I have an older Macbook Pro for work. Built in optical drive, ethernet, etc.

    But the new ones require a USB-C dongle for everything but WiFi/Bluetooth (or so it seems).

    I’d rather just have a slightly heavier or thicker device that contains the usual things I need.

  • Its not so much the price or the hassle. Its in the principle of it all. It is no different than Moto putting in a smaller battery so you can spend money on a stupid mod. Yes $10 for a 2 pack dongle isn’t a lot of money, but why was it necessary to begin with? Yes I can buy BT headphones, but what if I lose them or lose 1 of them? Also, now I have another thing to charge at night or I go music-less. It is cash grab and consumers are not stupid, well most non-iphone consumers at least.

  • I need a headphone jack and will not buy one without it. I’m not being forced to buy over priced Bluetooth headphones that I have to recharge all the time simply because some phone designer wanted to be a hipster like Apple.

  • I think I’d mind them removing the headphone jack more if most phones included a really good DAC. Unfortunately most sound like crap so I do most of my listening via Chromecast Audio or a USB DAC.

  • Now there is a Pixel apologist! Giving iPhone and other phones such a hard time for ditching the headphones jack and making fun of them and now that Google is going to do the same, singing praises of it has all the makings of a hypocrite!

  • At first I thought this was going to be about not caring about disappearing bezels.

    Dang.

    Dongles suck and they put even more stress on those always fragile stupidly flat shaped flawed design USB ports. By comparison, how often does that nice, solid, _round_ headphone port break internally? Hardly.

    Do many of us not use the headphone jack all the time? Sure. But for a supposed flagship to pointlessly not include it in 2017, is inexcusable. When I want to listen to something on my phone with my nice ATx50 headphones, I want to be able to do it. Not have to use an annoying, damaging dongle. Not have to switch to crappy wireless headphones.

  • The problem is not a real big one. But it is a problem none the less. The fact that implementing a headphone jack probably costs next to nothing and is being left out
    Is head scratching. The advantages of going through a lightning port or USB-c is incredibly miniscule. Bluetooth, don’t get me started. We don’t want thinness. We want battery life. Which leaves a phone thick enough for a damn headphone jack. While I do agree. I’m not gunna not buy a phone because it doesn’t have a headphone. To some it is incredibly important to have a that option. I got a pair of v-moda headphones I like to use. I lose the dongle. Well I’m f**ked. Sure I can buy another. But that is asinine.

  • Shut up.
    I thought this was a joke initially but then i found out its just some annoying ass immature “journalist” ranting that people have different preferences than him.
    Have some shame brat.

  • Usually I agree with you Kellen but this is such a hostile attitude. For my personal use, my car only has an aux port and no bluetooth unfortunately so this makes any phone without an aux port a dealbreaker.

  • Here’s a fun take. Not everyone is exactly like you. Great click bait, but don’t expect to be mistaken for Hemingway anytime in the near future.

  • I’ll be honest I haven’t really been frequenting this site lately so I won’t be missed and me telling you I’m done certainly isn’t freaking out but this popped up in my news feed so here I am for the last time.

    I will say I’m done with DL for dramatic effect even though it really isn’t.

    Aside from the obvious audiophile reasons, the environmental impacts of pushing consumers en masse (against their will) to more pointlessly wireless (and often inferior, certainly at the same price point) products, I’m also of the opinion that one port isn’t enough for a computer (which smartphones are). Seriously, put two USB ports on there and I’m pretty much ok with it.

    For the time being consumers have a choice but it won’t be long before mid and low tier phones are in the same boat since it saves money to include less ports (cuts costs right?).

    We aren’t all tech bloggers choking on free peripherals and when this moves on to cheap phones the impacts will be negative across the board (for less wealthy consumers, people who don’t have laptops or PCs, people in developing nations, the environment, the availability of rare Earth metals, etc). Hopefully I am just being too meta or suck at reading the tea leaves.

  • You don’t give a sh!t and I don’t give a sh!t but there are a lot of people who do.

  • It’s actually pathetic at the amount of people who respond angrily to fight for the headphone jack. Remember years ago when you just went outside and lived life? No? That’s a shame, maybe take off your $500 3 year old headphones and stop having to charge your phone so often that you “struggle” between using your charger or your dongle. Phones used to NOT connect to the internet. They didn’t have a camera. My first smartphone had a 1400mAh battery. Now you complain when phones have 3000mAh batteries. IPhone users are often moronic in their own “all I want is world peace and freedom of all animal happiness” aloofness but holy crap some of you Android people need to stfu about every tiny thing a new phone does you don’t agree with. I charge mine 1) when I sleep, 2)turbo charging in the car for 15min to work, 3)charging in the car going home. Those last 2 times just to top it off a little bit. Reading some of these comments it’s like life is over without water resistance or you’re going to lose your minds over using Bluetooth. Just for once, post “can’t wait to actually try this out before bitching” the next phone post. Instead of your typical “ugliest thing ive ever seen” bs.

  • To each his own but music sounds better with wired headphones. Also – I sit at a desk at work and at some point I’ll have to charge my phone. Luckily my S8+ has a headphone jack. There really is no excuse to not include a headphone jack. If a manufacturer needs a little extra space, I’d rather the phone be slightly thicker than them take away the headphone jack.

    Also – dongles suck! GTFO of here with that non-sense!

  • Haven’t used a headphone jack since getting a2dp on my Treo 700w back in like 2008.

    Get the hell over it.

    • Well good for you, but many of us have no use for wireless crap. Fact is BT sound outright sucks plain and simple. Besides the fact I’m unwilling to buy a new car or throw money at mine just to have some over rated BT adapter installed that will sounds like garbage. My installed system with a quality DAC player is there for a reason but No these corp companies seem to think they know best, I say the hell to them and will take my $$ elsewhere then. And then they will wonder why they only sell a million maybe 2mil devices in a yr & someone like Samsung will sell 5+ million in a wk if not less.

  • It only drives me nuts because the fact that Google obviously started in the last commercial for the 1st Gen that they were better because they had a headphone jack now every person with an iPhone is going to say yep Apple was more intelligent and Google had to come back with their tail between there legs saying we were wrong and apples in more innovative. Just wait.

  • I’m more perturbed by the fact that Motorola managed to put a 3,900 mAH battery into a phone without it exploding in 2014, but Samsung couldn’t manage less than that feat last year, and no other company seems interested in pushing battery capacity at all.

  • You perplexed me about how you are okay with Google removing the headphone jack but will still complain about their Dodge Bluetooth?

    I am not okay with Google’s Bluetooth solutions that are inconsistent and then having them remove their 3.5mm headphone jack. (Which was also inconsistent on 1st Pixel for me. Went through 3 RMA’s due to no handset mic, or Headphone Jack working.)

    As for Apple I am waiting for them to remove the headphone jack on iPad, and MacBooks. I assume they will leave headphone jack on iPod Touch, but maybe they truly will be the ‘Bold’ company and move forward with No headphone jack on any of their products.

  • Clearly the author has never owned a great pair of headphones(sennheiser, etc) or did but never cared about the sound quality.

    There’s a reason 3.5mm has survived for so long, it’s superior to wireless.

    Why did Sony put a 3.5mm jack in the Playstation 4 controller? The PS3 didn’t have that, or any decent way to use wired.

    Why do receivers have 3.5mm jacks?

    And I’m just a light audiophile, I have practically no flac or wav uncompressed music files.

    Try pitching your opinion to all the audiophiles, music creators(yeah they like to listen to music just as much as make music), djs, anyone that likes to hear their music in quality, etc.

    Don’t drink the kool-aid, they’re not getting rid of 3.5mm because it’s not better. They’re getting rid of it to save money and have more space(albeit a small amount).

    Now go back to streaming services on your wifi, only getting the resolution it can handle(not really high definition all the time), and buffering.
    The rest of us will enjoy the bandwidth we get from wired ethernet, just as we do with music from WIRED headphones (sennheiser momentum for me).

    Sent from my LGV20, with a quad dac and 3.5mm jack, while listening to music on my sennheiser momentums.

      • That article is stating using a dongle could improve audio by having the dac in the headphones. Which is true, and won’t be noticeable by anything other than oscilloscopes. If you want something dangling off your phone, and then ALSO a wire, be my guest.

        As far as WIRELESS, no, you won’t get better audio. If you could only see the waves bouncing around everywhere. There’s a reason cables are insulated.

        Btw there will always be a dac in a phone as long as there is a speaker, including the one you put up to your ear.

        Because audio = analog. Period.
        A dac(digital to analog converter) makes 1 and zeros(that would be your square waves you see in the article) into an analog sine wave(curvy), in other words, music! People talking! Etc.

        You cannot hear 1s and 0s.(well the square wave will make noise. But not what you think)

        So what do you get with two dacs?
        The phone will still have a dac, always, your not saving space with that. The space will be saved from the jack only.

        Study electrical engineering before taking me on with a silly outdated article.

      • Ugh I responded to this, but it got lost in cyberspace…

        I don’t want to explain everything I did ugh.

        What I said mostly was that the article you posted is stating that using a DONGLE as well as a cord would produce better audio because the dac is closer to the drivers.
        Which is true but wouldn’t be noticeable by anything other than oscilloscopes.
        So if you want a DONGLE plus a WIRE, be my guest.
        I’ll skip the dongle, and buy phones that are performing just as good or better(lgv20 🙂 ) as your iPhone. Because there will always be a market. And they want the best.
        Try talking to some more experienced people in the field of electrical engineering before arguing with me.

        And there will still be a dac(digital to analog converter) in the phone! For your speakers(including the one you put up to your ear).
        Why?
        Because audio is analog.
        In the article you posted you see those square waves? That’s 1s and 0s.
        Then the dac turns those into analog waves(curvy), so you can listen to music, hear people talking, etc.
        Technically the square wave will make noise, but not what you think.

        So if there’s still a dac in the phone(needs to be powerful enough for those speakers!), where is the space savings?
        In removing the 3.5mm. That’s it. And it’s not enough to justify making everyone either use a dongle, or listen to subpar audio.

        Also as far as outdated technology. Try telling people who have new washing machines or dryers that the new ones are better than the ones they had in the 1990s.
        You sir will get an earful.

        Those with new washing machines know what I’m talking about.

      • My reply was lost again…
        Well this time I copied 🙂

        “Ugh I responded to this, but it got lost in cyberspace…

        I don’t want to explain everything I did… But. Here we go.

        What I said mostly was that the article you posted is stating that using a DONGLE as well as a cord would produce better audio because the dac is closer to the drivers.
        Which is true but wouldn’t be noticeable by anything other than oscilloscopes.
        So if you want a DONGLE hanging off your phone plus a WIRE, be my guest.

        If you could only see the waves bouncing all over and around you.
        Why do you think cables are insulated? Noise, aka those waves you can’t see(yes I’m dumbing this down).
        So wireless? Better audio? Noticeable better audio? No. Can’t happen outsiders of an isolated room. (And even then I don’t know for sure as the signal itself will still be bouncing off the walls, colliding, canceling, boosting, etc)

        I’ll skip the dongle, and buy phones that are performing just as good or better(lgv20 🙂 ) as your non 3.5mm port phone. Because there will always be a market. And they want the best.

        Try talking to some more experienced people in the field of electrical engineering before arguing with me.

