Do you prefer the headphone jack to be at the top or at the bottom on a phone, and why?

To be honest i'd prefer it to be there at all considering the current trend of removing it.

But to answer your question, jack on top, so when the phone is plugged in the wall you can stay on the other side since the headphone cable wont be bent

i'd prefer it to be there at all
Lol The future is interesting
I don’t think we can call it a trend anymore, shit hasn’t changed for a few years, not having an headphone jack is the norm and having one can now be a selling point for a phone

I prefer it being present

I still miss it so much. I'd take bottom or top, just to have that hole back. I have some amazing headphones, but they're like 20+ years old and now gathering dust.
I brought my favourite set of noise cancelling headphones with me after switching phones before I realized I had no devices to plug it into anymore.
This.

Bottom, for pocketing. And cable not dangling over screen.

This... More upvotes please
Plus, easier to manage points of water ingress
How does having it on the bottom matter to "pocketing"?
- Most people put phone in the pocket upside down

You guys have headphone jacks ?

I'm using the Pixel 5a. Solid phone, low price, unlocked so it can move networks, virtual SIM ready, 5G capable, and it has a headphone jack. Mine is a few years old and still cruising along just fine. I think they were under $500 at launch, so don't believe anybody's bullshit about headphone jacks drastically raising costs.
- Pixel 5a was great, but the units that are a couple years old are having major issues with the charging circuitry / motherboard. My phone bricked overnight while charging. It seems widespread enough right now that they've completely run out of refurbished stock of 5as and 6as to send out for replacements. I waited 6 weeks for an RMA with absolutely no updates -- was about to just give up, buy a new phone, and take Google to small claims court. Finally got a replacement unit because the "social media team made an exception for me" after I tweeted them.
- Same, and no clue what I'm doing after it. I love my headphone jack .... Maybe an ASUS ROG?
- Are they still manufactured ?
- Cannot find new phones anyone sadly in India.
Yep.
Reporting from Sony Xperia III 5 with a jack. My last 5 phones had a jack & OLED too.

I prefer it existing. Tough ask I know

Zenfone, Xperia, Mi... Stick to those brands who respect you as a customer.
- Asus respects you as a customer? That's why they just lost a lawsuit because they wouldn't provide a bootloader unlocking method?
- None of them respect customers or people in general.

Same side as the charging port. All cables must come out at the same side.

I need a port on each side.
USB-C on the bottom.
3.5mm audio on top.
RJ45 on the left.
SCART on the right.
This is the right answer, in my opinion.
If you are of the pants with pockets wearing disposition, then whichever side of the phone faces down will inevitably end up filled with dust and lint. Having both ports on the same side makes this a trivial problem.

Doesn't really matter as long as the jack exists in the first place.

Same for charging port?
- I prefer the USB port to be on the bottom, but very few phones (at least in the smartphone era) even tried to move the USB port. Headphone jacks were frequently on top. I like the USB port on the bottom in the center so it can sit on a stand with a cutout in the center (which are pretty common).

Just having one would be great. Thank you Apple (but why did so many Androids copy the removal?).

I believe it was for waterproofing. One less port means less sealing, making it easier to improve the waterproofing of the phone.
- Water ingress isn’t the issue & there’s been waterproofed ports for decades. They wanted to make devices thinner—but what value is it when its too thin to support a jack & made of materials that now require a case?
- Which is only likely to last one year anyways. After which, you can pay an exorbitant amount to replace the degrading glue. I'd just like my wired headphones back, the jack will last longer than a year at the very least.
Well it gives companies a bit more space to work with.

Side, cuz fuck you that's why.

This is actually genius, because then, while you're at it, you could add different ports too, like RCA ports, a bit-perfect Toslink, etc. I desperately want this phone now! I don't care if it weighs a few extra kilograms, I NEED TOSLINK!
- What about SCART?
- Give me a parallel port or give me death.
- the ROG phones have a second USB C port on the side
- I was just thinking my hand would be less in the way than the bottom and top seems unholy and undignified.
- Best we can do is co-ax
- Lol, should come with a dock station too
I vote all ports top left.

I prefer the headphone jack is on the bottom, next to the charging port. That way, I can put the ports down while my phone is in my pocket if i'm working, so nothing gets into the ports. Then, if I'm just keeping my phone in my pocket normally, with the ports up, my headphones can plug in without problems.

Bottom, because I put my phone in my pocket top down.

Top down, ports up. That’s the way you like to hang up.

I'd settle for a headphone jack period. Any suggestions?

Samsung galaxy S10, any more recent suggestions would be a godsend.

I just want the phone to rotate correctly whichever way I choose is up. I want to be able to read ebooks and charge my phone without holding it up. /End rant

I use this to fix that problem on android. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.crape.rotationcontrol
Don't know about iPhone but I won't ever use them

At the bottom. This way when you will it out of your pocket, you don't have to turn it around for the screen to be the right way up.

Honestly I just use my hands
- Lol. "Pull"

Imagine if phone manufacturers asked the public like this...

