Poll: How Important is a 3.5mm Headphone Jack to You?

[Brandon Miniman]

How Important is a 3.5mm Headphone Jack to You?

Two weeks ago, we found out that the majority of you (63%) want an FM Radio tuner (http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=news&id=5574) on your phone. On a related note, how about a 3.5mm headphone jack?

It's almost second nature that when we review a new Windows Mobile phone, we gripe if there is no 3.5mm headphone jack. The reason for this omission is clear: OEMs want to switch to a one-port-for-everything model to save on cost and space. Lately, HTC and Samsung are trending towards this new model, but Palm, with the Treo Pro, is saying yes to the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Not having the headphone port means that to use wired headphone, an adapter must be used (which is sometimes included but not always), and that's just another thing to carry around. But really, how important is this jack to you? Do Bluetooth headphones and external audio suffice, or do you have an undying loyalty to a certain special pair of wired headphones/earphones that yearn for an inbuilt 3.5mm jack?

[Ruxton]

If they're not putting a 3.5mm connector on the phone body, they should at least be supplying an adapter to connect headphones. Headphones have been using 3.5mm for ages!

[Pony99CA]

If they're not putting a 3.5mm connector on the phone body, they should at least be supplying an adapter to connect headphones. Headphones have been using 3.5mm for ages!
I'll partially agree with that. If the OEM is using a non-standard jack (meaning not 2.5 mm or 3.5 mm), they should include an adapter. 2.5 mm is a standard for phones, so I think it's acceptable to not include an adapter in that case (although it would certainly be appreciated; I had to pay $10-15 for one for my Motorola Q).

Having a wired connection is very important, though. Some cars (like my wife's Saturn Vue) have 3.5 mm jacks in the stereo to allow connecting iPods, and I could see wanting to connect my Windows Mobile device, too. (Unfortunately, I don't usually carry my 2.5 mm adapter when I ride in the Vue.)

Steve

[Ruxton]

Steve, you just pointed out why it's so much easier to just stick the 3.5mm jack on the phone itself :) While having and offering an adapter is an acceptable solution, theres quite a few moments where you're just not going to have that adapter handy and want to use some decent headphones or plugin to some other sound output. Also, not all the manufacturers are using the same pin-out on the same min-usb/ext-usb connector, which could itself lead to some interesting issues.

I've had 2 Winmo devices both had the HTC mini usb thing on the bottom and for a long time i always thought it'd be soo good to just grab an adapter and connect directly into my car stereos amplifier. However, the quality of some of these adapters has come into question on numerous forums so i just never bothered.

Then one day i got a good 20Gb ipod for free and i removed my car stereo head unit, leaving just the amplifier and speakers to take music from the ipod. It was great and i never missed all those CD's and the stupid head unit. After a while my winmo device started playing up, the iPhone was coming out and i was generally getting sick of lugging around an iPod and a phone, so i got an iphone.

I think it's pretty safe to say that while the 3.5mm audio connector is of questionable importance to some people, it was one of the many small things that helped push the iPhone into my pocket over waiting for something like a HTC Touch Pro. I can put up with rebooting my phone every day or 2 or having a semi-slow device, but make it hard/annoying/frustrating for me to listen to my music or add another hurdle to the process and we have a problem :)


I'll partially agree with that. If the OEM is using a non-standard jack (meaning not 2.5 mm or 3.5 mm), they should include an adapter. 2.5 mm is a standard for phones, so I think it's acceptable to not include an adapter in that case (although it would certainly be appreciated; I had to pay $10-15 for one for my Motorola Q).

Having a wired connection is very important, though. Some cars (like my wife's Saturn Vue) have 3.5 mm jacks in the stereo to allow connecting iPods, and I could see wanting to connect my Windows Mobile device, too. (Unfortunately, I don't usually carry my 2.5 mm adapter when I ride in the Vue.)

Steve

[Pony99CA]

Steve, you just pointed out why it's so much easier to just stick the 3.5mm jack on the phone itself :) While having and offering an adapter is an acceptable solution, theres quite a few moments where you're just not going to have that adapter handy and want to use some decent headphones or plugin to some other sound output.
I know that I made a case for having a 3.5 mm jack, but 2.5 mm jacks are also standard now. Yes, adapters can be annoying, but it's more annoying if the OEM doesn't provide them.

I've had 2 Winmo devices both had the HTC mini usb thing on the bottom and for a long time i always thought it'd be soo good to just grab an adapter and connect directly into my car stereos amplifier. However, the quality of some of these adapters has come into question on numerous forums so i just never bothered.
I can't speak to the quality of the adapters, but how hard can they be to make well? If you trust the 3.5 mm male/male cable to connect to another piece of gear, why wouldn't you trust an adapter from a reputable vendor?

And, as you mentioned, if you're only going to use the wired connection in the car, you could just leave the adapter connected to the 3.5 mm male/male cable running to your stereo (or whatever other cabling you use). That way, you don't have to remember to take the adapter with you. :)

Finally, as I mentioned in another post dealing with headphone jacks, I wonder if it would be possible to invent a dual-format 2.5/3.5 mm jack that had concentric connector rings. The inner ring would be 2.5 mm, but could be pushed down if using a 3.5 mm plug. You'd need a little clearance inside the device for the pushed-down connector, but it doesn't seem impossible to do.

