Galaxy S10 til the wheels come off

I like wireless, I just fucking loathe earbuds. Unfortunately, they have completely replaced the wrap around on-ear headphones that were the best for wearing while running errands or exercising.

I don't want something big and bulky while I'm walking around, but I also don't like having shit jammed into my ears. And critically, those on ear headphones are just the right size to have a convenient button layout so I can easily pause or go back a few seconds in my audiobook whenever I need to.

But Apple decreed that wireless earbuds were the future and the market for everything else fucking died.

Have you tried bone conduction earphones? Shokz are pretty sweet, I use my pair all the time.
Used to have a pair of these. Motorola S305. They were the perfect running headphones. Big chunky buttons for volume and track skipping, a plastic band that wrapped the back of your head and over your ears so it would never fall off but otherwise wireless. The only downside was really old Bluetooth tech so connection was sketchy at times. Also audio has improved a lot since then.
Modern buds don't stay in my ears. I'm using the pixel buds pro right now. The right ear stays in pretty good but the left is completely unpredictable.
- Having the pixel buds myself, I feel your pain. Do a little bit of physical activity and at least one side gets loose and slippery.
  I found that I simply dont have symmetrical ear canals, I use the mid size plug on one and the smallest plug on the other ear. That way they seem to fit somewhat reliably.
- Have neckband Bluetooth headphones of various kinds too (I'll never ever use those tiny plugs, I'd be worried about losing them and chances are they won't fit well). Got a regular sport model, and recently got a cheap air conduction headset too.
- I'm using the pixel buds pro right now. The right ear stays in pretty good but the left is completely unpredictable.
  I wonder if it's their manufacturing or something, because I have the same issue with only the left bud.
I think peak design was the on-ear, behind-the-neck style. They rested on the top of your ears, and your hair didn’t get all fucked up from the headband. I don’t know why they had such a short-lived popularity.
I’ve tried the wired Koss independent on-ears, but you lose clarity of lows without the pressure of a neckband or headband.
- They still exist, although aren't as common. Plenty of places have them if you order online
I felt this comment in my bones. It's too bad my over ear buds are so old now the plastic has degraded. Regular earbuds just don't stay in and I find them uncomfortable.
Now the real winner would be looped over your ear but using that spacial localized speaker thing Valve puts into their VR. That stuff works great, has surround sound, and you don't feel a thing. A wonder if only exists on that headset and that headset alone.
- Seems to be rather unique to them.
  https://www.valvesoftware.com/en/index/deep-dive/ear-speakers
This might be the right thing for you:
Avantree Resolve-C - USB C Wired Open-Ear Earbuds & Microphone (for Small-Medium Ear) with in-Line Controls & Over-Ear Hooks, Headphones Compatible with Samsung, iPhone 15 and Other Type C Smartphone (Amazon link)
Wraparound on-ear headphones with USB-C plug. I can't vouch for them personally though.
- The problem with most USB c earphones (which are not super expensive) is that they sound like shit because they have a cheapo small DAC (digital to analog converter) in them. Our phones - most of the time - have decent enough DACs, at least had them when they had the 3.5 mm jacks

RIP that headphone jack

Those things are solid. It'll be fine.
Rip that person's ear holes you mean.
- Not really. I've switched from wired to wireless because of the number of headphones I've destroyed getting the cable stuck so bad it yanks my body. My ears never hurt from it; just slightly disoriented and audio only working for one bud/side now. Eventually it was too annoying and I switched to full bluetooth wireless. I won't argue against cables being better for audio, but for me they arent.

I used to dislike wireless earbuds until I tried them. They really are much more convenient, especially while riding a bike.

I switched to wireless during the covid pandemic. Otherwise it was really painful to put on and off the mask each time I entered public transport. And I agree, it's super convenient in many other situations as well.
- But such a tiny, energy-optimized DAC can't sound really good, can it?
It's not like it was a mutually exclusive option. I have an S9 and I swamp between wireless and wired audio all the time depending on the setting. These newer phones have only one option. Bluetooth does not work well everywhere. Frankly forcing more things into the same radio frequency just makes it worse.
But useless when you need to get audio out of a phone into another sysyem
- Yeah, but for casual use almost all relevant devices have bluetooth nowadays

I don't have a problem with wireless headphones when it comes to mobile devices. It sucks, and I wish I still had a headphone jack, but I've kinda come to peace with the fact that wireless accessories for phones are apparently the future.

