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It doesn't seem like the QCM6490 and Fairphone 5 are missing any major features.
it seems odd, to me, that a phone marketed towards sustainability geeks would launch without a headphone jack
it's such a shame too, as it would probably be my next phone otherwise
Wow I didn't realize it didn't. That's really too bad, cables are (mostly) forever and exorbitantly cheaper than wireless counterparts.
I finally caved and got some Sony Linkbuds a little over a year ago, and recently the Linkbuds S. Overall it's the tradeoff between music all the time and having no cable, so I was able to make it work, but the last couple months the first pairs left bud have started dying very quickly and not charging. So some $150+ (at the time) earbuds died in a little over a year outside of warranty.
My Sony EX-450 H has lasted me since 2019 and they're only just now starting to give me small issues when the cable moves because I'd slept with them for the last couple years. They were $65 at the time.
I just don't understand how Bluetooth got so popular other than marketing/branding from beats. The slight convenience of not having a cable hasn't outweighed losing listening time nor the poor longevity. The biggest plus to the Linkbuds was the whole concept for why I bought them, as at the time I wanted to listen to music but still needed to hear things around me easily. They were great for that, but now they die too quick and don't charge so... That's cool.
I have to say, I missed the headphones jack until I got a portable DAC. Holy fuck, it sounds so much better than any headphone jack I've ever used, plus I can use it on my computer.
They're definitely nice. It doesn't help that most internal DACs for phones are pretty terrible.
A good DAC in a phone is pretty comparable though. The Sony Xperia DAC is pretty good, especially compared to bluetooths limitations. Though most portable DACs are probably as good or better, with the benefit of using it for more devices or extra volume control.
I think it's one of those converging aspects that leads to where we are today. Phone DACs weren't great, headphones jacks were pushed as bulky for not the best sound quality, then phone DACs aren't pushed to be as good and phones start using them less. Why bother spending extra on an internal DAC if it's just going to be seen as less good as the alternative anyway. Before we knew it portable DACs are an audiophile product and Bluetooth is the norm.
It doesn't help that amidst all this there was the ohm wars for headphones lol