The Headphone Jack

Yesterday, gaming company, Razer, entered the smartphone market announcing their first ever ‘Razer Phone’, and one of its features (or lack thereof), was the decision to use USB-C in favour over the traditional 3.5mm as its primary port for headphones. More and more companies seem to be choosing this option lately however it continues to be a polarizing topic online, and for me in particular, it’s enough to completely lose interest the device.

Why change?

Everyone knows the old adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, yet smartphone manufacturers seem intent on forcing the method of using USB-C, and Bluetooth headphones down consumers’ throats. The fact of the matter is that there really is no value of doing such, and if anything, it’s promoting poorer audio quality through these alternate methods. Worse yet, no other industry seems to be acknowledging the need for change.

The dongle

The irony of the situation is that the manufacturers endorsing this change aren’t even helping their own argument, when they package a typical (incompatible) headphone with their device. They usually include a dongle for users to attach their headphones to, and then attach that to their phone. Needless to say this is an inconvenience; it’s another hassle to carry around and can be easily lost or broken. Most importantly however, consumers can no longer charge their device while simultaneously using their headphones, unless they have a Bluetooth headset…

Another battery to charge

Bluetooth headphones are a convenient freedom from wires, but the nature of it being another wireless device is that it also requires a battery charge to be managed. Because of this, I feel like it’s another piece of equipment that I have to tether to an electrical outlet when not in use. This for me is especially annoying because with a typical wired device I usually throw it somewhere until I need to use it again.

Overall I don’t see any genuine value in smartphone makers removing the headphone jack. I feel like this is anti-consumer behaviour, by breaking the compatibilities between legacy and contemporary devices and forcing the market unnecessarily into a particular direction.