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Poll: 3.5mm headphone jack or USB Type C?

AbbieJanuary 5, 2016

The big controversy in the iPhone camp is that the iPhone 7 will not feature a 3.5mm headphone jack, we have seen it before on Android devices, but are we likely to see more in 2016?

Apple could be ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack on their iPhone 7. Why? Well the reason is to free up space inside the new phone and also create a thinner device. Ditching the headphone jack on a phone isn’t a new idea though and as usual Apple are borrowing from Android.

Oppo already launched the Oppo R5 which was simply too thin to have a headphone jack. So for 2016 are we likely to see more phones ditch the old audio standard?

USB Type C

In the case of the iPhone 7, Apple can easily ditch the headphone jack and use their lightning connector, in fact there are already headphones available that will use the dock connector on iOS devices to play music through.

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On Android we have USB Type C and as ZUK showed with their Z1 launch in China, the new standard can also be used to run powered noise reduction headphones. With the adoption of USB Type C an all time high for Chinese phones, we could see that new models will follow Oppo and Apple and cancel 3.5mm headphones all together.

The removal of the headphone jack is obviously going to cause some backlash. Some consumers will see the move as a crash grab by manufacturers wanting to sell more accessories, but others are going to appreciate the change and the possible benefits they might bring.

Would you be willing to throw away your old headphones for USB Type C versions on future phones?

[poll id=”4″]

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About the author
Abbie
Abbie is a self confessed Chinese phone addict! After cutting her teeth on the Meizu M9 she hasn't been able to keep away from Chinese phones keeping her ear to the ground especially for the latest Shanzhai and clone news!

Vivo X5 Max is slimmest smartphone in the words, but still have 3.5mm headphone jack

Dante
January 5, 2016
For a guy thats fckin serious in audio , no fkin way im gonna ditch the 3.5 mm jack , fck the thin phones really 8 mm is k for me , i remember when 2 cm phones were considered thin , I wont listen to aphex twin through a usb type c jack , also my setup needs a charging port , FiioE10K->UsbHub->Powerbank->Phone , im making a lot of underground electro , myself lol so nope
balcobomber25
January 5, 2016
I voted for type C, but in all honesty neither feature is really a must have for me. Type C is great for faster transfer rates if it is Type C 3.0, which isn’t always the case. I actually have been using a bluetooth set of headphones lately, and although the sound isn’t spectacular it is good enough for me.

AJ_74
January 5, 2016
Can you imagine the iPhone powering a pair of noise cancelling earbuds? iPhone users will either have to carry around a juice box-sized portable charger, or a REALLY long extension cord ;p
Guaire
January 5, 2016

Dave Weinstein
January 7, 2016
They idea is only appealing to Apple, and that’s because they want to add security so that no vendor can plug into an Apple device unless they pay them a cut. They’re out of options for securing the 3.5mm audio jack.
From a practical standpoint, it would be great if everything used USB-C ports, but only if there were 3 or 4 of them on the phone! Just think about it, if you have only the one USB-C port, plugging in your headset would stop you from charging the phone. With 3 USB-C ports, you could plug in a headset, VR glasses and charge at the same time. Or you could have headset, USB storage and charging at the same time. What I’m getting at is LOTS of flexibility.
But the issue goes far beyond headset jacks. There were a several monitors announced at CES with USB-C video+docking solutions that would turn your phone into a lightweight-PC (complete with keyboard, mouse and monitor) when you plugged them in. USB-C offer a lot of future expansion flexibility.
And, when we talk about USB-C it really NEEDS to be USB-C connector for USB version 3.1. The crap that LeTV pulled with the X900 Max (i.e. USB-C connector with USB 2.0 connection) will just damage the “universalness” (i.e the U) of USB, and create weird cases where users can’t figure out why everything plugged in correctly but doesn’t work.

