The new fairphone 5 came out, it looks cool but the price is really, really high…
If it’s a phone that can really last 10 years it could be good, but is that true? Is it worth it? I could get the one with /e/os from Murena because i want a degoogled phone with a bootloader locked, but is it usable on a daily basis?
No.
No headphone jack, no buy. It’s not a question of whether a headphone jack is useful to you, it’s just the principle of it - there’s no good reason to remove it (especially for the asking price of FP5), and more importantly, it goes against what the Fairphone stands for, IMO. I can understand if it were some other profit-driven company making a shrewd business decision, but for Fairphone to do it, seems very unfair to me.
There is a good reason to remove it. Especially for a company like fairphone. Why waste resources and money into making a redundant component (USB-C can do audio, also the majority of people have switched to wireless audio) when you’re trying to make a planet-conscious product?
There is no good faith argument that can be made for the removal of the headphone jack. Companies removed it to sell overpriced wireless headphones.
They said it was due to size, but new phones are quite chunky these days so that’s not true. Waterproofing? Can be done, many phones have waterproofing and a headphone jack.
Costs? Come on it’s a very simple, very old, plastic bit.
And sustainability? “planet-conscious”? You must be kidding. It’s way better to use regular headphones than the wireless pieces of crap with batteries and an amplifier and a bluetooth receiver in them.
Well good luck then. Because enough of us have absolutely no problem with using the usbc or Bluetooth. I rarely even listen to music anymore anyway so it’s not something I use.
Of course, I’m not denying this. That still doesn’t negate my point about audio jacks being redundant ports.
Yes, and those regular headphones CAN be plugged into phones without headphone jack via the USB-C port
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I think phones without a headphone jack should have a second USB C port instead.
I can get behind this
I miss the simplicity of plugging in something that worked reliably well 100% of the time tho
Citation needed. Also, just because people have “switched” to wireless doesn’t mean that they don’t have a pair of old wired headphones still lying around somewhere, unused, eventually turning into e-waste. Also, I suspect a significant portion of Fairphone users are the kind who’d still hold on to wired headphones.
The first rule in making a planet-conscious product is the RRR - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. If people already have wired headphones, then the most eco-friendly solution would be to enable users to continue to use them, and not force them to buy even more new products. And as a manufacturer, there’s practically no shortage of 3.5mm jacks around (plenty of old devices where the parts can be recycled from), and there’s almost no complexity involved in wiring up or making circuitry for something that’s been a standard for several decades.
Another use-case for the headphone jack: I use it to connect my phone to various audio devices, e. g. E-drums for practising playback or the practice room PA tolisten to demos. Nearly all professional equipment uses wired connections.
Not to mention that unlike the wireless buds, headphones I used ten years ago and sat on a shelf that whole time will all still work 100% of the time. Show me wireless battery powered crap that can claim that
https://speakergy.com/headphones-sales-data-full-statistics-report/
Sold =/= “switched to”. If these people listened to audio in the past, no doubt they would already be having a pair of wired headphones lying around somewhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if the reason for most of these sales was simply because their existing phone didn’t have a headphone jack, so they were coerced into buying a wireless one.
Here are some more relevant and recent user polls:
https://www.androidpolice.com/weekend-poll-do-you-still-miss-the-headphone-jack-on-your-current-smartphone/ - from late last year, only 28% of the respondents were happy with their phones not having a jack.
https://www.makeuseof.com/wired-or-wireless-headphones-poll/ - This one from last month only had 43% preferring wireless over wired, so still far from majority.
I’m willing to bet that Fairphone users - who are more eco-conscious than the average consumer - are the kind of people who’d prefer to reuse existing stuff and hang on to working products. Fairphone’s decision is a classic case of a company ignoring the needs of their own customers.
This reminds me of how OnePlus ran a poll on Twitter and over 80% users responded they wanted the headphone jack, but then they promptly got rid of the jack in their very next phone, and subsequently deleted their own poll out of shame.
If fairphone customers were really eco conscious they wouldn’t be fairphone customers in the first place because they’d be buying second hand phones btw.
Also lol at some online polls being used to argue against sales figures 😂
If you’ve got a better metric than online polls, I’m all ears.
