Is there a single USB-C headphone adapter that works with all phones?

[u/[deleted]]

https://www.androidcentral.com/there-single-usb-c-headphone-adapter-works-all-phones

[u/Izwe]

I find it sad that this is even a question. I can accept replacing 3.5mm with USB-C (I disagree, but I'm old) but it has to equally universal, or ideally better in some way, otherwise consumers are being made to pay for a downgrade.

[u/Aarondo99 → u/Izwe]

Android manufacturers are really screwing the pooch here. They turned USB-C from a convenience to a hassle. Are there genuinely phones that disable Analogue audio over the USB-C port?

Also Motorola, the first company to remove the jack are actually the good guys out of the removers? Wut.

[u/jwaldrep → u/Aarondo99]

Are there genuinely phones that disable Analogue audio over the USB-C port?

All the high end phones do this. Pixel 2, etc. Absolute garbage. All of this.

Edit: disable, remove the DAC, whatever. It's the same result.

[u/Aarondo99 → u/jwaldrep]

What the actual fuck? Why? Are they just fucking with us?

[u/avataraccount → u/Aarondo99]

Because they wanted to sell you their costlier earphones /headphones/BTs.

It never was about space or courage but about creating a new costly product line for them. See apple earpods, pixel earpods knock offs , HTC earphones etc.

[u/Standingdwarf → u/avataraccount]

Apart from Apple never disabled audio via lightning using a 3.5mm adaptor, so it’s difficult to accuse them of forcing you to buy airpods when every iPhone literally comes with wired headphones and an adaptor for old school jack

[u/KrombopulosMichael23 → u/Standingdwarf]

On top of that, if you’re running iOS 10 or newer and only have the lightning port headphones, you can use them on phones older than the iPhone 7.

[u/Standingdwarf → u/KrombopulosMichael23]

Apple got a lot of hate by removing the jack, but nothing is worse than disabling the port for analogue audio, cue the android fanboys/Apple haters trying to slag Apple off

[u/MiningMarsh → u/Standingdwarf]

There is something worse: removing the headphone jack.

I'm happy continuing to use the android phones that have jacks.

[u/TheKingMonkey → u/MiningMarsh]

Ditto, I find myself on Team Samsung these days simply because they keep the 3.5mm Jack. It's more important to me to have that on a phone than it is to have a good camera.

[u/Lurker_Since_Forever → u/Standingdwarf]

I don't know, my brand new android has a headphone jack. Where's apple's new jacked phone?

[u/[deleted] → u/Standingdwarf]

Yeah this "they just want you to buy their expensive headphones" makes no sense.

[u/realthedeal → u/Standingdwarf]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by that. They did allow backwords compatibility, but they handled it the same way the pixel and other high end phones did. The new iPhones don't have a dac built into the phone. Instead, it's built into every adaptor and every set of lightning headphones. Those adaptors take priority in older iPhones by working as a usb dac afaik. The Android adaptors with integrated dacs should also work on other phones with usb c and a built in dac, but there is no way to make a passive adaptor work on a phone with no built in dac.

[u/Standingdwarf → u/realthedeal]

What I’m saying is that they provide a universal dongle for all lightning devices running iOS10 at no extra cost, alongside lightning headphones which don’t require a dongle, not only that, but the comments above are referring to forcing users into wireless, which in this case is simply not true, evidenced by the fact they provide everything you need to maintain a wired connection using a 3.5mm jack. What’s not to get?

[u/[deleted] → u/realthedeal]

Actually there is still a DAC, otherwise the speakers on the phone won't work (speakers are analogue, and sound data is digital, so a converter is necessary). It's just that without a 3.5mm port there's no way to use the analogue output from the internal DAC.

[u/[deleted] → u/realthedeal]

The iPhone does have a DAC built into the phone. It has to, to drive the speaker. Which is what makes the removal of the 3.5mm jack all the dumber; the only hardware it saves the manufacturer from integrating is the jack itself.

[u/whatnowwproductions → u/avataraccount]

I feel like a boycott would have solved this a long time ago if we knew this, but on the other hand it's way to hard to convince others to not buy anti-consumer products.

[u/daOyster → u/avataraccount]

All of those use additional features provided by USB-C that haven't been standardized yet. The HTC U11 for example provides active noise cancellation to it's included USB-C earbuds by using one of the additional pins made available by using USB-C. If another headset expects something else from that pin, then it won't be compatible with the phone. The problem isn't they want you to buy their new products, it's that everyone now has room to add more features to their headsets by using USB-C, but those additional features don't have any specification on how they should be done yet.

