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submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by SeahorseTreble@lemmy.world to c/fairphone@lemmy.ml

Title. What is the most ethical smartphone to buy instead of Fairphone that DOES have a 3.5mm headphone jack? By ethical I mean ticking as many boxes as possible: fair trade, environmentally sustainable (ideally using recycled materials), vegan (no animal products), etc etc. I also might get it second hand, but I still want the phone itself to be from an ethical company. Thanks

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[-] SeahorseTreble@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks for this info! I wasn't aware of this technology. However I still am not sure if I really understand it or what you mean, though I might. As far as I can understand, DACs are a converter from digital to analog sound. In the context of 3.5mm headphones and USB C, it would involve plugging the 3.5mm cable of the headphone into the converter, and plugging a cable on the other end of the converter into your USB C port such as on a smartphone. Is that correct?

While I appreciate this option and the advantages it provides, audio quality isn't my priority (comfort, basic usability, functionality & suitability for my use-cases is), and as far as enabling me to use 3.5mm headphones with USB C ports, I already have more straightforward converters for that (DAC converters I looked at seemed chunky & would add weight, tho could be worthwhile for audio improvement), and while DACs might be better for this, I don't think they would preclude the inherent trickiness and fraughtness (for me) of needing to use a converter, having those converters break/malfunction (though higher quality ones may last longer, but the connection seemed unstable in all the ones I tried, on multiple USB C phones over the years), and not being able to charge or have the phone plugged in while using headphones.

So I think sadly this doesn't solve my problem. Thanks tho!

this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2025
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