        And there will still be a dac(digital to analog converter) in the phone! For your speakers(including the one you put up to your ear).
        Why?
        Because audio is analog.
        In the article you posted you see those square waves? That’s 1s and 0s.
        Then the dac turns those into analog waves(curvy), so you can listen to music, hear people talking, etc.
        Technically the square wave will make noise, but not what you think.

        So if there’s still a dac in the phone(needs to be powerful enough for those speakers!), where is the space savings?
        In removing the 3.5mm. That’s it. And it’s not enough to justify making everyone either use a dongle, or listen to subpar audio.

        Also as far as outdated technology. Try telling people who have new washing machines or dryers that the new ones are better than the ones they had in the 1990s.
        You sir will get an earful.

        Those with new washing machines know what I’m talking about.”

      • What is going on with disquis? This is the fourth? time I’m replying.
        Or are the comments being deleted? I saw other comments disappear too….
        Anyway here was my reply.

        “My reply was lost again…
        Well this time I copied 🙂

        Ugh I responded to this, but it got lost in cyberspace…

        I don’t want to explain everything I did… But. Here we go.

        What I said mostly was that the article you posted is stating that using a DONGLE as well as a cord would produce better audio because the dac is closer to the drivers.
        Which is true but wouldn’t be noticeable by anything other than oscilloscopes.
        So if you want a DONGLE hanging off your phone plus a WIRE, be my guest.

        If you could only see the waves bouncing all over and around you.
        Why do you think cables are insulated? Noise, aka those waves you can’t see(yes I’m dumbing this down).
        So wireless? Better audio? Noticeable better audio? No. Can’t happen outsiders of an isolated room. (And even then I don’t know for sure as the signal itself will still be bouncing off the walls, colliding, canceling, boosting, etc)

        I’ll skip the dongle, and buy phones that are performing just as good or better(lgv20 🙂 ) as your non 3.5mm port phone. Because there will always be a market. And they want the best.

        Try talking to some more experienced people in the field of electrical engineering before arguing with me.

        And there will still be a dac(digital to analog converter) in the phone! For your speakers(including the one you put up to your ear).
        Why?
        Because audio is analog.
        In the article you posted you see those square waves? That’s 1s and 0s.
        Then the dac turns those into analog waves(curvy), so you can listen to music, hear people talking, etc.
        Technically the square wave will make noise, but not what you think.

        So if there’s still a dac in the phone(needs to be powerful enough for those speakers!), where is the space savings?
        In removing the 3.5mm. That’s it. And it’s not enough to justify making everyone either use a dongle, or listen to subpar audio.

        Also as far as outdated technology. Try telling people who have new washing machines or dryers that the new ones are better than the ones they had in the 1990s.
        You sir will get an earful.

        Those with new washing machines know what I’m talking about.”

      • What is going on with disquis? This is the fifth? time I’m replying.
        Or are the comments being deleted? I saw other comments disappear too….
        Anyway here was my reply.

        “My reply was lost again…
        Well this time I copied 🙂

        Ugh I responded to this, but it got lost in cyberspace…

        I don’t want to explain everything I did… But. Here we go.

        What I said mostly was that the article you posted is stating that using a DONGLE as well as a cord would produce better audio because the dac is closer to the drivers.
        Which is true but wouldn’t be noticeable by anything other than oscilloscopes.
        So if you want a DONGLE hanging off your phone plus a WIRE, be my guest.

        If you could only see the waves bouncing all over and around you.
        Why do you think cables are insulated? Noise, aka those waves you can’t see(yes I’m dumbing this down).
        So wireless? Better audio? Noticeable better audio? No. Can’t happen outsiders of an isolated room. (And even then I don’t know for sure as the signal itself will still be bouncing off the walls, colliding, canceling, boosting, etc)

        I’ll skip the dongle, and buy phones that are performing just as good or better(lgv20 🙂 ) as your non 3.5mm port phone. Because there will always be a market. And they want the best.

        Try talking to some more experienced people in the field of electrical engineering before arguing with me.

        And there will still be a dac(digital to analog converter) in the phone! For your speakers(including the one you put up to your ear).
        Why?
        Because audio is analog.
        In the article you posted you see those square waves? That’s 1s and 0s.
        Then the dac turns those into analog waves(curvy), so you can listen to music, hear people talking, etc.
        Technically the square wave will make noise, but not what you think.

        So if there’s still a dac in the phone(needs to be powerful enough for those speakers!), where is the space savings?
        In removing the 3.5mm. That’s it. And it’s not enough to justify making everyone either use a dongle, or listen to subpar audio.

        Also as far as outdated technology. Try telling people who have new washing machines or dryers that the new ones are better than the ones they had in the 1990s.
        You sir will get an earful.

        Those with new washing machines know what I’m talking about.”

        • I stopped reading your post once you started focusing on some dongle (and no, you don’t need it to have good quality… What makes you even think that?). The huge benefit is that you buy an amazing pair of headphones with built in DACs and you can you them on any device with USB-C. I’m just gonna end it right here because it’s pointless to argue about this simple fact

          • Ya it’s pretty clear you didn’t read my reply if you didn’t even understand that a dongle is necessary to use a wired headphone with no 3.5mm port, of which the article you posted was talking about….

            Now you seem to have flip flopped on your original position that usbc would be better for audiophiles. Now you say “you don’t even need it have good quality”.

          • You don’t need a freaking dongle to take advantage of USB-C unique features. Digital signal goes straight to your headphones through USB-C and then into DAC inside your headphones. It’s already 2 major advantages over 3.5mm:
            1. Your favorite DAC it’s built into headphones so you can use it on any USB-C device.
            2. There’s no data disturbance while it’s traveling to headphones. In one of my cars I connect my phone audio through 3.5mm… well, when I accelerate I can hear a very faint humming noise (that changes with acceleration) if nothing is playing. This is amplified when the phone is charging. I’ve tried many cables.
            This wouldn’t be an issue with USB-C. We need this tech!

          • There are a lot of reasons why that can happen in a car(poor grounding is common) headphones with a usb-c plug wouldn’t solve it in the way you think. With digital signals, unlike analog it’s a mostly all or nothing. Ever seen a broadcast on tv(countries that have moved to all digital) that breaks up completely, or literally goes black. Same thing. Usb would still be giving you issues, just in a different way. Your car stereo needs to be reinstalled correctly, though sometimes that’s not possible depending on how old the car is(even 2000s). Maybe you should get a new car instead of wanting everyone to throw away their better(because usb headphones have not taken off to the point of quality that a lot of people expect, for audio quality reasons, audio equipment, professional equipment, the fact that billions of 3.5mm equipment is in the wild(and doing fine)) headphones.

            And sure like I said a dac in a headphone could be seen as better(if you use an oscilloscope to check because you won’t notice).

            You’re literally just switching things around(dac from phone(which the phone will still have a dac anyway for the speakers(including the one you put up to your war)) for the sake of removing 3.5mm from phones.
            It’s just a change that doesn’t have a benefit.

            So headphones are still going to be almost entirely(besides a small market) 3.5mm, especially the ones that are worth the money.

            And then you will still need a dongle(or adapter if you will) that connects to your phone to allow 3.5mm.

            You only think you need this tech because it’s talked about and different. Ask an electrical engineer about the issue if you don’t believe me. Or someone that works professionally with music equipment.

      • You have no idea how horrible you sound when making phone calls on bluetooth, do you? I work a remote job and as long as I can talk to customers and co-workers clearly via phone that’s fine. The moment I use bluetooth audio the call quality suffers. As someone who has the freedom to work wherever I want as long as the audio quality is good, the 3.3.5mm jack is vital. Too bad you will never experience such freedom.

    • Love Sennheiser headphones and have for years, but I’ll take my audio via USB type C. My wired earphones have the DAC built in, which I’ll take over the 3.5mm jack any day. I’m not arguing, just giving another point of view.

  • I listen every day on my commute to work. I have no desire to carry/lose a dongle just to be able to use my legacy headphones with anything that releases without a 3.5MM headphone jack. Looks like I’ll be keeping my current Pixel XL for as long as possible and hope this trend goes the way of the dodo.

  • I respect the fact that you don’t care. We all have our opinions and I’m not the type who is threatened by other’s views. On that note, I for one love the headphone jack. The sound quality on my V20 is boss and I’d hate to give it up. Why not just leave it in the phone I wonder. If you want to use it go ahead, if not then don’t. Is it that much of a manufacturing burden to have it. It’s not like the iPhone 7 got any cheaper without it. I’ll still by phones with them for as long as I could. Until I can’t I will cherish the choices I have.

    • If you enjoy sound quality on V20 3.5mm jack then you’ll enjoy USB-C sound because this protocol is more “powerful” than anything else in modern phones

      • Right on, I wasn’t sure about the USB C quality to be honest. It may sound like I’m going tit for tat but other concerns I have is the need to have a dongle handy for all my headphones since I have quite a few pair. The other concern I have is the strength of a USB C port compared to a 3.5 port. I feel like the former is far less sturdy and that could be a problem over time. There’s virtually no wiggle with 3.5. USB C doesn’t have the same structural integrity.

        • I hear you about the dongles. I guess it’s a stage some people (owners of many headphones) have to go through. We do this every time we go through a change (3.5mm wasn’t always 3.5). Hopefully they’ll get really cheap and you just permanently tape one to each pair of headphones.

          • Ya, change can be tough in the beginning. I guess when I don’t fully understand the need to make certain changes I resist it even more. Whatever the reason we kind of have to just go with it eventually. Cheers to the future ????

  • My biggest complaint probably has a small audience…I use an iPhone for work and Android for personal…so if I want to get a pair of good wired ear buds that I can talk on for work calls and listen to music on my personal…I need to buy two pair. 1 that is iPhone and 1 that is USB C. I never thought about the issue of charging while listening though. My previous issue was that my car did not have BT…that would piss me off too. But, in the end we will all learn to adapt, I’m just not sure what the benefit is to remove it or why someone would defend removing it.

    • You can still use the same buds for both iPhone and Android… Just need dongles. Pain? I guess. In this case just get a nice pair of BT buds… You’ll never go back

      • If I stay with 3.5mm a dongle will work, yes. But the future will bring Ear buds that work with USB C or iPhone Lightning Jack. Unless I misunderstand…

        I have some BT buds…but the pain there is always hoping they’re charged. I like to keep a pair in my work bag in case I need to jump on a call on the go.

  • I use it to connect to my car stereo and don’t wanna connect through other pieces… I will lose them… I will keep my pixel or mover to another manufacturer

  • I’m with you Kellen.

    Is it disappointing? For some, sure. A deal-breaker? Now you’re being just goddamn ridiculous. All things being equal, sure go for the phone with the jack. But all things are never equal, and if the better phone doesn’t have a jack, that’s a pretty shite reason to skip it.

    I haven’t needed to use a 3.5mm jack for years. Probably 2012. I’m all about my LG tones. And if I wasn’t all about Bluetooth, I’d have zero qualms with using a dongle.

    Keep crying you luddites, the tears are delicious.

    • The problem is that there’s NO REASON to remove it. Just trying to sell you more stuff. The fact that your use case falls in line with an (unpopular) opinion piece means nothing. Try thinking of anyone but yourself for a minute.

      • Sorry, not sorry, I’m enjoying the bitching and moaning too much. I’ll just keep on buying these jackless phones without a care in the world

        Too bad, so sad

  • I charge & listen all the time, I loathe the requirement to keep an accessory device charged up, wireless does not sound as good as wired, I use aux in every once in a while on random radios, and I can talk for hours on a headset without losing a charge, and don’t need to worry about stupid flaky Bluetooth troubleshooting!!!! This is about LOSING a feature, not gaining a new technology. Sorta like losing wireless charging for all us that use that, too!

