The Moondrop MIAD 01 is one of the most distinctive Android devices of 2024 thus far. It has a 4.4mm headphone jack to go with the more conventional 3.5mm type. Furthermore, it seems it might be as appealing to teardown enthusiasts as well as audiophiles, and may, therefore, also be easier to repair than most modern smartphones.
Fairphone removed headphone jack from 5 model and introduced wireless earbuds simultaneously. It may be to make more money, but they firstly price the phone high enough, and secondly it only exists to buy in Europe. They are introducing it to USA. Removing sustainable features like 3.5 jack is a joke on their campaigning.
It was the 4 that removed the jack not 5—despite user complaints about wanting it to return on the next model. But yeah, big L dropping the jack.
My bad, I stopped caring about that company after 4 did that, and only kept up until 3+ model. Forgot if it was 4 or 5. Only thing I know since is their 8 year guarantee for security patches. But taking away a 100+ year standard audio port to sell wireless buds when your phone costs over double for budget midrange specs is bad.
I had an inkling of hope the 5 would bring it back after so many complaints. Instead they launched wireless earbud & doubled down on it. Dead to me too.
They have released wireless earbuds with replaceable batteries recently which is pretty cool.
…and just like that you have now another device whose battery needs to be replaced by a specific company.
By a specific company? You can and are supposed to do it yourself.
And the batteries? Bet you can source them from a company other than Fairphone, right?
Yes, the batteries in the fairbuds are standard LIR1054 which you can buy from loads of places. Not sure about the case but its bigger capacity so it doesn’t need to be replaced as often if ever.
Either way third parties could and probably will make replacement batteries for the case because there is nothing stopping them unlike apple devices. And the battery is still extremely easy to replace.
I agree that a 3,5 mm jack would be nice, but you are overreacting.
A 3.5 jack would not be merely nice. The removal of it means Fairphone does not give a shit about sustainability, because the 3.5 jack is probably the oldest standard technology (100+ years old) that we are using in current times.
If the wireless buds are repairable, good. But it does not mean Fairphone becomes another Apple as far as ports are concerned.
Again, that’s a bit of an overreaction imo, but sure.
I genuinely thought the wired vs wireless earphone debate was over, and wireless won by a landslide.
All the phones I have ever owned have audio jacks, but I use them rarely, and prefer the convenience of putting my phone down to walk around and do tasks, than having it strapped to my side like I’m a tourist on a bad audio guide.
I can’t be the only one who after holding out for so long, now relents that, yes, wireless headphones are convenient for a vast majority of use cases.
Wireless never won. Wireless have nearly zero repairability. Wireless earbud buyers are often too tech illiterate to repair and solder devices themselves, and they will refuse to acknowledge the longevity of wired devices as long as they can keep consuming new mainstream TWS buds every 2 years. Not to mention, crap latency and dogshit audio quality or astronomical prices.
I’ve been wearing the same Sony plugs for 6 years now. Latency and quality is fine over short distances, and over long distances (something wired can’t do…) the LC3 codec does a fantastic job keeping the signal and quality
I feel like you and I inhabit different universes
A tiny wireless DAC that allows to plug in dedicated 3.5/4.4/6.3 audio gear is going to provide far superior audio quality and latency than the readymade mainstream solution. It brings with it repairability, customisability and longevity as well.
Which Sony earbuds of yours are these, that have magically not needed a battery change in 6 years?
Oh no doubt, and this is definitely an audiophile’s phone. I just hope the benefit of the slight gains in quality outweigh the (imo) massive hassle of having the phone tethered to body.
My buds are sony wf-1000x3, been using them for years. Charge them once a day, use them pretty much all the time, no issues.