Seriously. This argument is getting old. Bluetooth headphones aren't that difficult to find cheap now anyways. Are people really that attached to their old wired headphones?
* Bluetooth headphones are VASTLY more expensive compared to wired equivalents.
* Bluetooth headphones are a nightmare to temporarily pair to devices.
* AUX is a standard available on all devices in decades.
* Bluetooth headphones needs to be charged.
* Blueetoth headphones have a very limited lifespan because you can't replace batteries in them.
* AUX is quick, pairing to your friends car for a 15 minute drive - nope.
* Bluetooth is quite buggy. AUX is not.
As someone who has bluetooth headphones, bluetooth in car, wifi casting at home - lack of 3.5mm is still a deal breaker. I'm so happy my new phone has it (last one had an adapter that I couldn't bring with me constantly (oh and it started to glitch on me after a year...).
You make valid points, I was merely posting that question/pov since I've had Bluetooth headphones for a few years so it hasn't really affected me, and I agree that the industry unfortunately looks like it isn't going back.
I didn't check prices, I just assumed by now we would have access to cheap ones by now since every phone is going Bluetooth only. That's my mistake.
I agree the pairing process can sometimes take a couple minutes, especially if not familiar with the Bluetooth controls on both devices, but I wouldn't call that a nightmare.
I didn't think about the charging aspect, good point. I guess I'm spoiled due to the long battery life of headphones like Bose that I have that never have run out of battery, even on 13 hour flights. But ear buds definitely are a different story. However my Bose's batteries are still running strong years later (they also have a replacable battery) and no, I don't work for Bose, they're just the only Bluetooth ones I've had.
Also I've found AUX cables break over time causing static. Seems comparable to "bugginess" of Bluetooth, but I've never experienced any bugs with these headphones (again I've only owned 2 Bluetooth headphones so I'm uninformed). I'm genuinely curious what bugs Bluetooth headphone connections have, care to elaborate?
That just makes it even more infuriating. In what universe is bringing an adapter with a phone a valid thing?
You could "pair" it with your headphones, which works ok if you only use them with your phone (and don't have to decouple them ever) - big if. Also assumes you only have one pair that you use.
But the headphone jack shines for temporary and unexpected situations. Where you don't have your headphones you are out of luck.
I would answer "yes" to your rhetorical question - People really are that attached to wired headphones. Not having to charge them is a pretty huge benefit. One wonders why we don't all use wireless mice. Same reason.
Wired headphones don't require power & just work with a simple plugging in action.
Cheap Bluetooth devices have fiddly and unreliable stacks, sometimes lack enough power to transmit reliably from my pocket to my headphones, and the necessary audio compression introduces noticeable artifacts into certain types of music.
Being honestly curious, do android or iOS phones offer audio quality/signal comparable to standalone headphone amps expensive Senneheiser headphones are designed to perform best with? Disclosure: I also own $500 Senneheiser headphones, but use my Bose Bluetooth ones for my phone.
It depends to a great degree on the volume and impedance of headphones. HD-25s perform quite well at normal volume for music that doesn't have tons of transients for phones with decent DACs.
But it's something you have to actively look for in phones.
> Are people really that attached to their old wired headphones?
I'm sorry if wanting to spend half as much for better sound offends you, but yes; I much prefer my wired headphones over any bluetooth headphones. Perhaps some $300 bose headphones would win me over, but I doubt they would sound any better than my $150 wired cans. Not to mention that I can plug my headphones into my amp/dac setup when I get home and get sound quality that bluetooth headphones can't even dream of.
I don't really like bending over to the will of the greed-infested industry, and I really don't like that the average person does, but I'll stand for my values as long as I can. I won't buy a phone without a 3.5mm headphone jack until I literally have to.
That's a valid point. Out of curiosity, do phones have good enough audio hardware that makes wired sound better than Bluetooth? IMO (I'm no audio engineer) the new Bluetooth standards have pretty good bandwidth that I'd imagine can transmit rather high bitrate audio. Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm genuinely curious.
Use prisjakt if you are from Sweden, but doubt it will be worthwhile to import from Sweden. Bought the 128 GB version new for about a third of launch price.
Which is quite rare, usually high-end phones don't drop much at all in price but rather get replaced with a new and likely even more expensive version.