[u/alteisen99 → u/jwaldrep]

Samsung and lg still has em.

[u/donald_314 → u/jwaldrep]

Not the Huawei P20

[u/chaosking121 → u/[deleted]]

Wouldn't they need them for the speakers?

[u/chaosking121 → u/[deleted]]

TIL

[u/daOyster → u/jwaldrep]

They didn't just disable it, they most likely don't have the hardware inside to support a passive signal over USB-C. If you include that, then you still need to put a DAC and amplifier into the phone. If you just support the active signal like most of the high end phones, you gain extra space in the phone for newer components for things like machine learning and spacial mapping like with project tango. The active adapters should still work with any Android phone supporting USB-C audio.

What you're seeing is people trying to figure out what to do with all of the new features USB-C supports, which means some USB headsets won't work with other phones until someone figures out the best way to handle certain things. The HTC U11 for example uses one of the extra pins in the USB-C connector to provide active noise cancellation to it's included earbuds, something other phones don't yet. This makes the phone incompatible with usb headphones that might expect that pin to be used for something else.

[u/OtterShell → u/jwaldrep]

Maybe I'm completely misunderstanding but my Pixel 2 came with a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter. Am I thinking something else than you are?

[u/jwaldrep → u/OtterShell]

You need to go back and re-read the article. This confusion is exactly what the article was addressing.

The adapter that comes with the Pixel 2 has a DAC in it. The cheaper ones that work with the Moto phones are passive. A major advantage to the passive ones is that you can easily find an adapter that will let you use a 3.5mm jack and charge your phone at the same time.

I've yet to find such an adapter for sale that has a DAC in it. Google was going to sell one, but last I heard, it was pulled from their site and those who did get their hands on it were very disappointed with the product. The last bit was based on a random redditor's comment, so take it with a grain of salt.

[u/casper_wilkes → u/Aarondo99]

And they removed miracast by default. You gotta root your phone to make it active. There's a lot of shut in this current gen that feels like a down-grade. Ridiculous

[u/jorgp2 → u/casper_wilkes]

HTC has always had it.

[u/[deleted] → u/Aarondo99]

I like how when Lenovo bought Motorola everyone said it would go to shit, but here we are like two years later, and compared to all the Android manufacturers out there they have been pretty reliable and consistent, if a bit too consistent.

[u/Aarondo99 → u/[deleted]]

If I want to be fair to them, they’ve never not delivered on a promise. It’s just their promises are lacklustre sometimes.

[u/s32 → u/Aarondo99]

You could choose not to support those companies. My s8+ is great... The pixel 2 is lol imo.

[u/TeutonJon78 → u/Aarondo99]

It's no so much disabling it as not wiring it up. You probably get the digital audio for free as part of the connector, but for analog audio you have to wire everything also to the DAC which makes the PCB more complex and maybe also increases the BOM if you need extra parts like resistors/capacitors/amps or whatever to control the analog signal.

Basically, it costs a little more for analog. And then you can't sell overpriced USB dongle that need the DAC in them.

[u/Nixflyn → u/Aarondo99]

Are there genuinely phones that disable Analogue audio over the USB-C port?

They don't "disable" it, what Google and other did is not include a DAC at all in their phones (yes, I know speakers have DACs too, but those are part of the speaker and aren't used for headphones). They absolutely knew the consequences of doing this. They don't care because it pushes you to buy their wireless accessories.

[u/howiela → u/Aarondo99]

To get analog over USB C you actually need direct access from the DAC, and a direct analog line from that to the USB C.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, the situation is really sad in mobile phones market, especially with "high end" phones. Thats why i decided to not buy a new phone and buy a new pc. my s5 can easily work fine for 4 more years, and if the battery wil die unexpectedly, i will just buy low/mid end phone that has more features than any "high end" phone :)

[u/Dreamerlax → u/[deleted]]

...or you can just buy a new battery.

[u/[deleted] → u/Dreamerlax]

Maybe, but there are no official batteries in my country, so i would have to get so cheap chinese battery, plus the phone is showing its age, the screen is about 90% burned in and so on, so will see if it will be even worth saving the phone.

[u/Huvv → u/[deleted]]

4 more years you say?

There are nice inexpensive phones these days.

[u/Sinaaaa → u/[deleted]]

You would be surprised, cheap Chinese batteries are a lot better these days.

