Counterclockwise: the rise (and impending doom) of the 3.5mm audio jack
- D
- AnonD-441601
- TmK
- 19 Nov 2017
AnonD-244086, 19 Nov 2017I hope soMe too anywaqy i never used it and i dont listen to music to kill my phone battery rather listen at hope trough notebook youtube.
- L
- L337
- LcH
- 19 Nov 2017
Why are manufacturers dropping the jack? Do they NOT listen to the majority of customers?
Something so easy to put in, just give us a choice. Put both USB-C audio and 3.5mm jack, and let people choose. When I looked at phones in the past, I wouldn't even check if it had an audio jack. Now, it's a routine I'm getting used to doing.
- D
- AnonD-67138
- Ks{
- 19 Nov 2017
I forgot to mention the glass back, almost all smartphones have it.Broke,you have to buy another set.Really the phone makers are considering us clown.
- ?
- Anonymous
- ELT
- 19 Nov 2017
Basically is it possible or not!? Resizing the 3.5mm to 1.75mm...!???
- F
- FinnishInquisition
- m}S
- 19 Nov 2017
Anonymous, 19 Nov 2017LOL what? So we should ignore the fact that all other manuf... moreFor discussing the benefits of removing the 3.5 mm port? Yes, you should. Or shall we laugh at how Fiat hasn't been able to make a great electric car yet, unlike Tesla? Completely ignoring years of expertise and different patents, research and focuses is just disingenuous.
Also "all other" manufacturers can make waterproofed phones? I count 3, one of which only managed to get on board this year.
Given that the iPhone got a 100 mAh smaller battery from 6 to 6S while the volume got bigger, and a significantly larger battery and waterproofing after the 3.5mm port removal, yeah I'm willing to attribute some of that to the removal of that big port.
- Fearghast
- 3D9
- 19 Nov 2017
I wouldn't mind that much if my phone and headphones would support LDAC.
That's where I draw my personal line for "good enough".
But we know how things are. LDAC for phones = Sony or Android 8.0+ and headphones? Only Sony models and those are not realy interesting for me, I would like to have much better headphones than Sony offers.
Right now I own Meizu Pro 5 and I have LG V30 preordered, so analog sound is major point when i pick new device.
Maybe in future, I will go fully wireless (when I use phone, not at home), but that depends on standards for bluetooth conectivity.
AAC, aptX are not good enough, aptX HD and LDAC are incredibly rare right now.
- F
- FinnishInquisition
- m}S
- 19 Nov 2017
vrvly, 19 Nov 201720Hz+ minimum is also far from 3Hz using jack, and I'm sure... more"Audiophiles" that think they can hear a difference between FLAC/wav and high-bitrate mp3/AAC are simply kidding themselves. Same with "audiophiles" that think silver wires and gold-plated connectors make a difference, or that "burn-in" is a thing (especially on amplifiers).
- ?
- Anonymous
- srr
- 19 Nov 2017
the main reason is that they can sell more expensive headphones. and the sheep will buy anything they are told to
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- Anonymous
- 0BG
- 19 Nov 2017
FinnishInquisition, 19 Nov 2017Why are you comparing two completely separate brands? Do yo... moreLOL what? So we should ignore the fact that all other manufacturers can make a water-resistant phone with a 3.5mm jack just because Apple "can't" (Oh with their budget they can do anything they want, they just don't want to).
And you seriously believe the removal of 3.5mm jack is the reason for the 200+ mah bigger (And still smallest compared to the competition) battery? By your logic the battery shouldnt't have gotten bigger since the iPhone 1.
- ?
- Anonymous
- vV5
- 19 Nov 2017
3.5mm audio jack are like user removable battery, many think is indispensable but look at today phone, how many still has user removable battery ?
People need to move on, wired headphones are sunset gadget, Bluetooth headphones are aplenty & cheap.
- D
- AnonD-67138
- Ks{
- 19 Nov 2017
Sad what have consumers who agree with the ditch of 3.5mm.Why don't can coexist both 3.5mm for who own a Bose earphone, for example, and lightening cable? like sealed battery, is a kickback and just serve to smart phones makers, not the final consumers.
- F
- FinnishInquisition
- m}S
- 19 Nov 2017
Be Nice To Others, 19 Nov 2017Let's compare
iPhone 7 Plus - 7.3mm
Xperia Z3+ - 6.9mm
... moreWhy are you comparing two completely separate brands? Do you think something one brand can do, anyone can? Or that they placed their focus on the same areas?
