Now that Apple has officially angered me ...

[Fingolfin269]

Now that Apple has officially pissed me off in their relentless pursuits of finding profit in new places (headphones??), what are the best Android phones out there in a form factor around the size (or slightly larger) as the iPhone 6.

Long live the headphone jack.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Also I can't figure out how to edit the subject line in the new forum software. Noob.

 

[ControlD]

I would wait and see what the new Pixel phones have to offer. I believe they are supposed to release soon.

 

[Bryf50]

You clearly aren't courageous enough to buy the new iphone.

 

[pauldun170]

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016...to-remove-3-5mm-headphone-jack-cites-courage/

Schiller says that AirPods users can expect five hours of playtime, along with 24 hours of recharge supplied by a portable charging case...
AirPods will begin shipping in late October and will cost $159

 

[chitwood]

Now that Apple has officially pissed me off in their relentless pursuits of finding profit in new places (headphones??), what are the best Android phones out there in a form factor around the size (or slightly larger) as the iPhone 6.

Long live the headphone jack.

Get a LG G5. Or a Samsung S7. On swappa, mint condition, like $400

 

[luv2liv]

I bet high end 3.5mm head phones will be up to 50% off very soon. Thanks Apple! can't wait to get some nice ones!

 

[Oyeve]

I bet high end 3.5mm head phones will be up to 50% off very soon. Thanks Apple! can't wait to get some nice ones!

I highly doubt it. Apple is NOT known for sound quality. Hence their purchase of beats. People whom appreciate truly good sound don't buy apple products.

 

[luv2liv]

I highly doubt it. Apple is NOT known for sound quality. Hence their purchase of beats. People whom appreciate truly good sound don't buy apple products.

i concur. i am not buying apple/beats headphones. most likely Klipsch or Sennheiser

 

[PricklyPete]

I have zero issue with Apple getting rid of the headphone jack. I have a much bigger issue with forcing a proprietary connector (lightening) on us.

 

[core2slow]

$160 for wireless buds that will undoubtedly sound as horrible as Apple's old earpods

 

[Commodus]

You're really against using the included headphone adapter to plug in? I'd just leave the adapter attached to my headphones.

I'd wait until the new Google phone announcement if you do go Android, but if you can't wait: HTC 10 or Galaxy S7.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I have zero issue with Apple getting rid of the headphone jack. I have a much bigger issue with forcing a proprietary connector (lightening) on us.

They've also prevented you from now listening to anything via wired headphone and charging simultaneously. Only way to do both simultaneously will be to use bluetooth or their proprietary wireless headsets.

 

[Fingolfin269]

You're really against using the included headphone adapter to plug in? I'd just leave the adapter attached to my headphones.

I'd wait until the new Google phone announcement if you do go Android, but if you can't wait: HTC 10 or Galaxy S7.

I basically use 3 different headphone types. Bose QC15 for airplanes, NAD Viso HP15 for home audio, Yurbuds for just on the go listening. That's a lot of dongling. And as posted above I like to charge while listening which Apple has now made impossible for wired listening.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I highly doubt it. Apple is NOT known for sound quality. Hence their purchase of beats. People whom appreciate truly good sound don't buy apple products.

Yes Beats aren't great, but the sound quality from an iPhone has been good since Gen 1. Look at how certain flagship phones did relative to their respective iPhones and tell me the iPhones are bad--Motorola Droid, Nexus 1, Galaxy, Galaxy S3, Nexus 4, etc.

 

[pm]

As a longtime Apple customer, I find this latest design decision to be completely annoying. I agree with the OP... I'm totally pissed off.

My wife, my two teenage daughters and I are all on iPhones, but there is absolutely no way that I'm buying an iPhone 7 for any of us. Apple just lost a customer, or, since I'm the IT department for my house, four customers. Apple says it takes "courage" to ditch the headphone jack, but it absolutely feels like a cash grab and not courage at all. It feels to me like a giant "screw you, customers, we are Apple and our profits aren't looking great lately. We need you all to ditch your current headphones and buy our super overpriced headphones so that we can justify our Beats purchase." The only feeling that describes how utterly disgusted that I am is "nerd rage".

I'd use stronger language but I'm a moderator and so I'm supposed to set a good example.

 

[Mopetar]

They've also prevented you from now listening to anything via wired headphone and charging simultaneously. Only way to do both simultaneously will be to use bluetooth or their proprietary wireless headsets.