Steve

[Baxter]

...2.5 mm is a standard for phones...

It is in other countries, not here though. Techie-types who got used to buying unlocked devices abroad and having them shipped here got used to the 2.5 'mini-jack' (which seems to have all but disappeared lately) Here at home, 3.5 pretty much became the 'mini' standard in audio equipment (Walkmans, iPods, etc). For the most part, phones have had propietary plugs. Blackberries used 3.5, then the iPhone and now the WM Treo. 2.5 was never really a standard, but it looks like 3.5 is picking up steam...

[Ruxton]

Finally, as I mentioned in another post dealing with headphone jacks, I wonder if it would be possible to invent a dual-format 2.5/3.5 mm jack that had concentric connector rings. The inner ring would be 2.5 mm, but could be pushed down if using a 3.5 mm plug. You'd need a little clearance inside the device for the pushed-down connector, but it doesn't seem impossible to do.


Ahh the holy grail, where for art thou :)

You're right, i could've just made an adapter i suppose i never just got around to it, the ease of the standard 3.5mm on the pod just made it the easier choice. I also had bluetooth headphones, so the only need was for it was the car and CD's were 'functioning'. Saying that, i'm so annoyed to have lost A2DP in picking up the iphone, my bluetooth headphones that i used on my Winmo devices prior to this now just sit on a shelf, unused, unloved by Apple.

I just don't get why manufacturers have to mess with what is a perfectly accepted and working standard, the 3.5mm audio connector. Portable audio has had 3.5mm audio connectors since the day i was born.

Do you think theres some merit in a test of the same audio being played through multiple devices, some with ext-usb audio, some with 3.5mm audio, some via a2dp to get a picture of the kind of effect it has (if any) on sound quality? It'd be interesting to see i think.

[JwY]

I much prefer a 3.5mm jack. One of the issues I've run into is that one a single connector for headphones and power, you can usually only do one or the other. There is a separate adapter that can do both, but that thing tends to be huge. Sometimes I just want to charge and listen or sync and listen.

[Brandon Miniman]

I much prefer a 3.5mm jack. One of the issues I've run into is that one a single connector for headphones and power, you can usually only do one or the other. There is a separate adapter that can do both, but that thing tends to be huge. Sometimes I just want to charge and listen or sync and listen.

Yeah, the adapters that let you charge/sync AND listen to audio are very bulky.

[Pony99CA]

It is in other countries, not here though. Techie-types who got used to buying unlocked devices abroad and having them shipped here got used to the 2.5 'mini-jack' (which seems to have all but disappeared lately)
If by "here" and "home" you mean the U.S., I think the 2.5 mm jack is fairly standard on cell phones. My Motorola Q and Q9m have them, I believe my Motorola V710 did, my wife's Samsung music phone does and my daughter's LG Voyager does.

Here at home, 3.5 pretty much became the 'mini' standard in audio equipment (Walkmans, iPods, etc). For the most part, phones have had propietary plugs. Blackberries used 3.5, then the iPhone and now the WM Treo. 2.5 was never really a standard, but it looks like 3.5 is picking up steam...
Yes, 3.5 mm is certainly the standard for audio equipment (except maybe home stereo equipment that still accepts 1/4" plugs), but I think I've cited enough phones that use 2.5 mm to make the point. ;)

I certainly agree that 3.5 mm should be the standard for stereo-capable phones, and wonder if that extra millimeter really matters, but the fact remains that there are plenty of 2.5 mm jacks out there.

Proprietary jacks should be eliminated, though.

Steve

[Pony99CA]

I just don't get why manufacturers have to mess with what is a perfectly accepted and working standard, the 3.5mm audio connector. Portable audio has had 3.5mm audio connectors since the day i was born.
If I had to guess why cell phone vendors used 2.5 mm jacks, it would be because all of the earlier phones didn't support stereo, but did require a microphone, and the vendors didn't want people confusing the jacks (sort of like how unleaded fuel tanks had smaller nozzle holes than leaded fuel tanks to prevent accidentally putting leaded gas in unleaded cars).

Now that many more cell phones are supporting stereo audio, the OEMs had choice -- create stereo 2.5 mm jacks or create 3.5 mm jacks that supported microphones. The phones I've used seem to have chosen the former path, although it appears that some vendors have chosen the latter, too.

I also wonder why we need MicroSD cards. Even if regular SD cards were too large for phones, isn't MiniSD small enough? My Motorola Q9m takes MiniSD cards, but I couldn't find an 8 GB MiniSD card, so I bought an 8 GB MicroSD card and use an adapter.

That's life in technology, I guess. :)

Steve

[Baxter]

Nope... 2.5 is nowhere near being any type of standard. The primary issue here is that there really isn't a standard. 3.5 makes sense, as it would let the micophone stereo headsets be used in audio/video devices as well.

...Yes, 3.5 mm is certainly the standard for audio equipment (except maybe home stereo equipment that still accepts 1/4" plugs), but I think...
Steve