Flashback: the headphone jack has been around for over 100 years, still has a place on phones

15 March 2020
The simple 3.5mm plug is a jack of all trades, if you'll pardon the pun. It handles music and call, acts as an FM antenna and even a TV out port.

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it's a double edge sword, on the other hand, having 3.5mm is definitely convenient, but with all phones (except asia only onkyo dp-cmx1) the dac within the phone sounds rather poor, on the other hand, with an inexpensive but audiophile grade dac such as ibasso dc02 at US$60/GBP50/HK$400, the quality surpass every phone i have listened to.

on the other hand, using high res wireless audio such as Bluetooth 5, ldac and aptx hd definitely sounds better than all the phones (except asia only onkyo dp-cmx1) with built in 3.5mm.

maybe in the future, sony will release an proper audiophile grade phone where they can used the tech used in their digital audio players offering both 3.5mm unbalanced and 4.4mm balanced output for high impedence headphones ie, nw-zx507 but it will be very expensive, probably in the region of US$1500/GBP1300/HK$12000 with last years system on a chip snapdragon 855 (let alone this 865) or realistic speaking an affordable walkman phone using nw-a100 tech and priced at US$1000/GBP800/HK$7000, that would be great balanced between audiophile audio and affordbability

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • fFA
    • 16 Mar 2020

    Why change something that isn't broken?
    Wireless will always have problem... It's a wave and can be easily interfered and latency problem

      This post is scary.

        • a
        • anonymous
        • wr9
        • 16 Mar 2020

        s-pen pusher, 16 Mar 2020i am not claiming to be an audiophile but when i want to li... moreFellow dying breed of DAP user I see, but you see, the jack's purpose isn't solely for music. Sometimes when a video or a voice mail was sent to me I want to hear it clearly without relying on my phone speaker, especially when I was in public place, that's where the jack purpose is, a quick plug-and-play using my DAP's earphone/headphone.

          • D
          • Dan
          • sqW
          • 16 Mar 2020

          Al-Aqsa Lover, 15 Mar 2020I am thinking of upgrading to Galaxy S10 to preserve my hea... moreNew Xperia coming soon with Jack

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • Ix1
            • 16 Mar 2020

            Dometalican, 15 Mar 2020Simple TL;DR: Until Bluetooth headphones have virtually ZER... moreBluetooth will never have zero latency. It's a bloated standard. It's also vulnerable to potential interference, since it operates near the super congested 2.4GHz frequency.

            Quality, low latency audio will need a new standard.

              I wear headphones all day, every workday. For me comfort, noise isolation and audio quality
              are paramount -- not something that I would compromise on.

              I'll choose the music player (phone) to match the headphones, not the other way around.
              And the music player would better run all day, i.e. the phone must be able to charge at the same time.

                i am not claiming to be an audiophile but when i want to listen to the best quality music i have a dap for it (previously a cd player), and connect it to our hifi system at home. now, if i want to listen to high quality music on the go i bring the dap and a wired headphone with me. otherwise, if i simply want to listen to music i go with my smartphone and either of my 2 twses. i have not met anyone who is serious about their music quality and use their smartphones to listen to music. i was a professional club dj, i have produced locally for some artists previously, and i have worked with sound engineers so i know all about music quality. aside from these i grew up to a family of artists who are picky with their music quality. this is just my own opinion based on my own preferences- if you are really serious about music qualiy, get a proper dap and high-end wired headphones.

                  Anonymous, 15 Mar 2020You know what else is old technology? Speakers! Let's mak... moreWhat about the display? :D

                    • J
                    • Jason
                    • r@5
                    • 16 Mar 2020

                    Its been around and is still vital. Screw bluetooth and USB C.

                      • C
                      • CodeRed
                      • RbX
                      • 16 Mar 2020

                      WolfpackN64, 16 Mar 2020The point is it's about versatility. You want to use Blueto... moreI totally agree with you. On point!

                        The point is it's about versatility. You want to use Bluetooth, go ahead, you probably have a good reason. You want wired headphones, no problem, they have their advantages.
                        Not including the jack is anti-consumer. Plain and simple. There is no good reason, at all, to remove it, especially since phones seem to get thicker again to include bigger batteries (and bigger cameras).

                          Daily reminder that you can enjoy true wireless headphones AND keep the headphone jack on your phone.

                          Having a jack does not prevent you from listening with Bluetooth but lacking a jack does prevent you from listening with wired sets.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • PZa
                            • 16 Mar 2020

                            I don't use a phone without a headphone jack. Listening to music is one of my hobbies and I like to use wired headphones. I don't like dealing with bad battery life and fiddly connections on most Bluetooth headsets. And wired headphones just sound better.

                              • p
                              • pikkoz
                              • nRJ
                              • 15 Mar 2020

                              I still have a pair of Sennheiser HD600 that i have bought in 1998 , 22 years ago . Changed the padding a couple of time , still work flawlessly and way way above any kind of other wireless can on the market at the same or above price.

                                I am thinking of upgrading to Galaxy S10 to preserve my headphone jack option and fm radio!

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • yZR
                                  • 15 Mar 2020

                                  card board, 15 Mar 2020It's old, we should've move on to a newer technology. Toda... moreYou know what else is old technology? Speakers! Let's make a phone without speakers, because speakers are old tech, and we need to get rid of old tech for no reason

                                    Anonymous, 15 Mar 2020For me big headphones are better than earphones. You can en... moreAnd because deaf sooner. And dead or injured sooner.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • 6wN
                                      • 15 Mar 2020

                                      For me big headphones are better than earphones. You can enjoy your favorite songs with great bass and loudness. If you listen on laptop or computer it will be even better.

                                        • J
                                        • Jack = Audio Quality
                                        • nC4
                                        • 15 Mar 2020

                                        Still has the best Audio quality and it is important to some.