Headphone jack is not coming back to Fairphone

[UPPERCASE]

Hi, welcome to the forum!

@Zoyolin

The main reason for it to disappear is explained by a cost trade off

Where do you read this? The reasons are actually (space and use) efficiency, repairability and sustainability.

[Zoyolin]

Hey sorry I though I read it here :

@UPPERCASE

The main advantage of switching to USB audio is that it moves the DAC and amp components from inside the source (smartphone) to the inside of the headphones or dongle

So as far as I gather :

• Unlike me a majority of present customers don’t mind using wireless sound peripherals or dongles.
• Mechanically the design of jack connector is hard to maintain.
• pushing the DAC and amp outside the phone’s boundary improves it, at the expense of the sound peripheral

Since USB-C could convey analog signals, and provided it isn’t costing so much could fairphone use this feature? That could enable the active dongle to become a passive adaptor. And be accepted in much the same way as the 3.5mm to 6.35mm jack adaptor, rugged enough to stay on the phone. And maybe slot two usb-C ports in the future?

[Zoyolin]

Ho I’m getting onboard with the USB-C now, I want more usbc ports on different sides of the phone, and I want the dongles to be hard-blocks extending into more usb-c. finally, so that we can properly call it a modular design, I want the protective case to mecanically hold it all in place, effectively leaving me to choose the phone size versus peripheral I want! And finally in 2030 I’ll have reached perfection of a sustainable updated phone that like my ex-samsung galaxy s4 mini has both a jack and a IR-LED !!! (for only 4 times the volume but hey…)

[CapuaS]

What you see or don’t is irrelevant, since it’s highly contextual. I see tons of people with both wired and wireless headsets where I live. Arguing either way makes no sense.
Also the headphone jack is not that big at all. Even my Unihertz Jelly Star has it and that phone is positively tiny. Replacing it is just as easy as replacing a USB-C port and cleaning it is not that hard at all if you’ve ever had the experience of having to do it (the only port I ever had to clean was a lightning port, twice. Those things attract lint like they’re magnetised to it).

It’s clear we’re not seeing eye to eye on this, but my position is adamant. I would have had a Fairphone if they kept the jack. Till the day they bring it back, a Fairphone is not an option. Not having the jack is an inconvenience to me that cannot be solved with a dongle, since that is an inconvenience in itself.

[iopq]

note that you need a DAC and amp for the phone audio since it must be able to play sound from its speakers

the DAC and amp in my very cheap laptop is excellent for whatever reason, absolutely transparent to my ears (unlike my computer’s motherboard which can’t amplify my headphones to a decent volume without distortion) so it’s not like it’s impossible to use the DAC/AMP for everything and also provide it as a jack

my use case is charging while listening to my wired IEMs, if I listen too long the TWS will lose all charge - but I can’t charge and listen through the USB-C port

so while outside I’ll use the TWS for convenience, at home I do use the 3.5mm jack