Apple’s lack of follow-up to the iPhone SE means the SE is still the best iPhone with a headphone jack.<p>I honestly can’t believe Apple did an iPhone event without introducing a new model in that size. I know at least a dozen people (especially women) who had been saying for at least a year that until the SE had a replacement, they’d be using one, or swapping to Android.<p>With the weakest offerings for iPhones yet, in terms of reason to upgrade - and <i>intense</i> consumer demand for such a product, I’m just starting to get sick of Apple not listening to what it’s userbase is asking for.<p>Shoving a limited number of options in our faces only works if the consumers actually want any of those options.<p>For a time, the ‘MacBook’ was lighter than the ‘MacBook Air’. For years, Apple’s flagship iOS phones wouldn’t even connect to their flagship MacBooks and MacBook pros without an additional cable or adapter.<p>They’ve killed the non Touch Bar MacBook Pro, while the industry laments the Touch Bar’s existence.<p>It’s one thing not to listen to your customers. Apple has always been a certain level of compromise (price, features) as compared to other options. It’s another thing to completely ignore industry and user base response. Reasons to make that compromise have run out for me, and are running out for others.<p>I have been an Apple-exclusive computer (especially laptop) user for 15 years. My next laptop will be a hackintoshed Lenovo.
I've been using the budget Moto G+ line for the past four years. I can upgrade my phone every year around Black Friday and get the latest model for sub $200. The older phones still work well and get handed down to my less tech savvy family members.<p>I'm not really sure what people are paying for when they get those $800+ beasts for phones. When I use a friend's I can tell they are higher quality; either they feel more fancy or load apps more quickly. But it's marginal like the difference between a workstation and a gaming PC.<p>I think more people should try out budget Android lines. One really nice benefit is they only contain the technologies that have proved themselves. This article focuses on headphone jacks but there's quite a lot of silly phone tech that comes and goes in the name of marketing showmanship.
I got a Nokia 7.1 for around $300 and it has the headphone jack and a Micro SD slot, another feature that phone makers are getting rid of...<p>Phone memory is terrible these days, I have a huge collection of Mp3s and wav files I don't want to give up, despite bluetooth stuttering at times in my car.<p>Putting low onboard memory on modern phones should be a crime when USB sticks with 128GB plus are selling for $15... They do that to boost streaming and data charges... It's like car makers intentionally putting a smaller gas tank in a car if carmakers also owned the gas stations.
I've been quite happy with my 6s, going to replace the battery again soon. But eventually iOS updates will cease coming, yet I absolutely cannot live without a headphone jack.<p>Honest question: how would you even approach the Android? My smartphone is basically a more mobile extension of my laptop: sending document snapshots directly from the phone's camera to my MacOS desktop, starting iMessage conversations <i></i>with anyone with a phone number<i></i> on a Mac and continuing on my phone, copy-pasting from my laptop into my phone, etc.<p>Android seems to be designed to run in "I'm an island" mode, i.e. the phone is one and only computer a user is supposed to use. I understand that my usage pattern isn't what manufacturers (and Google) are optimizing for, but what would be the closest approximation?
I sincerely hope that headphone jacks will return as a fad. Not everyone has bluetooth wireless charging everything, nor do many want that. If you must get rid of the 3.5mm port, why not have dual USB-C to charge and listen at once?
If you do any kind of music creation on your mobile device, Bluetooth is completely unacceptable.<p>When you push a key/knob, you want to hear the sound NOW, clearly.<p>One of iOS selling points is music production, otherwise, save the money???
Totally happy with my SE (I am locked into Apple phones unfortunately and this is my only option).<p>Outside of the headphone jack, I also really like the smaller size. Plus, I love people's reactions "how old is your phone!?" and then get surprised when I say I bought it new 6 months ago.
I feel like at some point in the near future phone naming conventions will adopt the car manufacturer naming convention of just being the name of the car and then whatever year it is. It would be silly to have the Samsung Galaxy S26 or the Apple iPhone 32 XR instead it should just be the Samsung Galaxy (2028) and the Apple iPhone (2025) or whatever year it is. The updates to the phones will start to get very insignificant from year to year.
LG V30+<p>> LG has crafted the best-sounding headphone audio in any smartphone yet. The V30’s quad-DAC audio system is a legitimate technological advancement that delivers real joy<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/16/16481024/lg-v30-headphone-jack-awesome-futile" rel="nofollow">https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/16/16481024/lg-v30-headphon...</a>
I was wondering, how do people connect <i>two</i> headphones to a single phone? Is that possible with Bluetooth or any other connection method that's not a headphone jack?<p>It seems to me that some people got sloppy with the requirements analysis of their connector.
I'm still on my Samsung S8. The rapid release cycle made me apathetic to every new phone release.<p>Lists like this are good, I want to maximize considering useful features (battery) while ignoring useless additions (1mm thinner!)