    I don’t give a s*** about your opinion!! Fake news!! 😉

  • I feel the same. I don’t give a crap about the missing headphone jack as I’ve been using BT earbuds since 2012, back when Jaybirds were called Bluebuds X.

    However, there is only ONE situation where I currently do still need wired earbuds: using Daydream for VR. The audio will lag like crazy if I’m using BT with my Daydream. Sucks big time but hopefully that is fixed with BT 5.0 tech.

  • I think if I get 2 adapters (one for work one for home) I’ll be set. 99% of the time I’m listening to music through work laptop, home computer speakers, gaming headphones (home), or car through Android auto. That 1% of the time I can deal with searching for the adapter.

  • removing the headphone jack reminds me of the days when phone manufacturers started to remove physical keyboards. at the time, I probably would have said you can take my keyboard from my cold dead hands. A lot has changed. With the head phone jack removal, I’m more along the lines of I’m amazed it lasted this long.

  • Yes, Kellen. You are ready for the jump. Some of us are not. I was ready until recently when I started using the Tonebridge app that makes my phone into a guitar pedal needing the headset jack. I’ll be sticking to phones that have the jack for that reason and more. Glad you are comfortable with the change.

  • Yeah, maybe average consumers don’t need a headphone jack, but for people like me who own audiophile headphones, a dedicated DAC, and my music production career, a headphone jack is a must. Why use extra money and storage (I also bought a 128GB microSD for my phone just for this purpose) for .FLAC files when the audio quality and reliability of Bluetooth are just going to ruin them anyway? And the audio quality on most consumer headphones, especially Bluetooth, is a joke. I’ve ascended so far up in audio quality that it’s pretty much impossible to go back down. I can’t even bear listening on any pair of earbuds (especially not the ones included with phones),
    and I won’t buy an album unless it’s in .FLAC format.

    Now on to my music career. I’ve been in many situations where I was offered the opportunity to play my music in front of large crowds. I did that using my headphone jack. “Yeah I got something to play. Yo DJ pass me the USB-C-to-AUX-cord, or let the audience sit in awkward silence while I set up Bluetooth!” Right…

    Enjoy your consumer headphones and wasting money on dongles, accessories, and LQ overpriced Bluetooth headphones. Call me old fashioned if you want, but I choose reliability, convenience, and a little extra cash.

  • Only problem Kellen is that you are reinforcing the Apple motto with your argument. Apple said to their customers, “you don’t need a headphone jack” and they all lined up and said “you’re right Apple we don’t.” There was no debating the merits, it just was determined for their customers. Android’s motto of “Be together, not the same” doesn’t seem to apply anymore. They are trying to be the same with their flagship as Apple and have determined that their customers will be fine with it. I absolutely love my Pixel XL and all the Nexus devices before them. But, if Google wants to peel away features like wireless charging or headphone jacks then they are no better than Apple. The only good thing is that Android, by nature, provides us with choices in phones to move away from Pixel if we want the features…

    • No, he simply stated that he’s not gonna skip what will likely be the best phone of the year just because it doesn’t have a jack. Simple as that.

  • I do but I give more of a sh*t about having a great camera and a clean, minimally-skinned version of Android. Hence why I must go with Pixel 2. It’s my only choice that’ll meet those requirements.

  • F that noise, i care…i use the aux port in my car bc its a 2008 3 series in amazing shape and i love it…if i want to rock music on a long trip and charge my phone i need that aux cable and that charge port…so what i shouldnt care about that? should i buy a new 40-50k car bc the phone i want has no headphone jack…should i buy all new headphones bc i dont have a headphone jack, deal with a stupid dongle….f allll of that…i dont even want bluetooth headphones theres enough waves flying through my head daily and the sound no matter what anyone tells me is not as good….so yeah i care….s8 for the win, i was gonna sell it for the new pixel, but its ugly af and has no headphone jack…f that i love the s8

  • I agree. Frankly unless you’re a total audiophile (in which case you’re probably not using your phone to listen to Mozart) Bluetooth headphones are, in most cases, better than good enough so what’s the big deal with headphones. Freaking tangled wires, buds that don’t fit well, and on and on. Not to mention in you car, getting the wires mixed up in you seat belts or tangled into your shifter while your phone is in the cup holder. Oh and if you’re using Android Auto or Apple Play you’re probably piping the sound through your speakers anyways so you’re not even using a headset.

  • To me, there isn’t enough of a use case to justify removing it, and several OEMs have made it very clear that things like IP rating are not impacted by the inclusion of one.

    Samsung has the S8/S8+ that have both – and if one said they have a lot of R&D resources to throw at the problem, then use LGs G6 as another device OEM with less resources that managed to include both an IP rating AND a headphone jack. So….why do other OEMs feel the need to remove them?

  • I might be okay with the missing headphone jack if the phone actually looked cool otherwise.

  • I’m in the camp that very much requires a headphone jack, but there’s no point discussing that, it’s just my reality.

    My only real point of contention is: Why? Everyone has said whether they’re for or against or indifferent to this trend but no one has offered a single benefit to removing he headphone jack. Yes they could use the space to offer some new whiz-bang technology in the future, and when that becomes a necessity sure, pull the headphone jack (I guess, or hire better engineers).

    But removing the port and forcing people to use the dongle (which isn’t feasible in all circumstances) or buy garbage wireless headphones simply because “Apple did it” and you want to suckle at the teet of Cupertino is the definition of getting cucked.

    For all the “raw raw Android da best 4ever” attitude on these websites, you guys sure don’t seem to have a problem copying something that has literally no benefit and causes a very obvious rift in the community.

  • Just because you can use a dongle doesn’t make that the least bit better or preferable to just having the port! Especially since it’ll use up your charging port too, and it IS user hostile, so screw that, I refuse to get any phone, or recommend any phones to any of my friends and family, without headphone jacks

  • I agree though. There are so many cheap Blutooth headphones or even earbuds that aren’t that bad. The only thing that would suck is if your car doesn’t have Blutooth and you want to listen to music via aux but you also need to charge your device. One scenario only Ha

  • #Idon’tgiveash*tjacksonly. Wuurrd. They have this thing called bluetooth. You turn it on, some magic or witchcraft happens, music appears. Learn it. Love it. Live it

  • It’s an economic ploy. The cheapest of Bluetooth headphones are much more expensive than the cheapest wired ones. And that’s ten fold for the expensive kind. Therefor they won’t pack them in the box and more than likely they’ll try to sell them side by side on their website.

  • This post actually makes me laugh. While I agree with you, it reminds me of the media/LaVar Ball saga. ESPN will post any story about LaVar Ball that they can get their hands on, and then talk about how the media is creating the LaVar Ball problem and need to let him go.

    Look at any post on DL about leaked or official phone specs or phone reviews and you guys ALWAYS mention whether or not it has a phone jack. Just stop talking about it and people will stop complaining about it.

  • “Because twice a year you need to charge your phone and wire in headphones at the same time?”

    How about every single time I’m on a flight. Which is often, because I travel for work.

  • How about this. Google allows us to install a quality equalizer like Viper without rooting our phones? It’s about the only reason I bother rooting anymore. A quality equalizer will make more of a sound difference than just about any headphones you can buy. Even makes Bluetooth headphones sound great. They let me install Viper unrooted, then I could care less about losing the jack.

  • Eh, this is no better than those ranting on the opposite side… 🙂

    Everybody’s use case is different and the fact of the matter is it does cause inconveniences for anybody that still wants to use wired headphones, even if the inconveniences are minor. It’s also removing something just to say you removed it. Short of adding a tiny bit of space inside, there are no technological gains by removing it.

    I use an iPhone 7 as my daily driver. Has the lack of a headphone jack or nuisance of keeping up with the dongle ruined my life? Obviously not. But it’s not like it made my phone/audio life easier either.

  • Damn! Pains me to see phones so scratched up – if you can’t use a case – put a full body screen protector at a minimum…

  • The only thing I have against removing it is no one can offer a genuine benefit to doing so. Every time I hear someone arguing for the removal, or at least against protesting the removal, all they pitch are ways around it. Not once do they mention a single benefit to do it. Why not place an object in the road? You can drive around it! “But why put it there?” You can drive around it!…. I don’t care. Just wish someone on that side of the position would for once give up providing workarounds and start providing actual benefits. Otherwise it’s inconvenient for inconvenience sake and companies should quit it.

    • I’m on the it’s not a deal breaker camp but I totally understand your point. Well said!

    • This probably won’t be an answer that you accept, but just throwing it out there… Every little bit of space counts in these devices. When moving to USB-C, why include a 3.5mm jack when the USB can deliver audio itself? Leaving the 3.5mm out can save pennies on manufacturing and/or open up space in the devices for some other functionality/innovation.
      With that said, while I’m in the I don’t care about 3.5mm jack camp, I understand your point of view. The companies could likely easily continue to include the jack with little to know impact on price and functionality. I’m all for technology moving forward, though… and think that everyone will survive this.

      • Why removal of 3.5 is technology move forward exactly? Does U11 have bigger battery than S8? Does U11 have wireless charging as S8 with 3.5? Is U11 thinner? Does it offer more features than S8? Why exactly htc U11 without 3.5 is technologically superior than S8 with it? On the contrary, S8 is simply technologically more advanced phone than shiny U11.

        • I know nothing about the U11. I’m talking in generalalities here. Imo part of moving forward is leaving old tech behind. Sometimes that’s the only way to advance.

          • Man, removal of 3.5 is donne for cheaper waterproofing and ???? saving for manufacturers.

          • That is the only reason. Apple knows not too many ppl really care for great sound and saw an opportunity to save manufacturing costs. Other simply follow. For the same reason. Better alternative for 3.5 simply doesn’t exist. That is the main problem. Empty futuristic promises only exist.

          • Example for you. LG V20 has great DAC and amp in the phone for awesome, best existing audio quality on the smartphone. You just need to go on the market to choose what quality ear or headphones you can get, from 10 to 1000$, to enjoy in its capabilities. If LG removes 3.5, they will remove that DAC and amp and save from 20 to 70$ for new model. And you will have to go to market to buy new USB C earphones with inbuilt DAC and amp. And they will cost you double. See the equation? And if manufacturer, btw, is making the new earphones you need, that will bring them even more profit.

          • I know, LG made huge mistake that ruined quite fine but with 2016 processor phone. Different specs for different markets destroyed G6. Europe got nothing, so…what to say except LG acted like a complete dilettante.

          • Normally when you leave old tech behind its for something better. All your are doing is removing something costing pennies on phones that are drastically increasing in price. There’s certainly no price to benefit advantage here. None. Instead of the couple penny jack, you are paying “just $10” for a 2 pack of dongles. Tell me again about the savings?

    • The only pro I can think of is now the sound exiting the device is digital instead of analog (until you add a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle). Not sure it’s worth all the trouble though.

      • How is that an advantage?

        Actually the sound is ultimately analogue regardless. The difference is that the DAC and amplifier need to be part of the headphones rather than the phone. Now maybe in a few years’ time when everyone is properly implementing standards that will mean that you can get a nice pair of headphones and the sound quality won’t depend much on what phone you use them with, but we’re definitely not there right now. And of course people who already own a nice pair of headphones may not want to bin them, and so far the quality from the little adapters (which contain their own DAC and amp, and generally are as cheap as they can be made) has not been overwhelming.

