I’m very much a wired headset-user but am willing to consider a dongle — for one reason only: I use a dedicated wired headset (which predates my FP3), which means the dongle could, in principle, stay attached to headset (I could probably even tape the dongle to the headset’s cable?). There’s no routine reason, in my case, to remove / loose the dongle (despite the headset not being always connected). I am concerned about sound quality, which apparently can be an issue, and of course a USB dongle does interfere with charging, etc., but it may be workable, if / when there is a reason to replace my FP3 (which is still going strong, despite being purchased shortly after it was announced).
EDIT: Remove the brain fart “the dongle must be able to power the headset”, which unless I’m more confused, is nonsense.
“Must be able to power …” If your phone does it… the dongle will do it. For hard to drive uses there’s more expensive dongles.
Sound quality can even improve depending on what you spend. Just keep in mind that more quality usually means bigger dongle.
You can get dongles that charge and deliver audio but tbh i find it a bit rare a problem to purchase with that in mind… it makes dongles much fatter.
I have a small Bluetooth receiver that delivers amazing audio. I am kinda fine with what i got. It’s still a bit of a bummer but looking back it was a good decision not to make the headphone jack weigh too heavily in the purchase choice.
If yo try another phone and another carrier that gives you four options
If you have hard SIM you have three variable, phone, SIM and carrier with 8 options, so the e-SIM mathematically is twice as easy to resolve or maybe not ?
So you can move an eSIM, you need to generate a new QR code. I know change always gets resistance. But the arguments against it don’t hold up. So if there aren’t valid arguments against it, but there are arguments for it, then why not just give in?
Still a headphone jack. I’m not considering a Fairphone if they don’t have one. I have two dongles already, one for a tablet and one for an old iPhone I got as a handmedown. Dongles suck, they suck so bad for my experience I’m simply not buying any computer, tablet or phone without them. Bluetooth headphones have their niche, but they’re more expensive and worse then wired earbuds. Not to mention bluetooth earbuds are significantly worse for the enviroment.
Compared to buying a phone bluetooth earbuds are benign, so with easy battery change, spare parts etc. then they are here to stay, until we have bio chips embedded in the skull.
Are you familiar with the reasoning of why the headphone jack was removed? It was because of environmental reasons. The dongle should do the trick, I don’t see why not. Wired headsets haven’t last as long as my Bluetooth headset. So I’m not sure if it’s truly such a waste. There are cheaper ones nowadays. I bought the Jabra Elite 65t for someone as a gift for 30 euro the other day, new.
The reasoning is wrong. Plain and simple.
Can’t build an ingress proof phone if it has a headphone jack? False, Samsung managed to build them.
Bluetooth headphones’ lifespan is limited by their batteries, wired headphones don’t have that problem.
Dongles are a hassle and limit choices. They’re often poorly build and stick out awkwardly from your pocket when connecting wired earphones. Also, they can get strained when connecting big earphones like my Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO’s to them. The cable is a lot thicker then the dongle and has dragged my phone off a table multiple times because of the slumping dongle.
My 15 euro KZ ZSN Pro’s wipe the floor with most cheap (up to 60 euro) bluetooth earphones.
And the massive wastes from constantly changing BT earphones, which all have lithium batteries is enviromentally unfriendly.
Seals can be broken but earbuds are hardly worth the effort compared to a phone, and most phones are completely sealed shut. So not really an acceptable argument.
What I do agree with is that even with a bluetooth jack socket a phone can be made water proof but that takes up more space which Fairphone were trying maximise. So making space seems to be the criteria.
A headphone jack also barely takes up any space and quite a lot of phone manufacturers have been caught with empty space where the headphone jack is supposed to be.
Removing it isn’t to sell you a smaller phone, it’s to sell you wireless earbuds alongside the phone (since these have higher margins than wired ones).
Source? Because FP says the opposite. The headphone jack really isn’t small, so I believe them.
It’s also about repairability. The USB-C port can easily take over the function and is more sustainable to replace and clean. Fairphone made the right choice. You can also still use wired headphones. If it works for you, great. My wired stuff never lasted long. So I’ll stick with Bluetooth.
They don’t build modular phones. Glueing everything shut makes it easier. You have to look at the full picture. FP is a professional company making a difference. If it was so easy as you say it is they would’ve done it.
I completely agree, I can’t count the number of headphones I have lost to faulty cables / connectors.
The one (cheap) pair of bluetooth headphones I have has outlived all of them. If the next one could be repairable that would make it ultimately the more sustainable option for my usecase.
That and the Oneplus 6T also had empty space where the headphone jack used to be and a bunch of other modern phones.
I don’t believe Fairphone’s reasoning. I think they have an excellent concept and build some great phones, but that line of reasoning is BS.
And if it’s about repairabiliy, why not just sell a headphone jack assembly. That’s not really that hard. And I already mentioned, I do NOT want to use a dongle.
As for the second argument. I don’t actually need a fully waterproof phone. Splash proof is more than enough. I’d rather not have my phone gimped on features.
Where exactly in the video should I look? You can open a Fairphone, you can see they used up all the space. Creating a modular phone requires also more space to make it user friendly, the phones you compare the FP4 with are not modular phones. They also run a different business. Are there companies that want to force you to use their expensive Bluetooth headsets? I don’t doubt it’s part of some of these companies marketing strategy. I just don’t see anything in the design decisions of the FP4 that supports that. They even removed the notification LED for space reasons and the phone is still huge. I think you let your disappointment affect your judgement too much. A dongle is just a longer cable to your already existing cable. The only argument that holds is that you cannot charge your phone and listen to music, which was also my issue when I first moved to a phone with just one USB-C port. At least you can swap your battery with a FP. That was a party trick my old Pixel 3 couldn’t.
Making the headphone jack modular is according to the engineers also a challenge, while a USB-C is easier to make modular. But also easier to keep clean and it has multiple roles. From a sustainable and engineering point of view it makes sense to drop the jack. Also because it makes your phone last longer if dust and water protection is better.
I don’t buy that. I think that’s just an excuse to get us to buy BT headphones.
Whatever the reasoning around it is, the fact is I will never consider a Fairphone as long as they don’t have a headphone jack.
The reason I’m mad about it is that I want to consider them. So I hope they realize their mistake and include the headphone jack on the Fairphone 5 (or 4+, whatever comes first)
The phone is nowhere near waterproof, the odd splash maybe, and I think more people want a phone that can handle a splash than an earphone jack.
I’m fine with an FP3
Sadly you seem very upset . . . .
It’s not about belief it’s about accepting that Fairphone have made a decision which obviously doesn’t suit everyone.
My only reason to buy is because of the Fairtrade, so jack or no jack, LED or not, there is no other phone on the market that cares for the those that mine the resources and the production line workers.
Putting up with no jack and no LED is hardly worth the comparrison, I didn’t have to buy a Fair phone.
or maybe not ?
instisting in “never change a running system” ;->>
