3.5mm jack in phones: The war was lost for some time but is now officially over .

[MoistyMcMoistface]

LG was the only mainstream phone manufacture to cater specifically to Audiophiles with their Hi-Fi DAC and Quad amp attached to a 3.5 mm jack. Obviously the jack is not going anywhere in the Audiophile space; people serious about sound will be using this connector for decades or even another century to come. But this will be relegated to designated equipment. Even though Motorola was the first company to ditch the jack (even before Apple) its most recent flagship has the 3.5 inexplicably returned. This gives hope but I speculated that it was the LG V series that made the competition look bad, and was a driving factor for the other players. The excuse of "that jack is too big, or not waterproof" was consistently dismissed by the Excellence of the V50, V60. The V series being such compelling phones where heralded by reviewers for its stead fast commitment to the jack. Perhaps pressuring the competition, hence the Moto Edge+ ? I'm afraid with the death of LG this is the end.

[minibois]

-- Thread unlocked --

-- Moved to Phones and Tablets --

 

After discussion, it has been decided this thread is intended as a discussion on the disappearance of 3.5mm jacks on phones, not specifically about the recent LG news: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1321625-update-confirmed-by-lg-its-been-nice-knowing-you-quad-dac-sources-report-that-lg-is-leaving-the-smartphone-market/

[Commodus]

This is why I shake my head whenever I see someone declare "I will never buy a phone without a..."

 

When the industry makes a broader move away from a feature, it rarely comes back. You don't have to like it, but you also shouldn't hold out expecting gigantic tech companies to bow to your will. In practice, you just end up with a barely functional ancient phone that you have to replace with the very thing you said you wouldn't buy. And it turns out things weren't nearly as bad as you made them out to be.

[Blademaster91]

4 hours ago, MoistyMcMoistface said:

Perhaps pressuring the competition, hence the Moto Edge+ ? I'm afraid with the death of LG this is the end.

I'm disappointed that LG has given up on the phone market because they had some nice phones,but it's not surprising, considering their phones just didn't compete with Samsung or Oneplus flagship devices, or Motorola and Nokia as examples in the mid range market.

Thanks to Apple, the consumer has been forced to buy wireless headphones, which sound worse than decent 3.5mm headphones IMO. And Apple started other awful trends I really hate like glued in non-replaceable batteries, display notches, and serializing components to the phone, although companies like Samsung have copied that to save a few cents in manufacturing, and the Samsung A51 has the fingerprint reader serialized to the phone.

Also I think if you care enough about audio in a portable device, you should buy a DAP, the only other option is to buy a midrange device that still has a headphone jack, however you probably won't get the LG quad DAC sound quality.

[Commodus]

16 minutes ago, Sakuriru said:

Pixel 'a' phones still have them. And while they do I'll continue to buy the latest one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That's fine! But be ready to live that wireless lifestyle, since Google isn't necessarily going to offer that forever.

[Nena Trinity]

I prefer Huawei, the P40 Lite has a great jacky! :3

[Murasaki]

3 hours ago, Commodus said:

This is why I shake my head whenever I see someone declare "I will never buy a phone without a..."

 

When the industry makes a broader move away from a feature, it rarely comes back. You don't have to like it, but you also shouldn't hold out expecting gigantic tech companies to bow to your will. In practice, you just end up with a barely functional ancient phone that you have to replace with the very thing you said you wouldn't buy. And it turns out things weren't nearly as bad as you made them out to be.

Yeah im guilty of saying "ill never buy a phone with a stupid notch" "ill never buy a phone without a 3.5mm jack". Well look at me now with a phone that has a notch which doesn't bother me and I use wireless earbuds (My phone has a headphone jack I just got tired of cables). So yeah all my whining was just pointless baby noises.

[MoistyMcMoistface]

3 hours ago, Commodus said:

This is why I shake my head whenever I see someone declare "I will never buy a phone without a..."

 

When the industry makes a broader move away from a feature, it rarely comes back. You don't have to like it, but you also shouldn't hold out expecting gigantic tech companies to bow to your will. In practice, you just end up with a barely functional ancient phone that you have to replace with the very thing you said you wouldn't buy. And it turns out things weren't nearly as bad as you made them out to be.

