Two years after the Fairphone 4 and following the release of some audio products like the Fairbuds XL, the Dutch company is back with a new repairable phone: the Fairphone 5. It looks and feels a lot like the Fairphone 4, but it adds choice upgrades across the board, making it the most modular and also most modern-looking repairable phone from the company yet.
The design is largely unchanged compared to the Fairphone 4, but the improvements that the company did make go a long way: The teardrop notch and the LCD screen is finally gone, with an ordinary punch-hole selfie and an OLED taking its place. Otherwise, you’re looking at an aluminum frame, a triangular camera array, and a removable back cover. Here, the company brought back its signature translucent back cover next to two black and blue variants. The dimensions and weight has been reduced ever-so-slightly compared to the predecessor.
It really does surprise me how so many people (at least on Reddit and Lemmy) care so deeply about a headphone jack.
Speaking as an audiophile, you can buy a USB C dongle for like $10 that even has a good DAC. Only issue is if you’re regularly charging and listening to wired buds simultaneously
Dongles are pointless e-waste. They constantly break, get lost, or are forgotten when you need them the most. They are not a solution.
You can easily leave them attached to your headphones 24/7, which helps avoid losing them
I’ve had headphone jacks on phones break and thats a lot harder and more expensive to fix than buying a tiny dongle (that creates negligible amounts of waste)
I’d argue they’re actually a very good solution 🤷 (aside from arguably on iOS with their dumb proprietary port, but thats easily fixed with USB C)
For point 4. Newer devices are very clever and will auto switch when music is playing and of course both devices are turned on.
Partially. My MacBook will steal the bluetooth connection no matter if something is playing or not. I have to disable bluetooth on the Mac to connect smartphone to my headphones.
I use a headphone jack daily, it is a must for me. Not going to do a stupid Bluetooth adapter or dongle cable that can get lost or damaged
For the record, you know you don’t have to take the USB-C adapter off the headphones if you exclusively use it for that device, right? It’s not as much of a hassle as people believe it is, they just haven’t used one yet.
I use my headphones on my computer and phone which requires the removal of the dongle. It’s not a hassle to you, but it can be a hassle to others.
Same here, but I bought a decent usb dac and I’m now just using the front type c on my pc as well.
I’m fine with bluetooth, but I think a problem for usb-c is that it comes out the bottom of the phone, so awkward to use the phone with headphones. Also, can’t charge and listen.
Samsung even has some stupid specifications for which adapters are “supported”. Its pretty hard to say its not just a money grab to keep Bluetooth on all the time
The only way I can play music from Spotify or youtube in my car is through a headphone jack, I value it very deeply because of that. It’s much cheaper to buy a phone with a jack than it is to replace my car
There’s a bunch of different Bluetooth adapters you can buy these days for about 20 eur.
Still the best way to transmit sound even quality-wise, except if you want surround, 2 channel won’t suffice here
I don’t want to buy more shit I got to remember to charge when I already have a few nice 3.5mm headsets. I know its going to be dead every time I want to use it. I got to pair it every time I switch devices. It works on everything that has the right hole even if its older than your parents.
Its just extra work unless its your daily driver.
it’s useful. I use it.
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While I do care about the headphone jack, I am mostly bitter about the manufacturers deciding for me that I don’t need it. I’d heavily trade off 10% reduction in thickness for a user-replaceable battery and a headphone jack, but it was decided for me that a thinner phone is a big improvement.
Flip phones are making a comeback.
Maybe thicc phones will come back next?
They haven’t decided for you. You make the decision when you choose which phone to buy. It’s entirely your decision.
Most of the issue stems from annoying dongles that wired headphone users typically don’t want to carry.
The situation with fairphone is especially infuriating however, as omitting the headphone jack goes against the whole point of fairphone IMO.
Bluetooth headphones, as convenient as they are, have integrated lithium batteries, which are harmful for the environment. They also have a very short, finite lifespan. Despite these issues, fairphone removed the headphone jack on the fairphone 4 and 5, while simultaneously releasing true wireless Bluetooth earphones that are not repairable. Their whole brand is based on creating ethically sourced, repairable products, so offering an inherently unrepairable item for sale is rather disappointing. I am aware that they offer over ear headphones that are repairable, but I think they shouldn’t sell true wireless earphones until they come up with a real repairable design.
In contrast, there are wired headphones from the mid 1980s that are still functional and still sound amazing, even if they aren’t as convenient to use. There are also modern wired headphones and IEMs (In-Ear Monitors) that have removable, standardized cables. This is great since the cable is what breaks on wired headphones 99% of the time.
Not being able to listen to wired audio while charging is a dealbreaker. And not needing a dongle is convenient.
Even when I had a headphone jack, I hated it. That wire tangled up everywhere.
Bluetooth came out, and that was that. Never went back to wired.
Wireless headphones have been my biggest tech revolution since the smartphone.