Microsoft Surface Plus program makes it easier to buy that shiny new machine

Why it matters to you

You now have an easy and zero-interest way to buy a new Microsoft Surface without needing to lay out all that cash.

So, maybe you have your eyes on that new Microsoft Surface Laptop with its pretty burgundy Alcantara fabric. Or, maybe you have your heart set on a new Surface Pro because it is so light and powerful. The only problem: they are a bit too expensive. Fortunately, Microsoft just announced a new Surface Plus purchase program that might be able to help.

Essentially, the Surface Plus program — along with its business-oriented sibling, Surface Plus for Business — is basically a no-interest financing deal with some nice perks. Microsoft highlights the new program for students and educators, but as far as we can tell it is actually for any Surface customer.

There are some credit requirements, of course, but if you qualify then Microsoft will sell you a new Surface machine with a 24-month no-interest payment plan. As with all such financing deals, there is a hefty finance charge of 20 percent if you do not pay it off during the 24 months.

What makes the Surface Plus program a bit different is that you can upgrade to a new Surface machine after 18 months. That means turning in your functional Surface and signing up for a new 24-month payment plan, but it does provide some flexibility for people who like to keep up with the latest technology.

Additional benefits from Surface Plus include dedicated service and support through the Microsoft Store, and the option to add in a Microsoft Complete extended service plan. Of course, all of the usual Microsoft Store benefits such as a 30-day return policy and free Surface training and health checks also apply.

If you are a business customer, then Microsoft also has its Surface Plan for Business. Here are the highlights of that version of the program:

• Business customers can add an unlimited number of machines to a single agreement and mix-and-match machines.
• The Surface Hub 55-inch is available along with the Surface Pro, Surface Laptop, Surface Book, and Surface Studio.
• An Office 365 for Business subscription can be added to the plan for $8.25 per user per month.
• Business customers have more flexibility, including 18, 24, and 30-month period and the ability to upgrade after only 12 months of a 24-month plan and 18 months on the 30-month plan.
• Microsoft Complete for Business is included.

You can sign up for the Surface Plus program at any Microsoft Store. Or, you can enroll for the program here, and get that new Surface you always wanted without the need to lay down so much cash.

Challenge Nvidia’s VR-trained robots to a game of dominoes at SIGGRAPH 2017

Why it matters to you

Nvidia’s technology suggests humans could provide on-the-job virtual training for robots and AI of the future.

Nvidia has been teaching robots how to play games and perform more practical tasks using virtual reality and it is showing off what they can do at this year’s Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH) show. If you attend, you can play a game of dominoes against Isaac, or delve into his namesake platform to discover just how Nvidia uses VR to train robotics of the future.

Training robots is far from easy. Programming every one of their tasks for every eventual outcome is a time consuming and relatively fruitless task for programmers, so more recently artificial intelligences (AI) and their real-world physical robotics, have been taught through machine learning.

The Isaac Lab Robot Simulator is the core technology that Nvidia is demoing at SIGGRAPH 2017 and it is using a little, humanoid robot named after the program to do it. He features treaded tracks for locomotion, twin-grip hands for manipulation, and a pair of camera-equipped eyes for tracking the real world. He even has a mouth and pseudo nose, which adds just enough humanity to steer clear of the uncanny valley.

Like other game-playing AI, Isaac is an expert at them and visitors to this year’s SIGGRAPH show can test his skills in a game of dominoes. But that is only one plane of existent that you can interact with Isaac in. Putting on a virtual reality headset, you will be able to step into the world as Isaac sees it and interact with a digital version of him in VR.

That virtual realm is Nvidia’s Holodeck technology — a collaborative, virtual workspace that allows designers and developers to work together to create something in a virtual environment. It supports photorealistic models too, so all participants can have a view of a product or object as it would be in the real world, without it ever existing there.

Isaac exists in both, though, and that is what Nvidia wants to promote at SIGGRAPH 2017 — its VR robot training system. It is designed to take the cost and risk out of training a robot using machine learning. Instead of making mistakes and potentially damaging the robotics or their environment, AI can explore and learn through trial and error in a virtual space that offers the same parameters as the real world.

