Why does The Fairphone (Gen. 6) not have an audio jack?

After some of the criticism that we received about removing the headphone jack from Fairphone 4, we did consider bringing it back for The Fairphone (Gen. 6). However, we realized it would be at the expense of increasing the phone’s dimensions. We also looked into the consumer data and Fairphone 4’s weight and thickness were more of an issue than the lack of a minijack, so we decided to keep the same approach, although it was a difficult decision. We didn’t want to invest in OLED technology for the display and then not have improved the phone’s dimensions and weight. But just like with Fairphone 4 and Fairphone 5, we will still offer an adapter, which has had overall positive user reviews.

"We heard the criticism but decided that no, you would still need an adapter to use headphones, plus a USB-C hub to be able to charge the damn thing while listening to music or watching videos"

Funny how that's the same excuses that we get for modern laptops terrible design. "We HAVE to make it thinner so there's no space! You wouldn't want a laptop that's not complete shit if it meant it'd also be less thin and breakable, now would you?"

For the amount of space a earphone jack takes it really doesn't make sense for them to include it, when you can just use a cheap adaptor cable

I really respect Fairphone and I'm a happy owner of the Fairphone 5, but I find a bit puzzling for a company that suggests its customer should keep their phone for more than the 2.5 years average to release a new model just 2 years after the previous one.

Just my two cents, but they shoul've focused on developing either a tablet or a smartwatch to fill a gap in other markets before announcing yet another smartphone.

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I would totally buy one of these if they were sold in the US. Sadly, last time I checked the newest phone wasn't sold here. So I doubt this one will be.

Idk man. you think the folks who killed themselves can put a review on a corporate shill website that's been known to remove reviews for the right price?

Okay, I'm going to ask... why don't you use wireless?

Edit: some results are in, and the only reasonable answer is better audio quality, although that's probably no longer true. The rest are fairly weak reasons.

Lol'd at the 10m extension cord though, thanks for that one.

I bet PostmarketOS will release for it

Why TCL didn't pay them to also remove bad reviews?

Sure, I just showed you the report, you may draw your own conclusions upon reading it. But in my opinion they've long proven to be transparent and actionable when it comes to improving the industry, e.g. by co-founding the Fair Cobalt Alliance. And maybe they even had something to do with those changes in legislation, the EU itself seems to recognise as much...

"Fairphone has made a tangible impact by improving working conditions for miners and factory workers, increasing the use of fair-trade and recycled materials, and extending product lifespans to combat e-waste. Its advocacy has influenced industry giants and policymakers to adopt fairer, more sustainable practices."

People who want a headphone jack [...] are unfortunately a very tiny minority of the entire population.

People interested in paying more for fair trade materials and repairable phones are also a very tiny minority of the entire population.
Of course I don't have any statistic, but I would guess that the proportion of people wanting a Jack is significantly higher in the group of people interested in buying Fairphone that on the general population.

In my particular case, I'm still using my Fairphone 3, and I'm not buying a Fairphone again unless it has a Jack.

This is nice for Europe I guess, and I want to like the fairphone, but unfortunately it's not viable for me.

Besides basic phone features and the ability to run Android apps I have 3 requirements, 2 of which the fairphone fails at. I need it to be usable in the US on my phone carrier. I need to be able to use Google Pay or another mobile payment alternative (that's accepted in most stores). Finally it needs to have at least a 48 hour battery life.

Fairphone unfortunately doesn't work in the US with most carriers, and the one that kills not only it but all the de-googled phones, it doesn't support mobile payment of any kind. I've done a ton of research trying to find some kind of fix for that second point because I'd gladly use something like GrapheneOS if I could, but every time the answer I come to is it's just not possible.

For the amount of space a earphone jack takes it really doesn't make sense for them to include it, when you can just use a cheap adaptor cable

I would totally buy one of these if they were sold in the US. Sadly, last time I checked the newest phone wasn't sold here. So I doubt this one will be.

If they didn't buy a previous fairphone, you're going to miss all the people who wanted to try it but didn't want a 5 year old phone tech. I imagine most people replace around 3-5 years due to battery degradation, people dropping their phones, or lack of updates

wireless headphones run out of battery, and most seem to have atrocious build quality and battery life.

What about em?

People who want a headphone jack [...] are unfortunately a very tiny minority of the entire population.

People interested in paying more for fair trade materials and repairable phones are also a very tiny minority of the entire population.
Of course I don't have any statistic, but I would guess that the proportion of people wanting a Jack is significantly higher in the group of people interested in buying Fairphone that on the general population.

In my particular case, I'm still using my Fairphone 3, and I'm not buying a Fairphone again unless it has a Jack.

Probably not a popular thing to say on here, but I think you’ve lost the battle for the earphone jack. It probably just requires way too much real estate to be practical on a modern day cell phone.