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submitted 1 year ago by dontblink@feddit.it to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

The new fairphone 5 came out, it looks cool but the price is really, really high..

If it's a phone that can really last 10 years it could be good, but is that true? Is it worth it? I could get the one with /e/os from Murena because i want a degoogled phone with a bootloader locked, but is it usable on a daily basis?

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[-] monke@kbin.social 52 points 1 year ago

There is a good reason to remove it. Especially for a company like fairphone. Why waste resources and money into making a redundant component (USB-C can do audio, also the majority of people have switched to wireless audio) when you're trying to make a planet-conscious product?

[-] highduc@lemmy.ml 57 points 1 year ago

There is no good faith argument that can be made for the removal of the headphone jack. Companies removed it to sell overpriced wireless headphones.
They said it was due to size, but new phones are quite chunky these days so that's not true. Waterproofing? Can be done, many phones have waterproofing and a headphone jack.
Costs? Come on it's a very simple, very old, plastic bit.
And sustainability? "planet-conscious"? You must be kidding. It's way better to use regular headphones than the wireless pieces of crap with batteries and an amplifier and a bluetooth receiver in them.

[-] monke@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago

Companies removed it to sell overpriced wireless headphones.

Of course, I'm not denying this. That still doesn't negate my point about audio jacks being redundant ports.

It’s way better to use regular headphones than the wireless pieces of crap with batteries and an amplifier and a bluetooth receiver in them.

Yes, and those regular headphones CAN be plugged into phones without headphone jack via the USB-C port

[-] SatyrSack@lemmy.one 9 points 1 year ago

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I think phones without a headphone jack should have a second USB C port instead.

[-] monke@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago
[-] Juno@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

I miss the simplicity of plugging in something that worked reliably well 100% of the time tho

[-] Ataraxia@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 year ago

Well good luck then. Because enough of us have absolutely no problem with using the usbc or Bluetooth. I rarely even listen to music anymore anyway so it's not something I use.

[-] d3Xt3r@lemmy.nz 35 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

majority of people have switched to wireless audio

Citation needed. Also, just because people have "switched" to wireless doesn't mean that they don't have a pair of old wired headphones still lying around somewhere, unused, eventually turning into e-waste. Also, I suspect a significant portion of Fairphone users are the kind who'd still hold on to wired headphones.

when you're trying to make a planet-conscious product?

The first rule in making a planet-conscious product is the RRR - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. If people already have wired headphones, then the most eco-friendly solution would be to enable users to continue to use them, and not force them to buy even more new products. And as a manufacturer, there's practically no shortage of 3.5mm jacks around (plenty of old devices where the parts can be recycled from), and there's almost no complexity involved in wiring up or making circuitry for something that's been a standard for several decades.

[-] Rayspekt@kbin.social 19 points 1 year ago

Also, just because people have “switched” to wireless doesn’t mean that they don’t have a pair of old wired headphones still lying around somewhere, unused, eventually turning into e-waste.

Another use-case for the headphone jack: I use it to connect my phone to various audio devices, e. g. E-drums for practising playback or the practice room PA tolisten to demos. Nearly all professional equipment uses wired connections.

[-] Juno@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Not to mention that unlike the wireless buds, headphones I used ten years ago and sat on a shelf that whole time will all still work 100% of the time. Show me wireless battery powered crap that can claim that

[-] monke@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago

Citation needed.

I don't have a source ready with me to back up my statement. But at least here in India, almost everyone I see in public transportation use wireless earbuds. Usually I look like the odd one out for wearing wired earphones.

If people already have wired headphones, then the most eco-friendly solution would be to enable users to continue to use them, and not force them to buy even more new products.

You absolutely don't need to go out and buy a new headphones if your phone doesn't have an audio jack. Just buy a dongle. Yes, I'm aware that this is worse for the planet than just including an audio jack in the phone. But if you buy a dongle once, you don't have to worry about your future phones not having a headphone jack. So in the long run, this move is better for the planet.

[-] andyMFK@reddthat.com 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

How is buying a dongle you shouldn't need better for the planet than a phone manufacturer providing a headphone jack??? The phone already has a DAC in it, they literally only need to include the actual port

almost everyone I see in public transportation use wireless earbuds. Usually I look like the odd one out for wearing wired earphones.

your sample is incredibly biased, you're taking 1 demographic and assuming everyone acts like that. Go into a recording studio and see how many wireless headphones they use, Go to a concert and see how they are driving their speakers. Just because a lot of consumers use wireless earphones in an environment that doesn't lend itself to good audio (like public transport), doesn't mean most people are using it.

[-] monke@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago

How is buying a dongle you shouldn’t need better for the planet than a phone manufacturer providing a headphone jack??

Did you even read my reply fully?

Go into a recording studio and see how many wireless headphones they use

Recording studios also don't use a smartphone to do their work.

Even if we do assume that the majority of the world still uses wired earphones, it still makes sense to remove the audio jack for reasons I have explained already.

[-] andyMFK@reddthat.com 10 points 1 year ago

You haven't provided a single good reason. Why are you fighting this so hard? Samsung isn't gonna kiss you.

[-] monke@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago

Ah yes, it is totally unfair to expect consumers who prefer wired audio to make a one time purchase of a 10$ dongle. Instead phone manufacturers should continue to ship every single phone with an audio jack for years to come. And anybody who says it is fine to remove the audio jack because those who prefer wired audio can use a dongle is obviously a samsung shill.

[-] andyMFK@reddthat.com 20 points 1 year ago

it's not a redundant component at all. USB-C doesn't carry analogue audio. You need an external DAC to convert that digital signal to analogue to make it usable. You can't plug your headphones into a USB-C port.

[-] monke@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

Basically you need to buy a 10$ dongle to make it work. How hard is that?

[-] andyMFK@reddthat.com 25 points 1 year ago

It's not hard. It's wasteful and unnecessary. It means you can't charge your phone and listen to music at the same time. There are no advantages to removing the headphone jack

[-] cyberwolfie@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

My FP4 lasts two days on one charge, and charges fully in about 30 minutes. In most cases it shouldn't be an issue finding a 15-30 minute interval within two days where you don't listen to music in order to charge. Not all arguments against the removal are equally good, in my opinion.

However, I agree that dongles are wasteful. I burned through many such 3.5mm to Lightning on my previous iPhone. They had the durability of a snowman in Summer, and also cost about 10 bucks each for the official one. Since Fairphone claims sustainability as the main reason to remove the port, I'd love to see an actual calculation on the impact of broken ports vs broken dongles. I think the dongles will lose.

this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2023
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