Google Kills Headphone Jack in Latest Pixel 6A Just Months After Parodying Apple

[centauratlas]

Yah, you forgot the convenience and ease of use part. Wireless is way better. There are the few that will claim that they can "hear" the difference, and I bet some can. The funny part is that some of them who claimed to hear the difference, actually couldn't on a blind test. Also, almost all music is in frequencies under 10 kHz, get a sound generator on your phone check it out. 15khz, 20khz, that is a joke, no mucic ever played up there

Wireless is better if you don’t mind having a wireless transmitter and receiver right next to your brain.

I just use lightning for them though now.

 

[SactoGuy18]

Given modern Google-branded phones use the Sony LDAC codec, removing the headphone jack isn't such an issue.

 

[arnette]

Google on Wednesday unveiled its latest mid-range 5G smartphone, the Pixel 6A, and for the first time, this A-series model is missing a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The lack of a headphone jack on the Pixel 6A follows a technology trend that Apple started with the iPhone 7 in 2016, and in that sense is relatively unsurprising.

Yet as recently as last August, Google was touting the inclusion of a headphone jack on the Pixel 5A with an ad that parodied some of the product intro videos that former Apple design chief Jony Ive used to make to highlight new iPhone features.

This isn't the first time Google has indirectly mocked Apple for dropping the headphone jack, only for it to later do precisely the same. Google poked fun at the iPhone 7's lack of headphone jack while unveiling its original Pixel smartphone in 2016, and then the Pixel 2 launched without one just a year later.

Samsung fell for the same short-sighted marketing approach in 2018 when it mocked the iPhone X's lack of a headphone jack in one of its "Ingenius" ads promoting the Galaxy S9. Five months later it introduced the Galaxy A8s, its first smartphone without a headphone jack, much to the amusement of iPhone users.

The Google Pixel 6A costs $449 and features a slight redesign in line with last year's Pixel 6 range, with a raised camera bump on the rear that houses a 12MP main camera and a 12MP ultra-wide lens. Powered by the company's custom Tensor chipset, the 6A comes with a 6.1-inch OLED 1080p display running at 60Hz and includes an under-screen fingerprint sensor.

Article Link: Google Kills Headphone Jack in Latest Pixel 6A Just Months After Parodying Apple

That's marketing, baby!

 

[Born2Run]

Can we just call doing this ‘Samsunging’ from now on!

“Google just Samsunged the headphone Jack”
”What are Google doing with the phone chargers? They’re Samsunging them!”

 

[Jynto]

I'm old enough to remember Apple getting rid of the 3.5" floppy drive and the shock it generated. Didn't take long for everyone else to follow. When the headphone jack disappeared from the iPhone it probably mostly affected those people using GarageBand on their iPhones, because BT headphones have too much latency. So from that point on you had to use dongles if you wanted to both charge your phone and use a headphone adaptor. Most other people had already moved over to BT headphones I reckon, and were almost completely unaffected.

I finally got a pair of bluetooth headphones last year.

'Plugging them in' requires half a dozen Control Center taps. Sometimes they'll get stuck trying to connect and I'll have to unpair and pair them all over again. Often they'll set the volume to maximum for no reason. I have to remember to plug them in every night. In a few year, the battery will wear out, and replacing it will not be possible.

And these are expensive headphones.

Lightning headphones have always been cheap - $19, and were included with iPhone 7.

Headphones with a plug that only works with one of the devices I use (not even the laptops and tablets Apple makes) always seemed a completely obnoxious idea to me. I'm glad this never caught on outside of the piece-of-sh*t ones Apple makes for people who don't really like music.

 

[ackmondual]

When are people going to realize that all these tech manufacturers ‘copy’ each other with designs, features and hardware.

Probably not anytime soon, on a mac and iOS enthusiast site [shrug]

I'm reminded how Jobs said 4" was enough, but people flocked to Samsung b/c the iPhone screens were too damn tiny. Then there's also copying a lot of features that were already in Android (ofc. Apple users will say they don't copy. They wait until Apple gets it right, which doesn't always work out that way, but better for a different discussion).

