I don’t contemplate myself an audiophile however I respect a very good pair of wired headphones. It’s why you’ll discover me carrying Sennheiser HD650 (OK, positive, the Massdrop XX model) on most days. When it involves listening on cellular, I’ve been backed right into a nook by the sluggish extinction of three.5mm headphone jacks. Just a few years in the past, I surrendered and bought the Bose 700, a pair of wi-fi noise-canceling headphones I wholeheartedly advocate.

In this “Which Gadget Should You Buy?” I assist a reader who doesn’t give in so simply. Tony informed me he’s looking for a sub-$700 smartphone, and his solely deal-breaking requirement is that it lets him use wired headphones. Technically, Tony might plug in a USB-C-to-3.5mm headphone jack (or Lightning, as a result of Apple received’t pay attention) and purchase any cellphone in the marketplace. But as somebody who has both damaged or misplaced each functioning adapter he has ever used, I’m going to begin with a cellphone that has a built-in jack.

The Pixel 5a is an impressive mid-range smartphone with a gap in your wired headphones. And I received’t wait any longer to inform Jack this: act fast. If the Pixel 5a seems like the correct gadget in your wants, you may must buy it inside the subsequent few days, as Google will possible exchange it with the Pixel 6a at its I/O developer convention on May 11. That’s this week! Sadly, rumors counsel Google will certainly cast off the headphone jack on the incoming mannequin.

Why rush out and purchase as an alternative of ready for a worth drop? Because, sadly, Google tends to kill its older merchandise somewhat than drop their worth.

Yes, I’m recommending a tool on the point of respiratory its final, however the Pixel 5a is a superb smartphone. It doesn’t, I’m afraid, have the flowery high-fi quad DAC discovered on Tony’s getting old LG G7 Thin-Q, however then, neither does something (besides yet one more cellphone, talked about additional down this column) else within the US market. The days of hi-fi wired audio in your smartphone are previously. What Tony will get is higher cameras than these on the G7. Oh, and one of the best half? The Pixel 5a prices $450, placing it effectively inside funds. What are the downsides? It doesn’t have a microSD card slot, so Tony will should be cautious about importing batches of FLAC information, and Google notoriously makes use of a cheap internal DAC.

Tony mentioned he was trying on the Galaxy S21 FE, which tells me he may contemplate a cellphone with out a headphone jack. If so, he might select from any gadget in the marketplace, as long as he owns a USB-C-to-3.5mm dongle. Here’s the place I get to nerd out and advocate an exterior DAC/AMP, just like the Periodic Audio Rhodium DAC, EarMen Eagle, iBasso DC05, Questyle M12, or the Dragonfly Cobalt. A fast shoutout: serving to me with these suggestions is José Rodríguez Jr., who, together with being a workers author at Jalopnik, is a complete audio nerd.

Anyhow, a very good exterior DAC opens the door to smartphones that lack a 3.5mm headphone jack. The iPhone SE, if Tony is open to utilizing iOS, is an efficient funds choice, and Apple’s cheap Lightning dongle is surprisingly succesful. Tony was additionally proper to take a look at the Galaxy S21 FE now that it may be discovered for lower than $600. He might additionally look ahead to the Pixel 6a, which is rumored to be be coming with a bigger battery. Even if he opts for a Pixel 5a, I’d nonetheless advocate one of many exterior DAC/AMPs above—exterior is all the time higher than inner.

Other telephones I thought-about however ignored? Asus’ Zenfone 8 has a headphone jack with Qualcomm’s Aqstic DAC, glorious audio system, good cameras, and a flagship processor. It additionally is available in beneath funds. The drawback? Asus guarantees solely two years of software program help, and Tony understandably needs one thing within the 3-4 years vary. Similarly, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G is cheap, has a headphone jack, will get good battery life, and helps fasting charging, however OnePlus guarantees just one main replace (to Android 11) and two years of safety updates.

What do you suppose? Should Tony go together with the Pixel 5a or select one other smartphone with an exterior DAC or a regular headphone adapter? Let me know within the feedback. And should you’re in quest of a gadget, fill out our “What Gadget Should You Buy?” form so we will help you subsequent!