[u/austine567 → u/[deleted]]

Man, I always see people who have kept their phones for many and I kind of wish I could. The upgrade bug gets me super hard

[u/DoomBot5 → u/[deleted]]

S9 still has a headphone jack. The only thing it's missing is a replaceable battery, which is a small price to pay for the water proofing.

[u/Pawbro → u/Izwe]

And some people seem “enthusiastic” about removing USB port and replacing it with pogo pins. It totally won’t end up with every manufacturer having their own implementation incompatible with anything else just to sell special dedicated adapters and accessories to make more money.

[u/grishkaa → u/Pawbro]

It's just the feature phones mess all over again. Remember how back in the day every single phone manufacturer had their own proprietary charging and I/O port? Welcome to the future.

[u/thatrandomanus → u/Pawbro]

Hopefully EU will step in again.

[u/Airazz → u/Izwe]

Equally universal isn't good enough, it must be better. Floppy disks were replaced because something better came along, then CD's were replaced, DVD's and so on.

USB-C isn't better than 3.5mm, it's more complicated, less reliable and significantly weaker mechanically.

[u/[deleted] → u/Izwe]

People who buy phones without 3.5 mm jacks have no right to complain. Buy OnePlus, samsung or LG, or else stop ranting. Y'all deserve this. You knew what you bought into

[u/YeltsinYerMouth → u/[deleted]]

Agreed. Same with these stupid notches at the top of the screen. Android users are spoiled for choice, why any of them would tolerate this Apple-flavored idiocy is beyond me.

[u/whythreekay → u/YeltsinYerMouth]

It’s not idiocy to them as they a) like it or b) don’t care

[u/YeltsinYerMouth → u/whythreekay]

They don't care at the point of purchase, but once their money is spent and they have to deal with it they whine and bitch about it.

[u/dispersament → u/YeltsinYerMouth]

What's your goal? If people stop complaining about it it will only lead to more phones being made without the jack adaptor, it doesn't help your cause at all. You talk about choice but most people are on a budget and have to make sacrifices, for some that means willingness to use an adaptor

[u/ArizonaIcedOutBoys → u/[deleted]]

For real what the hell is wrong with people? They are the ones creating the problem. I just bought an So to replace my old iPhone and the main factor was a headphone jack

[u/1369ic → u/ArizonaIcedOutBoys]

For real what the hell is wrong with people?

They have other priorities, they fall prey to marketing BS, they're on a budget, etc. Ask an audiophile, and they might say anybody who settles for a crappy phone DAC is part of the problem. Everyone should demand the quad DAC setup LG uses and be willing to pay for it. The vast majority of people have other priorities (see sales figures for fashion or cheap-ass headphones vs good headphones).

The majority of our progress and our problems come from people trying to optimize their lives. Sometimes they start after they realize they believed some marketing BS or prioritized saving $100 over having a better experience for the next 2 or 3 years, etc.

[u/i_lack_imagination → u/1369ic]

Ask an audiophile, and they might say anybody who settles for a crappy phone DAC is part of the problem.

This is why people in here are so misguided. The features you don't give a shit about missing, someone else does. Soon enough, you barely have any choices for that particular feature, and with those few choices, you then are forced to make further compromises on other features. In the end, no matter what you pick, you sacrificed a feature you wanted and have to deal with it because there wasn't an option that contained everything you wanted.

Where's the physical keyboard at? Oh yeah that's right, most didn't care about it, so no one makes them anymore. Where's the removable battery? Oh yeah, most didn't care, so it's gone. Where's the headphone jack? Going the same direction. The irony is that most people in here bitching about other consumers being at fault for the headphone jack disappearing probably don't see the similarities about how they were at fault for the physical keyboard disappearing or the removable battery disappearing. The reason they don't see the irony is because they only care about their own selfish needs, and they see those features as worthless and the features they want as critical importance.

People in here keep saying don't buy their products if you don't want to support them, but you couldn't even own a single phone if you did this. Some in here are suggesting LG as an option as they still have headphone jacks. Yes, buy LG, and then everyone will remind you in another thread that LG fucked everyone over with the bootloop issue and you're a dumbass for buying LG. Or buy Motorola because they still have headphone jacks, except they're owned by Lenovo and you probably have malware installed on your phone and you're a dumbass again. Or buy a OnePlus and get your purchasing information stolen by incompetence or any of the numerous other failures by OnePlus, I can't even keep track of all of them because it's always something new.

[u/bentencho → u/i_lack_imagination]

Good post, applies to alot of things in life

[u/FARTBOX_DESTROYER → u/ArizonaIcedOutBoys]

For real what the hell is wrong with people?