However, I wish there were "mid/high-end" Bluetooth/wifi cans. All the wireless headphones are either earbuds, IEMs, or overpriced Skullcandy/beats/Bose/apple/etc. I want an AKG or Audio-Technica pair of wireless headphones that go over my ears, and I want an option between closed-back and open-back headphones. I prefer closed-back due to the sound isolation and I'm annoyed that there's a price gap where it's hard to find closed-back headphones in the $300~$600 range.

...or at least it was when I checked a year or two ago; everything with a closed back was either entry (<$100), low-level (<$300) or too expensive (>$600 + $100 or more for an amp, because at that price range most headphones need one).

Edit: oh yeah, and a optional balanced cable that uses a standardized connector, like miniXLR

Sennheiser has a few wireless cans in that category for ~$400
- I'll have to check them out, thanks!
^ This person audio-engineers.
No judgement - just from reading your comment I definitely get this vibe. I get it though. Most wireless stuff is either going to be heavily EQed consumer trash or overpriced audiophile stuff with all the latest buzzwords. There just doesn't seem to be much of a market for reference-grade stuff in a wireless format.
Not that I could justify spending a bunch on good headphones though, so I've settled for a low-end pair that sound acceptable for what they are.
- I actually don't, but maybe I should because I love audio stuff, I just don't usually have the money to blow on it. Any idea what skills audio engineers usually have?
Maybe too basic for you but the ATH-M50X bluetooth has served me well for mlre than 5 years and the only complaint I have is the faux leather comming off.
- Ye, though tbh, I've thought about just getting a secondary pair of headphones, like a cheaper wireless pair for being out and about, and a more expensive pair for at home. If I went that route then I'd probably do something like the ath-m50x
Focal Bathys? They are expensive and delicate though
- Holy shit those actually kinda sound exactly like what I want. They are pretty expensive, and I wonder what the sound quality is like, but those are basically the kinda thing I've been looking for.
I think the ATH-M50x has a BT version.

I recently bought the samsung A15. And even though it came out this year it still has the headphone jack. If you don't have special use cases for your phone that you need a lot of power for I can realy recomend the low end samsung phones. They work absolutely fine. I used my last low end samsung phone for 5 years before replacing

I would but all the cancer samsung packs into their goddamn OS is just too much.
- Yes yes yes. The unremovable bloatware junk flooding and suffocating samsung's devices cpu , memory and ram, and draining its battery is the #1 reason that forced me to ditch samsung forever. Also how you hardly don't get any much by rooting them compared to other manufacturers
- What's wrong with OneUI? I like it more than stock Android these days. I know TouchWiz was the worst and most bloated Android skin out there when they were still using it, but ever since the switch to OneUI, stock Android has been playing catch-up implementing its features.
- Just root the phone and use LineageOS for example :D It's what I've been doing and it's great

God I miss my S10. It really was a perfect phone. I finally had to let it go when the screen cracked. Replacing it cost more than a refurbished S22 or S23, and I couldn't justify purchasing another S10, since it will probably fall victim to planned obsolescence soon.

My S10e is cracked but only all over the backplate. Which is also no longer really attached to the phone. I'm driving this thing into the ground.
- I still use my s10e every day on my commute with the headphone jack plugged into a radio tuner so I can listen to podcasts
- Still using the S9 with only the back and sides cracked. Only put 50€ into replacing the battery and jack. This has got to last until 2027 at least until replaceable batteries hopefully become a thing again.

Still typing this on my S10! I've replaced the power button twice as it eventually started falling out. I have to admit I mostly use wireless earbuds these days but options are nice.

I've been getting the Samsung 'plus' models several years after they come out for a couple hundred bucks and still can't find a reason to upgrade from the S10+
New phones are way too expensive for a better camera and marginally faster apps, which would be entirely out matched by a dedicated camera at the same price.
Surprise surprise, I also drive an old ranger that has aux but no Bluetooth so everything works out
The S10 is such a good phone! Things like samsung dex and being able to cast to TV are really useful - I'm guessing the later models have these, but I'd hate to lose them either way. I rarely use the headphone jack nowadays but it's still nice to have. Hopefully I can get a few more years out of my S10.
options are everything, i'm rocking 500gb removable storage, feel like a pig in shit

I refuse to spend any money on earbuds that will be immediately lost.

I'm terrible at keeping track of things normally but I never lose my wallet or headphones. Seems like maybe a you problem.
Not a fan of singular earbuds but because my phone didn't come with a jack I got ones that are basically attached to each other, so they are wireless but attached by a wired between them with a little battery that lasts 10h I've grown really fond of them.
No problem of losing them either!

