this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2023
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A couple hours before I was on the edge of getting a Fairphone 5 but I read the specifications and didn't see 3.5 mm audio jack anywhere. So I thought to myself...why? The community has been requesting this for a couple years ago now so why not. They're already making money on the phone, they're really pushing for people to get their wireless headphones? Just add the headphone jack, shouldn't be too hard.

They said they're treating their workers fairly, sourcing from ethical sources, renewable claims, repairability claims, and supporting foss projects (they donated a fp4 to CalyxOS to support development). All of these are amazing, so adding a little headphone jack shouldn't be that hard in the grand scheme of all this.

*Add the headphone jack and I'll be happy to support and get a fp5.

https://calyxos.org/news/2022/02/25/device-support/

https://shop.fairphone.com/fairphone-5

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[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 51 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They said they’re treating their workers fairly, sourcing from ethical sources, renewable claims, repairability claims, and supporting foss projects (they donated a fp4 to CalyxOS to support development). All of these are amazing, so adding a little headphone jack shouldn’t be that hard in the grand scheme of all this.

lol wtf

All of those things seem vastly more important than a headphone jack!

[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 17 points 1 year ago (8 children)

I'm not discounting their achievements but if they truly want eco friendly in mind then they would retain the headphone jack so people don't have to buy adaptors or get new wireless headphones they didn't want in the first place.

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[–] winter@slrpnk.net 29 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Wireless earphones/headphones are more expensive and sometimes inconvenient. People defending companies say "you can get a pair of wireless buds for like 20 dollars" you can, but how much are they going to last and how shitty will they feel and sound? Even when buying them for a high price, their batteries will wear out. The worst thing is adding this port doesn't affect you in the slightest if you don't use wired headphones, so couldn't you just shut the fuck up if that's the case?

[–] falkerie71@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 year ago (4 children)

One thing people don't/forget to mention, is that the microphones in even earpods tier wired earphones will sound infinitely better than most mics in Bluetooth headphones, even in the multiple hundred dollar tier range.

Also, you won't be forced to go into crappy mono sound mode when on call using Bluetooth headphones. When I use BT headphones with my laptop, I almost always use the integrated mic on the laptop instead of the built in ones in the headphone due to this.

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[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago

There are arguments saying the headphone jack takes up too much space which could be made room for something else like a bigger battery and more components. To that I say to take a look at the iphone 6 or phones nowadays that still retain the headphone jack. Absolute disgrace that everybody has jumped off the cliff with Apple.

[–] ghandi9@lemmy.meg.li 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Wireless headphones aren't the only available option.. There are USB earplugs and there are adapters. The only argument you have is "but I can't charge my phone while listening to music"..

[–] qtj@feddit.de 5 points 1 year ago

I think there are even dongles that let you charge while listening to music.

[–] Dontfearthereaper123@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

Yes but I have audiophile headphones that I used to be able to use on on my phone without needing a dongle which I lose and need to replace everytime I plug the headphones into something else Can u name a solution for this that doesn't involve replacing dongles constantly

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[–] ghandi9@lemmy.meg.li 20 points 1 year ago (3 children)

So I thought to myself…why?

Why? There are various arguments as to why the old audio jack standard is obsolete, but this discussion was essentially settled with the Fairphone 4, which was the first one that did not have a headphone jack. And they released a detailed article describing their reasoning..

https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/9836188988049-Audio-jack-3-5mm

The community has been requesting this for a couple years

The community? It's not as if Fairphone just willy nilly decided to get rid of the headphone jack, this was done with feedback from the community in mind.. Just because you are loud and passionate doesn't mean that your opinion is the only one that represents the community's.. As a fairphone user and "member of the community", I say fuck the 3.5 mm jack.. It's an ancient standard that was obsolete years ago,

And just to be clear, this isn't a discussion about wireless vs wired earbuds. You can have wired USB earbuds, you can even use your old 3.5 mm jack headphones with an adaptor. This is a discussion whether we should switch back to an ancient and inferior standard just because you are used to it..

Just add the headphone jack, shouldn’t be too hard.

And this entitled and wilfully ignorant attitude will make people take you even less seriously.. You can't "just add the headphone jack", decisions like that have an impact on all of the design of the device and have to be carefully evaluated.. You simply going "come on just do it, how hard can it be" will not convince anyone..