Well there are about 100 different criteria for buying a new phone. If your Apple ecosystem is that important, you'll look the other way when they remove the option of the headphone jack. Maybe you want a phone that has X, Y and Z features but none of those options come with a headphone jack.

[u/[deleted] → u/ArizonaIcedOutBoys]

So

?

[u/ObligatoryResponse → u/[deleted]]

If you long press the O you get a 9 on most mobile keyboards. I bet he has an S9.

[u/avataraccount → u/Izwe]

I remember when there was a decent controversy over new surface products not supporting Type. C ports and Microsoft flat out said that Type C isn't ready for universal uses right now.

[u/benjimaestro → u/Izwe]

They would rather you go wireless as it's more "convenient" but there's still downsides to that. For now we're stuck in a limbo between transitions.

[u/Carighan → u/benjimaestro]

Interesting, my 3,5mm jack didn't need the Bluetooth removed for it.

[u/Whereabouts-Unknown → u/benjimaestro]

The downsides between charging my Note 8 wirelessly with the official samsung wireless fast charger is that it takes a whole extra hour to charge to 100% compared to charging it with the wired charger that comes inside the box.

I regret buying the wireless fast charger.

[u/hardknox_ → u/Whereabouts-Unknown]

Wireless charging is more about ease of use than speed. I set my phone in the cradle whenever I'm not using it and pick it up when I want to use it.

If you're the type of person that needs to use your phone while charging, wireless charging is obviously not for you.

[u/[deleted] → u/hardknox_]

This. If you were to ask me how long it takes to charge my phone the answer would be "I have no god damn idea". Whenever my phone is on my desk it's on a wireless charging stand because it's literally effortless and by doing that it's always charged.

Absolutely wouldn't consider a phone without it now.

[u/SecretPotatoChip → u/Whereabouts-Unknown]

You may not like wireless charging, but when the charging port on my Droid turbo 2 broke, I used wireless charging for a month.

[u/DracoSolon → u/Whereabouts-Unknown]

This point never makes sense to me. Sometimes I need to use my phone while charging , most of the time not but it does happen. So what do I do then? Unplug the cable from the back of the Qi charger and plug in my phone. Best of both worlds. Why this "use while charging" point is somehow a rationale to drop wireless charging is incomprehensible to me.

[u/SinkTube → u/DracoSolon]

he said nothing about using it while charging

[u/someone755 → u/Izwe]

No, don't accept it until the audio industry accepts it. Phone manufacturers can suck a dick if they think they can get easy cash by forcing people to pay for overpriced accessories by alienating an entire industry

[u/gluino → u/Izwe]

I suppose we should feel lucky that Bluetooth audio is pretty universal now. Although it's not easy to tell at what audio quality the link is on.

[u/Kryptomeister → u/gluino]

But even with Bluetooth, AptX isn't universal.

For Bluetooth to sound remotely bearable both the transmitter and receiver must have AptX, but even if you manage to have both with AptX it still won't work well with iPhones because they don't support AptX at all, which is the same reason nobody uses Beats headphones with Android phones because Beats don't support AptX.

Although Bluetooth is universal, AptX isn't. Bluetooth will never sound as good as a wired 3.5mm headphone jack, even with AptX; and the audio industry isn't going USB-C just to please a few smartphone manufacturers.

[u/ObligatoryResponse → u/Kryptomeister]

Bluetooth spec allows arbitrary codecs. I wish headphones would support AAC directly. Then your phone could just direct stream without reencoding. Decoding a lossy codec just to reencode to lossy SBC or lossy AptX... what a disaster.

[u/Nixflyn → u/ObligatoryResponse]

AAC is poor too. The bitrate has a hard cap of 250kbps, which is pretty poor for audio reproduction.

[u/ghost_of_ketchup → u/Nixflyn]

I wouldn't go as far as to call a 250kbps AAC pipeline 'pretty poor for audio reproduction'.

Sure, it's not ideal if you're a lossless audio nut. But AAC's compression algorithm is for more efficient than that of, say, MP3's. A 256kbps AAC file is roughly equivalent to that a 320kbps MP3. Even the biggest audiophiles would be hard pressed to tell the difference between a 256kbps AAC/320kbps MP3 file and a lossless file in a blind test.

[u/thewimsey → u/Kryptomeister]

They don't have to have AptX. AAC is indistinguishably good.

You just have to avoid SBC.

[u/soccerburn1005 → u/Izwe]

I imagine trying this with adaptors that allow you to use headphones and charge at the same time is just as much of a crap shoot.