Chaos

Bottom. If I pull my phone out with the bottom facing up it's a very easy transition to hold it up and use it. At the top I've got to flip the phone around when I take it out, and that's an unforgivable sin of design. Only exaggerating a little

You guys are getting headphone jacks?

He probably still has the smartphone he bought in 2012.
- Bought a new one last year.
  Headphone jack was a must.

If the screen rotates 180 degrees then I don't care where the jack is.

When in my pocket or on a call I want the jack "up"

Just noticed that android will do all other orientations BUT 180, lol...

Not picky—it just needs to be there else I would be forced to buy Bluetooth e-waste.

I don't know what kind of shit you guys buy, but I have used one single pair of Bluetooth tws earbuds since pre-covid and never looked back to wired which, at least in my experience, are the ones more prone to breaking
Edit: and it's not like I got Apple airpods or anything, they are haylou gt1 that I paid like 25$ for in 2019 or 18
Edit2: and yes I do have a micro jack in my phone which I have not used once for the three years I have had this phone
- Not my experience. I've spent way more on bluetooth headphones/buds than I ever spent on wired. 🤷
It's kind of comical how many Bluetooth earbuds I've been through because they break and die so often. I was a very early adopter around 2017 or so and my first pair sucked (and broke). Next I got air pods which were great for sometime but broke too (case stopped charging). Got Samsung level U, they sounded decent but they had the lousiest, wet newspaper, build quality I've ever seen. Constantly cracking and separating at the seams. By the time I was done with them, there was probably more superglue than plastic.
I had some sound peats QY8 earbuds. They were uncomfortable and had poor design. The earbud protruded far from the body and was also very flimsy. Accidentally pressed them against a flat surface and the body basically disintegrated.
I also had a pair of Logitech artemis headphones, but those failed to connect after a year or so.
Oh, and ALL of them had poor battery life, later in their use. Within a year or 2 the battery life seems to be cut in half if not more.
Since then I have switched to Sennheiser hd600, DUNU TITAN S and Koss ksc75. Both of the former have replaceable cables and latter can easily be repaired if you can solder. Even then you can probably bring it to a shop and they can repair it quickly and cheaply.
- I switched to wired IEMs exclusively & won’t be going back. The price-performance is totally there & they never need a damn data-collecting, third-party app for firmare updates or some garbage.
Yeah, cabled e-waste is so much more civilised.
- Unless you are buying a DSP cable, there aren’t microchips or batteries or firmware updates for analog earphones. Kinds with even slight quality to them have detachable, replacebale cables (current IEMs are fine on their second cable) & headsets usually have simple parts a basic soldering iron or similar can fix (my old ones I got repaired in 3 countries in tiny shops by folks that’d never seen them). You gonna repair your earbuds when they break? Last shop I went to, the first question asked if they were wireless & only after confirming they aren’t do they even bother trying to help. You think analog needs worry about a new version of Bluetooth or some security vulnerability in the firmwares communicating to your smarter phone (& also used to fingerprint your physical presence)? I can plug mine in to a port built in ’70s & get a analog signal out.
I couldn't possibly tell you how many sets of wired headphones I've had to throw out in my life because of frayed/broken cables. Those things are e-waste too.
- You are buying shitty headphones if you cant detach or otherwise repair the cables. The cables are just copper & some casing which is hardly e-waste & the rest is a magnet housed in plastic/resin. There isn’t lithium production for a battery or other rare minerals for a microchip.

Neither. I want it on the front, right in the center.

Top. If I put the phone in the cup holder it sits more naturally if the jack is at the top

Bottom. Phones go in pockets top down so you don't have to readjust your grip. If it's on top, now whatever's plugged in is holding up the phone. The only real benefit for a top port is the ability to have stereo bottom speakers without space constraint worries.

Bottom I can always put it in a pocket upside down. Just feel downs a bit more protected from the rain.

Top, 100%

Then you wont rest you phone on the cable and possibly ruin it.

The best answer is where the charging port is. So if we all decided it's bottom, then it has to be down there.

All the answers trying to put it at the top don't realise they would have now double problems either when charging or using the jack.

Also, bottom jack makes it great for pockets which is where the most audio time happens.

Bottom sucks though if you want to use the phone with headphones and set the bottom edge down on something (e.g. on your bed).
- Top will always end up in front of the screen.
- Same issue with charger tho?
Not at all. Some people want to have the phone sit on a charger station, while also having it plugged in for audio.
Cannot do that if it's at the bottom.
Same for connecting it to a car stereo. You can then have sit in a cup holder.
The people who want it at the top, want it there for a reason. Their usage is simply different than yours.

The phone should not have a dedicated “top” or “bottom”; the image should be able to flip 180 degrees via user config.

Phones need to align speaker to ear and microphone to mouth, so in that sense, there necessarily needs to be a top and bottom. I guess you can reframe the question as whether you like the jack on the microphone side or the speaker side.
- the funny thing is that this comment reminded me that phones are still actually phones! I make and take so few calls it's easy to forget
- Not if you make both ends capable of each job

Bottom of the phone.