[–] blackkn1ght@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 year ago (8 children)

The only ignorant answer i'm seeing is from yourself.

The headphone jack is an inexpensive small connector that offers far better quality than bluetooth does (i.e. lossless audio), is universal and is a really inexpensive feature to add to a device.

The ONLY reason it has been removed is to push the sales of wireless headphones and earbuds. Fairphone got rid of it and soon after started selling bluetooth devices. And you just bought the marketing. As for the usb adapters, those are an extra point of failure and easy to misplace.

For all the good things Fairphone did, this is a really shitty one. If Sony can keep the jack on all their devices, anybody can, and the rest are excuses.

You don't like the jack? You can just keep using bluetooth.

[–] lemann@lemmy.one 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Their responses address commenters directly, with an apple-esque "you are doing it wrong" attitude, instead of focusing on the actual subject matter - the 3.5mm jack itself. It's not really a discussion, it's much more comparable to victim blaming and trolling 🤷‍♂️. People are looking for a discussion, not an attack thinly veiled as a "solution". No point engaging IMO.

Regarding the actual topic though, I'm fully in agreement with you.

Here's why I don't feel as if bluetooth or dongles are an appropriate replacement: https://lemmy.one/comment/2684726

Since then I've also realised driver & codec support will slowly become a big issue as we move forward with dongles and bluetooth headphones, especially for people who prefer to keep their devices for longer

[–] blackkn1ght@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Some people will just swallow propaganda, and defend corporations even going against their own interests.

To be clear, i'm not against bluetooth audio, heck i even have a set of high end Jabra earbuds, but those are not a substitute for my AKG k702 or my Audio Technica M40x. Having an audio jack is about having an option, and we know companies are lying through their teeth because somebody managed to add an audio jack to an iPhone without losing any functionality at all.

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[–] And009@reddthat.com 11 points 1 year ago (6 children)

How is it obsolete, I understand a lot of people not needing it but all Audiophile products still need a physical connection in the form of 2.5, 3.5 or 4.4mm jack. 3.5mm has been a standard for the longest time.

I'd rather have that instead of a additional adapter to connect my iems. Only benefit in my case was that it allowed me to use a balanced connection for the same added cost.

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[–] ExLisper@linux.community 8 points 1 year ago (17 children)

the old audio jack standard is obsolete

Funny you say this because I'm using one as I write this. Why? Because simply plugging in my headphones into the phone is way faster then connecting ones using bluetooth, because I just have pair of small cheap headphones in my backpack and because I wanted to listen to music now. Yes, I have BT headphones but those are big (over the ear headphones with big case) so I left them at home. Yes, I could get spare, small BT headphones but those are way more expensive and I would have to remember to charge them. Also, if I forget to bring headphones to work desktop support can give me a pair... with 3.5mm jack. So I'm also avoiding phones without a jack and it's not because I'm stubborn. It's because every now and then I still find myself using it. The day I stop using it I will be ready to get a phone without it.

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[–] meiko60@lemmy.sdf.org 16 points 1 year ago (5 children)

sony still retains headphone jack on their flagship phone

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You don't really need to make a post about not buying a produck ya know?

[–] whodoctor11@lemmy.ml 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (5 children)

I have a few better (in my opinion) motives to why I am not getting any fair phone:

• There's not such a thing like ethical consume under capitalism.

• It isn't environmental good to change from a working phone to anything.

• The new costs above $600 and the old ones costs around $400. This is a bunch of money and here in my country is almost 2 monthly minimum wages, without taxes, of course.

So I am sticking with my old Samsung, thank you.

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

[–] miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It isn't environmental good to change from a working phone to anything.

They keep saying that themselves, no one actually tries to sell you one if you have a phone already.

The most sustainable phone is the one you already have

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[–] polskilumalo@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There’s not such a thing like ethical consume under capitalism.

More and more people are saying it folks.

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[–] ghandi9@lemmy.meg.li 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

There’s not such a thing like ethical consume under capitalism.

What's the conclusion of this claim? That we shouldn't consume anything at all? That it doesn't matter what we consume as it all is equally unethical?