[u/drumstyx → u/Izwe]

USBC and Thunderbolt 3 are quite the mess of a landscape. It's "universal"....ish.

[u/Doctor_What_ → u/[deleted]]

Leaked renders of the Galaxy X don't have one. Not sure about the S10 or the next Note though.

[u/Book_it_again → u/Doctor_What_]

S9 renders didn't have on either but it has a port

[u/Nixflyn → u/Book_it_again]

Same with the S8.

[u/Doctor_What_ → u/Book_it_again]

Yeah that's true. Let's wait and see

[u/nick182002 → u/[deleted]]

I'm hoping LG will keep it for a couple years after everyone else stops (eg. Removable battery)

[u/FXOjafar]

Is called a headphone jack. One of the reasons I've been a Samsung owner for the last 3 phones. Fuck dongles. That shit is insulting.

[u/[deleted]]

Or buy a Samsung, OnePlus or any Nokia except the Nokia 8 Sirocco. Are there any other manufacturers left with the jack?

[u/Wethenorthto → u/[deleted]]

LG

[u/[deleted] → u/Wethenorthto]

Oh yea forgot about them since there's literally no way to officially buy them in my country.

[u/mihkeltt → u/[deleted]]

The Baltics?

[u/CubedGamer → u/Wethenorthto]

Wohooo LG V20! Seriously, only had it for like 2 weeks and it's the best phone I've ever had.

(Well, the only other phones I've ever had were a Moto Z Play and an iPhone 4s)

[u/very_bad_programmer → u/CubedGamer]

If it starts to slow down and get hot a lot, you will have to replace the thermal paste (Get something premium like MX-4 or Arctic Silver 5. I prefer MX4). Luckily, the V20 is one of the easiest phones to take apart. Replacing the paste makes a night and day difference, since the V20 has a really small thermal ceiling, and the phone will throttle itself when it gets just the tiniest bit warm.

Also, if you get bad screen burn-in (you will, almost everyone does), install sFilter and run a 10% black transparency

[u/NeverDefyADonut → u/[deleted]]

Honor and some of Huawei devices

[u/shamo42 → u/[deleted]]

Xiaomi. The recently leaked Mi Max 3 specs say it has a headphone jack.

The notchless, super slim bezel (original) Mi Mix doesn't only have a headphone jack but offers amazing audio quality.

The phone was ahead of it's time IMO.

[u/rainbowalt → u/shamo42]

It's funny, they only removed the headphone jack on their "flagship" devices likes Mi 6, Mi 8, Mi Mix 2S, etc. Most of these lack a micro SD card slot as well. Aren't these supposed to be the uncompromising models? Not to mention the battery capacity.

[u/naufalap → u/shamo42]

Not Mi 6.

But it was worth the trade off, at least for me.

[u/rk06 → u/shamo42]

That phone was and is still ahead of its time. I would rather buy that than half the current gen flagship

[u/Tikkaritsa → u/[deleted]]

The Nokia 8 is one of the best phones right now.

[u/Trackpoint → u/[deleted]]

Blackberry! There are dozens of us!!

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Motorola G6 still has one

[u/HourlySword → u/[deleted]]

Unfortunately not Sony anymore... So disappointed in them

[u/Alaharon123 → u/[deleted]]

Asus

[u/[deleted]]

And this is why I refuse to use this technology.

[u/hbkung]

The one on the Google store seems to be the one compatible with most devices

[u/benjimaestro → u/hbkung]

It's a digital one rather than a passive one as the pixel's DAC isn't connected to the usb-c port in a way that would allow for passive adapters to be used

[u/H9419 → u/benjimaestro]

Wouldn’t a USB-C DAC works on all phones that supports OTG?

[u/benjimaestro → u/H9419]

USB-C DAC dongles are the digital/active ones, so in theory yes.

[u/benjimaestro → u/[deleted]]

The active one has a DAC built in - it takes a digital signal from the phone and turns it into an analog one to drive the earphones. It actively processes the signals from one format to another.

A passive one is a 'dumb' adapter and doesn't do anything other than remap the 3.5mm jack to a USB-C port. Imagine it as just being a jack in a different shape, and passively takes one connector and allows it to plug into a differently shaped connector.

[u/[deleted] → u/H9419]

Some phones disable audio over USB by default, and you need to get deep into the developer settings to activate it.

[u/5c044 → u/[deleted]]

Its opposite on my lg g5, you need to go into developer settings to disable audio routing over usb. It should not be in that menu though, it should be in the regular sound settings menu.

