Wired earbuds are back (Acording to some… and I’ve seen a few more lately out and about). I’m still using full over the ear headphones I bought 15 years ago. I had to get new pads but other than that they still sound great.
People buying stuff based on their partial temperature (“Earbuds are so hot..”) disgust me sincerely from the bottom of my heart. Usually the same crowd preaching all day about saving the planet from things like e-waste…
Great longevity as they tend to be for club / dj environments but I find they have way too much pressure on the ear to be comfortable as regular headphones for use at a computer.
A quick search shows that the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G and the Sony Xperia 1 V both have headphone jacks. They've got expandable storage too! If I had to get a cell phone today, the Sony one is probably what I'd be looking at.
The Galaxy "A" series is their budget line, and so the A14 didn't bring back headphones; the A line never lost them to begin with. Because wireless headphones are a signal of wealth, headphone jacks are often still present on budget phones.
Sony's models are too inconsistent for me to figure out what it's the successor to, so I can't say whether it's a good example of bringing back headphone jacks.
The Sony phone at least is certainly not a "budget" model, it's their latest flagship and they want $1,400 for it (too much really).
Wireless headphones might be a feature that "signals" wealth, but we should be careful not to confuse that with quality or value. Features like headphone jacks and expandable storage get removed because they save/make money for the manufacturer, not because they offer better value to consumers.
Many people like not having to deal with wires, but bluetooth (in addition to being used extensively to track you and reducing your security) is inferior in several ways when it comes to headphones (audio quality, latency, pairing issues, stuttering, disconnects, battery life, expense) but thanks in large part to the power of marketing, people can be made to feel good about being forced to pay more while getting less.
I had to replace phone last January and I went with the Xperia 1 III. It is without a doubt a smartphone. Does everything all the other smartphone do plus has the headphone jack (that I more or less use daily) and has expandable storage (or additional SIM card, my choice). I'm comfortable in recommending the Xperia 1 V based on my experience with the III.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/are-airpods-out-why-cool-kids-a...
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/wired-earbuds-are-so...