Even if you believe that all consumption is unethical, there are still differences in impact and effect depending on what we consume and how much we consume.

It isn’t environmental good to change from a working phone to anything.

Of course not, but who is urging people to replace their new/working smartphone with a fairphone?

The new costs above $600 and the old ones costs around $400. This is a bunch of money

From a price/quality perspective, the fairphone has always been "bad".. You pay the price of a upper mid smartphone and get older mid tech. That's because the fairphone's main appeal is it's modularity and their focus on "sustainable" production, which of course has it's price.

If your main focus is price and affordability, the fairphone is a bad choice.

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[–] metaStatic@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hopefully by the time my s10e is ready for landfill companies will be making reasonably sized phones again. If I wanted a tablet I'd buy a fucking tablet.

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[–] noddy@beehaw.org 11 points 1 year ago

TLDR: Long rant about modern smart phones.

I've concluded that it is impossible to get a new phone that has the features I want. Some phone manufacturer always seems to arbitrarily declare useful features/form factors obsolete, maybe replaces it with some new gimmick and gets the hype machine going so all the other manufacturers do the same in fear of becoming irrelevant.

I just wish that some day some company is going to create a smart phone with a reliable fingerprint reader on the back again where it is reachable by fingers on BOTH the left and right hand. Or that some manufacturer will create a phone with a smaller screen than 6 inches. Or god forbid a normal aspect ratio like 16:9 instead of the ridiculously long lightsabers they're making now. Then maybe it would be possible to get it out of my pocket while sitting down. Missing headphone jack is just a drop in the ocean IMO. There are so many other annoyances that I didn't use to have, but now is an issue with modern smart phones.

If I got the chance to dictate what the manufacturers should do. I would tell them to stop. The camera is good enough. Make it smaller and not protruding out the back of the phone so much. The SOC is fast enough. Make it more power efficient instead of chasing for the next GHz. The screen is large enough, just stop. If I wanted a larger screen I would use a tablet. Do some damn QA. Test the main functionality of a phone, which is communication, not game benchmarks, not who can take the prettiest picture of the moon. Is it possible to take the phone out of the pocket without accidentally hanging up on whoever is calling you? Is it possible to send and receive to/from SMS/MMS groups? Does the fingerprint reader actually work or does it just say "sorry too many tries" every time you take the phone out of the pocket before even touching the fingerprint reader?

Just had to get that out of my system :P

[–] jimmydoreisalefty@lemmus.org 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Edit: forgot ewaste link, added dates

Always great to be cautious of corporations and what PR they say until proven otherwise.

At the end of the day profit is the goal of corporations to a certain point.

We decide what we want to support, if they don't have what you want then you do not buy it.

Louis Rossmann videos on subject:

Fairphone thoughts & commentary with Louis Rossmann [Oct 11, 2021]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhLtyrRwGcg

The fairphone reduces ewaste - by removing the headphone jack.... [Sep 15, 2022]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRdL0StldJM

Why I was wrong about fairphone [Jan 3, 2023]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAogtqyN22M

edit: words and sentence

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[–] WhoRoger@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It's even wilder that they didn't learn the lesson after fp4. Did people really just complain and then buy it anyway? How many phones can they sell that they can afford to piss off their customers like this? I just don't understand how is the smartphone market so borked.

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[–] eager_eagle@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (9 children)

the headphone jack community is like the vegans of smartphones

[–] WhoRoger@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

In the sense that vegans want vegan food available in vegan stores? Cause that's the equivalent of wanting a headphone jack in a phone from a company that sells their products on all these promises.

[–] Vlhacs@reddthat.com 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'll admit, it came off a bit whiny and Bluetooth hardware is admittedly very accessible these days, but Bluetooth does definitely add additional unnecessary hardware and for a no compromise company like fairphone, it does seem strange they decided to leave out the headphone jack

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago (5 children)

It's a "nice to have", but I'd never rule out buying a phone for it.

[–] NightOwl@lemmy.one 6 points 1 year ago

Not like people really can these days. Options get even narrower if people start putting in settings they need like good software support and unlockable bootloader. Despite the many options there isn't really a phone that doesn't have some sort of concession to it despite the increasing price points.

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