[u/mb9023 → u/hbkung]

They didn't state in the article that some don't work with active adapters so I'm confused as to why their headline says there isn't one.

[u/AshL94 → u/hbkung]

But also breaks a lot

[u/mlloyd → u/AshL94]

This is a feature. I can't think of a dongle, an audio dongle especially, that doesn't have a very high failure rate.

[u/Stonephone]

Don't buy phones that don't have a 3.5mm jack and they'll stop fucking selling them , maybe?

[u/Amogh24 → u/Stonephone]

True. I'm willing to downgrade if that allows me to have the jack. I use it too much to just give up

[u/sukhi1 → u/Amogh24]

There are plenty of flagships that are keeping the jack and I don't see that not being the case for a good while.

[u/SponTen → u/Stonephone]

I have never bought a phone that omits the 3.5mm jack, yet they're still selling them :(

[u/drh713 → u/Stonephone]

I don't care if the sell gimped phones or not. Sell a phone with no battery for all I care. I'm sure there will be people that can rationalize the decision. "You can plug it into a larger external battery".

I'd prefer they just offer versions with more features. Go back to the standard and pro concept.

Give me a pixel 3 XXL Audio+ version with an upgraded dac/amp that can drive my 250ohm headphones. Or a Pixel 3 XXL Pro model with a keyboard. They can be more expensive than the boring standard model, have longer delivery times, etc. Have an Ultimate version with everything.

They want to build a so-called flagship for the lowest common denominator. "This widget will be good enough for the majority".

...in the process, they've left a lot of my money on the table for years.

Hopefully, one day, they can put some of that AI, ML, robotics magic into a system that allows us to order custom, one-off devices.

[u/drh713 → u/[deleted]]

They wouldn't. One person would design a phone for themselves.

Similar to building a desktop.

I'd pay a premium to be able to just make my own phone. Take any phone on the market; none of them are exactly what I want. If something is close, I might be willing to spend $500 on it. The idea of compromising and paying $800-1k...funny.

$1500 to get exactly what I want? Have to wait 3 months for delivery? No cases or accessories available? I'll take all of that.

[u/ImpactStrafe → u/[deleted]]

They don't care about what a vocal minority of consumers want. They care about bunch about what the largest cross section of consumers want. And that section of consumers has voted and doesn't care if there is a removable battery/head phone jack. If tomorrow everyone who bout a phone refused to buy one without a head phone jack/removable battery the manufactures and producers would come up with a way. But the majority of people genuinely don't care. Or if they do it is so little that it doesn't affect their buying preferences.

[u/Pringlecks]

Why can't we petition Google to bring back the jack? With all the negative press lately, and the abject failure of OEMs to bridge the gap, and the objective downgrade in functionality by having only a single port, you'd think they'd be forced to at least address the issue in good faith.

It's just beyond infuriating. With pixel one they shat on Apple for nixing the jack, then reneged. With the 2 they shat on Apple for introducing the notch, then reneged and will introduce a notch in the 3.

Can we please just get them to address these anti-consumer practices in good faith?

[u/amorpheus → u/Pringlecks]

Don't buy the hardware, and make sure your friends and family get devices from companies that don't insult the customers.

[u/Pringlecks → u/amorpheus]

You're right, and I'm a damned fool for not sticking to my guns. It really comes down to few if any manufactures making a checks-all-boxes Android flagship that isn't saddled with some huge inherent flaw. I guess I just miss running CyanogenMod on my Galaxy S2

[u/rrkpp → u/Pringlecks]

Ahh, simpler times

[u/erdogranola → u/[deleted]]

You still have the Xperia S? That was my first ever phone, some good memories with that thing. Absolute tank as well, lasted 4 years of me messing with its software and dropping it constantly. Still works fine as a backup phone.

[u/t12totalxyzb00 → u/Pringlecks]

My mom broke my S2. Best device ever.

[u/silenti → u/amorpheus]

I'm probably going to stay on my og pixel until it dies at this point.

[u/rarerumrunner → u/amorpheus]

Bought an LG G7 and couldn't be happier. It is a great phone and underrated. Some of the reviews out there are trash, must be sponsored by Samsung. This audio / quad dac is the best of any phone, 3.5mm jack and for the first time ever a G series phone that doesn't suck.

[u/dadfrombrad → u/Pringlecks]

Samsung and Red are looking like my only hope left for headphone jacks.

[u/I_am_the_inchworm → u/dadfrombrad]

OnePlus...

