6 Best Phones With Headphone Jacks (2026), Tested and Reviewed
It’s been nearly 10 years since Apple removed the headphone jack from the iPhone. Yes, you can get excellent wireless earbuds nowadays, but maybe you prefer plugging in or don’t want to charge your headphones. The joy of the 3.5-mm headphone connector is that it’s universal. You can use any pair of corded headphones—no need to worry about connectivity blips, charging batteries, dongles, or misplaced earbuds.
There are times when Bluetooth is preferable, but having the option is nice. Unfortunately, every year, another major manufacturer decides to cut the headphone jack from the feature list. In 2025, that was Samsung, which no longer offers the venerable port on its Galaxy A-series phones. But don’t lose hope! You still have some options, like Motorola’s Moto G Power 2026. As WIRED’s smartphone reviewer, I go through handsets big and small, cheap and expensive—these are the best phones with the headphone jack.
Read our Best Android Phones, Best Samsung Phones, Best Motorola Phones, Best Pixel Phones, Best iPhones, and Best Cheap Phones guides for more.
Updated February 2026: We’ve added the Moto G Power 2026 and Nubia Redmagic 11 Pro.
What Happened to the Headphone Jack?
It all began when Apple removed the port on the iPhone 7 in 2016—yes, technically Oppo did it first, but it was Apple’s decision that sparked an industry trend. Apple famously cited space-saving reasons to make the phone slimmer and fit a bigger battery, but it was also to nudge along the burgeoning wireless headphone market (guess who sits at the top right now?). Since then, other companies followed swiftly, until the port was only found on budget and midrange phones.
Now, cheap phones are beginning to lose the port, likely because you can buy decent wireless earbuds for as little as $30 these days. The 3.5-mm port will likely disappear entirely from all smartphones within the next few years.
Does Plugging In Get You Better Audio Quality?
Yes, plugging in a pair of wired headphones means the audio is not compressed, so it’s able to transmit more detail, offering a higher-fidelity audio experience. There’s also little to no latency, meaning there’s no delay between the music coming from your phone to the audio playing through the headphones. Wired connections also have the benefit of zero connectivity issues, and you won’t have to worry about battery life. Some wired earbuds also have physical buttons for music playback controls, which always beats out the finicky touch controls on most earbuds.
On the other hand, today’s Bluetooth codecs are significantly better than those from even 5 years ago. Most people will not hear a huge difference in audio quality when using wired headphones versus wireless headphones.
You Can Use a USB-C Dongle
Not having a 3.5-mm port doesn’t mean you can’t use wired headphones at all with a smartphone. You can buy a USB-C headphone dongle, which plugs into the USB-C port of your smartphone and adds a 3.5-mm port.
Apple USB-C to 3.5-mm Adapter for $9. This adapter from Apple will do the job for any smartphone with a USB-C port—that means Android phones and the iPhone 15 and newer. I recommend buying a few because they’re easy to lose. If you have an iPhone with the Lightning port (iPhone 14 and older), you’ll have to go for a third-party dongle as Apple officially discontinued its adapter.
Google USB-C Earbuds for $35: Alternatively, you can use USB-C earbuds. They’re standard wired earbuds, but instead of a 3.5-mm connector at the end, it’s a USB-C one that connects to your phone’s charging port. I’ve used these earbuds from Google for a few years—they sound decent and are cheap. You can probably find plenty of other USB-C headphones, but just make sure you check reviews to see what’s worth your money.
What Happened to Asus Phones?
Asus was one of the few companies churning out flagship smartphones with the headphone jack. Sadly, the company confirmed earlier this year that it is exiting the mobile business altogether—say goodbye to the Zenfone and ROG phone series. It’ll continue supporting the phones as promised, but there are no new device launches for 2026. The company claims it’s a “temporary” pause, so there’s always a chance it could return to the market.
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Best Overall
If a headphone jack is a must-have on your next phone, Motorola’s Moto G Stylus 5G 2025 strikes the best balance of performance, aesthetics, features, and price. Not only does it have the jack, but it also stores a stylus inside, an embarrassment for any other company that cited space-saving reasons to nix the port. The gorgeous blue vegan leather finish on the back truly makes this phone stand out, putting the Blue Man Group to shame. The performance, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset, is nice and smooth, and you get a 120-Hz 6.7-inch OLED screen to boot. It’s slim, despite the 5,000-mAh battery, which lasts a full day and then some with average use. And the 50-megapixel main camera is reliable day or night as long as you keep still when tapping the shutter button.
Motorola goes above and beyond, stuffing this phone with twice the amount of typical storage at 256 GB; there’s also a microSD card slot to expand space, wireless charging, and an IP68 rating, so it will survive an accidental drop in the pool. For the first time, Motorola’s also offering two Android OS upgrades on its Moto G phones, meaning you can hold onto it a little longer before it won’t get new features. (You’ll still get 3 years of security updates.) Just remember that mobile phones are heavily discounted during big sale events, so I recommend waiting for a sale.
Motorola has already started launching its 2026 slate of Moto G devices, but the Moto G Stylus 2026 seems to be last on the list. Expect its arrival in the next month or two, which means you may want to wait for the latest and greatest.
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Runner-Up
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Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
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Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
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Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Motorola
Moto G Power 2026
Motorola may have cut wireless charging from the 2026 iteration of the Moto G Power, but thanks to some under-the-hood optimization, it performs better than its predecessor. That’s a fine trade-off, though it’s odd considering the two phones are powered by the very same MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chip with 8 GB of RAM. Yes, you’ll still notice some slowness here and there, but it’s not a stuttery experience. The other notable hardware upgrades are an improved selfie camera and a slightly larger 5,200-mAh battery capacity.
Battery life is the next best thing about this phone, easily lasting two days with average use. The 6.8-inch LCD screen is bright and sharp enough, and the phone is IP68/69-rated to survive dips in the pool and inclement weather. Don’t expect much from the camera system. If you have steady hands, you can capture passable photos from the 50-MP primary shooter, though it struggles in low light and high-contrast scenes. Introduce any kind of handshake, and you’ll get a blurry photo.
If you can deal with those flaws—including the limited software policy of two Android OS upgrades and three years of security updates—the Moto G Power 2026 still checks off a lot of boxes for its sub-$300 price. It has NFC for contactless payments, a microSD card slot to expand on the 128 GB of storage, and, naturally, the coveted headphone jack.
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