What happened to the headphone jack?

There aren’t many modern technologies which trace their origins directly back to the Victorian age, but the 3.5mm headphone jack certainly can.

The quarter-inch jack plug familiar to switchboard operators (and latterly musicians) around the world was first developed way back in the 1870s.

By the 1950s, miniaturisation had led to a smaller 3.5mm version being developed, which could be clipped into a quarter-inch jack for near-universal compatibility.

Mono versions evolved into stereo, but otherwise the 3.5mm connection endured throughout the rest of the 20th century. And for many people, it’s still a common sight today.

Yet the smartphone industry has declared war on it, led by Apple and its aggressive marketing of both wireless headphones and its proprietary Lightning connector.

So are wired headphones destined for obsolescence? And what should you do if you’d like to buy a new handset which isn’t compatible with existing hardware?

Keeping an ear open

The 3.5mm headphone socket was – and still is – a remarkably resilient piece of technology.

Relatively little can go wrong with it, other than loose wires or a gradual wearing out of the connector port on an external device.

Indeed, the assault on its fortunes has been driven by profit rather than by the evolution of superior technologies.

Apple wanted to increase sales of its own wireless AirPods and justify its $3.2 billion takeover of Beats, while streamlining the design of their iPhone to include fewer ports.

Less ports means less waterproofing, which in turn means easier compliance with IP68 and IP69 protection standards.

To placate customers with treasured in-ear or over-ear headphones, Apple sell an adaptor for the 3.5mm lead. However, it can only be plugged in through the Lightning port.

Exclusive to Apple devices, this proprietary port means iPhone owners have to choose between charging their device or using wired headphones.

An easier solution is to invest in a pair of AirPods, thereby boosting the company’s profits rather than those of rival headphone (and smartphone) manufacturers like Sony.

Sadly for fans of wired audio, other manufacturers have followed suit.

After all, Apple was among the first companies to turn away from the 3.5-inch floppy disc and the parallel port, both of which have now been consigned to history.

Today, many smartphone buyers are forced to either buy a clunky adaptor, or invest in wireless headphones.

Are wired earphones really better?

They really are, for numerous reasons.

Firstly, wireless headphones need regular recharging. They may go flat at an inopportune moment, whereas wired units draw power through their 3.5mm connection.

Sound quality is diluted over Bluetooth connections, which may also trigger interference and static.

Bluetooth drains the device’s battery, and reduces its security by giving hackers an easy way to connect.

Most of the world’s most highly-rated headphones are wired. AirPods can’t compete with over-ear Audio Technica or Sennheiser products in terms of sound reproduction and clarity.

Significantly, wireless units can’t support more than 768Kbps of data, whereas wired ones can throughput 2,304Kbps.

And that matters in an age of lossless music streaming and rapid broadband/5G. Gone are the days when a 128Kbps MP3 file represented the pinnacle of sound quality.

Getting their wires crossed again

Google’s decision to bring back the 3.5mm socket on its Pixel 4 phone (after dropping it for the 3) suggests some smartphone manufactures are reconsidering their strategies.

Other high-end phones sporting headphone jacks include the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, the LG V50 ThinQ and Huawei’s P30 range.

The mere existence of Apple’s Lightning headphone jack demonstrates that Bluetooth isn’t yet the answer to trouble-free audio output.

Sometimes, the old ways are still the best.