[Rose640]

There are a few people who believe smartphones are on the verge of being obsolete and there are 'better' things coming. I'm yet to figure out what that is but all I hear is - W10 on ARM! CShell! Andromeda! Bots!

I'm not against MS in any way. Nor am I against future tech. However, to suggest smartphones and apps are 'old' tech is completely ridiculous. A smartphone is the most personal piece of tech we currently have. That's not going to change any time soon. It does pretty much what we need for portable computing.

I don't personally see anything MS brings to the market changing the market share mindset that's currently out there. I'm not saying they can't I just don't see what they can do. Not everything is 'website' based and those things that are, don't necessarily have the best interfaces or features.

So unless MS gets developers on board, I just don't see things changing much. You can bring out the best piece of tech but if no one buys it (or few) all you have is a niche product. If they're ok with that then fine. If they want more than that then they really need to re-imagine what they're doing. Because currently MS with regards to mobile appears to be one revamp after another. Most consumers won't put up with that. Hell, even enterprises are not happy about that kind of thing. No one wants to be a constant BETA tester, unless that your job.

As MIA would say ibid.

I called BS as soon as I read the initial article back in January.

[MSFTisMIA]

So I finally picked up the USB-C headphones. Sound is solid so far. Unfortunately, they don't help me much as there is no in-line microphone. I'll still keep them though as they feel comfortable to the ear...they will be my backups to my Sony Bluetooth headsets. That leaves my cans and my other in-ear headphones for home use.

[MSFTisMIA]

So I finally picked up the USB-C headphones. Sound is solid so far. Unfortunately, they don't help me much as there is no in-line microphone. I'll still keep them though as they feel comfortable to the ear...they will be my backups to my Sony Bluetooth headsets. That leaves my cans and my other in-ear headphones for home use.

Guess not a moment too soon as my cans shorted out. Sigh...

[Laura Knotek]

Guess not a moment too soon as my cans shorted out. Sigh...

😞 I'm sorry to hear that.

[MSFTisMIA]

😞 I'm sorry to hear that.

Thanks. It's ok though. I'll replace them later in the summer. I think between the Bluetooth headset, the Sony noise canceling in-ear ones for the tablet, these USB-C headphones, and the standard in-ear headphones, I'm ok for now.

I just liked the cans because I got to rest my ear canals from the in-ear headphones at home.

[Rose640]

So I finally picked up the USB-C headphones. Sound is solid so far. Unfortunately, they don't help me much as there is no in-line microphone. I'll still keep them though as they feel comfortable to the ear...they will be my backups to my Sony Bluetooth headsets. That leaves my cans and my other in-ear headphones for home use.

Mic is a must when I'm buying headphones. Don't know if I could ever get a pair without one.

[MSFTisMIA]

Mic is a must when I'm buying headphones. Don't know if I could ever get a pair without one.

I've used some high quality headphones without mics before because of the sound, so while it's a convenience for me, I can work without them.

[MSFTisMIA]

These USB-C headphones do feel comfortable. I think they two issues I have are the lack of microphone for convenience and the sound is a little too flat. I got the white ones as they were cheaper ($7), but all in all, so far so good. The cable is very long, which I like.

[MSFTisMIA]

So here are my thoughts on the killing of the headphone jack issue.

Simply put, I'd like a USB-C audio standard. I don't mind OEMs making proprietary headphones as along as there are traditional headphone makers providing universal options. I'd rather the DAC in the headphone with the audio codec support in the phone. Now, there's so much stuff using 3.5mm jacks that won't fully go away. I was never one of those wall huggers who needed to charge their phone and listen to music simultaneously.

As long as I get quality audio, it doesn't matter if it is via Bluetooth, USB-C or 3.5mm jack.

[fatclue_98]

So here are my thoughts on the killing of the headphone jack issue.

Simply put, I'd like a USB-C audio standard. I don't mind OEMs making proprietary headphones as along as there are traditional headphone makers providing universal options. I'd rather the DAC in the headphone with the audio codec support in the phone. Now, there's so much stuff using 3.5mm jacks that won't fully go away. I was never one of those wall huggers who needed to charge their phone and listen to music simultaneously.

As long as I get quality audio, it doesn't matter if it is via Bluetooth, USB-C or 3.5mm jack.

I wish they just made USB-C the standard for everything.

[MSFTisMIA]

I wish they just made USB-C the standard for everything.

I'd prefer keeping it separate, leaving the pro audio equipment using 3.5mm. USB-C/Lightning cable audio is good enough for the average consumer.

[fatclue_98]

I'd prefer keeping it separate, leaving the pro audio equipment using 3.5mm. USB-C/Lightning cable audio is good enough for the average consumer.

Let me amplify my comment. I wish they standardized while maintaining the fidelity. Can't listen to Frampton on substandard equipment.