Sales figures are pointless because wired headphone users rarely need to buy that often because a good pair can last for a long, long time. I bought my Beyerdynamic DT880 nearly two decades ago and it’s still going strong. I did buy a pair of wireless Sony noise canceling headphones too (WH-1000XM5), but that was mainly for the noise cancelation feature I needed for flights and travel. My DT880 is still my main headphones. So if you’d look purely at sales figures, I’d be counted against a wireless user, but that’s not really true, if you consider the time I spend using my DT880. Also, the Sony headphones I use can work over wire as well, and if I’m on a flight and want to listen to music, I prefer using the wired mode due to the lower battery usage. So even though it’s technically counted as a wireless headphone, I rarely use it in wireless mode. Which is why sales figures are completely meaningless in this metric.
Also, if wireless users were really the majority, then the polls would reflect it, and yet, not a single poll shows that. I wonder why.
Sales figures are better than online polls. Online polls on enthusiast sites like android police very rarely mean anything in regards to the real world. If you listen to them everyone uses pixels and no one buys Samsung phones or iPhones.
Just go outside in public and count the people using AirPods alone vs wired headphones and you’ll see the reality is that people use wireless headphones more. Why do you think every phone manufacturer is making their own wireless headphones and earbuds now?
Which is why I’ve also listed a poll from makeuseof.com, which isn’t an enthusiast site. Also, as I mentioned, the Fairphone is a enthusiast phone in itself - just ask any normal person if they’ve heard of it - your answer would be a resounding “no”.
As I said before, one could be a wireless user as well as a wired user, like I am technically, but that doesn’t mean I don’t use a headphone jack at all.
That’s obviously to make more money. By removing the jack and selling wireless headphones, they’re basically coaxing users into buying wireless headphones, and once people buy these wireless headphones, they enter into a perpetual upgrade cycle just like how they upgrade their smartphones, thus creating a new steady stream of income.
How are your sources any more relevant? They have nothing to do with market share or usage. Random polls attached to articles specifically targeted at a certain demographic are not reflective of overall consumer trends.
The Fairphone is a very niche device though, and I’d argue it’s buyers don’t represent your average smartphone demographic either. Especially considering that it’s sold only in limited places, doesn’t have any advertising, and it’s main exposure comes from articles on the kind of websites I linked.
https://speakergy.com/headphones-sales-data-full-statistics-report/
I don’t have a source ready with me to back up my statement. But at least here in India, almost everyone I see in public transportation use wireless earbuds. Usually I look like the odd one out for wearing wired earphones.
You absolutely don’t need to go out and buy a new headphones if your phone doesn’t have an audio jack. Just buy a dongle. Yes, I’m aware that this is worse for the planet than just including an audio jack in the phone. But if you buy a dongle once, you don’t have to worry about your future phones not having a headphone jack. So in the long run, this move is better for the planet.
How is buying a dongle you shouldn’t need better for the planet than a phone manufacturer providing a headphone jack??? The phone already has a DAC in it, they literally only need to include the actual port
your sample is incredibly biased, you’re taking 1 demographic and assuming everyone acts like that. Go into a recording studio and see how many wireless headphones they use, Go to a concert and see how they are driving their speakers. Just because a lot of consumers use wireless earphones in an environment that doesn’t lend itself to good audio (like public transport), doesn’t mean most people are using it.
Did you even read my reply fully?
Recording studios also don’t use a smartphone to do their work.
Even if we do assume that the majority of the world still uses wired earphones, it still makes sense to remove the audio jack for reasons I have explained already.
You haven’t provided a single good reason. Why are you fighting this so hard? Samsung isn’t gonna kiss you.
Ah yes, it is totally unfair to expect consumers who prefer wired audio to make a one time purchase of a 10$ dongle. Instead phone manufacturers should continue to ship every single phone with an audio jack for years to come. And anybody who says it is fine to remove the audio jack because those who prefer wired audio can use a dongle is obviously a samsung shill.
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How ironic is it that the guy who makes personal attacks over a debate surrounding freakin headphone jacks calls others a snowflake :)
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it’s not a redundant component at all. USB-C doesn’t carry analogue audio. You need an external DAC to convert that digital signal to analogue to make it usable. You can’t plug your headphones into a USB-C port.
Basically you need to buy a 10$ dongle to make it work. How hard is that?
It’s not hard. It’s wasteful and unnecessary. It means you can’t charge your phone and listen to music at the same time. There are no advantages to removing the headphone jack
My FP4 lasts two days on one charge, and charges fully in about 30 minutes. In most cases it shouldn’t be an issue finding a 15-30 minute interval within two days where you don’t listen to music in order to charge. Not all arguments against the removal are equally good, in my opinion.
