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Re:AirPods don't “just work” by criddell on Wednesday January 26, 2022 @09:48AM (#30086051)
> Their battery life was infinite.

That's true, but only because they used your device's battery.

It takes more power for your phone to drive headphones than it does to transmit a bluetooth signal. This is not such a big issue any more since recent phones have crazy long battery life as do recent bluetooth headphones. In 2017 it was a bigger issue.

Re:AirPods don't “just work” by Wowfunhappy on Wednesday January 26, 2022 @09:50AM (#30086095)
> It takes more power for your phone to drive headphones than it does to transmit a bluetooth signal.

...are you sure? And, is that still true even once you consider the extra encoding the phone’s CPU has to do?

I was under the impression that conventional 3.55mm jacks output exceedingly little power...

Re:AirPods don't “just work” by criddell on Wednesday January 26, 2022 @12:07PM (#30088176)
It's true but there are a bunch of little caveats. How big are the drivers, at what volume are you listening, headphone impedance, etc...

These days it really don't matter. Phone have ample battery capacity.

Re:AirPods don't “just work” by falcolas on Wednesday January 26, 2022 @09:52AM (#30086125)
As someone who falls more in the "wired4life" category, the power draw of headphones has never been an issue, Even back in the naughts. That place of honor is reserved for websites, apps, and cell radios.

Ironically, with the loss of the 2.5mm jack power has a greater chance to be an issue, since your headphones and power have to occupy the same jack.