        Though the author missed one of the other options: buy a dedicated DAP and don’t worry about what the phone makers do for audio for the next few years (of course you’ll still need an adapter or the crappy bundled headphones for videos, but you probably aren’t as fussy about sound quality for that purpose).

    • Probably because you’re looking for consumers to answer engineering and design questions they aren’t qualified to answer. Here are a number of reasons for doing it, from the people who’ve had to build it.

      “It was holding us back from a number of things we wanted to put into the iPhone,” Riccio explained. “It was fighting for space with camera technologies and processors and battery life. And frankly, when there’s a better, modern solution available, it’s crazy to keep it around.”

      Specifically, Riccio relayed that the size of the audio jack became a frustrating nuisance when trying to incorporate the respective camera systems inside of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. What’s more, removing the headphone jack enabled Apple to increase the size of the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 battery by 14%, ultimately providing users with an extra two hours of battery life. And last but not least, Riccio explained that removing the 3.5mm jack finally helped Apple deliver a more water-resistant iPhone.”

      People don’t have to like it, but with space being a premium in such small devices, there are genuine benefits for doing so. Consumers can then judge whether or not the change was worth it. As we’ve seen, many people will work with what they’re given and move on with their new devices. Others will voice displeasure and search for an alternative. Neither is wrong, but whoever speaks louder with their $$ will grow the market in their preferred direction.

      • And you really don’t think that the fact that Apple recently bought a headphone manufacturer, so extra sales of BT headphones were likely to benefit them too? Or that if you wanted a wired headphone it would use Apple’s proprietary Lightning connector, which meant they could charge a licensing fee to anybody who wanted to make such headphones?

        I think the probability that it was really about optimising the phone design and not at all to do with those other commercial benefits to Apple is negligible. Of course you may call me cynical, but corporations are cynical by construction (their legal duty is profit maximisation), so frankly I think it’s the only way to view any of them.

        • BobButtons asked for genuine benefits related to the reason why the jack was removed. An engineer offered a few of them, not just in theory, but in a device that currently sits in the hands of happy consumers. What I think has no bearing on this.

          As I said before, it’s certainly okay if people prefer to have a 3.5mm jack. I already know companies are out to make money, so as I said, speak with your wallet. However, on the topic of engineering (the question Bob asked), the response is valid.

      • I’m fine with the argument about space, and while Bluetooth may be a better modern solution (if that’s what was being referenced, I do think it is better), it either isn’t enough of an improvement or isn’t yet being communicated in a good enough way that people are switching in droves meaning there’s still value in an analog connection. I’m all for the moving forward of technology especially when there’s a better option available (such as dropping floppies since there were CD-ROM drives, and then dropping those when people largely used flash drives & the cloud) even if it means forcing over the hold outs. It just doesn’t seem like we’re anywhere near there yet with 3.5mm. Again, regardless of the superiority of BT, either it’s not that great to motivate people in droves or it’s not being communicated well enough to get them to switch. Lastly, granted I know nothing about it, but the water-resistance seems like a garbage argument. There are quite water resistant phones available with it so it doesn’t seem to be that big of a hurdle. But to each their own. That’s why there are options.

      • In Apple’s case they just filled the placed where the headphone jack used to be with a piece of plastic. They were likely planning to remove the headphone jack from the iPhone 8 (hopefully for a purpose) but didn’t want that bad press to dominate the news so they just did it a year earlier. It seems pretty pointless to remove the jack from the iPhone 7 otherwise.

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7089d98029d980264020ba1a44508ef36c44ce9cf0b69fc44ab62c523898e205.png

        • According to Apple, it’s not just a piece of plastic, but a “barometric vent”, described further in the article.

          In addition:
          “Apple has also been pretty consistent in arguing that the removal of the headphone jack isn’t just about the precise physical space that’s right there on the bottom-left of the phone. As BuzzFeed reported, Apple says it’s more about the entire thing — the Taptic engine, the larger battery, easier waterproofing, the top speaker, the antennas, etc.”

          The above is pulled from the same source cited in the iFixit teardown:

          https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/16/12941040/iphone-7-teardown-plastic-behind-where-headphone-jack-used-to-be

          Another great read:

          https://www.buzzfeed.com/johnpaczkowski/inside-iphone-7-why-apple-killed-the-headphone-jack?utm_term=.bjxxPKmmx#.dl6wRG88w

          All in all, I think it serves the discussion to listen to the actual engineers, as opposed to non-expert consumers taking a guess at how to build a phone (simple as it may seem). I’m sure there were lists of pros and cons to the removal of the jack, and Apple decided the former list was worth their effort(s), while laying the foundation for future opportunities. Just removing an established feature, on their primary money-making device, in order to spite consumers and trick them into buying headphones (as someone above has alleged) doesn’t make much sense. More likely, what Apple is saying is true, and the engineers had good reason to remove the jack, in order to meet their new/current design goals.

          For the rest of us, we have to realize that once Apple proves the mainstream consumer is willing to accept a change, other makes take notice and have a heavy incentive to follow– or at least broaden their own design potential for similar reasons.

    • I 100% agree that there should be a better value statement but the truth is that not all decisions like these are consumer focused. There’s a link (cnet) at the bottom for some theoretical advantages. The one main advantage is that you now have more control over the quality of the sound you’re getting out of your phone. Headphones are only one component of the sound quality equation.

      A little background, you cannot hear digital sound so everything has to be converted through a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). To support a headphone jack at all OEMs have to include a DAC chip (and an amplifier) which range in quality from phone to phone. With that becoming a non-integrated component, you now have more control over the theoretical maximum quality of audio output. See the gadgethack link for way more detail.

      To be fair, you could always do this by wiring in sound through a portable DAC, which surprise surprise was achieved through a dongle attached to your USB port.

      https://www.cnet.com/news/intel-expects-usb-type-c-could-help-kill-the-3-5mm-audio-jack/

      https://smartphones.gadgethacks.com/news/top-4-phones-for-music-lovers-audiophiles-0175956/

      • Sooooo… if they remove the DAC and amplifier chip(s) from the phone, how can you still hear audio through legacy devices using a USB-C-to-3.5mm adapter? Are the DAC and amp in the dongle?

        • That’s how the iPhone lightning to 3.5 is. I think (I can’t find a teardown for Android ones) the Android equivalents may not have the DAC embedded. It’s hard to tell because they can implement the DAC in to the USB controller chip. Just to clarify, phones still need to have an embedded DAC, otherwise you cannot get any output from your speakers to make calls, but the switch to the USB C port means you have more choice in this space. The 3.5 mm always had a constraint that most didn’t realize and it was the phone’s DAC, you could have perfect master tracks and the best headphone in the world, but if you’re phone had a subpar DAC you’d get subpar sound.

  • Thank you, @kellex:disqus! Geez, can we all just move on to something worth griping about?

  • People will lose the dongle. 3rd party seen USB Type C headphones are few and far between. The headphones that are available suck. Show me a dongle today that charges the phone and I can use my headphones at the same time and I believe the frustration wouldn’t be as high. I tend to be forgetful. I use Bluetooth headphones. But I sometimes I forget them. I keep wired headphones in my car as a backup. Having that headphone jack and being able to charge my phone while at work and listening to music at the same time is useful for me. No headphone jack on a phone wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me but I would be going through some growing pains.

  • Damn Kellen tell them why you’re mad lol. Here’s a hug dude. Haha Anyway, at first I was pissed off by the no headphone jack but I don’t care anymore. I mean I would still love the option of the jack but it’s not a deal breaker. I been using Bluetooth headphones lately anyway. The Pixel XL 2 looks like it’s going to be a very dope phone and it’s going to be purchased! I won’t let the headphone jack situation get in the way of that.

  • Kellen,

    Not trolling but a legitimate question:

    In your review for the Moto Z Force, you state as a negative:

    “No Headphone Jack: Yup, no headphone jack on the Z2 Force. Is it the worst thing ever? No, but as someone who has a treasure trove of wired headphones, it does kinda suck. Motorola includes an adapter for Type-C to 3.5mm, but dang, I already deal with enough dongles on my new MacBook Pro. I’m tired of dongle life.”

    To take this in context, being combined with the price (pretty much the same as a Galaxy S8, which retains the headphone jack) this post seems to be contradicting what you were in your review. Now that it comes to the Pixel, why is it special since it most likely be priced at a premium?

  • The issue for me is that to get my phone to connect to my car for my hour long commute, I need a headphone jack or a stereo upgrade. What, I should spend a grand for a touchscreen stereo with Bluetooth connectivity because the manufacturer didn’t provide an analog connector?

    I should go by $90 headphones when my wired one work fine? The issue of not being able to charge and listen at the same time is real if you’re using Google maps or driving for 3 hour stretches.

    Is it worth all the hyperbole? No but it will stop me from buying a new phone until it’s time for a new car, and that’s a concern for many americans

  • “The Google Pixel phones will likely be the best Android phones of the year”

    lolwut. You didn’t think so last year.

  • Why can’t we have 2 USB C ports so you can use a dongle on the headphones and plug in the phone at the same time? I work in an office 10 hour days and can’t have speakers on so I have to use headphones. So I normally have a show like Friends or HIMYM on in the background and I have to charge my phone all day. We also do not have Wifi which sucks. Just throw in 2 USB C ports if companies are dead set on getting rid of the headphone jack. Just annoyed that I have to have a 3.5 dongle and then a 2nd dongle to be able to charge and use it at the same time. But, with 2 ports you could do both without actually buying a dongle and just using the one that will probably come with it.

  • The thing is that everyone uses their phone differently based on needs, environment, preferences, etc and no one is in a position to tell another that their priorities are wrong. They might not be right for *you* but that doesn’t make them wrong for someone else. For instance, I personally don’t find water resistance compelling at all and I don’t really understand why others do. I have had smartphones for well over a decade now and never dropped one in water or gotten more than a light splash on it. But that’s my use case. I can’t speak to others’. On this particular issue, I have tried so many different types of Bluetooth headphones and, while some sound good enough to my ears to use on a daily basis, none of them have functioned well enough to be sustainable for me. I have yet to find a single pair that can keep a solid connection to a phone in my pants pocket while I am walking down the street. I do understand that some of the issue is my Pixel XL’s terrible bluetooth radio but it’s been the case over many devices. So this is an important issue for me and yes, it does make me consider skipping this generation of Pixel devices after having been loyal to the Nexus / Pixel line for many years. But again, I totally understand that this is not everyone’s situation so I’m not telling them they are wrong or being overdramatic.

  • Generally I don’t have a problem with this being done on Android devices, I haven’t used a wired headphone in about 3 years. On the otherhand, Apple removed it because they wanted to make more 3rd parties vendors pay them for the licensing of Lightning to 3.5mm adapters and such. (They removed the only port they weren’t making $ off of).

  • This is really stupid tbh. Lets ignore the ONLY major change between Pixel 1 and 2 and literally nitpick things that affect 1% of the population instead. Lens flare? Water resistance? You clearly have a huge underestimation of how many people use headphones. Not everyone gets to sit at a desk all day surrounded by the latest tech.

    Are we forgetting that there is literally no reason to remove it? Are you really scratching your neck feverishly demanding the 50mah or .5mm thickness that will improve if it’s done away with? I understand this is you, it’s just a really bad opinion overall.

  • I’m curious to see the fallout next year when the trend is to remove speakers all together. Apparently it will all go haptic feedback not unlike Braille for all sound/audio. “Your friends voice has never felt so real.” Listening to music will take on a whole new experience.

