It’s almost 10 years since Apple removed the headphone jack from the iPhone. Yes you can get excellent wireless headphones nowadays, but maybe you I prefer to connect or you don’t want to charge your headphones. The advantage of the 3.5mm headphone connector is that it is universal. You can use any pair of wired headphones– no need to worry about connectivity issues, charging batteries, misplaced dongles or earphones.
There are times when Bluetooth is betterbut having the option is good. Unfortunately, every year another major manufacturer decides to remove the headphone jack from the feature list. In 2025, it was Samsung, which no longer offers the venerable port on its Galaxy A-series phones. But don’t lose hope! You still have a few options, like Motorola’s Moto G Power 2026. As WIRED’s smartphone reviewer, I review handsets big and small, cheap and expensive: These are the best phones with a headphone jack.
Read our Best Android Phones, Best Samsung Phones, Best Motorola Phones, Best Pixel Phones, Best iPhonesAnd Best Cheap Phones guides to learn more.
Updated February 2026: We added Moto G Power 2026 and Nubia Redmagic 11 Pro.
What happened to the headphone jack?
It all started when Apple deleted the port on the iPhone7 in 2016 – yes, technically Oppo did it first, but it was Apple’s move that started a trend in the industry. Apple famously cited reasons for saving space to make the phone thinner and accommodate a bigger battery, but it was also to give a boost to the burgeoning market. wireless headphones market (guess who is at the top right now?). Since then, other companies quickly followed, until the port was only found on budget and mid-range phones.
NOW, cheap phones are starting to lose the port, probably because you can buy decent wireless headphones for as low as $30 these days. The 3.5mm port will likely disappear completely from all smartphones in the next few years.
Does plugging in give you better audio quality?
Yes, plugging in a pair of wired headphones means the audio isn’t compressed, so it’s able to transmit more detail, providing a higher fidelity audio experience. There’s also little to no latency, meaning there’s no delay between the music coming from your phone and the audio playing through the headphones. Wired connections also benefit from having no connectivity issues and you won’t have to worry about battery life. Some wired headphones also have physical buttons for music playback controls, which still beats the finicky touch controls on most headphones.
On the other hand, today’s Bluetooth codecs are significantly better than those of 5 years ago. Most people won’t hear a huge difference in audio quality when using wired headphones or wireless headphones.
You can use a USB-C dongle
Not having a 3.5mm port doesn’t mean you can’t use wired headphones with a smartphone at all. You can purchase a USB-C headset donglewhich plugs into your smartphone’s USB-C port and adds a 3.5mm port.
Apple USB-C to 3.5mm Adapter for $9. This adapter from Apple will do the job for any smartphone with a USB-C port, i.e. Android phones and iPhone 15 and newer. I recommend buying a few because they are easy to lose. If you have an iPhone with the Lightning port (iPhone 14 and earlier), you will need to opt for a third-party dongle as Apple has officially discontinued its adapter.
Google USB-C Earbuds for $35: You can also use USB-C headphones. These are standard wired headphones, but instead of a 3.5mm connector on the end, it’s a USB-C connector that connects to your phone’s charging port. I’ve been using these Google headphones for a few years: they sound good and are cheap. You can probably find plenty of other USB-C headphones, but just be sure to check reviews to see what’s worth your money.
What happened to Asus phones?
Asus was one of the few companies to offer flagship smartphones with a headphone jack. Unfortunately, the company confirmed earlier this year that it completely withdraws from the mobile sector – say goodbye to the Zenfone and ROG phone series. It will continue to support phones as promised, but there will be no new device launches for 2026. The company says this is a “temporary” pause, so there is still a chance it will return to the market.
Best overall
Photography: Julian Chokkattu
Motorola
Moto G 2025 Stylus
If a headphone jack is essential on your next phone, this one from Motorola Moto G 5G Stylus 2025 offers the best balance between performance, aesthetics, features and price. Not only does it have the jack, but it also stores a stylus inside, an embarrassment to any other company that cited space-saving reasons for removing the port. The gorgeous blue vegan leather finish on the back really makes this phone stand out, putting the Blue Man Group to shame. Performance, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset, is nice and smooth, and you get a 120Hz 6.7-inch OLED screen to boot. It’s slim, despite the 5,000 mAh battery, which lasts a full day or even a few with average use. And the 50-megapixel main camera is reliable day or night as long as you stay still when you press the shutter button.
Motorola goes beyond expectations by giving this phone twice the storage capacity of 256 GB; there’s also a microSD card slot to expand space, wireless charging, and a IP68 ratingso it will survive an accidental fall into the pool. For the first time, Motorola also offers two Android OS upgrades to its Moto G phones, meaning you can keep it around a little longer before you stop getting new features. (You’ll still get 3 years of security updates.) Remember that mobile phones get deep discounts during big sales, so I recommend waiting for a sale.
Motorola has already started launching its 2026 range Moto G devicesbut the Moto G Stylus 2026 seems to be last on the list. Expect it to arrive in a month or two, which means you might want to wait for the latest and greatest.
Finalist
Photography: Julian Chokkattu
Photography: Julian Chokkattu
Photography: Julian Chokkattu
Motorola
Moto G Power 2026
Motorola may have removed wireless charging from the 2026 iteration of the Moto G Power, but thanks to some under-the-hood optimizations it works better than its predecessor. It’s a good compromise, although it’s odd given that both phones are powered by the same MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chip with 8GB of RAM. Yes, you’ll still notice some sluggishness here and there, but it’s not a stuttering experience. Other notable hardware improvements are an improved selfie camera and a slightly larger 5,200 mAh battery capacity.
The battery life is the second best thing about this phone, easily lasting two days with average usage. The 6.8-inch LCD screen is sufficiently bright and sharp, and the phone is Rated IP68/69 to survive dips in the pool and bad weather. Don’t expect much from the camera system. If you have steady hands, you can capture passable photos from the 50MP main shooter, although it struggles in low-light, high-contrast scenes. Introduce any type of handshake and you’ll get a blurry photo.
If you can deal with these flaws, including the limited software policy of two Android OS upgrades and three years of security updates, the Moto G Power 2026 still checks a lot of boxes for its sub-$300 price. It has NFC for contactless payments, a microSD card slot for expanding the 128GB of storage, and of course, the coveted headphone jack.