Yeah, but its makes me sad to see people vouch for these anti consumer moves like removing the jack. I made this same post on imgur comunity and there was a fellow on there that said that I was stupid to morn the loss of the Jack. Since it compromises waterproofing. The amount of people that become Stands for companies be it Samsung or Apple is insane. There is no denying that the removal of the jack is to push the sale of BT headphones. Also funny how its basically impossible to repair these things. Apple claims to be all about the environment, how is a bunch of mini batteries, and a case more friendly thay a nice pair of IEM thay out preform the Airpods at a cheaper price. 

 

[jpenguin]

Just got a Moto G (8) Power, has a headphone jack

[Commodus]

1 hour ago, MoistyMcMoistface said:

Yeah, but its makes me sad to see people vouch for these anti consumer moves like removing the jack. I made this same post on imgur comunity and there was a fellow on there that said that I was stupid to morn the loss of the Jack. Since it compromises waterproofing. The amount of people that become Stands for companies be it Samsung or Apple is insane. There is no denying that the removal of the jack is to push the sale of BT headphones. Also funny how its basically impossible to repair these things. Apple claims to be all about the environment, how is a bunch of mini batteries, and a case more friendly thay a nice pair of IEM thay out preform the Airpods at a cheaper price. 

 

I'd say the reasoning is mixed. I'm sure Apple liked the thought of selling lots of AirPods, but it was probably also right about making room for more components (like very, very good haptic feedback). I've heard it theorized that Apple pulled the jack from the iPhone 7 not for that particular phone, but to make sure the iPhone X could launch without the jack removal overshadowing what was otherwise a big leap forward.

 

I wouldn't cheerlead the removal of 3.5mm jacks or similar changes, but I also don't think we should rage against Apple or Samsung, either. It's unlikely to change the on-the-ground reality.

[Zodiark1593]

14 hours ago, Blademaster91 said:

 

And Apple started other awful trends I really hate like glued in non-replaceable batteries, display notches, and serializing components to the phone,

As someone that has replaced batteries in a few phones, iPhones are by far some of the easier replacements. The battery is pretty much directly accessible after removing the display. Pull tabs beats the permanent adhesives I’d seen on many Android devices. They even use exterior screws to hold the display in, that way you don’t need additional glue to have the screen not fall out. 
 

The Galaxy S7 I did awhile ago was comparatively miserable. 

[Blademaster91]

23 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

As someone that has replaced batteries in a few phones, iPhones are by far some of the easier replacements. The battery is pretty much directly accessible after removing the display. Pull tabs beats the permanent adhesives I’d seen on many Android devices. They even use exterior screws to hold the display in, that way you don’t need additional glue to have the screen not fall out. 
 

The Galaxy S7 I did awhile ago was comparatively miserable. 

I agree pull tabs are definitely better than gluing the battery in, although a battery replacement in an iPhone is something I wouldn't want to risk myself in any recent iPhone as it's not like I could just get another display and be able to pair it to the phone if I accidentally ruined the display in the process.

[Donut417]

I wonder the size comparison between the hard core PC community and the audiophile community. Thats really the thing, its all about size. I dont think the average person cares about wired vs wireless. Hell I have a pair of bluetooth headphones on my head right now connected to my MacBook Pro. Why? Because I got sick of the wires getting screwed up from over use. I do have a Corsair Gaming headset specifically for my gaming PC that is wired, but its only used for gaming. Every one seems to want slimmer and sleeker devices, and I think thats the driving force here. Yeah it does suck to have to charge my headphones, HOWEVER the HD4.40 I have do have a wired hookup as a backup, for my MacBook at least. But for my iPhone I dont have a dongle so no wired for that. 

 

I think for average listening bluetooth is ok. For watching movies and TV bluetooth is Ok. I like the sound of my bluetooth headphones vs my gaming headset. However, if your forgetful about charging a battery or if the battery goes after years and years of service then it kinda sucks. 

 

In the end it will be the wireless life or the dongle life. 

[v0id]

I thought I would despise not having a jack on my phone, but honestly I found out I use it far less than I thought I did. And when I did use it, the dongle is not the big deal I thought it was going to be. Don't misunderstand, I still don't like how manufacturers got rid of the jack and wish they'd keep it, but in real world scenarios (for me at least) it hasn't impacted my daily life at all. I can understand audiophiles and their frustration, but for me its impact has been minimal.