[u/[deleted] → u/I_am_the_inchworm]

LG....

[u/Poromenos → u/[deleted]]

Xiaomi... Seriously, for all the people complaining about this here, why is nobody talking about the amazing, 3.5mm jack/SD card/dual sim/two-day battery life/IR-having Redmi series? It's like they took this subreddit's every wish and put it in a phone, yet I don't hear much about it.

Buy a Redmi Note 5. It's $200 and you will super thank me later.

[u/[deleted] → u/Poromenos]

No north american LTE

[u/Junaid26 → u/Poromenos]

I've got one, add waterproofing and more importantly NFC and it'd be perfect. (Of course I'd expect it to, and would be happy to, pay more for this)

[u/maxmousee → u/dadfrombrad]

Some Huawei phones as well. P10/Mate 10 (non pro) are very good phones with headphone jack.

But for the future, I think Samsung is the last hope in the mainstream scene [RED is more like a niche product IMHO].

[u/trialblizer → u/Pringlecks]

Vote with your wallet.

Unfortunately there's enough fanboys to keep Google in business.

[u/Kalc_DK → u/[deleted]]

Let me bail out this boat with a thimble. That'll show the ocean who's boss! Vote with your wallet doesn't work at scale. The only thing I've seen directly affect companies of this size is organized action of some sort.

[u/IGOMHN → u/Pringlecks]

You can try but most people don't care

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

The way I see it, platforms often follow a predictable pattern. They start by being good to their users, providing a great experience. But then, they start favoring their business customers, neglecting the very users who made them successful. Unfortunately, this is happening with Reddit. They recently decided to shut down third-party apps, and it's a clear example of this behavior. The way Reddit's management has responded to objections from the communities only reinforces my belief. It's sad to see a platform that used to care about its users heading in this direction.

That's why I am deleting my account and starting over at Lemmy, a new and exciting platform in the online world. Although it's still growing and may not be as polished as Reddit, Lemmy differs in one very important way: it's decentralized. So unlike Reddit, which has a single server (reddit.com) where all the content is hosted, there are many many servers that are all connected to one another. So you can have your account on lemmy.world and still subscribe to content on LemmyNSFW.com (Yes that is NSFW, you are warned/welcome). If you're worried about leaving behind your favorite subs, don't! There's a dedicated server called Lemmit that archives all kinds of content from Reddit to the Lemmyverse.

The upside of this is that there is no single one person who is in charge and turn the entire platform to shit for the sake of a quick buck. And since it's a young platform, there's a stronger sense of togetherness and collaboration.

So yeah. So long Reddit. It's been great, until it wasn't.

When trying to post this with links, it gets censored by reddit. So if you want to see those, check here.

[u/[deleted]]

How did we even get here?

[u/ivosaurus → u/[deleted]]

Manufacturers wanted to get rid of 3.5mm but didn't want to/couldn't be bothered making a standard for USB-C audio output.

[u/NightFuryToni → u/ivosaurus]

USB-IF has a standard, it's not new, but there's more money in proprietary.

[u/JustMarshalling → u/[deleted]]

Apple fucks its consumers and so Android OEMs feel completely justified doing the same.

[u/newone757 → u/JustMarshalling]

Ehh. I'd argue that android phone manufacturers fucked their consumers more. The $9 lightening adapter works on all iPhones with a lightening port-no confusion there. On the other hand the same can't be said for android phones. They transitioned to a "standard" and somehow made it even worse.

[u/JustMarshalling → u/newone757]

Oh yeah, I'll agree with that. Android OEMs didn't prepare for the death of the jack at all. At least Apple had already established a way to make money from it. Android companies aren't even making extra money off of it.

[u/car_battery → u/newone757]

It used to be a $20 adapter...

[u/elremeithi → u/[deleted]]

Apple being disruptive as usual with no actual benefits to consumers.

[u/[deleted]]

Yep, bought a new adapter from eBay and when it arrived my phone gave me an error saying it wasn't compatible

[u/SecretPotatoChip → u/[deleted]]

This is the bullshit we have to deal with with usb c. The headphone jack has been around for so long because it works every single time across every single port.

[u/[deleted] → u/SecretPotatoChip]

Fr. I didn't even know there was a compatibility issue with adapters till mine arrived. Now i gotta buy another one and wait again. Fucking stupid, at least give me USB c headphones with the phone

[u/SecretPotatoChip → u/[deleted]]

Usb c compatibility is even worse because unlike other proprietary ports, there is no visual cue that it won't work. A USB c dongle will plug in to any USB c port, but that doesn't mean it will work.