The point of comparing the iPhone pre- and post-removal was to see what actual difference it made.
- vrvly
- g5f
- 19 Nov 2017
20Hz+ minimum is also far from 3Hz using jack, and I'm sure thats not all they miss. Everything's going wireless, but for someone who listen to flac, wav, use top performance head/earphones, wireless ones are too cheap and I don't mean price.
- ?
- Anonymous
- ELT
- 19 Nov 2017
Apart from USB type c input exclusively to charging! we've needs to one more USB type c input but in top bottom! It's (3.5mm) just simple port!! Even, smart phones are near to finish line of their lifetime
- B
- Be Nice To Others
- Kg{
- 19 Nov 2017
FinnishInquisition, 19 Nov 2017Their SoC's are massive compared to the competition, and th... moreLet's compare
iPhone 7 Plus - 7.3mm
Xperia Z3+ - 6.9mm
iPhone 7 Plus - IP67
Xperia Z3+ - IP68
iPhone 7 Plus - no headphone jack
Xperia Z3+ - headphone jack present
iPhone 7 Plus - 2900mAh
Xperia Z3+ - 2930mAh
iPhone 7 Plus - 12mp 1/3.6" sensor, camera bump
Xperia Z3+ - 20.7mp 1/2.3" sensor, NO camera bump
iPhone 7 Plus - 67.7% STB Ratio
Xperia Z3+ - 70.9% STB Ratio
iPhone 7 Plus - 5.5" 1080p, 401ppi
Xperia Z3+ - 5.2" 1080p, 424ppi
iPhone 7 Plus - no microSD card slot
Xperia Z3+ - microSD card slot expansion up to 256GB
SoC - better on 7 Plus, but nothing special for a 1 and a half year older device.
- F
- FinnishInquisition
- m}S
- 19 Nov 2017
AnonD-695347, 19 Nov 2017If you are going to use USB-C Port for audio (either with d... moreThe USB-C port was actually built with durability in mind. It's rated for a minimum of 10 000 cycles compared to 5000 for the 3.5 mm port. The risk for external damage to the port is not greater than before, and with modern fast charging solutions and long battery lives, the need to listen and charge at the same time is next to zero. If you're in the tiny minority that absolutely need to though, use wireless charging or a USB-C splitter.
The audio quality with Bluetooth headphones is not "WAY lower". It's at 24-bit/96 kHz for LDAC and 24-bit/48 kHz for aptX HD. That's literally beyond the range of human hearing.
Signal interference is not significant as the connection is double-verifying everything. Unless you listen to music sitting in a microwave (in which case you have more important things to be concerned about), this is not an issue.
Certainly Bluetooth and USB-C headphones are more expensive since they need to include a DAC/amp (and with Bluetooth, the wireless chip and batteries). The cheapest will still be cheap though. It's the price span that will increase, since high-quality DAC/amps cost significantly more. This will impact audiophiles more than average consumers though, and audiophiles could just as well buy an external DAC/amp and use it with 3.5 mm headphones.
Charging the headphones once a week isn't a major issue, I think. And the power draw of modern Bluetooth chips are almost comparable to wired headphones.
Technology still has a lot of room to grow. But now is as good of a time as any to switch over.
- ?
- Anonymous
- 3Ai
- 19 Nov 2017
Not a smooth sailing, not at all, having two ports doing the work of one universal port is uneconomical at best on ultra mobiles.
Once agan Apple was the only one to go against the fetishes of tech people. If not for them we'd probably still have floppy drive, cd rom, use flash and lately use the 3.5mm jack for no apparent reason.
The amount of luddite tendencies that I get from tech sites is unbeleivable. There is nothing good in having two ports doing the job of one, *nothing*.
By forcing the standard accessory makers take the point (finally). Until then use an adapter...
- ?
- Anonymous
- ELT
- 19 Nov 2017
Solution it is: the headphones/earphones with USB type C PLUG (top bottom is better place to down bottom)
- L
- L0lip0p
- tuf
- 19 Nov 2017
FinnishInquisition, 19 Nov 2017Removing the 3.5 mm port makes it possible to improve both ... more"fewer use 3.5mm headphones jack" there's goes the credibility
- ?
- Anonymous
- f}x
- 19 Nov 2017
FinnishInquisition, 19 Nov 2017Their SoC's are massive compared to the competition, and th... moreS7 is around same size as iphone 7 yet has much bigger battery.. what's your point?