My phone would drop and just detach from the phone jack and still fall, sometimes ruining the headphones in the process. My phone has a case and takes a fall better than my headphones. But it's also older (Samsung note 8), so there's that

Still have this phone but it is getting a bit ragged, really just the battery. Might upgrade to Sony Xperia 1 V or 1 VI soon. Need the headphone jack and microSD slot.

Check out HMD phones. They have the SD slot and the 3.5mm jack as well. They also have partnered with iFixit so that you can replace parts as well.
https://www.hmd.com/
- Looking at the specs of this HMD phone, I would not recommend it. The headphone jack and SD card slot are about all this phone has going for it. It's underpowered, especially for a phone running Android 14. I guess it wouldn't be too bad for people who just need the cheapest Android phone they can get.
  ...There also appears to be a hole in the screen 🙃 (i loathe camera holes and screen "notches").
- Unless you are in India.
  Their customer service apparently drove a relative of mine to Apple.
  Also some of the cheaper Nokia ones have a great number of problems:
  SIM card not detected after Restart
  Some bad sensor causing Google Maps to show you facing the wrong direction.
  Alright, it's just 2, but happens enough to make me regret.
  Some high end model had its LCD liquidate somehow, without a visible crack and was not covered in warranty.
Sony xperia phones are wonderful overall. Highly recommend.

I just traded in my s10 this past November and I still miss the headphone jack.

If you're also bitter about it, don't buy wireless earbuds from the phone brands. Samsung, Apple, etc.
Admittedly it's not a big thing, but I don't think we should directly financially reward the same people who took the aux port from us.
Sennheiser is good but sometimes at bit more spendy. I like Jabra Elite 8 Actives, for dust/dirt/sweat resistance. Maybe the sound isn't quite as nice, but I'm fine with it. And Jabra isn't a company that took the aux port out of our phones.
- Yep, about a month ago I finally broke down and bought a sennheiser momentum 4. Pricy, but down are they nice.

Where my LG homies at?

Left the market a few years ago. Sorry bud. I wanted to get the Wing, but grabbed a OnePlus 9 Pro instead. No regrets.

me seeing this while still using wired headphones at the moment on my phone listening to music :)

Why not buy a Sony phone with an earphone jack?

Not only does the Xperia have a headphone jack, it supports aptx for Bluetooth headphones! No matter if you prefer wired or wireless, it's not skimping on either.
- A lot oft phones have aptx, no?
- I love LDAC but Sony seems to be abandoning it. I don't think their latest headphones or bluetooth speakers have support for it anymore.

Get an USB-c to aux adapter for phones without aux connector.

Or get a phone who still has the port from a company like Sony or Asus or whatever
- I love my Sony but the camera is so dogshit that I couldn't recommend it to anyone 😢
There are two kinds
the purely analogue that just connects some of the USB pins to the jack
the digital that contain a DAC
Not all phones have the internal wiring from their internal DAC to the USB port to make the analogue type of adapter work, so watch out what you buy, if you follow SomeGuy69's advice.
- I didn't even know that. Thanks for the info. But I guess an adapter is cheap. A phone on the other hand not.
The usb-c would have popped right out and let your phone be smashed into smithereens.
Or Bluetooth to aux. E.g. Fiio btr3. Also improves sound quality by a lot
those will start getting loose. at one point if i even thought about slightly grazing the adapter it would lose connection

I dropped my phone while it was connected to my laptop charging. My laptop was taken down with it.

Did you try to save it all on the way down and make things worse?
- Damn that URL didn't link, but I think I can imagine what could be worse.

Another good reason to remove the jack.
More products broken out of warranty, more sales.

USB C to 3.5mm Dongle Adapter (Amazon link)

If you need to charge and listen at the same time, they make split adapters for that too. Adding 2" of wire to your wired headphones is a very minor inconvenience.

There are also wired headphones with USB-C plugs if you don't want to bother with adapters.

