This upset isn’t only because I like plugging in physical headphones into my smartphone to enjoy higher-quality, drop-out-free music. Although that’s one reason.<\/p>\n
The best wired headphones<\/a> are a step above anything wireless, even if smartphone companies want them gone.<\/p>\n No, my annoyance is about more than that.<\/p>\n When I’m not testing tech for a living, I also do content creator work, recording videos or movies using my phone.<\/p>\n And with headphone jacks dropping from most headphones, this job is a lot trickier, as is enjoying audiophile music.<\/p>\n Thankfully, a few years ago I found a solution, which I’ve been employing ever since.<\/p>\n I bought a $10 accessory at the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdowns, and my phone has barely gone anywhere without it since.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n \t\t Connect to audio the old-fashioned way<\/p>\n Meet my budget phone splitter<\/p>\n Simple and elegant<\/p>\n My accessory is a very simple one. It plugs into the USB-C port of your phone, and lets you plug in both a USB-C and a 3.5mm jack at the same time.<\/p>\n That’s it.<\/p>\n You can buy splitters with a greater number or diversity of ports, but I don’t need that. I wanted something lightweight and cheap that let me get USB-C and 3.5mm at the same time.<\/p>\n Some might opt to introduce a headphone jack into their phone simply by getting a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter, but that’s only a half-measure.<\/p>\n Part of the usefulness of having these separate on a phone, is that you can plug in multiple things at once.<\/p>\n Because I bought it six years ago, I can’t recall the exact brand, which is why I’m not recommending an exact product right now.<\/p>\n But Amazon is chock-full of versions for as little as $10.<\/p>\n Naturally, a more expensive model can offer you greater protection or longevity, but I know back in 2020 I wouldn’t have been shelling out for pricey models.<\/p>\n As you can probably see from the pictures, it’s a little scuffed and worn, and that’s because of years of use.<\/p>\n It offers a few solutions to problems that the lack of a headphone jack brings.<\/p>\n Playing music while my phone’s connected<\/p>\n Turn my phone into an audio player<\/p>\n I’m somewhat of an audiophile, and a core trait of that is a distain of wireless audio.<\/p>\n I like using wired headphones because they can allow for a higher playback bitrate to enjoy lossless music, and lower latency while gaming.<\/p>\n I also prefer to use cables to connect to my stereo speakers, for the same reason.<\/p>\n Bluetooth is fine if you don’t care about music quality, but I find that things can get messy when you have too many music players or speakers.<\/p>\n Different devices will connect than you want, and I often spend ages trying to make sure the right player is connected to the right speaker when I want to enjoy tunes. Cables are simpler.<\/p>\n Nowadays, plenty of wired earbuds, headphones and speakers let you plug a cable straight into your phone’s USB-C port to play.<\/p>\n Listening to high-quality music for any amount of time, though, drains the battery. And naturally, you can’t plug in a charger while you’re streaming music from the port.<\/p>\n Enter the splitter.<\/p>\n I can use this to continue feeding power to my phone, while it outputs audio via the 3.5mm port.<\/p>\n Sure, the splitter slows down the charging somewhat, but I like to ditch my fast charger anyway<\/a>.<\/p>\n Keeping the battery charged isn’t the only use of USB-C, though. It can often offer me a way to expand my library<\/p>\n For example, I could plug my phone into my computer, drop high-quality WAV files onto my phone, and play them straight away.<\/p>\n Capturing audio recordings while my phone is wired up<\/p>\n Avoiding wireless issues with the splitter<\/p>\n I sometimes use my phone for “content capture,” which is the Gen-Z way of saying “taking pictures or recording videos.”<\/p>\n I particularly like using my smartphone to capture audio while I’m using a camera to record video.<\/p>\n
\n ![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/headphone-jack-hero.jpg\"\/)
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\n\t\t\t13 phones you can buy if you absolutely must have a headphone jack
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/android-phone-splitter-speaker-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/android-phone-splitter-microphone-1.jpg\")
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