Or have you adapted over the last half-decade?
Looking through the countless smartphones on sale for Black Friday and Cyber Monday this weekend, you’re bound to notice one common attribute: the lack of a headphone jack. What started as a frustrating way for Apple to sell its (then-expensive) wireless earbuds to iPhone fans has spread throughout the entire industry, as companies like Google, Samsung, OnePlus, and so many more have all ditched the once-ubiquitous 3.5mm port.
The industry has come a long way since 2016, though. Cheap Bluetooth earbuds aren’t really any more expensive than their wired counterparts — they might not sound great, but even Dollar General has you covered if you’re in a pinch. Generally speaking, wireless headphones offer plenty of extra convenience over cables, from the flexibility to move around your house to a lack of an annoying bounce when you’re running at the gym. And Bluetooth LE looks to make it even better, with reduced power consumption and longer connections.
I’m not here to pretend wired headphones don’t have their place. Audiophiles will be quick to sing the praises of their selected audio devices, and passing along the aux cable at a party or in a car is still leagues easier than figuring out which button combo starts pairing.
But personally, as I’ve jumped from phone to phone over the last half-decade — all of them without headphone jacks — I’ve come to terms with the current reality. Even when I fall asleep using wired earbuds, a dongle does the trick, and at nearly all other times, the convenience and comfort of going wireless far outweighs any of the remaining downsides. Modern wireless earbuds are just so good, I have no issue going without a wire.
It’s an odd feeling to say I no longer miss the headphone jack — some commenters are sure to convince me of falling victim to Stockholm syndrome. But the truth is that, even with a couple of good pairs of wired earbuds, I no longer find myself reaching for them, and I doubt I’m alone.
While we’ve never run this specific poll before, back in 2018, nearly half of respondents told us they were either unwilling or unlikely to buy a phone without a headphone jack. With the market having swung hard into wireless audio over the last few years, do you find yourself missing the headphone jack on your phone, or have you left it behind in the 2010s?