My favorite "hits" is hearing how Tim Cook said "when you buy an iPhone, you're buying privacy". I was driving around Los Angeles at the time, and they have giant billboard posters saying "iPhone. That's privacy". Then 1 to 2 months later, they drop the bombshell that they're going to be doing that whole CSAM thing (I know how Apple users feel about that. I'm laughing at the timing)

 

[mi7chy]

Google removes 3.5mm jack from Pixel 6a, charges $449 and if it's like other 6 series models will support SBC, AAC, AptX, AptX HD and LDAC bluetooth audio codecs. Apple removes 3.5mm jack from iPhone 13, charges $799 and only gives you AAC. So, Pixel 6a is smarter, better, better looking and nearly half the cost.

 

[44267547]

Remember the hilarious straw man arguments? I CAN’T CHARGE AND LISTEN AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!! Tech luddites are real and they scream about everything that changes.

You’re forgetting:

“I NeEd A DoNgLE for MY headphones!!??, Tim CRooK NeEdS to GO!!”

 

[iBluetooth]

Google switched to their own processor design starting with the Pixel 6.

I thought it was based on Qualcomm Snapdragon design with added features from Google.

 

[iBluetooth]

Are you referring to the new chip startup that was on the front page the other day? It wasn’t Qualcomm or Google ?

It was bought by Qualcomm

 

[Daedalus65]

Still, if you're missing one and want a 'Pro' phone with actual features you might consider to be professional like a 3.5mm jack, an actual telephoto lens instead of a fixed zoom, bottomless manual controls, records 4K120 on all its lenses, has the software to match all this and uses terminology grown-ups use then I hear Sony has you covered.

So… couldn’t help but notice if you follow the link and preorder this phone now, it comes with an offer for wireless headsets. I’m so confused…

 

[jmgregory1]

Anecdotal evidence is not proof it was blown or not blow out of proportion. I could simply counter that and I say (and it is true for me) that I did not know a single person with wireless headphones yet. Now everyone has them because if they want to continue using their phone to listen to music privately and with good audio they have to have wireless headphones or get a dongle.

If the majority of the world was using wireless headphones already then it would not have blown up because it would be a real "meh" announcement that did not effect them.

Now I am not saying wireless is bad for headphones, I like the simplicity of it, but they are pushing this tech to make money, and what better way of making more money than removing the option to use what you already own. Now Apple did give a dongle with the first iPhone (can't remember which model that was) that did not have the headphone jack, but they stopped that pretty shortly after, or even with the next release.

Apple isn’t “pushing“ wireless tech to make money, unless you’re simply referring to the fact that Apple is a for-profit company and everything they do revolves around making a profit (although that’s not exactly true, because they do plenty of things that don’t make profit sense initially (like solar and fuel cell power generation).

Their product managers recognized the issues that people had with wired headphones, including tangled, pulled and frayed wires, having buds get pulled out of your ears by the cord getting stuck on something, etc., so they got wireless headphones to a point where they were inexpensive enough, with good enough sound, to ditch wired headphones, which then also allowed them to get rid of the headphone jack in iPhones, saving space for other tech / batteries.

Sure, there are compromises with BT tech, but the shift from wired to wireless happened for all sorts of reasons beyond “Apple is only doing it to make money”. That’s a trope for all Apple’s decisions that some people don’t like that needs to end, because it’s just not based in reality.

 

[dandeco]

Regarding the headphone jack disappearing from the iPhone, the only way it caused any problems with me was when I started driving a BMW 528i from the early 2000s belonging to my workplace. It already had an audio jack adapter in the cassette deck, but in order to use my iPhone SE with it for streaming my music playlists to the car stereo, I had to get a Lightning-to-USB/audio splitter cable, the latter end plugged into a female-to-female audio jack adapter that plugged into the cassette deck adapter, while the USB end is plugged into the phone charger/holder I have plugged into the power socket. It does the trick pretty well.

 

[SSDGUY]

I'm old enough to remember Apple getting rid of the 3.5" floppy drive and the shock it generated. Didn't take long for everyone else to follow. When the headphone jack disappeared from the iPhone it probably mostly affected those people using GarageBand on their iPhones, because BT headphones have too much latency. So from that point on you had to use dongles if you wanted to both charge your phone and use a headphone adaptor. Most other people had already moved over to BT headphones I reckon, and were almost completely unaffected.