[MSFTisMIA]

Let me amplify my comment. I wish they standardized while maintaining the fidelity. Can't listen to Frampton on substandard equipment.

Agreed.

[MSFTisMIA]

As a old school fan, I still have mixed feelings about HTC. My stable always feels better whenever I have a HTC device in house...but the 10 is too overpriced still in the used market and the U 11 I feel the same way about that as I did the 10 at launch last year - "it's really good, but not enough for a daily driver for me".

[libra89]

So I finally picked up the USB-C headphones. Sound is solid so far. Unfortunately, they don't help me much as there is no in-line microphone. I'll still keep them though as they feel comfortable to the ear...they will be my backups to my Sony Bluetooth headsets. That leaves my cans and my other in-ear headphones for home use.

I'm glad to hear that the sound is nice with the USB-C headphones and also that they feel comfortable too, which is also important.

Sorry to hear about your cans dying on you though :/ That's also a bummer about the lack of an inline mic too.

[MSFTisMIA]

I'm glad to hear that the sound is nice with the USB-C headphones and also that they feel comfortable too, which is also important.

Sorry to hear about your cans dying on you though :/ That's also a bummer about the lack of an inline mic too.

Thanks. It happens...they lasted a while though, so I may get another pair at the end of the summer. The USB-C ones worked just fine on the XL.

[libra89]

So here are my thoughts on the killing of the headphone jack issue.

Simply put, I'd like a USB-C audio standard. I don't mind OEMs making proprietary headphones as along as there are traditional headphone makers providing universal options. I'd rather the DAC in the headphone with the audio codec support in the phone. Now, there's so much stuff using 3.5mm jacks that won't fully go away. I was never one of those wall huggers who needed to charge their phone and listen to music simultaneously.

As long as I get quality audio, it doesn't matter if it is via Bluetooth, USB-C or 3.5mm jack.

I was looking forward to your thoughts on this, since this seems to be SUPER trendy lately. Of phones recently released and/or to be released, it seems like a decent number of phones are lacking it. The U11, Essential Phone, and the Honor 9 is going without.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, it would be hard for me to guess how you feel about this.

[libra89]

As a old school fan, I still have mixed feelings about HTC. My stable always feels better whenever I have a HTC device in house...but the 10 is too overpriced still in the used market and the U 11 I feel the same way about that as I did the 10 at launch last year - "it's really good, but not enough for a daily driver for me".

Yeah, I think that's a hard place to be at. They know how to make solid devices, but I can totally understand you on the price thing. I remember when I was looking for the A9 and it was still so much for so long, which doesn't make sense to me at all. I did try it sometime last year and I liked it but the battery life and radios was just bad for me.

[MSFTisMIA]

I was looking forward to your thoughts on this, since this seems to be SUPER trendy lately. Of phones recently released and/or to be released, it seems like a decent number of phones are lacking it. The U11, Essential Phone, and the Honor 9 is going without.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, it would be hard for me to guess how you feel about this.

Bluetooth audio in Android has been crap for years in terms of codec support. I read somewhere that some of Sony's codec support for Bluetooth is coming into Android O, which is good news.

I'm just one who prefers some standard. I've lived through all sorts of proprietary headphones and none of this bothers me. A good USB-C standard though will help combat the knock offs which can put people at risk with dangerously faulty pseudo-equipment.

[libra89]

Thanks. It happens...they lasted a while though, so I may get another pair at the end of the summer. The USB-C ones worked just fine on the XL.

That's good that they lasted a while. Cool that they worked on the 950 XL too!

[Scienceguy Labs]

....

[libra89]

So somehow when I was away from my desk, my iPhone restarted by itself, saying that I needed to put in the password since that's required after a restart. It's also not like it updated either so this makes no sense.

I didn't even know that iPhones can do that, so I guess after my long evening tonight, I'll be resetting it and moving to the original (unfortunately financed) iPhone 7 and just use that until I can trade it in for the next iPhone. Going to request to return this one tonight. Ah.

Fortunately, doing a simple backup and restore will transfer everything like a charm.

[worldspy99]

So somehow when I was away from my desk, my iPhone restarted by itself, saying that I needed to put in the password since that's required after a restart. It's also not like it updated either so this makes no sense.

I didn't even know that iPhones can do that, so I guess after my long evening tonight, I'll be resetting it and moving to the original (unfortunately financed) iPhone 7 and just use that until I can trade it in for the next iPhone. Going to request to return this one tonight. Ah.

Fortunately, doing a simple backup and restore will transfer everything like a charm.

Maybe it updated itself to 10.3.2?

[libra89]

Maybe it updated itself to 10.3.2?

I wish, but it's still on the same update it came with. Nothing appears to be different.

[Rose640]

I've used some high quality headphones without mics before because of the sound, so while it's a convenience for me, I can work without them.

I get you, but it's too much of a PITA for me to pick up a phone while I have earphones in my ears. It's like doing a double job.