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We asked, you told us: Stereo front-facing speakers or 3.5mm headphone jack?
June 18, 2025
This week’s poll was all about audio question and being forced to make a decision. If you could only have one, which would you choose: stereo front-facing speakers or a 3.5mm headphone jack?
There’s no problem if you want both. No problem at all. Except you’re not allowed. In this poll that’s all about audio, you have to choose. So it comes down to what you get the most out of. Do you choose the trusty old headphone jack that’s slowly being squeezed out by certain manufacturers or the front-facing speakers that can give you a decent sound for watching videos or playing games without even needing headphones? Or, have you moved across to Bluetooth and wireless headphones?
Front-facing speakers tend to create headaches for makers with their bezel-requirements, but it’s hard to argue with that quality of sound – if you use it.
We know that headphone jacks are supported by the likes ofOnePlus,Samsung, andLG, but many other phone makers have ditched the 3.5mm port, opting to offer a dongle and use the available room for other features, or more battery. (Or, just do it to follow Apple?)
So which matters to you more? Here’s the results of what more than 65,000 you said across theYouTube poll, here on thewebsite, along withTwitter, and Instagram:
It’s a great set of results to peruse, with a clear winner and a consistent result – more or less 60/40 in favor of the 3.5mm headphone jack, and that split held throughout each poll. Digging in closer, we saw Youtube vs the website poll as having the bigger difference. The website poll had a slim 56% to 44% split in favor of the headphone jack, while Youtube was the opposite and the headphone jack was firmly on top, with a dominant 64/36 split.
Click through the tabs up above to browse the votes.
The comments! We had some great reactions in the comments with a real divide between old faithful tech versus shiny new wireless tech that not everyone likes.
Here’s a sample of what we saw.
3.5mm headphone jack voters said:
Stereo front-facing speakers voters said:
What do you make of the poll results and where do you stand? Is this a major issue for you when buying a new phone?
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