  • We can only hope that one day someone comes up with a splitter so you can charge and connect your headphones at the same time.

  • Well when you live in the black hole signal of death like I do, and I know you do K, I do actually need headphone jack and charging at the same time. As
    I sit here at work, my phone is at 60% with minimal use, so I charge it a few times a day and am constantly listening to music/videos. Regular Pixel.

    Improve battery life on phones, then I will agree. But we all know this will never happen.

  • I don’t mind either, actually. I just use cheap Sony earbuds anyways. And I’m also #bottomjacksonly. I like the fact that USB-C forces the wire away from the top of the phone. We’ll live. I do see where people are coming from, though. I wouldn’t want to use a dongle if I had some nice headphones already. What are you going to do, though? The phone industry seems hell bent on going this direction.

  • But what about the bluetooth latency? There’s always a slight delay when I watch videos with bluetooth speakers/earbuds, that’s really the only reason I still have wired headphones. That and the noise cancelling nubs don’t fitfeel right in my ears. If I have to carry a dongle I guess I wouldn’t mind that. Do USB-C headphones have any issue with sound relay?

  • Yes, I’m going to date myself. This is like saying “I’m not going to buy that new car because it doesn’t have a tape deck in it. Why would I want a car where I can’t play any of my music?” or 2017… “I’m not buying that car because I can’t play my cd’s in it because it doesn’t come with a cd player” Change happens this is what makes technology great. Especially with how fast it upgrades itself. If you are not willing to deal with it then stop following this site or other tech sites and get technology that’s years old.

    • The difference with your car analogy: you could replace the radio in the car if you wanted to badly enough. Sure, some were much more of a pain in the ass than others, but you could always do it. There’s no way you’ll be putting a headphone jack into a phone without one. And this isn’t about making technology great, this is about corporations cheaping out to save a few bucks.

  • I was a bit miffed when removal batteries started to go away but honestly, battery tech got so good that I didn’t care to swap mine out all the time. I use headphones a lot though. Maybe in a couple of years it’ll make more sense to get rid of them. do we really need super thin phones? is that the only reason why they are removing them?

  • If the average consumer no longer cares for the headphone jack, then I guess I’ll reluctantly admit that there’s no reason to keep it around in mainstream phones. I do hope to continue to see it in more niche devices like the LG V-series, which are very much oriented towards media creation/consumption.

  • Who cares? The removal of headphone jack has already lead to an improvement in Bluetooth headphones. My JBLs can make it through an entire day on a charge. Just like my phone I charge them when I get home.

    Don’t bitch about sound quality when you’re listening to music from your phonejone

  • Last year I cared. This year it isn’t on my must have list. Base 64GB and Water Resistance are… Might give Essential a pass on the water resistance… But we’ll see…

  • Even though my pixel XL had a headphone jack, I figured it was only a matter of time. Over the past year I started using bluetooth in my car and bought Jaybird X3s for my commute. Now I can’t remember the last time I plugged a 3.5mm plug into my phone.

    Remember how people bitched when Apple removed firewire, CD drives, etc. We all learn to let go and move on. We’ll get past the headphone jack..I promise.

      • I work in Photo/Video production. A majority of our hard drive backups were Firewire 400 or 800 at the time. Same as this. There are work arounds, not everyone will transition easily. But we’ll eventually get past it.

  • “I’d hope for perfectly-working Bluetooth (finally)”

    But there is the rub. The idea that “you can just go to bluetooth!” is problematic when Google’s implementation of Android has a lot of Bluetooth audio problems that they still havent figured out.

    • What are the Bluetooth issues? My Pixel’s BT range could definitely be better, but usability is not a concern I’ve had since I bought it in December.

    • I have yet to experience a legit bluetooth issue on any android phone that wasn’t rooted or using a Beta level Android OS.

      • Since my Droid Incredible I’ve never had issues and I’ve switched phones almost every 6 months since. People make every excuse to post something negative about products.

    • The quality of the sound is problem. DAC and amp inside phones simply is useless on Bluetooth audio and Sony’s so called LDAC that should improve Bluetooth audio is nothing special. 3.5 and Bluetooth are like day and night quality wise.

  • It’s more about just how dumb it is to remove one. So far on any internal breakdown there has been plenty of room to fit one and we all know they only cost a fraction of a cent to install so it just makes no sense to remove one.

  • I personally don’t mind them removing the headphone jack, and understand the frustration from hearing all of the complaining. On the other hand, I understand the peeps complaining. If Bluetooth consistently worked the way it should, then there’d be no problem. But being that it doesn’t (whether it be the phone or the Bluetooth device itself) then they should leave the jack until then. There’s still quite a bit of peeps that are broke af and don’t have a new car/stereo with Bluetooth, but have the good ol’ aux cord and have a nice new shiny phone.

    Also, it’s already hard enough misplacing headphones let alone a frikin dongle for said headphones, lol.

  • While I am okay with moving forward with design, I use my headphone jack OFTEN as my 14 year old vehicle does not support Bluetooth. I spend upwards of 6 or 7 hours driving for work and charging while listening to tunes is quite crucial.

    • I don’t drive for work or anything but didn’t care for Kellen assuming people rarely want to charge their phone and listen to music at the same because he doesn’t. Just about long drive I go on, I’ll use my phone for GPS and also to listen to music at the same time. GPS is such a drain on the battery that it needs to be plugged in unless I want my phone to have 10% battery left when I get where I’m going since my car doesn’t have Bluetooth either.

  • Weren’t you crying about it when apple removed the headphone jack? Something about trends and pitchforks because of dongles ????????

  • Eh, as someone who uses the headphone jack every day to listen to podcasts at my desk, and then at night when I go running, I won’t be buying a phone without one. I don’t feel like screwing around with extra adapters or bluetooth equipment that just gives me something else to worry about as far as battery life and charging.

  • Here’s my issue with bluetooth, it doesn’t work when I am cutting the grass. I’ve used 4 different phones and 3 different bluetooth earbuds but whenever I use the push mower the sound is nothing but a bunch of static. So I have to use wired earbuds. And since my property is fairly large it takes on average 2.5 – 3 hours to mow and weed whack the entire thing.

    • I’m in a similar boat. I have Sony MDR-7506s for using at my desk or when playing guitar but when I cut grass, I use cheapo $10 Xiaomi earbuds. I don’t care if I get them grimy and disgusting because they’re cheap and I replace them every year or so. I don’t want to worry about weird bluetooth interference or dead batteries when I’m cutting grass or doing other physical work outside. I just don’t understand why companies are getting rid of something that is still commonly used. It doesn’t matter for the people who use bluetooth anyway and creates the need for more cords (dongles) for those of us who still use wired headphones..

      • I use these when mowing my lawn. https://goo.gl/5Taz6q it’s a 2+ hour job never had a problem with battery life. The noise canceling isn’t Bose. But it’s pretty damn good IMHO. And if you really want to you can use them as wired headphones.

    • Odd… I use a pair of really cheap BT earbuds when I mow (also around 3hrs) and they work fine. Why would the mower affect the BT audio like that?

      • No idea. That’s the only thing I can come up with. As soon as I start the mower the sound gets all staticky. I’ve spent close to $200 for different earbuds and I’ve used a Nexus 5X, iPhone 5C, BLU R1 HD, and Moto E phones. All the same thing. So now it’s wired which sucks.

  • Yes, Dad!! Finally. This is why I love Droid Life and AP. We are on the exact same page.

    Man listen, this past year I’ve grown so much hatred towards wires and the fact that Google put the headphone jack up top. ITS MUCH more of an annoyance to me, to charge my phone and use headphones when the ports at the opposite end. The F#@*” is that s#@+? Audiophiles beware? B@#$* Google has that Sony audio thingy….plus….what if the dongle has a dac? Or wait for it….what if….no one cares as long as you can listen to audio? That’s a thought.

  • I haven’t used the headphone jack that my last three phones were equipped with, so I kinda don’t care.

  • Yeah I kind of went on a mini rant about this subject yesterday. People won’t stop complaining about the pixel 2 not having it and so much misinformation about Bluetooth it’s crazy. I haven’t used wired headphones since 2011 and the jack officially became dead to me when I bought a new pioneer head unit with Bluetooth a year ago. People be like “terrible sound quality” and “massive phone battery drain” when using Bluetooth. Both of which used to be true back in 2008 but neither are true in 2017. Ever since Android 4.3 rolled out with support for Bluetooth 4.1 low energy the battery drain has not been noticeable and modern Bluetooth speakers and headsets have sound quality so good it’s going to take a $200 wired headset and flac to actually notice any loss. Kind of thinking people are judging Bluetooth based on what they heard or read somewhere but aren’t actually trying it.

    I do think they could shut everyone up by just making a play and charge adapter. Type c spec allows for it so I dunno why they don’t exist. Well they do exist but they don’t actually work lol. Kind of wonder if there was a play an charge adapter included with every phone if everyone would still be butthurt. Honestly probably. Then the argument would shift to “having to carry it around with me”. Maybe that’s why they don’t lol.

  • https://forums.androidcentral.com/lg-g3/764779-bluetooth-call-audio-working-but-suddenly-media-audio-does-not-work-through-bluetooth.html

    Same with the Galaxy forums, etc.

    I’m dealing with this crap now and since it doesn’t seem to be vendor specific, I DO care about having wired headphones. I tried the bluetooth route in good faith, but since Google seems to be ignoring that fact that some update broke bluetooth, again, for quite a few users, until it’s rock solid across the board, my only phone purchases will have a headphone jack. I use headphones too much to deal with jumping through hoops to get headphones to work.

    The work around of clearing data, reconnecting and never rebooting your phone is ridiculous.

    For those of you who have never had this problem, I’m happy for you. Enjoy your bluetooth headphones but understand that not everyone is having your experience. You can STILL use your bluetooth headphones even if your phone has a headphone jack. It’s not like you’re getting a bigger battery out of losing the jack so I don’t get the the griping to remove it because some people don’t use it.

  • I concur with your sentiment. Being able to leave my phone at my work desk charging while I walk around the office with my Bluetooth headphones freely is very convenient. I wish they would get rid of the headphone jack and replace it with something like an IR blaster would be great. I get lint stuck in my headphone jack all the time, which I have one right now that I can’t get rid of.

    • Until your Bluetooth battery dies… due to not being charged. Then you gotta charge it too; Without listening to music.

  • I want a headphone jack on my phone, I love the sound quality from the ESS ES9218 DAC on my V20. The only other way I could get comparable or better quality is with a external DAC, and not just the one in the dongle. I have a Meridian Explorer 2 which in all honesty I would rather use with my phone, but there are a few problems with that, one the V20 can’t power the DAC, and two the more I think about it, it would be too much of a hassle at the gym and other places. Having a quality DAC already in my phone is something I look for, which LG provides. I can’t wait for the V30 as it will more than likely continue this feature.

  • You know, when I made the switch to the i7 Plus, I thought I would have issues. First week was the only one where I missed having it, but yeah, ended up buying the “silly ass AirPods” and tbh I don’t have any complaints at all. It’s not as bad as people think it is. Most people I know that have i7 or i7 Plus have never complained about the lack of headphone jack.

    I’d rather have stereo speakers.

    • Think I’d rather have stereo speakers too. Also, yeah, Apple kind of sold a lot of phones without headphone jacks and people seem to be just fine.

