Sunday, September 17, 2017

I just "upgraded" to an iPhone...... 6s.

Yes, there are things that I find annoying about the iOS platform.  There are things I could do on my little Nokia flip phone that the iPhone still can't do.... like use my mp3's as ringtones without encoding them again, trimming them to 30 seconds or less, and uploading them a 2nd time.  And just plain old drag and drop file storage isn't there either.  But, after playing with Android a bit, and the lack of FaceTime and iMessage, I decided I'm sticking with Apple again for now.

Normally, I am excited about getting a new iPhone.  I've usually pre-ordered or ordered within a week of the release of the latest and greatest phone released every other year.  But last year, I skipped the iPhone 7 because it lacked a basic necessity of a smartphone... the headphone jack.  So, I replaced the battery in my iPhone 6 and gave Apple a chance to put the headphone jack back this year.  So I've been anxiously watching all the rumors to see if maybe this new phone being released would have it.  And, as you probably know... neither the iPhone 8 or the iPhone X have one.

Now, before I hear yet again for the thousandth time to go to bluetooth headphones.... I DON'T USE HEADPHONES.  I don't have to have music playing all the time, and when I do I'm not in an environment that necessitates using headphones.  I prefer to play music out in the open air and not straight into my ears.  Yes, I know there's an adapter.  Yes, I know it comes with one.  But I'm not going to leave the adapter stuck in the phone 24/7 except when I have to unplug it to charge it.  (I'm not impressed with inductive charging either, but yes it would work as long as I'm home and have a charging station.)

There's so much more than the headphone jack does besides just being a place to plug in headphones.  And the beauty of the smartphone having a headphone jack is being able to use it on the fly.  Sure, if I knew when I needed an adapter, I could carry one.  But most of the time, I don't know that in advance.  Sometimes I plug into a sound system to check it or set levels.  Sometimes I plug into a ham radio to decode digital messages or make a recording.  Sometimes I listen to podcasts in my SUV, which doesn't have bluetooth.  (Yes, I have a bluetooth adapter... and it has to be charged so I rarely use it.)   I record the IDs into the EARS repeaters from playing them through the iPhone into my HT. There are so many times that I've thought... wait... I can just use my iPhone for that.  But if I don't happen to have that adapter with me... I'm out of luck.

So, last night I upgraded my iPhone 6 to a 6s.  I'm underwhelmed.  I would totally have shelled out the bucks for the X if it had a headphone jack.  I don't care about all these extra features... a captive engine... etc. etc.  I just want a smartphone that works.  The face ID thing interests me, and the screen looks pretty cool.  I'd really enjoy the new camera.  But without a headphone jack, it's not practical for me at all.  And, I've been frustrated with my headphone jack not working just right in my iPhone 6.  It's 3 years old, and time to do something.  So, the 6s is the newest one available with the headphone jack.  I gained 3D Touch and some speed.  But that's about it.  But, what other features do I really need?  I'm not missing that much... and I'm saving $500.

All I can do is hope that I can find a phone with a headphone jack in 2 years when I look to upgrade again.