Fairphone 5 Launch
Fairphone 5 Launch
Here we are - It's finally time to introduce our game-changer: The new Fairphone 5! Designed for you, made fair. Let's dive into the heart of the Fairphone 5 – our new milestone that truly embodies our commitment to sustainability, innovation - and you. From the early sketches to the countless iter...
From their newsletter:
📸 Premium 50MP Triple Camera System
The Fairphone 5 comes with a 50MP selfie camera, a 50MP main camera with a finely tuned Sony lens, and a 50MP ultrawide camera for that perfect, cinematic shot.
⚙️ 8 Years of Software Updates
Packing a unique, long-life Qualcomm Octa-core chipset, the Fairphone 5 comes with clean Android 13, zero bloatware and at least five major software updates. That’s future-proof!
🎯 5 Years Warranty
The Fairphone 5’s modular design makes it super easy to repair by yourself. Add to that a five year warranty that’s twice the industry standard. The Fairphone 5 is definitely built to last.
♻️ Made fairer than ever
The Fairphone 5 is made with 70% fair and recycled materials in fair factories under fair working conditions and is a 100% electronic waste neutral. That’s fair!
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No headphone jack no sale, it makes zero sense not having one
Genuine question, but for the common user, why should a phone have a headphone jack?
Can't speak for everyone but here are the reasons I prefer an actual jack:
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3.5mm headphones are extremely universal and can be used for any audio device. USB-C and Bluetooth headphones cannot
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Bluetooth is extremely inconsistent when paired with multiple devices and often gets disconnected because of competing devices
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I can't charge my phone and listen to USB c headphones at the same time
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Manufacturers claim the removal of the jack was to improve the water resistance. I have never dropped my phone in water and would be willing to risk it.
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I already have too many wireless things to charge
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I have a small stockpile of broken wireless headphones. Meanwhile my 10 year old wired headphones are collecting dust
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I have never lost something more often than that tiny ass USB to 3.5mm dongle adapter
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I distrust large corporations with incentive to get consumers to buy more stuff from them
Your point is generally well taken, but your first point about 3.5 mm jacks being universal isn’t really true any more. It’s nearly impossible to find a device these days with a 3.5 mm audio Jack. It sucks but it’s true.
Only if we're talking about phones. My computer, work laptop, steamdeck, and my monitor all have audio out via 3.5mm jack.
I have a speaker set and a pair of headphones, and I can mix and match when and where I want to use them, which is great.
I hope removal of headphone jacks stays limited to phones (and reverses course eventually)
Other than the 3.5mm still being universal basically everywhere except for phones, it's also universal in a purist physical sense.
Any old piece of scrap copper wire connected to a 3.5mm jack, wrapped vaguely into a coil, and placed next to something magnetic, should form a working speaker compatible with the 3.5mm jack. It won't sound hi-fi, but it will work, because unlike Bluetooth or USB-C where you have to read hundreds of pages of standards and do a bunch of engineering just to figure out how to understand the signal, the signal in the 3.5mm jack basically is the sound.
This has direct practical implications as well: The transparent simplicity vs opaque complexity is why wired headphones can be so cheap and yet so reliable, or as hi-fi as your DAC and the speaker cone will allow, whereas Bluetooth devices are comparatively expensive, a mess to connect, fragile, bandwidth-limited, and environmentally and ethically dubious.
Bluetooth, and even USB-C, is basically black magic— Which wouldn't be so bad, except that it's also glitchy black magic. And this remains true regardless of device availability, because it's determined by the physics of the technology itself is implemented.
Don't forget Bluetooth has absolutely shit audio quality while using the microphone with how it handles call audio (although I'm praying BLE audio fixes this). Also true wireless earbuds can't compare at all to wired earbuds microphones in the slightest.
TBH good sounding IEM/Headphones actually worth keeping for years today are almost all modular. IEM/Headphones worthy of playing from a jack will not sound great from a trash built-in one and will need extra AMP/DAC anyway.
Funnily enough, the best AMP/DACs you can get today all use bluetooth. They are even good after the battery dies since they are also wired DAC/AMPs. There are some where a battery change is also likely. IEMs have TWS converters as well.
It is all pretty convenient without a builtin jack, unless you are really running dry on cash and/or dont even care about the most important part which is audio quality.
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....to plug headphones in. How is this a genuine question?
People still use their phones to listen to music and wireless earphones are almost universally garbage, require charging, and produce insane amounts of e-waste. Wired headphones don't have these issues
Lol its a given that it would be used as an audio solution. I guess what im getting at is if you're not an audiophile or have a specific need, most people don't care about an aux Jack. Personally, I hate the feeling of a cable when I go out, shopping or for a run and I want to listen to a podcast or music. I strangely feel claustrophobic. And also, I feel wired headphones are far more disposable than wireless. Over the coarse of 6 years, I've only owned 2 different pairs of wireless buds. Before that I can recall countless mix of cheap and decent wired headphones. This is just me though, which is why I wantedbto,see the discussion for wider use cases for the average consumer.
For headphones.
USB-C dongles are notoriously prone to breaking and also are another bunch of silicon and plastic that contributes to e-waste pollution.
though truth be told, most phone 3.5mm outputs suck donkey balls because of massive output impedance and signal to noise ratio on sensitive headphones (of which most portable audio devices are) and companies should be ashamed of putting these hunks of shit in their phones.
Cars with wired input. More reliable than Bluetooth and not annoying when it connects when you don't want to.
Fairphone do sell a type c to 3.5mm adapter you can use. Or just grab a cheap one off somewhere online.
I mean sure, if they were all the same standard or marked on the packaging as to which standard your phone uses, and what standard the adaptor uses would be easy.
I've lost the headphone jack since moving from my S10+ to a pixel 7 pro. The convenience is missed but not forgotten.
Also, you can get 3.5mm to USB cords for super cheap. Just use that instead of a 3.5mm to 3.5mm problem solved. We don't need dedicated ports for everything.
(And before anyone say charging you can get 3.5mm and charging split connectors)
To have a convenient cheap set of earbuds that keep working, never need any charging nor can be lost.
You can find those everywhere for like 5€, if you don't get them for free with certain devices.
I still have a couple laying around that have never been used.
I don't get battery operated devices for things that don't stray further than 1 meter from the device they are connected to.
Media playback is always 3 seconds delayed through Bluetooth for me, it's annoying. Plus I like the wired headset I've used for 7 years.