However, I agree that dongles are wasteful. I burned through many such 3.5mm to Lightning on my previous iPhone. They had the durability of a snowman in Summer, and also cost about 10 bucks each for the official one. Since Fairphone claims sustainability as the main reason to remove the port, I’d love to see an actual calculation on the impact of broken ports vs broken dongles. I think the dongles will lose.
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Regarding the “no good reason to remove it,” my understanding was that Samsung opted to remove it to increase the water resistance rating. Unfortunately the fairphone 4 only has an IP54 rating, so that’s certainly not the case here.
Apparently they address the headphones jack question in an article on fairphone’s support page.
Not arguing with you btw, but the excuses they’ve provided are all BS. For starters, IP rating isn’t really an issue - the Pixel 5a, Galaxy A52, Xperia 5 V, Zenfone 10 - all have a headphone jack, and a minimum of IP65, even going up to IP68 (Pixel 5a), so that really can’t be an excuse. Also, cost can’t be an excuse either, considering the examples I’ve provided consists of both budget and premium phones.
The only answer that makes sense here is GREED. Nothing but plain and good ol capitalism at work.
I think Air Pods netted Apple more money than Spotify’s annual revenue or some shit.
Which is why Samsung gave up after making fun of Apple.
For some time, air pods would have been a top 20 company on their own or something like that.
Solid agree.
The Galaxy S5 from ~7 years ago was submersible, had a headphone jack, and was pretty damn slim.
Any points made by manufacturers now for 3.5mm removal IMO are just excuses in my eyes. A supply chain issue is the only reason I’ll (selfishly) accept.
S5 also had a removable back cover and battery.
i took a chance with the FP4 and bought it even though it has no 3,5mm jack. i absolutely hate it. if there’s no headphone jack on the next model, i will have to switch to nokia or shiftphone.
“This phone has a port I’m not going to use & I’m angry out of morals”
I’m still on a CRT because most new TV don’t have AVI for some reason, I convert AVI to HDMI on my CRT but its about the morals.
Those legacy connectors (AV, SCART, S-Video, RF Modulators etc.) have had a superior replacement with no compromises though, HDMI.
The 3.5mm jack hasn’t really had a viable replacement IMO, and to be honest I don’t think it needs one. Personally I use bluetooth headphones when I’m out, usually switching it off in shopping environments (see #1 below) but indoors everything is 3.5mm.
My main problems with the omission of the 3.5mm jack are…
My biggest issue though is the planned obselecence stuff. The tiny li-ion batteries in the buds being pushed by manufacturers as a “3.5mm replacement” are likely going to get their recharge cycles rinsed out with frequent usage, leading the consumer to buy new buds every 2 years, just like with phones. It’s really disappointing.
if only USB C headphones existed, also 3.5mm jacks aren’t prefect and tend to snap and get warn out quite quickly.
But like your comment is completely beside the point, your allowed to want a headphone jack and u can freely dictate your purchasing habits due to that. But it isn’t anything to do with Morals
True, worn out 3.5mm jacks are very annoying.
I’m in no way trying to imply they’re perfect - IMO there’s always room for improvement. I just don’t think a low tolerance 10 gigabit, 100W capable connector is the right choice to replace a port that gets a lot of abuse.
I did get a bit carried away in my response though tbh, I did not notice you were focused on the morals part - I agree a connector jack is not a moral issue
I just double checked OP’s post (now edited) and couldn’t see anything related to morals though, unless they’ve removed it?
yea original comment included something along the lines of “im not going to buy it even if i don’t need a 3.5mm jack, just out of morals”
On the GrapheneOS side, a used Pixel 5a js the last good phone… both size and a headphone jack. Sucks a lot.
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I like a headphone jack and definitely prefer to have one but even to me that’s a really fucking stupid comment!
Often a phone with no heasphone jack will offer a higher degree of waterproofing performance. Not the case with the Fairphone, I’m guessing because it’s modular. But doesn’t that mean I can add a headphone jack?
Personally, I don’t want a huge hole in my phone and case that I’m never going to take advantage of. Wireless headphones with noise cancelling and such are far more convenient when outside than the open backs I use at my computer. The DAC in most desktops suck so I use a USB-C to 3.5mm anyways, makes it really easy to plug into my phone if I ever needed.
Just my opinion for my situation, but I would honestly rather buy the same phone without a headphone jack than one that did.