I tend to mount my phone in my car and prefer if the jack is at the bottom.

I don't really care as long as it's there. If I have to choose a spot, I think somewhere beside the usb-c port should be good.

I have been happily cordless for years but preferred the bottom as putting the phone top down in my pocket makes for one quick motion to view the phone and put it back without rotating it.

Bottom. It slows accumulation of pocket lint in charging port.

I love when phones place the usb on the top. I have no idea why the bottom is standard, nobody uses docks anymore.

My phone always goes into my pocket with the top facing the ground, always has, never bought a phone with one on the top, never will.
- Me neither, just doesn't sound like a good idea when it's raining
I don't think there's room at the top with the cameras.

The side

You eat pizza sideways, don't you?
If you use a phone in landscape it makes more sense than people think.

I like having it on top for being able to set my phone up against something still, but if it’s in my pocket I want the top of my phone down so I take it out it’s right, which means the bottom Jack works better. So ideally I’d want both

Yes

All phones I've had, had the jack on the bottom where it's in the way of me holding the phone or placing the phone on something. I always wondered why it's not just at the top.

BTW just got a new phone (Oneplus) and I'm glad to have found one that has a jack at all

Top right.
It's best place when holding it in landscape mode.

Ever since I've gotten some decent noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones, I don't really care where the headphone jack is or even if there is one. It happened way too many times that the cable got snagged on something and yanked the buds out of my ears, and I'm well past the age where I had the cable under my shirt and the earbuds dangling in front of me all the time. Especially when running or otherwise exercising, I don't miss the cable one tiny bit.

What privacy respecting phone are you using that also has a headphone jack? If it has an sd card slot too I'll think I've gone back a decade

bottom, so I can charge it and have headphones plugged in at the same time while it's in my pocket.

I had the last generation iPod nano, and none of the clip-on cases I could find would put it upside down like the way I preferred my phone so I cut it with an exacto knife to reverse it

Anywhere but the bottom half of the phone. I hate that the charging port is on the bottom. It’s in the way when I need to use my phone while charging.

You guys have headphone jack in your phones? I certainly miss headphone jack in a phone

I don't really care because I rotate my screen 180 degrees in landscape if it's on the bottom and I'm using headphones

Bottom. All phones I've ever had have the headphone jack at the bottom, right next to the charging port. So, why would I want it anywhere else than where I'm used to it being?

To rest your phone on your chest in bed.

The side of the phone.

side

I do not care about having a headphone jack, but it would be nice to have the charging port on top; it's more out of the way for me.

Bottom.

Top. So it can sit in my cup holder with the map up proper.

So many non-answers that are like “war janck pls”

That’s not what the question is.

Honestly it doesn't really matter to me. Depending on whether it's on the top or bottom I'll just put my phone in my pocket to make it point upward when I use it. I tend to use Bluetooth anyway most of the time, so the headphone jack is mostly there as backup and for connecting other audio devices at parties etc.

I don't think I've seen one at the top..

I'd say bottom because I'd rather not have the cord coming towards me, rather than away, when I'm using the phone. Also it seems more ergonomic for me to put my phone in my pocket with the top pointed down rather than up.

My Xperia 10 III has it up top. Damaged more than one cable by just jamming it in my pocket upside-down then realising the cable's getting smushed up. Note to self: Get headphones with 90 degree cable connectors
iPhones used to have them on the top. At least.
It was kinda weird.

Top

My phone has it in the upper top right, and I like it there.

Get out your pitchforks because I prefer headphone jacks to be a thing in the past

I prefer the headphone jack to be Bluetooth, honestly... Haven't had a physical port in many years and found I didn't miss it at all

Psst.... imma let you in on a secret. You can have a headphone jack, AND Bluetooth. They're not mutually exclusive.
- Sure
  But why would I care if I'm not going to use it?
  Honestly, I don't care if all my phones going forward start having the port again, I'm sure it'll make a lot of people happy, but I'll still likely be using Bluetooth because it's just more convenient for me
  Which was the point. That I feel like you missed. Or misinterpreted. Either way... Cool?
Lucky. I have collected a fair bit of audio gear that use very frequently. The dongles dislodge from the charging port too easily to be useful. I do use BT dac/amps but most of the time I'm in too much of a hurry to bother and I rely on the jack almost entirely.

Does it bother you that much if your phone has a headphone jack that you don't use?
Does it take away something from your experience? You always have the option of just.... not using it.
I always charge my phone wirelessly but I'm not gonna go and say I prefer a phone without a charging port. That would just be stupid.
The only reason headphone Jacks got taken away was so you'd be forced to buy Bluetooth solutions. Like AirPods.
- The only reason headphone Jacks got taken away was so you'd be forced to buy Bluetooth solutions. Like AirPods.
  Totally. That's why they never made adapters and never included cabled earphones with lightning plug. It was AirPods or nothing.

I haven't used either so no clue. No headphone jack on the s21

Edit: why was I downvoted?

Dongle life!

None, because I use wireless on the phone. Tablet/laptop is used when I need fidelity.