Their phone dock has an audio out that lets you hook it up to speakers or headphones while charging. Costs $40, but if you've been buying Apple for any period of time, you're probably used to this.

I also wouldn't be terribly surprised if someone has already made a $10 adapter that does exactly this which will be going on sale very soon.

 

[Commodus]

I basically use 3 different headphone types. Bose QC15 for airplanes, NAD Viso HP15 for home audio, Yurbuds for just on the go listening. That's a lot of dongling. And as posted above I like to charge while listening which Apple has now made impossible for wired listening.

I see. Not the most common case, but definitely a concern without a native 3.5mm jack. I use the same in-ears all the time when I'm out, and I can usually listen to music on my computer when I'm charging.

 

[Commodus]

As a longtime Apple customer, I find this latest design decision to be completely annoying. I agree with the OP... I'm totally pissed off.

My wife, my two teenage daughters and I are all on iPhones, but there is absolutely no way that I'm buying an iPhone 7 for any of us. Apple just lost a customer, or, since I'm the IT department for my house, four customers. Apple says it takes "courage" to ditch the headphone jack, but it absolutely feels like a cash grab and not courage at all. It feels to me like a giant "screw you, customers, we are Apple and our profits aren't looking great lately. We need you all to ditch your current headphones and buy our super overpriced headphones so that we can justify our Beats purchase." The only feeling that describes how utterly disgusted that I am is "nerd rage".

I'd use stronger language but I'm a moderator and so I'm supposed to set a good example.

It's not much of a cash grab if the adapter is included in the box. The AirPods are definitely meant as an upsell (hey, you can keep listening while you charge!), but Apple isn't forcing you to get Lightning or Bluetooth headphones.

 

[WelshBloke]

You're really against using the included headphone adapter to plug in? I'd just leave the adapter attached to my headphones.

Lighting is digital? The headphones are analogue. So there's a DAC in the dongle?

What's the quality of it like?

 

[sweenish]

I can see it as a boost to wireless headphones in general, but overall a hassle. The bag I put my earbuds in would not also hold the dongle.

They did not switch to USB-C, which could have helped ease the transition. The spec can handle this. The ear-pods use bluetooth and it appears that the W1 is somehow proprietary to Apple products, making them useless for other bluetooth devices. I want to be wrong on that.

But bluetooth does not provide enough bandwidth for lossless streaming, and it will eat your phone's battery while actively streaming. At least you can charge your phone while using wireless headphones.

Add to that how spotty it can get for no good reason and the fact that now you have to charge your headphones as well (or charge each pod individually), and we're not near ready for this transition.

This is going to be "courageous" the way Firewire and the 30-pin were, not ditching floppy drives. I'm curious what they'll be charging for the dongle's by themselves and single ear pods.

If they had used USB-C, would be possible for a dongle to exist that would allow audio out while also plugging in a charger? Could it be possible for Lightning?

I wouldn't care so much about the audio jack (it's not like I was ever considering an iPhone), but it just seems like they aren't doing enough to make the transition seamless for people.

 

[Commodus]

Lighting is digital? The headphones are analogue. So there's a DAC in the dongle?

What's the quality of it like?

I would be surprised if the adapter had a built-in DAC. The odds are that the phone has a DAC built-in, and the quality would be the same as if you had a native 3.5mm jack.

 

[WelshBloke]

I would be surprised if the adapter had a built-in DAC. The odds are that the phone has a DAC built-in, and the quality would be the same as if you had a native 3.5mm jack.

I thought that lightning was digital only.

 

[Phynaz]

They've also prevented you from now listening to anything via wired headphone and charging simultaneously. Only way to do both simultaneously will be to use bluetooth or their proprietary wireless headsets.

Or wait a couple weeks for an adapter.

 

[pm]

I thought that lightning was digital only.

I agree. I thought it was too.

It's not much of a cash grab if the adapter is included in the box. The AirPods are definitely meant as an upsell (hey, you can keep listening while you charge!), but Apple isn't forcing you to get Lightning or Bluetooth headphones.

Ok, your reply calmed me down slightly. But I'm still irritated. To me the adapter is one more thing to lose, one more thing to keep track of. If I were to get an iPhone 7, then I'm going to need more than one adapter. I would need one for my car, and one for my exercise bag and probably one more just in case I misplace the other two and want to go running. Plus, I think the lightning port is already flimsy enough - most of the time that I listen to my headphones, I'm jogging and I just can't see any of this working all that well over the longterm while running.