  • here’s a fun take. i do care and yes i will not but a phone that doesn’t have one. i use headphones every day literally 7 days a week for hours at a time. and i often charge my phone at the same time. taking it away solves no issues and just creates more, BT headphone quality is bad, BT headphones require charging. charging and using wired now requires an annoying dongle.

      • I’m switching from Apple to Android because the Headphone jack was the straw that broke the camels back. I’m not finto reach for my Bluetooth hoping to listen to some music and it’s partially dead or dead. Why should I have to buy a dongle when it would make more sense to leave the headphone jack as is. It’s not creating any issues so keep it. Other reasons for switching is simply because Android is more versatile than IOS. Im looking for a phone that allows convienience not a hindrance. Bye Apple, hello Samsung Note 8

    • Good thing is you’ll have plenty of used phones from yesterday to buy.

      The bad news is you’re going to be left behind while the rest of us use tomorrow’s awesome new phones.

        • This just in: Triggered snowflake white knighting for random internet commenter.

          If stating the obvious is defending the author, well, I’m guilty as charged.

          The headphone jack is starting to be phased out whether you like it or not. That should be obvious to everyone by now. So, once that’s done, as i said before, OP will have to choose between using newer phones that have dropped the headphone jack, or buying used phones from yesteryear that still have a headphone jack.

          I switched to Bluetooth buds almost two years ago and haven’t looked back.

          • Classic conformist. Have fun getting cucked by all the major manufacturers for literally no reason other than profit. Try using more than 3 brain cells to think about the topic before you brag they convinced you to buy headphones for triple the price that sound worse.

          • Except i bought my Bluetooth headphones *before* OEMs started removing the headphone jack en masse. Why did i do such a thing, you may ask? Because i don’t like wires dangling about, getting snagged on clothing, my bag, etc. Had absolutely nothing to do with OEM decisions. I never used the headphone jack anyway, and I’ve said for years I’d be perfectly fine with it being cut.

            Based on your comment, i’m guessing reading comprehension isn’t your strong suit. Perhaps you should pull your head out of your ass long enough to get a breath of fresh, oxygen rich air, and realize that being ahead of the game is hardly conformist, kid.

          • Geez man you riding the guy like he makes the phones himself. Be mad at all the “fruit phone” buyers that let apple slide for dropping the port. That started all this. I could care less if it’s there or not.

          • OMFG, if I have to hear “triggered” or “snowflake” one more time, someone’s going to get stabbed in the neck with a potato peeler. See, that got across my thoughts without having to rehash the same 2 words that appear at least once in every comment section on the internet. Put a little thought in and try to be original.

          • Wow, really put me in my place while still managing to be unoriginal. You are indeed the Superman of mediocrity.

          • When I said you were the Superman of mediocrity, it didn’t mean you had to dress up like him and post a picture.

        • If you think that removing something as non-essential as a headphone jack cripples a cell phone, then it is you, sir, who is the idiot.

          • non-essential? You’re a fool. I work remotely anywhere because I can have decent call quality with my 3.5mm headphone jack. You’ll never know this freedom because you don’t get paid to work anywhere you want. You’re chained to your desk you sheeple. You think it’s non-essential because you’re a tard.

          • No, it’s non-essential because i don’t use it, you inbred hillbilly piece of s*it. Also, i run two successful companies, and spend the bulk of most days outdoors, far from a desk or being stuck doing work.

            I’ll be using my phones just fine without a headphone jack thanks to Bluetooth, while you’ll still be crying like a little girl because all the new phones don’t have a jack anymore.

            Now piss off, ya wanker.

  • People are just mad because they think their phones should have everything under the sun thrown into them. I don’t even remember the last time I used the headphone jack. I don’t care about the change.

  • It’s funny you put a photo of the Daydream for this story. I’ve noticed when I use Bluetooth headphones while using my Daydream, the remote lags after a few minutes. Alto when I’m using wired headphones the lag is all but gone.

    • You can still use headphones with the USB C port. I don’t think people even know this.

      • Valid, but then it becomes the whole issue of how many many people have a USBC headphone? If Google provides one that’s awesome. Alto even an adaptor is just one more thing for people to lose.

        • Pretty sure all companies that remove the headphone jack provide either headphones or an adapter. And I don’t see how it would be so hard to keep track of an adapter if you just leave it attached to your headphones all the time.

  • I suppose once USB-C headphones become common, it won’t be an issue. People don’t like change.

    • I remember the chaos when Apple changed their proprietary charging port to ANOTHER proprietary charging port. People just like complaining.

      • And that port changing is pretty damn obnoxious, but yeah, in the end we all just like complaining. It’s actually quite fun to complain.

  • I’m one of the rare ones. I use my headphones and charge at the same time very regularly. Daily actually. On conference calls a lot and can’t have my phone die in the middle of a call. Yes, it’s happened a few times before.
    Is it a deal breaker to not have one? Maybe. Depends on the other features.
    I have enough dongles to carry around being that I use a MacBook Pro 2016 model that requires a dongle for damn near everything.

    • Losing a headphone jack would definitely suck for you then. Or maybe you’ll just have to buy more dongles heh.

    • I am a digital nomad, I work anywhere I want as long as I can have decent call quality on my phone. Superior call quality via 3.5mm jack allows me freedom to work anywhere. Bluetooth phone calls are painful, and battery dyin causing calls to drop is anywhere problem. The author will never experience the joy of working remotely with anywhere good phone and 3.5mm headphone jack for calls. Sheeple…shackled to your desk for work.

  • To each their own. I use my phone for everything. Even though I have a Droid Turbo 2 with the huge battery, I easily run the power down throughout the day. I use my phone in my car every day and often need to charge while using the Aux jack. My car was made in the small window where it has an Aux input but no bluetooth. I understand that not everyone really needs one, but there are still a good number of people who do. I’m camp “I don’t give a crap about losing an extra Mm on the width if I lose useful funtionality.” For now, we’re still 5-10 years away before assuming “everyone” has a bluetooth/wireless solution and the jack is obsolete. #My2Cents

    • I too have a car with aux but no bluetooth. This $25 bluetooth adapter has made my life so much easier – http://a.co/hHTDTzT It’s been great so far. I also have an app that automatically starts playing Spotify when my phone connects to this. That’s the best part, not even having to pull my phone out of my pocket. (unless I need to charge as well) Also the Droid Turbo 2 has wireless charging so if you get a qi enabled car dock, no plugging in any cables! (I did this with my OG Turbo)

      • Only downside is if you are on a Nexus or Pixel Google changed the volume settings and it messes with receivers like that which dont have volume controls. Sets the output to max and makes the sound distorted. Been that way for 18 months.

        • I use this one, https://goo.gl/2MrkCm It has volume controls and is light so I wrap my headphones cord to a manageable length, and can just let it hang. I agree, it sucks having a bunch of wired headphones that now need a workaround. Not to mention Bluetooth sound quality is only going to continue getting better. Oh yeah and @Kellen, the new web design sucks. ???? J/K

    • I’d say you certainly qualify in the camp that actually does need a headphone jack and losing one would screw with your life. I get that. And that does suck.

      • I’m pretty sure he could get by ok with a Bluetooth dongle for the car. I also have an AUX input but no Bluetooth in my car and that’s what I use when want to play something from my phone.

    • I for one have both wired and BT headphones, I would always prefer wired because of the difference in sound quality, specially in cars (man it’s bad) but I see where we’re going and I think by the end of the next year all mayor players will the leave headphone jack behind.
      Apple was the first mayor player to do it, Google might do it, HTC did it and I’m sure Sammy and LG will do it next year.

      • And all are suffering for that decision except Apple. U11 second month sales are worse than htc 10s. Le eco is on verge of bankrupt. Motorola has lower than before sales. Google will suffer the same.

        • Nah, I don’t think Google will suffer because they remove the Headphone Jack, the companies you mentioned were going broke before they decided on removing the HP jack, Mayor players is where you would gauge if people don’t care or no.

          • Only Apple won’t suffer noticeable, Google will. Pixels 2 will hardly reach sales of first series. Pure android and smoothness is known, but price and 3.5 removal with 2015 design will make success of that phone only a dream.

          • I sure hope you are right.
            It will make getting a Pixel this year much easier for ME .

            My fingers are crossed that all the keyboard warriors are true to their word.

          • You really think pixels were so well selling and that was the reason they were “hard” to buy? Google misjudged their demand and then when they so effect and real demand, used the same receipt even when they could provide more. If you can, find the information how many pixels Google sold till this day.

    • So you probably talk and text while you drive then. Remember years ago when that was against the law? 5-10 years?? How about 5-10minutes away from a place that sells bluetooth hands free for your car. Or better yet, get off your phone to have a personal life and not drain the battery so much. I don’t hear any iPhone users bitching nearly as much as Android people.

        • I have an S8+, Z2 Play, and a V10. The only apple product I own is an iPad Pro cuz android tablets are trash. I also have 3 sets of Bluetooth headphones, bluetooth ear buds, and Bluetooth in my car. Headphones jacks aren’t a deciding factor for anyone who isn’t a complete moron.

          • Man, you simply don’t care for great sound. From my point of view, the one who is satisfied with audio quality on Bluetooth headphones with today’s technology is easily ignorant…or moron:(

          • My car downloaded my Playlist into the touchscreen. Music sounds great. And the same people who really HAVE to listen to music via a cable for the quality also probably think it’s “cool” to have never seen Game of Thrones. How many record players do you have in your house? That’s usually the “purest form” of music right? I’m never going to download or stream digital music and NEED to listen with a cable. And if I ever do I have headphones that work with the adapter my phones came with.

          • I will join you instantly when Bluetooth audio reaches wired 3.5 quality.
            PS. Don’t make me angry further or I will reveal you what will happen in episode 5:)

          • It’s all in your head. The audio chipset used in a phone is not capable of producing high enough quality sound for it to matter if you use a wire or not. A true audiophile would not listen to music from their phone.

          • Do you know what V20 has inside and what sound it can produce? Vivo X-Play series? Meizu pro? True audiophile would be extremely happy to own these phones. It’s true they can’t match true audiophile equipment,, damn, those things are expensive, but they make all other phones look like toys.

    • It sucks but OEMs are in the game of filling large scale needs/desires and not niche situations. There are probably thousands of people like you, but the unfortunately there are millions of people who will buy phones without a headphone jack and not bat an eye. There is hope that a Samsung will buck the trend as they did with SD cards, but they would be the exception to the rule. I’m waiting for the new Note and really curious if they ditch the headphone jack on that.

      • So exactly what are those larger scale needs and desires? Can someone answer that? Unless larger scale desires is to copy Apple, then I don’t understand what the heck they are!

        • Go out on the street and ask a 100 people the top three things they want in a phone and no one will say a 3.5 mm headphone jack. You think Apple lost a lot of sales over the switch. If you want an iPhone you’re getting an iPhone. The market for Android phones is different because of the competition between OEMs but for the most part, people will either listen to the sales guy, pick based on looks, or read reviews which will inevitably list the Pixel 2 as the best Android phone regardless of head phone jack or not.

    • I know it is a hassle but for your particular car situation check out Amazon got a 2-in-1 adapter which basically duplexs your USB-C port. If you ever take the plunge, it’s a great solution for your car. Just plug your power cord and 3.5 mm into the adapter then when you get in your car you only need plug in the male end of your adapter into your phone. #DongleLife sucks for mobile things but car things actually aren’t a bad place for them. In fact, I’d be somewhat surprised if we don’t see a car dock with a male USB C you plug your phone into has outputs to charge or do 3.5mm audio.

