this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2023
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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.

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[–] wookiestackhouse@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I'm definitely going to be an outlier here, but I still use an ipod nano for my day to day podcast listening while commuting. But sometimes if love to be able to just unplug my earpods from my nano and plug it into my phone to watch a video or something. Can't do that now unless I dig into my bag for a dongle.

[–] aesopjah@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago

as a backup. like when on a plane and my wireless ones die. or to plug into stereo aux

[–] GuitarAbuser@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 year ago

I run a small dance association. When I go to a club and want to play some music through the speakers in that club, I need to plug my phone in to their system. Usually there's no bluetooth option. That's why I need the headphobe jack

[–] Nightsoul@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Last phone I had a jack for was iPhone 5, would use it all the time for music and podcasts, would much prefer having a jack now instead of Bluetooth

[–] Anamnesis@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Twice a year when I'm on a plane and have to use my other headphones because they're more noise cancelling. Other than that, never. I hate having a cord and getting it stuck on things and ripping my headphones out of my ears.

[–] JudahBenHur@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

daily when I drive to connect to AUX in car. Not connecting via bluetooth, read up on vehicle data collection.

there are usb-c to aux adaptors available for cheap

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[–] JadenSmith@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago

I used it often. Since I got a phone without one, as an upgrade, I use a USB-C to 3.5mm adaptor nearly every time I go out. The adaptor is always plugged into my headphones.

[–] emptiestplace@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

Definitely wired for more serious listening and important calls.

I see a lot of people talking about latency - I am generally very sensitive to this, but I think Apple gets the delay down pretty low with AirPods.

I have another complaint, though: the Bluetooth spec doesn't allow for enough bandwidth to simultaneously send and receive audio at proper bitrates, so any time you are doing both, it dramatically reduces the quality of both. This means if you are using Bluetooth for anything better than PSTN calls, you sound like shit.

Also, the microphones in AirPods make this so much worse by emphasizing sounds of anything you are doing - if you wash dishes or crumple a bag or basically anything, even if it seems relatively quiet for you, there is a good chance it will be loud as fuck for the other person.

[–] siipale@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 year ago

I use it. I also use bluetooth headphones but wired headphones are more reliable. No connection problems. And I haven't tried bluetooth headphones with microphone so I don't know if they're any good. I need the microphone for phone calls.

[–] PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I used mine almost every day. My Lightning>1/8” adapter has a permanent spot in my pocket, inside of a miniature altoids tin to protect it.

But I also work as an audio technician, and use my phone for sound checks. And professional audio gear doesn’t use Bluetooth, for a variety of reasons. So I bet my use case is probably a little skewed.

[–] Addv4@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

About once every other week on my phone, multiple times a week on my ipad (pro 10.5). It's more that I have a Bluetooth dac for some 30ohm headphones I regularly use, as my phone had more difficulty driving it at usable volume without going all the way up and getting the "you're hurting your ears!" warning.

[–] WaterWaiver@aussie.zone 5 points 1 year ago

I do a good 50% of my phonecalls on wired earbuds or wired headset. It's much more convenient than holding the phone, especially for long calls.

[–] Zak@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I do.

I don't use it every day because I'm at my PC a lot on a normal day, and I use wired headphones plugged in to that instead. I do use it often when traveling, both for IEM-style earbuds that block most external noise, and to plug into rental cars, family members' cars, etc... with an aux cable. Yes, Bluetooth is an option on most newer cars, but it's slower to set up than a cable, and not all the cars I end up driving are newer.

[–] fpslem@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Agree with this, a headphone jack is occasionally very useful, especially when traveling. I had a Google Pixel without a headphone jack and I was surprised how much I missed it, I got an adapter just to restore that functionality.

[–] vortexal@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 year ago

I always use mine, the audio delay that bluetooth headphones have make them almost useless for me. I'm also not a fan of the fact that they either make loud noises or have some form of a voice to tell you when it's either connected to a device or got a low battery.

[–] Copernican@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

The $15 USB adapters is kind of annoying, but I think I really only am really peeved about it is when I am flying and can't charge my phone and listen to music at the same time. For me I think there are a few factors that have made my headphone jack less necessary.

  1. Covid and WFH. I used to listen to music on my commutes and in the office from my phone on wired cans. Now I WFH and have speakers or have headphones running from my PC's DAC.
  2. Streaming Speakers/Receivers that are wifi enabled. I no longer have to worry about using AUX inputs on my speakers, since I have wifi enabled devices that allow me to "cast" music to any device in my home from my phone instead of plugging it in or using a weak bluetooth connection.
  3. Android Auto or other car/phone USB/bluetooth integrations. No longer need to use Aux in cables to a car to listen to music.
[–] theKalash@feddit.ch 5 points 1 year ago

Yup, I use it regularly.