This is true. The only caveat I'll add is that not all USB-C-to-3.5mm + power delivery adapters are created equal, which is annoying. I bought this one a couple years ago and it has an audible buzz when plugged into power, so it's basically junk.
I kind of can't believe we're still having this conversation. It's ridiculously cheap and easy to use wired earbuds with a modern phone if you want to. I got it back when it was just iPhones and Apple was selling lighting to 3.5 adapters for like $7k, but that's obviously not the case anymore. If someone wants to hold on to their 5+ year old phone and run it dead, that's great. More power to them. Doing it to avoid getting a phone with no headphone jack is a little silly at this point, though.
- Here's the problem, it's a solution to a problem nobody had. Never once have I heard someone say "well it's a solid phone but God I just wish it didn't have that pesky 3.5mm headphone jack!" It's just another feature stripped from the phone to clearly get you to buy more shit. I don't want yet another damn thing I have to charge. I dont want to deal with keeping track of two tiny ass earbuds and if I lose one I gotta get a whole new pair. I don't want to deal with the fact that now if I want to listen to wired I have to buy more shit like an adapter and if I lose those headphones, now I gotta buy another one of those along with new headphones. And I hate that if I do go wireless and lose them or they break, I can't fall back on wired because it's not even an option unless I happen to also have the adapter.
  It's just another in a long line of clear middle fingers to consumers and it's annoying. Does it like ruin the phone and the experience of a phone? Of course not. Is it a completely pointless pain in the ass with the obvious and sole purpose of funneling consumers into buying a cycle of products they almost definitely don't need and don't already have? Absolutely. And for that I say they can eat a big bag of crap.

Heroes never goes out of style

I just had to give up my S10....I got a 20...I need my ports

I abandoned wired earphones before this whole mess with headphone jacks because I grew tired of replacing the every other month because the cable stopped working

So many people go boomer argument mode over this because they don't like change, but their anger is clearly misplaced. The 3.5mm is not the king of audio connectors and never was, it's death could very easily have been a good thing.

Why the fuck didn't headphone makers start offering USB-C devices once phones pulled this move? My PC mobo from 2017 has a C port that could be used for this, I'm certain computers could have easily adapted (and they're the way smaller market anyway). Is it just because apple had to be special with their lightning bullshit? If so, they'd better start it up now!

Instead of being able to buy new cans with the wire that my phone uses I have to snag an adapter. Not a BIG deal but this change is over 5 fucking years old, we should have these devices as the norm now to avoid all of the fucking issues we're currently looking at

Usb is a carrying digital signals for the most part while headphonea are analog. So you have 2 options:
Implement some janky non-standard analog audio in some usb alternate mode that will only work with some devices
Add a digital to analog converter in the plug itself, which is more complex and expensive
Both options prevent you from chanrging while using headphones unless you use a splitter or wireless charging which is not ideal
3.5 mm may not be the king, but it's extremly simple and fairly robust and has little to no disatvantages except for wireless headphones sales ofc. You don't have to charge these heqdphones, you don't have to worry about losing one of them.
Wireless headphonwa have their uses, I doubt they benefit the majority of people tho.

I have this same phone and I like it.

How bout a case

Idk man I was getring tired of mishaps breaking the fuck off the cellphone's jack port. I do like to have it just in case, though.

Love my AirPods Pro man. No wires, great sound and noise cancellation. I have never had them fall out of my ears, even when working out.

If your earbuds are falling out, clean your ears and your earbuds before you put them in. Either that, or you need tips that fit your ear better. If you have those ear canals that don’t want anything in them, we also now have great (and wireless!) headphones now too.

Wires are really just for those audiophile enthusiasts, people who can’t be bothered charging wireless things, or people who would lose their head if it wasn’t attached.

To each their own, of course. :)

Umm, you might want to read it again.
- Why…?
lol, love it when people try to justify purchases that end up as e-waste after a couple/few short years.
- I would never praise these things, but I've been using the same pair for 5 years now. Why would they become e-waste so quickly?
- The product I’ve had since 2021? Shut the fuck up.
However, a lot of companies dropped headphone jacks, because they could both save a buck on them, make them even more slightly thinner to the point it starts to impact usability, and create a market for 3rd party accessories (wireless head/earphones, converters, etc.).

MST pay is still the only secure way to pay at like 50% of all businesses.

Which of you tards didn't get that S10 also has this amazing pay innovation that fills a huge gap... Worth downvotes in an S10 thread? LOL

remind me, was the S10 the last Samsung phone that didn't explode or literally fall apart in your hands?

edit: fuck all the downvoters. i have an s20fe. it literally cannot handle hot weather, and the fucking glue gives in, completely removing the back cover. how about some notches and shit? really we can't make any mechanism for the covers, we're just gluing things now? is this a Tesla phone?

No. That's (almost) all Samsung devices. They make decent screens and camera sensors though...