Don’t get me wrong, I hate the loss of the 3.5mm jack a lot, but bluetooth earbuds have gotten down to ~$20. On the cheap end, they’re not that much more expensive than wired earbuds were, and they’re a fraction of the price of the smartphone they’d be watching content on. I’d also argue that they last longer, as when I was buying cheap wired earbuds, it was usually the jack or the connection to the bud that failed and forced me to get replacements. Even though I’m still buying the cheapest kind, these days I usually only have to replace the buds after I lose them.
You have to pick a higher end phone and a lower end earbuds to get to ‘a fraction of the price’ in realistic terms. The very cheapest headphones aren’t going to sound good or last long, and are still going to be in the range of 1/5th of the price of a budget phone vs 1/16 out something that is more in line with calling something ‘a fraction of’ something.
Don’t get me wrong, I hate the loss of the 3.5mm jack a lot, but bluetooth earbuds have gotten down to ~$20. On the cheap end, they’re not that much more expensive than wired earbuds were, and they’re a fraction of the price of the smartphone they’d be watching content on. I’d also argue that they last longer, as when I was buying cheap wired earbuds, it was usually the jack or the connection to the bud that failed and forced me to get replacements. Even though I’m still buying the cheapest kind, these days I usually only have to replace the buds after I lose them.
You have to pick a higher end phone and a lower end earbuds to get to ‘a fraction of the price’ in realistic terms. The very cheapest headphones aren’t going to sound good or last long, and are still going to be in the range of 1/5th of the price of a budget phone vs 1/16 out something that is more in line with calling something ‘a fraction of’ something.
You know, phones with audio jacks also have bluetooth, right? There are also several kinds of headphones with removable/replacable wires.
It is still unquestionably a removal of choice and convenience for the shitheads to have removed the jack.