On a recent post, there were a lot of comments, which said that they were missing the headphones on newer mobile devices.
How many actually use the headphone jack?
I ask, because I have one on my phone, since I really wanted one, but I rarely use it. Like Tops 1/Month.
I think people who dislike the headphone jack must be young and not have (good) wired headphones.
Older people (older than teenagers and young adults I mean) often have a few pairs of good headphones they got over the years, and it’s a massive waste to just throw them away and buy wireless because that’s what the trends demand. And in most cases wireless won’t sound as good, because the budget needs to go to bluetooth chips, and dacs, and batteries and all that crap, instead of just focusing on audio.
According to Wikipedia, ‘The original 1⁄4 inch (6.35 mm) version descends from as early as 1877’, and it’s been an industry standard since then.
You can use it not just for headphones but as a line out, to connect all kinds of audio devices between them. You can hook up your phone to a car audio system, an old radio (if it has input, I think most do), a guitar pedal or an amplifier, a reverb or an effects unit, etc., just with the “magic” of wires.
I’ve used a headphone jack on my phone probably three times in the past two years. It is extremely uncommon for me to use it, and I would actually just prefer it not be there.
I never use my headphone jack. I don’t care if my next phone has one. Having wires attached to my phone is enormously inconvenient to me. Plus I have a thing where I need to be able to hear what’s going on around me, so I bought some Bose sunglasses and put prescription lenses in them. I love them. They definitely sacrifice on the bass, but I can wear them at work and still hear if someone knocks on my door or starts talking to me. They last about 5 or 6 hours and charge pretty quickly. I hardly ever have to charge them more than once per night.
I go wired. I use a pair of Sennheiser HD497 headphones I’ve had for 20 years. They still sound decent with a USB-C adapter at one end. It gets used daily on the train to work, and at work for zoom calls.
Everything about wireless annoys me. The price. The futzing around to pair it. The constant recharging. Having to “prepare” them before going out. The awful encoding artifacts. Radio interference. Walking around looking like an autistic kid with noise-cancelling earmuffs…
You have a phone with a headphone jack? Who are you, 2012?