Yeah I'm part of that lowly plebeian demographic who desperately miss the 3.5mm jack for connecting to PA systems and other audio devices, where Bluetooth is either not available or not reliable. (Yeah, the got dongles … and dongles suck!) I love my AirPods and all that, but the wired connection definitely served a purpose for many. I suspect part of Apple's motivation was not, as they say, "thinner" (just look at camera lenses they're piling on now) but to sell more AirPods.

 

[nikaru]

Same thing happened with the chargers...

This is because the marketing teams of Google and Samsung does not seems to be communicating efficiently with the product development teams, otherwise they wouldn't make so ridiculous campaign against Apple's product decisions.

 

[PC_tech]

It was bought by Qualcomm

If you’re talking about RIVOS, there is nothing to indicate this at all.

 

[B4U]

Honest question though. Other than Sony, who still offer this great feature?
I love it on my Xperia playing rhythm games.

 

[Solver]

When product development and marketing aren't talking to each other.

 

[california_kid]

Next up for Google - new product launch by just offering a new color of an existing model.

 

[Naraxus]

You’re forgetting:

“I NeEd A DoNgLE for MY headphones!!??, Tim CRooK NeEdS to GO!!”

Valid critiques & criticisms are now considered "strawman" arguments?

 

[Rafaelos]

I am still using a 6s plus because it has a headphone jack. I actually bought 4 of these phones for all my family.

I have also a Samsung A52s because it has a headphone jack. And I bought a used Samsung Note 10 plus and the only thing I do not like is that it does NOT have a headphone jack.

I have the Samsung and Apple adapters (which admittedly both sound great) and as an audiophile I have many expensive Bluetooth and usb DACs.

Nothing is beating the convenience and the simplicity of a headphone jack. As an example in night you can plug easily with one hand the headphone jack into the phone which has a more physically stable connection than inserting it to a dongle that is hanging somewhere there. Also Much more better to connect to the headphone jack on the top of my first gen iPad pro that to see the adapter (a different one ) hanging on the bottom of the M1 iPad Pro.

Moreover, the apple dongle has a very thin cable which wears easily (the Samsung one is much more thicker. )

The alternative is to have a dongle for each headphone. And then of course, to take out the dongle in order to insert the headphone to the external DAC when you want to change. And all that hassle for what exactly?

I would understand all this inconvenience if the phones will get thinner but surprise surprise the phones became so much thicker nowadays to accommodate the large batteries so it seems to have more space than before.

There is nothing more glorious to insert my beloved HD58X in the headphone jack of my iPhone listening Apple Music in CD quality.

And I congratulate Apple for heaving a high impedance and great quality headphone jack in the new MacBook Pro.

I hope they will get the courage again and put a great dac with a greatly implemented headphone jack which will accommodate and matches greatly the high resolution of Apple Music into a new phone and then even me I will pay happily 1000£+ for a brand new phone.

 

[SFjohn]

Who said Google isn’t copying Apple? 😉

 

[gund1234]

The market was going that way anyway with Firewire and the Floppy. Apple just got there first (and was with Firewire really its last remaining supporter)

The 3.5mm headphone jack was more of a commercial decision to push lightning more (and those sweet mfi payments) as well as push people towards the bluetooth headphones of the brand it just acquired from Dr. Dre. It was less 'brave' and more 'we can get even richer'.

Still, if you're missing one and want a 'Pro' phone with actual features you might consider to be professional like a 3.5mm jack, an actual telephoto lens instead of a fixed zoom, bottomless manual controls, records 4K120 on all its lenses, has the software to match all this and uses terminology grown-ups use then I hear Sony has you covered.

i think removal of head phone jack was more related to thickness of phone and space it was taking up inside that phone that could be used for battery or other components.

 

[SSDGUY]

i think removal of head phone jack was more related to thickness of phone and space it was taking up inside that phone that could be used for battery or other components.

I think it was very much about selling Apple bluetooth ear buds. They proceeded to make thicker phones with giant lenses, so their commitment to thin ain't it.

 

[SFjohn]

i think removal of head phone jack was more related to thickness of phone and space it was taking up inside that phone that could be used for battery or other components.

They removed to phone jack to pump up sales of their new AirPod Pro imitations.