VMortens
January 7, 2016
I’m not even a fan of USB type-C as a charging/comm port, is in most models it doesn’t bring any advantage whatsoever. Only few implement USB3.0/3.1 tranfsers with it, so why bother?
Now, replacing the classic jack with type-C for headphones is something that can easily get through in the Apple world, but will never get popular in the Android world. Unless, it becomes a next standard, that every headphone producer will follow.

AHappyKoalaBear
January 7, 2016
lol god no, horrible position to begin with.

Dave Weinstein
January 7, 2016
They idea is only appealing to Apple, and that’s because they want to add security so that no vendor can plug into an Apple device unless they pay them a cut. They’re out of options for securing the 3.5mm audio jack.
From a practical standpoint, it would be great if everything used USB-C ports, but only if there were 3 or 4 of them on the phone! Just think about it, if you have only the one USB-C port, plugging in your headset would stop you from charging the phone. With 3 USB-C ports, you could plug in a headset, VR glasses and charge at the same time. Or you could have headset, USB storage and charging at the same time. What I’m getting at is LOTS of flexibility.
But the issue goes far beyond headset jacks. There were a several monitors announced at CES with USB-C video+docking solutions that would turn your phone into a lightweight-PC (complete with keyboard, mouse and monitor) when you plugged them in. USB-C offer a lot of future expansion flexibility.
And, when we talk about USB-C it really NEEDS to be USB-C connector for USB version 3.1. The crap that LeTV pulled with the X900 Max (i.e. USB-C connector with USB 2.0 connection) will just damage the “universalness” (i.e the U) of USB, and create weird cases where users can’t figure out why everything plugged in correctly but doesn’t work.

VMortens
January 7, 2016
I’m not even a fan of USB type-C as a charging/comm port, is in most models it doesn’t bring any advantage whatsoever. Only few implement USB3.0/3.1 tranfsers with it, so why bother?
Now, replacing the classic jack with type-C for headphones is something that can easily get through in the Apple world, but will never get popular in the Android world. Unless, it becomes a next standard, that every headphone producer will follow.

AHappyKoalaBear
January 7, 2016
lol god no, horrible position to begin with.
Max
January 8, 2016
apple is just ditching the port so they can gather millions for adapters and new gear that cost 3 times as much as the old. but hey, every apple-fanboy needs the new iphone and they all want to listen to their perfect apple music via their itunes account, so they’ll need to buy the fucking expensive lightning-headphones although they already have 3 other sets… oh and dont forget all the money they get from peripheral companies.

Max
January 8, 2016
apple is just ditching the port so they can gather millions for adapters and new gear that cost 3 times as much as the old. but hey, every apple-fanboy needs the new iphone and they all want to listen to their perfect apple music via their itunes account, so they’ll need to buy the fucking expensive lightning-headphones although they already have 3 other sets… oh and dont forget all the money they get from peripheral companies.

ShameSuck ShameSuck
August 6, 2016
3.5mm is a gold standard, you can use it everywhere. usb-c and lightnging these port wont last long, they change every few years. if timcock killed 3.5mm standard thats means one thing you need to buy headset every few years to keep up the tread
what we need is a standard, so that the earphone you bought todays can last and to be useful across every device, for example pc, psp, walkman, mp3 player, mac
it took 50 years to make the 3.5mm compatible to almost everything. it will take another 50 years for lightnging usb-c to achieve the same result. I dare to say that before these port become popular, timcock will kill it and messup everything again
ShameSuck ShameSuck
August 6, 2016
3.5mm is a gold standard, you can use it everywhere. usb-c and lightnging these port wont last long, they change every few years. if timcock killed 3.5mm standard thats means one thing you need to buy headset every few years to keep up the tread
what we need is a standard, so that the earphone you bought todays can last and to be useful across every device, for example pc, psp, walkman, mp3 player, mac
it took 50 years to make the 3.5mm compatible to almost everything. it will take another 50 years for lightnging usb-c to achieve the same result. I dare to say that before these port become popular, timcock will kill it and messup everything again