Since I discovered a USB DAC/Pre-amp, I no longer miss headphone jack. My headphone sounds even better using usb dac/pre-amp from audioques. I recommend this setup if your phone don't have headphone jack and you still want to use your expensive headphone. Link here: <a href="https://www.audioquest.com/page/aq-dragonfly-series.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.audioquest.com/page/aq-dragonfly-series.html</a>
the pixel 3a is made with non-gorilla glass. didnt we learn like 10 years ago thats a bad idea on a phone? my keys scratched it up in a single <i>day</i> and the whole thing shattered within a couple of weeks. garbage.<p>edit: i know people are saying its dragontail which is supposedly as strong as gorilla. well empirically speaking, i can say that is false; the same key scratches my pixel 3a easily but doesnt leave a mark on my pixel 2. take that for what its worth. ymmv.
Sorry but this list is trash. Every smartphone on that list was overpriced and runs some horrid vendor customized version of Android that's sure to become obsolete because the vendors will stop updating it with a year or two. the one that was around $200 (Motorola) had specs way worse than the phone I'm using (Nokia 2.2) to type this message, which is $70 cheaper than the Motorola and has a headphone jack btw.
The Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro has very good cameras and a headphone jack for about 430 USD: <a href="https://www.mi.com/global/mi-9-t-pro" rel="nofollow">https://www.mi.com/global/mi-9-t-pro</a><p>In some markets it's called the Redmi K20 Pro.
The lack of a headphone jack is the only reason I haven’t upgraded my iPhone 6s. I tend to use them at night, phone plugged in. I have at least five cables and don’t want to buy five dongles which I would lose. I would lose bluetooth earplugs in a matter of days. I just want to keep my system which works perfectly.<p>If at least they had put in two lightning connectors - these are not nearly as durable and start failing now after 5 years. That and the battery would be the only reason for me to get a new phone.
It's ironic how the author chose to omit one of the last viable smartphones with both a headphone jack <i>and</i> QWERTY keypad that still receives regular security updates[1], yet includes one whose headphone pinout deviates from the rest of standardized industry.<p>[1] <a href="https://blackberrymobile.com/us/product/blackberry-key2/" rel="nofollow">https://blackberrymobile.com/us/product/blackberry-key2/</a>
I'm pretty excited for the ROG Phone 2. I honestly hate the look of it; it's far too "gamer-y" for me. I mean, it makes sense since it's a gamer product. But everything else about it looks great. High refresh rate for the screen, double USB-C ports, really good battery life. And it comes with a headphone jack! If it has water resistance, that's what I'm gonna go for. Otherwise, I guess I'm gonna keep my Note9 for a while.
I really like my Nokia 8 (and its headphone jack). Much cheaper than most devices on that list, but easily up there with them in terms of every day perceived performance.
For the small phone seekers, I've been eyeing the Sharp Aquos R2 Compact. Its a small phone (like they don't make them any more) with a headphone jack. Only problem in my opinion is the non-replaceable battery. Furthermore, since the phone is sold just in Japan, I'm fearing that the always-on shutter sound will still be active in Europe (I read it was sim dependent)
I bought a Google Pixel 3a when it came out. After trading in my Pixel 1 (with a damaged screen) and a rebate, it came out to $230 incl. taxes. I've been extremely happy with the phone. It's a huge upgrade over the Pixel 1 and I can use Apple wired earphones when I need to. For anyone looking into buying a new Android phone, I highly recommend the Pixel 3a.
There are many people who's defence of headphone jack removal is 'Bluetooth works for me'. That's not the point though. You may like it, but this is about choice. By removing the audio jack, we have has a choice taken from us, and choice makes or brakes a device.
I'm surprised that the OnePlus 6 is not in this list. It is the best smartphone I have owned so far and it has a headphone jack.
There is no way for this list to be exhaustive anyway, there are still a lot of models with a headphone jack (but this trend is indeed annoying).
this list is silly in that it doesn’t even mention the lg v series phones. not only do they have audio jacks, they have audio DACs built-in such that you get better sound with better headphones. they are really quite good with my buyer dynamic headphones.<p>the lg v35 and v40 are insanely good value right now, and the lg v50 is yet another sleeper flagship, high-end phone that does it all, aside from removable battery. however, unlike apple, lg offers a reasonable repair service directly with lg.<p>also, my lg v35 has the same water rating as the iPhone xs line and is thinner and lighter despite still retaining the audio jack and expandable storage.
Headphone jacks are dumb when a majority of the populous does not use them. They are a dust and water ingress point and just take up space that could be used for something more useful. Such as more battery or haptic engine.
I just bought the Pixel 3a as a replacement for my Nexus 5x because I had two requirements:<p>- headphone jack<p>- no stupid notch<p>I love it and would strongly recommend it, it feels like the actual successor of the 5x
Why is it so hard to just use a dongle? I use old-school wired studio headphones with my iPhone... I just leave the dongle that came with the phone on them.
weird there's no mention of the mi a3. under display fingerprint scanner, the headphone jack, Android One and an interesting price. if it wasn't for the 720p display it'd be a best buy