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Re:Google announces Pixel 5, Pixel 4A 5G, and Pixel 4A by p1necone on Monday August 03, 2020 @11:31PM (#24046263)
One day we'll have wireless earbuds with batteries that last forever and lossless audio over whatever signal format they use and Apple will be hailed as ahead of the curve for removing the headphone jack before everyone else, conveniently ignoring the fact that missing a headphone jack when wireless headphones are not perfect is just a straight up downside.
Re:Google announces Pixel 5, Pixel 4A 5G, and Pixel 4A by utopcell on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @08:55AM (#24049426)
Agreed. It would be like removing the floppy disk in the 80s or the CDROM drive in the 90s and claiming it was a good move 30 years later.
Re:Google announces Pixel 5, Pixel 4A 5G, and Pixel 4A by yreg on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @09:03AM (#24049502)
I'm daily Airpods user and for me they are pretty much perfect, today. I'm happy with my phone lacking a giant port I never use.

I understand that it doesn't fit everyone though.

Re:Google announces Pixel 5, Pixel 4A 5G, and Pixel 4A by sjwright on Monday August 03, 2020 @11:55PM (#24046405)
If what you want is wired earbuds that connect directly to a jack on the phone, nothing has changed. Such earbuds still ship with iPhones today.

If you want to use wired headphones, the $9 adapter works well. Wireless headphones are also widely available and have batteries that last all day.

I realise the above doesn’t perfectly cater to all customers, but anecdotally it seems to cater well enough to enough of them.

Re:Google announces Pixel 5, Pixel 4A 5G, and Pixel 4A by p1necone on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @12:05AM (#24046461)
The main issue for me personally is not being able to charge and listen to audio at the same time. The main use case for headphones on my phone for me is watching streaming video in bed and that drains the battery pretty fast.

I know there's a (kind of bulky) dongle for charging + headphones, but I'd rather buy a device that has the ports I need already.

The $9 adapter is cool though. Afaik it's pretty much the best budget usb dac around.

Re:Google announces Pixel 5, Pixel 4A 5G, and Pixel 4A by doubleunplussed on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @02:04AM (#24047118)
I bought one of those adaptors, and whilst it worked with my charger at home, when I really needed it on a plane, my phone thought it was supposed to charge the plane :/.

I've pre-ordered the pixel 4A. My phone was dying anyway, but I'm going to like having a headphone jack again.

Re:Google announces Pixel 5, Pixel 4A 5G, and Pixel 4A by sjwright on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @02:06AM (#24047133)
I understand the earbud+charging dilemma; my wife had the exact same bedtime use case issue. I bought her an Anker PowerPort Wireless 5 stand which holds the phone vertically. Its non-rapid charging speed is not an issue when the phone is charged overnight. (In fact the slow speed is probably good for battery longevity.)

As for myself, I bought Bose QC35's prior to upgrading to my first jackless iPhone so I was never affected by its absence. I almost never use earbuds.

Re:Google announces Pixel 5, Pixel 4A 5G, and Pixel 4A by p1necone on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @06:33PM (#24055223)
No combination of extra dongles and devices is going to be more convenient or cheaper than just plugging in wired headphones to me.
Re:Google announces Pixel 5, Pixel 4A 5G, and Pixel 4A by sjwright on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @06:45AM (#24048605)
It’s hilarious how many people have downvoted my comment without actually replying. I can’t imagine how anything I said could be construed as controversial or disagreeable, as opposed to representing a perspective.
Re:Google announces Pixel 5, Pixel 4A 5G, and Pixel 4A by ck425 on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @08:56AM (#24049440)
I'll bite. As others have said you can't charge and listen to music on phones without a jack.

On the point about affordable wireless headphones, many of us have spent a lot of time and money finding a great wired headphone setup. I don't want to go spend another £300 and 20-30 hours of my time finding an equivalent setup, all because some industrial designer wants his design another millimeter thinner.

Lastly bluetooth still sucks, particularly if you change devices a lot. I've yet to see a BT setup that allows me to easily change my headphones between my laptop, my phone and my ps4 in under 2 seconds.

Re:Google announces Pixel 5, Pixel 4A 5G, and Pixel 4A by sjwright on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @11:02AM (#24050668)
Thanks for the reply. As I replied elsewhere, the combination of earbuds and wireless charging was a perfect solution for my wife.

Personally I don’t know anyone who routinely charges their phone anytime other than when in bed. And personally I don’t know anyone who has an issue with all day battery life. I’ve no doubt these are still issues for some people but again, wireless charging pads are cheap.

I agree multi device Bluetooth sucks. But that’s not your only option. My QC35 are great for two-device use cases. In your scenario I’d use a wired connection for one of the three devices and your instant switching criteria is solved.

(I’m assuming you’re fine with one wired connection given that you’re criticising the removal of headphone jacks.)