    • Well if you can afford a $1000 phone you should be able to spend $100 to update your car to a nice Alpine Bluetooth radio.

      • I would argue the opposite. If I finally saved up enough money to buy a $1000 phone, why the hell should I have to spend even MORE money to get similar functionality? I have an amazing Blaupunkt system in my car. I’m not downgrading to a cheap Alpine system just for Bluetooth.

        Luckily Android will have a phone that fits my needs. At least, for now. Obviously my next car will have Bluetooth since it’s been pretty much standard on most cars for the last several years. Until then, It’ll be a consideration when I’m willing to give out my cash.

      • Why spend $100 and go through the hassle of installation for a new aftermarket head unit when you can spend $20 or less on a simple dongle that plugs into the AUX jack?

    • Until bluetooth audio catches up to 3.5mm headphones in terms of phone call quality and clarity, getting rid of the 3.5mm jack is inexcusable. I use my phone to work remotely anywhere I wish. Having clear phone calls is a must for me since I’m on the phone a lot. Bluetooth is a deal breaker because it induces a lot of noise, and suddenly dead calls to a dead battery is a no go. The 3.5mm jack allows me total freedom to work anywhere I have a cellphone signal. Not having it is like going back to prison, tied to a desk phone. Many people who think 3.5mm jacks are not necessary do not and will not experience the freedom to work anywhere they please. They are stuck in the 90’s chained to their desk doing boring desk jobs. I love being able to work anywhere I want with the 3.5mm headphone jack.

  • Hear hear! I stopped caring when bluetooth earbuds became almost as cheap as Wired buds. The Anker SoundBud Slim at, like, $25 makes this transition almost effortless.

    If the only two options were a dongle or $160+ Bragi’s/Airpods, i’d have a different feeling. But with bluetooth buds becoming commoditized…I don’t think the headphone jack matters at all

      • Why does everyone think that you need a dongle to listen to audio through USB type C, do people not realize that there are earphones with DAC’s built right in?

  • I haven’t used a headphone jack in years. I’ve gone fully bluetooth. And I haven’t had a single problem with skipping or bad connectivity. Don’t know what all the fuss is about.

    • I definitely still have Bluetooth issues here and there, mostly on Nexus and Pixel phones. Actually, my Galaxy S8 has them too, but S8+ doesn’t. It’d be nice for Google to button up those issues before forcing this life on us.

      • Yeah, that’s a good point. If they’re going to force this move on us, at least make sure the bluetooth radios are working 100%. I grew so used to the special Moto features of the OG X that I’ve stuck with them ever since, and their radios have been pretty stable for me.

        • Another +1 to Moto. My last Droid Turbo 2 and my current Moto Z Force coupled with my Moto Buds never have any issues and plenty good sound quality for mobile listening. I can walk 50 feet from my office to the bathroom and still have skip free music through 2 walls while leaving my phone at my desk.

          • Give me the OG form factor with updated specs and I’d probably never buy a different phone. Even if it didn’t have a headphone jack.

            My biggest gripe is instead of continuing the trend to make phones so slim, add some thickness and give me a bigger battery.

          • Both the Droid Turbo 2 and Moto Z Force have 3500mAh batteries and they are both reasonably slim. It’s all about money.

          • I’m saying once you get to a certain point with a slim phone I don’t want one any thinner. The Moto Z is a perfect example. I was messing around with a friend’s yesterday and it’s too slim. Again, that’s my opinion, but battery life is something people are always wanting more of.

    • Same here. I love my Jaybirds, and haven’t had a single issue using them with my XL, plus, they sound fantastic.

        • I cant say, as I’ve never used the Bose headphones. However the sound quality for the Jaybirds is really, really good. Nicely balanced, clean, and a surprisingly good amount of bass.

  • Then clearly you “don’t give a sh*t” about sound quality neither.

    Just another device you have to worry about keeping charged now (wireless headphones) and tickling juice from your phone already.

    You don’t have to care. But I’m just glad Samsung has refrained from removing them.

    • I’m fine with a dongle! The HTC U11 delivers pretty damn good sound through its dongle.

      But also yes, choice is great and always will be. Samsung is a choice.

      • The main issue with the dongle, if they make it small enough to be unobtrusive, is I either need to carry it around with me OR get multiples. I dont need to do that with my current phone.

        • Leave the dongle connected to the headphone? That’s what I do with my AUX cable in my car. It’s always there.

          • And those with multiple headphones/cars/speakers will be required to purchase a dongle for each.

            FWIW: I’m in the camp of I don’t like it, but we’ll see what else the phone offers. I do think it’s as stupid now as most of the Android fanboys thought it was when Apple did it. There is no need. Same thing with making phones absurdly thin at the cost of battery life. But I imagine many will accept it and I may too if the rest of the phone provides enough incentive to buy it.

    • Samsung also used to brag about removable batteries too. It’s only a matter of time

    • If you really sincerely care about audio quality that much then why would you use a phone as your source? LMAO

        • … Which means they would have no problem with eliminating the headphone jack. On by the way, you’ve gotta supply power to that DAC, so it addresses literally none of BRIM’s complaints.

          • It addresses the sound quality complaint. It also doesn’t have to be charged, but it does draw power from the phone. So I feel I have addressed two of BRIM’s three complaints. And two outta three ain’t bad.

    • My take on this, I do give a damn about sound quality. But when it matters SO much, I just don’t use a cell phone as an amp. I just pick my fights. What I want is a portable device. And removing the jack helps in that matter for various reasons, but notably less dust build ups and better waterproofing.

  • Damn, somebody got up on the wrong side of the tech bed this morning. Do you need a hug, sir?

      • Just because you don’t care about your phone not having one, doesn’t mean other people feel the same way. Why should I have to fork up extra money for accessories to make my 2017, $1000 phone compatible with my other electronics.

          • Where in my reply did I say that? It was MY opinion reacting to his. Learn to read

          • Oh I don’t know, maybe in your direct reply to Kellen. The use of “you” in a direct reply makes it appear that you’re directing it at him. Maybe try using “one” instead of “you” next time. If you don’t want people to read your comment in an unintended way maybe try wording it in a way that avoids that.

          • Edu61s

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          • Gallery121s

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          • He posted this crappy article, so he thinks others should feel the way he does.. Unfortunately he’s dead wrong.

          • Lol he posted this article because it’s his job to get people to come to and interact with his website. Sharing one’s opinion doesn’t necessarily mean that you think that others should feel the same.

          • The title of the article uses the pronoun “I” which refers to himself and his opinion. An opinion by definition can’t be wrong so therefore, he is “right” and you are wrong.

          • I feel the same way he does, ya’ll are crying about nothing. Spoiled little babies crying about technology when the rest of the world is in chaos. Big picture time, none of it matters. Move on.

          • You’re welcome to believe whatever you like sir, doesn’t bother me one bit what you think of me. 🙂

          • Well I didnt miss it I came from the other article where we should read this first.. Not only was a dick move but I’m not going back to the other article now. No I don’t want to pay $10 for a USB to 3.5 mm are you serious. or use Bluetooth… I lost count of the number of times they said this is going to be the best phone ever you’re going to lose out if you decide not to use it because you don’t have the 3.5. you know what I use my 3.5 all the time in the car you can’t beat it it’s better than Bluetooth Bluetooth glitches lots. CAPS FTW DOG. Please don’t ever say I kind of consider myself a music guy.. just NO f*** NO.

        • “accessories”… You mean an adapter?

          A two-pack of USB-C to 3.5mm costs $8 on Amazon, and a 2-in-1 (USB-C to 3.5mm with a USB-C power input) costs $9.

          His point is that there’s no reason people should be freaking out over that simple of an exclusion unless it’s sincerely that important of an exclusion. Even then, it’s easily replaced with either of those adapters (and if you’re in a situation where you need both power and a 3.5mm jack, then it’s probably not a situation where the adapter adds too much).

          Admittedly, it would suck to be someplace where you want both and don’t have the adapter on hand, but realistically, Bluetooth headsets are taking over fast and USB-C headphones will start to take over the market fairly quickly…

          • Your last paragraph sums up why people are frustrated. That shouldn’t be an issue. Is it life altering? No. Are people freaking out *too* much? Definitely. But it’s not a non-issue either.

          • But that’s still the issue with chargers, aux cables (for cars), headphones themselves. It can easily be solved by leaving the USB-C to 3.5 adapter connected to your usual pair of headphones…

          • Absolutely. But it’s also adding another one to the mix (alongside chargers, aux cables, etc) that didn’t exist before, and for what gain?

          • Not to mention how horrible the DAC chip is in a $5 dongle.

            I drive long distances, where I use the headphone jack and charge my phone the entire trip. Can’t do that without a headphone jack.

            I’ll gladly stick to the V30 this year, which has an audiophile grade DAC and amp included. I can carry one device that does everything I need, and the sound quality is outstanding (I own the V10 and V20). Same high end specs as any other Android device.

          • If someone could produce a truly valid argument for the removal of the jack perhaps people would be less sensitive about losing it. Right now common sense says there is no reason so why remove it. This isn’t advancing anything. Its not providing a better experience (actually just the opposite for many). And with phones going up to $1000 now, there’s no economical sense to leave out that couple penny jack.

          • The *only* pragmatic argument I could see someone making is that it frees up a small amount of space inside the device. But that’s literally it.

          • That is the same argument that was proposed with Expandable Storage.

            •Who needs built-in Micro-SD support if they can just use USB-OTG and use normal flash drives?

            Enough people still wanted the Micro-SD card for Samsung to change back!

          • The only thing missing in your solution is great DAC and amp. Or the great sound in other words.

          • Do the split adapters work? I’ve read a lot of reviews on Amazon saying it’s either charging or audio, but not both.

          • I wondered this same thing. I wish someone with an Apple device would weigh in here, as they’ve had this problem longer than Android.

          • Unfortunately, I don’t think it would behave the same anyways since the OS/Drivers and hardware are different.

          • They work perfectly on my iPhone 7 Plus. I have the one from Belkin. It was a little pricey, but needed in the car.

        • Waaaaaahhh I’m butt hurt cuz your opinion isn’t miiiine. Go play with your cats and make tea and suck on your pacifier. Not getting a fantastic device over no headphone jack is idiotic.

        • You’re more than welcome to your opinion but the sooner you get over it the better because your options will soon be to either bite the bullet or hold on to a phone and watch as all the new phones released don’t have headphone jacks. As Kellen stated, yeah it’s a dick move by OEMs that benefit them more than the consumer at this point; but all of our collective complaining on the boards don’t matter because these OEMs know that as much as we complain, people are still going to buy their phones. A 3.5 mm headphone jack is just not on many peoples wish list and isn’t going to factor in to the majority of people’s purchasing decision.

          • But that doesn’t make this move justifiable. They are doing it for cheaper waterproofing and plan is to move cost from manufacturers to consumers. Great ear or headphones with inbuilt great DAC and amp will cost fortune and will be much more expensive than regular 3.5 same quality ones. I wouldn’t complain if the quality of sound is kept the same with adapter, but it’s simply the opposite. And not all manufacturers are doing it, only greedy ones.

          • You don’t like it? Get another phone… Poor whiney wakes!

            There are real reasons to delete the hp jack. There are other options for you…

          • What the hell is a wake? Funny how people devote themselves in a fanatic way to multi-billion dollar OEM’s. These OEM’s do not care about how allegiances you pledge in the mirror or how many people you attempt to make fun of on the internet.
            Oh, there isn’t any reason. USB sockets on board aren’t any smaller than HP jacks.
            Go “wake” up.