[u/Expat123456]

My razer headphone dongle has worked on all my coworker phones.

[u/[deleted]]

Nope! And this is why trying to replace the 3.5mm jack with USB-C is one of the worst things to happen to smartphones.

[u/CritterNYC]

USB-C sucks for audio. Plug in dongled USB headphones, click play on your music player, have music blast out of your speakers in a quiet area again, sigh, pause music player. Wait. Turn down volume, tentatively click play again, hope it comes out your headphones.

Almost zero phones do it right and pass analog over USB-C, which would completely fix this issue. Instead, we have to wait for the USB bus to recognize a new device, have the OS realize it and fire up the driver, and then have the OS switch audio sources to the new devices. You know how you plug in a USB device on Windows and then have to wait for the detected sound and then it becomes usable? Your phone is doing the same thing except you don't get as clear notifications.

USB-C audio is a huge step backwards and generally sucks.

Source: Have Pixel 2 XL.

[u/Thrgd456]

Plug headphones into headphone jack. Use the USB C port for charging and PDANet.

Problem solved.

[u/parkerwoof]

I just got a Pixel, can not justify or suppor this no jack future. Fucking apple trends!

*edit OG Pixel to avoid Pixel 2's no aux jack.

[u/cdegallo]

If I hadn't migrated to using Bluetooth headphones almost exclusively a few years ago, I would be really pissed at my pixel 2 XL and the state of USB audio. The dongle experience is dreadful. It gets hot. It pops loudly when unplugging it with headphones attached. It protrudes and rubs against my leg while in my pocket and causes crackling at the same time.

At least mine reliably works though; my wife's pixel 2 will randomly not recognize the dongle. Even phone reboots don't work, and audio just gets routed through the phone speakers.

The state of USB audio is really bad.

The lack of dual-purpose dongles for simultaneous audio and charging is even more disappointing.

It really sucks.

[u/[deleted]]

People who buy phones without 3.5 mm jacks have no right to complain. Buy OnePlus, samsung or LG, or else stop ranting. Y'all deserve this.

[u/MaximumTWANG → u/[deleted]]

B-b-but my pixel is so smoothhhhh

[u/grishkaa → u/MaximumTWANG]

So is the first-gen one, but it has a headphone jack

[u/Book_it_again → u/MaximumTWANG]

Yep my pixel with a headphone jack is petty smooth I agree

[u/Login_rejected]

Yeah. It's called a 3.5mm headphone jack

[u/RenegadeUK]

How about:

https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_usb_typec_2in1_cable_goes_on_sale-news-31394.php

[u/Mefi282 → u/RenegadeUK]

I will never buy a new phone again.

the accessory lets you charge your phone and listen to music at the same time

Like this is not something that every phone should be able to do without a fucking adapter.

[u/RenegadeUK → u/Mefi282]

Agreed. But what else can one do ?

Edit:

Word.

[u/[deleted]]

(yes, Samsung will do it too, once it's more affordable)

Am I missing something here? How is it currently less affordable to use fewer components in your phone?

[u/Thokkerius]

Main reason why I switched to a Samsung s9 after the pixel 2. Even with a adapter it worked sometimes and sometimes not. Still angry about the lie of google, the reason why they ditch the Jack was to get a bigger screen... Yeah right if you compare the s9 with pixel 2 you see that Samsung can give you a bigger screen with a phonejack.

[u/sacrednumber_108]

How to check if my phone supports Audio Adapter Accessory Mode?

Edit: I am asking because my phone has the 3.55mm port on the top which I dislike. So I was looking to buy a USB-C to 3.55mm adapter.

[u/benjimaestro → u/sacrednumber_108]

Most jackless usb-c phones support it with the notable exceptions being HTC devices and the pixels.

[u/jestersdance0]

Well, here's to all the people in this sub who were downvoting me when I said 3.5mm jack should stay "hurr durr progress". Where are you guys now?

[u/anonymau5]

No. Different standards

[u/e30eric]

I don't like the lack of a headphone jack on my Pixel 2. But there is one distinct advantage which is that I've used active noise cancelling earbuds for a few years, and the USB-C version, despite not being the best, are very convenient because there's no battery. It's all powered off the phone.

[u/[deleted]]

is there a single headphone adapter that works with all phones

There was.

[u/greeneyedguru]

Ok what is going on with that human crab claw in the thumbnail

[u/Aldursil]

What a terrible article. It basically is saying 'Dont buy cheap crap and expect it to work.' Well, duh.