[–] creed10@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

literally every day while I work so I can listen to music

[–] Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I use wired headphones easily 80% of the time I use any electronic device capable of sound, and >99% of the time I'm actually listening to that sound. I would sooner take a phone without speakers than without a dedicated 3.5mm jack. (I could be convinced with two USB-C ports though)

I don't need more weight on my ears, another thing that can die, either buds that can be lost or an all-in-one that can't survive my pocket, and I definitely don't need another drain on my phone's battery. I'm not against Bluetooth headphones in general (I do use an over-ear set occasionally), but they will never be my go-to.

A proper poll on use time/duty cycle would be interesting.

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[–] abbotsbury@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Every day at work when I listen to music.

It is not my primary method of audio use, I use bluetooth earbuds/headphones in a workshop environment for that so I don't get the cables caught on machinery or materials but I use it when traveling or listening to music at home because the sound quality is better and there is only one device to keep track of or charged. Its not an everyday thing but still a requirement for me.

[–] CalamityBalls@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

I do, but rarely. Maybe every other month or so. The situations I do use it, I've been thankful that I avoided phones without a jack. I like having appropriate tools at my disposal, and bluetooth will never be universally applicable.

[–] JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

One every month or two, when I play audio in the old vehicle. It's nice to be able to charge at the same time.

[–] rowinxavier@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I have my headphones in literally right now. I use my phone as my primary media system, so video sources like YouTube and Nebula and audio like music and podcasts. I listen with wired headphones for any time I am not physically very involved as they are higher quality and provide a much more enjoyable listening experience, but I will switch to Bluetooth headphones when being more physically active.

That said, I am a very high consumer of audio. I currently have 129 podcasts I am subscribed to (some no longer run, but most are weekly to monthly), along with a whole lot of audiobooks. I am currently at well over 2200 hours played in my podcast app this year and that excludes all the audiobooks and videos.

[–] Kethal@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

If I'm in the mood for better sound quality I do. Bluetooth has noticably poorer quality on anything but the worst equipment.

I also use the headphone jack when I don't want to deal with the inexplicably still not addressed after decades terrible Bluetooth connectivity issues.

[–] haganbmj@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

Before I updated my car I used the headphone jack regularly for playing music there. Otherwise it was relegated to a couple situations a year like air travel.

Now that I've got a newer vehicle I just have all my music on USB there.

[–] yamanii@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I love rhythm games so when I play the mobile ones, maybe 2 times a week? Bluetooth is too slow and prone to disconnection to be reliable, I missed everything when I tried, and muse dash even alerts you on boot to not use bluetooth.

[–] xlash123@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I regularly use wireless earbuds, which are extremely convenient, but I am not looking forward to the day when the battery is insufficient for me and I can't replace it due to "innovation". I also miss out on having splitters so that 2 people can listen to the same audio. I know Bluetooth LE is supposed to fix that, but I don't even know what devices support that. Like others said, having the choice is important, but Apple's "bravery" and market domination removed that from us...

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[–] zergtoshi@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I use it quite frequently for both making calls and listening to music or videos.

[–] MartinXYZ@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

I use it a lot. Both to listen to music while on public transportation and to connect the phone to my stereo at home.

[–] T00l_shed@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I would use it, if my phone had one.

[–] Okami_No_Rei@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I use it daily for connecting it to my car stereo, and about once a month when I mow my lawn or have to fly on a plane. I'll never buy a phone without one.

I prefer wired headphones. I don't want to worry about keeping them charged, and the few pairs of wireless headphones I have tried died or had the buttons stop working after a few uses from getting waterlogged with sweat, while I've been using the same pair of $6 wired headphones for 10 years without issues.

I don't care for Bluetooth or USB audio connections as they don't always work intuitively, they might take multiple button presses to set up, and every manufacturer seems to think they need to be set up in a slightly different way, while the auxiliary audio cable just works with no setup.

[–] jaxxed@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago
[–] bruhduh@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I use mine everyday, and i was one of the first to adapt to wireless headphones when they was just Chinese exotic headphones (before apple and Samsung wireless headphones even existed) and i spotted few cons of using them before they even got popular, main problem of using them is battery and secondary is latency when you pause resume video alot, there are also alot more like signal interference in places with lot of WiFi hotspots so i returned to using wired headphones around time when first apple tws was presented, i use modular wired headphones so i can change wires if they break and always have some spare, also modular headphones can be connected to Bluetooth modules making them effectively tws and when their battery goes bad then you'll just change Bluetooth module and that's it

[–] GARlactic@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Regularly. I refuse to buy a phone without a headphone jack.

[–] JakenVeina@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Occasionally. If I'm at my desk and I get a call, I'll move my wired headset over from my PC to my phone.

[–] spare_muppets@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago

I use wired headphones daily thru a USB c adapter

[–] SpruceBringsteen@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago
[–] Shurimal@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

Comes in handy at work all the time when I need to test a piece of equipment.

And the best-bang-for-buck IEM-s still are wired only. Have my sights set on Moondrop Lans for xmas.

[–] glibg10b@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Every single day since I bought it. My last phone too.

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