          • I completely agree it’s not justifiable but I also understand that companies are under no obligation to justify their decisions to their consumers. Consumers are more than welcome to express their displeasure in these decisions through complaining on forums or simply not buying the product. I’m not arguing it’s justifiable (though there are some benefits). Personally, I think it’s annoying. But my argument is that it’s an inconvenience not a deal breaker and the issue is overblown in the forum echo chamber.

            Regarding your expensive DAC headphone comment. That’s not necessarily true at all. For one, how do you compare a USB-C headphone with a built in high quality DAC to a comparable 3.5 mm headphone? The DAC itself has a lot to do with audio quality so you’re comparing a high quality USB-C to 3.5 headphone WITH the built in phone DAC. It’s not like phone makers were putting the top of the line DACs into their phones. Yes, the average price of headphones will rise (and by greater than the costs to add DACs because there will be margin added) but there will still be a range of options even in the new world. Heck, you can find $10 USB C headphones on Amazon already.

          • Name the phone with DAC and amp inbuilt that removed 3.5. No need to have Sabre DAC as V20, just a one Wolfson’s like in exynos S8. As far as I know, phone like that doesn’t exist. When that phone appear, and when I will be able get same or better audio quality on adpater for 3.5, I will close my mouth and be silent about this subject forever. And what exactly is that benefit that came with 3.5 removal? Are you aware how much pricier headphones with inbuilt DAC and amp will be? Do you know what phone like V20 has inside and what sound quality it can provide?

          • I think there’s a language barrier so I don’t 100% understand your question. If you’re saying a USB C only phone won’t have a DAC that’s wrong. They still need DACs to drive the audio that comes through the phone’s speakers and an OEM is completely free to include a premium DAC to drive this. We’re talking about technical possibility versus what an OEM chooses to do. From a pure technical stand point, there is no disadvantage in audio quality between a phone with an in-built DAC feeding a 3.5 mm headphone to a pair of headphones wired through USB-C with the same DAC embedded into the headphone. In fact, there is no technical reason that analog audio processed by an embedded DAC cannot be outputted via a USB C headphone.

            You literally can go out now and buy a top of the line USB C external DAC/amp dongle that will be better than the chips manufacturers include in the device itself. So I’m not sure what your point is. You can also plug in crappy headphones to a v20 and get crappy audio out despite it’s great audio chip.

            Now there’s some grey area with regards to adapter DAC quality for what’s included in the box. The only comparison I saw was for the iPhone which found that the lightning to 3.5 had some minor quality losses versus the previous iPhone. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t better options.

            So, if you’re saying the out of box experience is worse off for most people, I 100% agree. But if you’re saying that there is some technical limitation that prevents equitable sound quality for similar costs, then I disagree.

          • Android support for USB C audio is horrible. On htc phones U11, ultra only htc adpater works. HTC USB C earphones work only with htc phones. It’s completely user unfriendly and puts you in manufacturers prison. And quality of audio on U11 is far worse than on previous htc flagship, htc 10 that has 3.5. Future for USB C audio is bright and full of potential…on paper only.

          • Look, I’m not arguing that the transition will be painful but there is no technical limitation that prevents USB C from replacing and even exceeding 3.5 mm. It’s like when laptops dropped CD drives. It was completely unheard of and people were outraged. People bought CD drive dongles and then slowly realized there’s other better solutions. It’s also similar to the switch to LTE, the first LTE phones (long term DL followers still have mental scars from the Thunderbolt) were terrible and in many ways a step back. I agree there isn’t the kind of huge gain to be had in switching to USB C from a consumer perspective but some changes are based on what’s best for the manufacturers.

          • Well, Apple did this transition almost properly. Android is stuck. Confusing. Underwhelming. And all in Android world who, obviously, did it too soon, will suffer. And they deserved it. First jump, than say hop.

          • How is this Google’s fault? They’re not mandating that the headphone just must be removed on all devices running Android. It’s up to the manufacturer.

          • Support for USB C audio is horrible and in mess. Generally USB C is in mess. That is not manufacturers fault.

          • I think you (and possibly Kellen) completely miss the point for the jack. Its *pennies* to include it. There’s no reason on this earth, today, to *not* include it. This isn’t making anyone’s experience *better* by removing it. Phones are not going to get slimmer because its gone. There is no technical, cosmetic, cost, advancement or logical reason to remove it from a $1000 phone *so why do it*? Its as foolish to not include it as it is making fun of people who will not buy the phone if it doesn’t have it.

          • I think it’s you who just doesn’t seem to get it. I agree with you, from a user perspective there is no legitimate reason for them to switch, especially in the short term.

            Where I think you don’t really understand what I’m saying is that companies don’t make all their decisions with their consumers’ best interest in mind. Yes, spending the penny to put a jack in would be best for users but it doesn’t allow them to move forward on technical objectives and it doesn’t allow them to cut cost (even if it may be miniscule).

            At volume, the pennies you save means thousands of dollars. Yes, that’s a drop in the bucket but doesn’t factor in things like manufacturing/design efficiencies that save additional money. In addition, these companies can now charge you for a replacement cable and OEMs that sell headphones get to sell you new USB headphones. Oh, and they get to charge you a premium for the USB C headphones because they now include a “special” chip that gives you “premium” sound.

            Do you honestly think these companies didn’t do a cost benefit on removing the jack? They are playing follow the leader with Apple because Apple proved that there is little real adverse impact for dropping it.

            Finally, there are actual benefits to the change. I don’t agree they’re the biggest leaps forward, but there are both cosmetic, technical, and cost advantages.

          • Let’s be honest. Apple knew exactly that removal will be painless for them, they know exactly how many ppl actually care for great sound and that minority won’t trouble them. iPhone buyers are not really picky and demanding. They just want everything to work, no sense for little things. But Apple did this transition better than android. Btw, you are the only person I’ve met on all discussions about 3.5 removal that has common sense and some real arguments for 3.5 removal. But that future is not here and every android phone that removed 3.5 till today is a lesser phone with lower quality audio and improper replacement.

          • Has everyone forgotten that each iPhone comes with an adapter? And each additional one is only 9 bucks? Of course “us” iPhone users care about sound. And Apple has always been really good in that department. Removing the jack has been a non issue on my end. Do I agree with them removing it? Not necessarily. But they did include a solution if you had an issue with it.

          • Key word Majority. Most of us are taking advantage Of the wireless options that have been around forever now. My car, boat, home stereo, and headphones are all Bluetooth capable so why would I need a jack?

          • I see about 90% of cell phones users on the bus using headphones or headsets plugged into their phone. its a FRACTIONAL market that uses bluetooth headphones. Get your self-servings facts straight.

          • Not sure if you’re trying to reply directly to my initial comment are another one in this thread (threading sucks on here). If you’re replying to me then, 90% of people utilizing the hardware included on their phone does not equate to that particular feature factoring in to their purchasing decision. Never once did I say that the market penetration for wireless or USB C headphones is anywhere close to where 3.5 is. The point I was making is those same people on the bus likely didn’t buy their phone based on the headphone jack and likely won’t purchase their next phone based upon the inclusion or exclusion of it. As a feature, it’s low on the list of features that most consumers care about.

          • I wasn’t talking about purchasing decisions. Im talking about OEM’s and forced-obsolescence. Why should I have to buy an adapter for my $200+ headphones that have been using the same connector for over 20 years? How many billions of pairs of headphones are out there that worked JUST FINE THE WAY IT WAS. But NOOO they have to go and change things AGAIN so you have to go out and buy more accessories….. It’s anti-consumer and greedy.

            And guess what? Since this started? I know dozens of people who have changed phone brands because of the choice to drop the 3.5mm…. So Im guessing here that you and a few of your friends feel this way about the headphone jacks, and now you’ve assumed you represent the entire planet…. Cheers

        • I laugh at you! Keep your old phones… You deserve them. Me? I’ll go Bluetooth…

        • Now or later, eventually you’re going to have to do it, because the headphone jack is being phased out, dude.

          Did you resist this much when Betamax became obsolete, too?

        • Last I checked nobody is preventing you from keeping your old phone to keep compatibility with your old electronics. I’m sure horse & buggy salesmen felt much the same when cars became popular .

          • Sadly cars actually had an advantage over H&B. This is more like going from horse drawn buggy to just horse.

      • You should be happier now that people have a reason to open up the comments and post lol.

    • All I’m gonna say, is that for some it may not be a deal breaker, but for me, it is. It shows a lack of effort to remove the headphone jack for easier waterproofing. There are too many gpod phones for me to excuse this, and should we allow it, they will continue cutting corners and shifting more expenses to the customer. The S8 is a great phone that has a headphone jack, so while it is not the ONLY factor I will consider, Apple and Google better be winning in some pretty big other ways, because more than technical, the change is symbolic of everything I hate about apple and now, due to Google’s incompetence, they will be thrown in the mix.

    • I think he was expecting “some” from his significant other, and was disappointed when they said they had a headache last night.

    • The author is a fool. There is zero benefit to removing the 3.5mm headphone jack, and yet he flaunts this as a good thing. Very sad. Even droid bloggers can be iSheep.

      • So, because you don’t agree with what he says, he’s instantly a “fool?” Seriously, man, stop trolling, please?

        • The author and you are trolling, if you think removing a consumer friendly feature for no reason is a good thing. Nice Sheeple.

          • FWIW, I DON’T think the headphone jack should be removed. It’s SILLY to drop it, just because you want to drill one less hole at the cost of making most of your customers mad. But to call someone a fool for it, just because you disagree? That’s what I was calling you out for.

      • He never said it was a good thing. He just said he doesn’t care. In fact, he acknowledges that it’s a bad thing, that it’s “user hostile.” He just also understands that there are certainly more important things to consider when deciding on a phone purchase.

        • So why does he have to post an article on this site to say he doesn’t care? I don’t use microwaves, should I post an article “microwaves should not be sold anymore because I don’t care”? How selfish of an attitude.

    • He has been waking up everyday to a white sky thanks to the fires in BC. The air sucks to breathe to boot. Glad my trip to the NW was only for a few days.

      • I mean, considering the dac’s/amps in these phones have been terrible for years since like the samsung s3? maybe it’s a good thing

        • speak for yourself.. Buy a terrible brand, expect terrible results. Plenty have good hardware though. Not that I’ve used a headphone jack in the past 5 years anyways

          • You should check the facts… almost every phone except LG international phones have used the built in dac from qualcomm for years… They used to use wolfson dacs etc and the quality difference was marked.

    • We clowned the hell out of the Pixel last year for its iPhone design. The high price also wasn’t fun to stomach. And then once you use it, you go, “OK, but it’s so good. I’ll be fine. Oh look a software update!”

      • Pretty much the point I’ve been trying to spread on this here internets. There are many things I wish my Pixel had or things I wish would have been done differently, but there’s not a single thing that makes me want to legitimately give it up because of the important things it gets right (camera, speed, performance, and consistency) in a way no other Android phone has managed to do.

  • Sending my Pixel XL back tomorrow for a refurbished ???? replacement because of a malfunctioning headphone jack.

  • I have not used headphone jacks in years, but they need to keep this pixel XL 2 within a decent price range.

    • I definitely use them, but a dongle is not something I’m afraid of. A new Macbook Pro with 18 dongles like Tim has to deal with, that on the other hand, sounds like hell.

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