Here's a summary of the key themes in the Hacker News discussion, with supporting quotes:
Fairphone Appreciation and the Modularity Ideal
Several users express satisfaction with their Fairphone purchase, highlighting the ethical considerations and repairability aspects. However, there is a criticism that the modularity isn't fully realized.
- "Was lucky enough to get my Fairphone 4 on sale, but I'd happily pay full price now - even though the Fairphones are pricey for the specs, unless you absolutely need 24 cores etc. I'd say they are worth it, knowing the company is at least trying to improve the parts supply chain, and knowing you stand a chance of fixing the devices yourself" - strangecasts
- "I've been very happy with my Fairphone 4 that I've had for 4 years now running CalyxOS. I could probably use it for a few more years but I may upgrade to the 6 if the speakers/microphone are better (and to support the company)." - lawn
- "I don't get this. Isn't the whole concept of the company modular parts? Shouldn't you be able to put the better speakers in your existing phone?" - thaumasiotes (responding to lawn, highlighting the imperfect modularity)
- "It's not modular, and each fairphone is not compatible with the previous one.FP3 had an update camera if I remember well but it was the exception." - Foobar8568
The Headphone Jack Debate
The absence of a headphone jack in modern phones, including the Fairphone, is a major point of contention, with users arguing for its practical advantages and questioning the official reasons for its removal, like planned obsolescence or waterproofing challenges.
- "About the only thing I'd ding Fairphone on is not communicating earlier that they were having trouble getting Android 14 out to the FP4s, but the security patches have been consistent. (Okay I'm also dinging them on getting rid of the headphone jack, yes I know it's a lost cause... )" - strangecasts
- "Not really a lost cause in general, there are a bunch of regular phones that have a headphone jack. But fairphone seems unwilling to listen to all the feedback they are getting telling them this is a blocker, so yes, in that way it is a lost cause there. A shame really." - onli
- "The removal of the phone jack is so obviously planned obsolescence, it is ironic that this project for sustainability follows the trend... Think about how insane it is that companies can remove the phone jack and glue in the battery with the very obvious goal of planned obsolescence. And this is legal." - bombela
- "After years of a Fairbuds XL (never again!) and Bose QC for my Zoom sessions, I've ordered a Sony MDR-7506 because it does not need to be charged, and bluetooth doesn't need to be reconnected etc. Hurray for headphone jacks." - KingOfCoders
- "I don't think it's about planned obsolescence. It's about cutting costs and having one less hole water can get in. Also wired headphones are a very niche market. If you care so much there are wireless DACs that can feed your wired headphones better than any phone in history." - jack_pp
- "That's a lazy excuse. Every single IP68 rugged phone has a headphone jack. And the ones that are more waterproof even made for diving with them also have one." - h4ck_th3_pl4n3t
- "A proper headphone jack will always and forever be superior to needing a dongle." - bigstrat2003
Audio Quality and Alternatives to the Headphone Jack
The discussion extends to the technicalities of audio quality through wireless vs. wired connections, latency issues, and alternative solutions like USB-C and external DACs (Digital-to-Analog Converters).
- "jack_pp: If you care so much there are wireless DACs that can feed your wired headphones better than any phone in history. Dylan16807: Don't they all have 50-300ms of latency? If you have a quality non-bluetooth suggestion, or I'm wrong about the latency of bluetooth, I'd be excited to hear it."
- "With standard Bluetooth codecs you get nowhere close to that and there is a significant noticeable delay for video content. Headphone jack is easy to make IP68." - okanat
- "By applying Psychoacoustics. Lossy compression is a problem long solved." - emsign (in response to a question about lossy compression in wireless audio)
- "USB-C port to listen to my wired headphones all the time, no problem. Phone jack is now redundant now that USB-C can output audio" - BariumBlue.
- "During early COVID, USB audio worked perfectly, but an Android update disabled, supposedly for 'security' reasons." - o11c
- "That USB-C jack is not nearly as strong and robust as a proper headphone jack." - dotancohen
Market Demand and Manufacturer Decisions
Some users believe that manufacturers respond to market demands (or a perceived market demand) when removing the headphone jack, while others argue that consumer preferences are not always accurately reflected by market trends. The discussion also touches upon the failure of small phones, despite vocal demand.
- "Manufacturers build products the market wants. Wired headphones are not what the market wants. If you are a true purist you buy stuff from fiio and carry more then one device. This is the same thing as with small phones. A vocal minority cried far and wide that they wanted them. Apple made them.. and they did, not, sell." - jack_pp
- "Every single person wants smaller phones. What do we get? No small phones. Apple doesn't count… they are priced at 3x 4x what an android would cost. People want small phones but don't want to spend their whole salary on a phone." - LtWorf
- "Mainstream companies have tried offering the headphone jack in some phones and every single time, those phone have undersold their jackless competitors." - xmprj
- "I hope you don't mean when the flagship phone has no headphone jack, and a mid tier phone does. It's not the choice between the headphone jack and 3% more battery making the decision in that situation." - Dylan16807
- "Sony's problem is not their device; it's software/marketing/price and their release process." - tho234234234234
The Desire for Additional Ports.
The discussion highlighted a wish for additional ports.
- "My hotter take is that this is the same problem as IR blasters, and relative to the old normal -- when device makers like LG were specifically advertising how awesome their built-in DAC was -- this whole thing could be solved in a much more elegant, flexible way if anyone at all would just give us a second *usb port." - chaosharmonic
- "So much this. I had an nVidia (Tegra?) based phone with USB, headphone jack, HDMI." - carbyau