That lack of risk is important for human interaction and makes it possible for AI to have near-infinite interactions with humans without the potential problems that could arise through those same interactions in the real world. Nvidia Isaac offers real-time rendering and developmental tools to aid creation in VR environments to train AI.

Nvidia is not the only one showing a blending of realities with digital entities at SIGGRAPH 2017 though. Disney introduced a “Magic Bench” which lets sitters interact with all sorts of animated characters.

Blu phones pulled from Amazon over Adups spyware concerns

Why it matters to you

Some Blu phone models might be infected with Chinese malware that steals data.

Blu, the Florida-based smartphone maker known for its affordable lineup of Android smartphones, is in hot water with Amazon over privacy concerns.

On Tuesday, the online retailer said that it was suspending the sale of Blu phones because of a “potential security issue” on the company’s cheaper models. “Because security and privacy of our customers is of the utmost importance, all Blu phone models have been made unavailable for purchase on Amazon.com until the issue is resolved,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.

Blu was a key member of Amazon’s Prime Exclusive Phones program, which offered discounts on unlocked phones in exchange for ads on the lock screen. The company’s phones are no longer listed on the page.

Amazon’s decision comes a month after security firm Kryptowire demonstrated that apps on Blu phones were recording keystrokes, call logs, browser history, and unique phone identifiers like the MAC address and IMEI. In a report published in July, Kryptowire wrote that Shanghai Adups Technology, the company behind the data-collecting apps, was funneling the data to servers in China.

Kryptowire looked at more than 20 pieces of firmware for Blu phones, all of which contained exploits stemming from faulty MediaTek code. They used privilege escalation, a technique that gives certain apps more permissions than they’d normally have, to establish a command an control channel — a communications route with unfettered access to a device’s software. By executing commands as if they were the user, Adups apps could install apps, take screenshots, record the screen, make calls, and wipe devices.

MediaTek said it resolved the issue in November, but a number of Blu phone models, including the Blu Advance 5.0, haven’t received a security patch.

Blu said that is “has several policies in place which take customer privacy and security very seriously,” and Adups called it a “mistake.” But analysts at Kryptowire claims to have detected the spying software on at least three different phones.

Ryan Johnson, a research engineer and co-founder at Kryptowire, said that in May he observed Blu’s R1 HD and Grand M sending data to China containing the phone number, cell phone tower ID, and browser bookmarks.

“[It’s] generally [enough to] locate a person, presuming they’re in an urban area,” Johnson said. “It seems pretty widespread around lower-end phones.”

In a follow-up statement provided to ZDNet, Blu said that Adups software was only on some older devices, and that new phones would use Google’s Over-The-Air software.

“Blu decided to switch the Adups OTA application on future devices with Google’s GOTA,” Blu said. “Even though it is Blu’s policy to only use GOTA moving forward, some older devices still use Adups OTA.”

We’ve reached out to Amazon and Blu for comment.

Security experts find over 40 Android phone brands affected by Chinese spyware

Why it matters to you

A number of budget Android devices are still being linked to Chinese spyware. Here are the best tips to keep your data secure and avoid affected products.

The last thing you want your smartphone doing is sending your text messages, contacts, and location history to a server in China. But according to mobile security firm Kryptowire, a particularly nasty brand of Android software did just that, transmitting text, data, call, location, and app data to a Chinese server every 72 hours.

Researchers began to raise red flags last fall, when it was discovered the the data mining tool in question — called Adups — had been living inside hundreds of millions of devices produced by more than 40 manufacturers. Florida-based Blu Products was one of the affected parties, and assured at the time that the problem had been identified and every trace of the spyware had been removed from its phones.

Now, nearly 10 months since the initial report, Amazon has suspended the sale of several Blu devices from its Prime Exclusive lineup over re-emerging security concerns. Kryptowire appeared at July’s Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas to say the spyware still existed on some of Blu’s current phones, which led to Amazon’s decision the following week.

The code, which comes preinstalled on certain Android devices, sends the data surreptitiously. “Even if you wanted to, you wouldn’t have known about it,” Kryptowire vice president of product Tom Karygiannis told The New York Times last year.

How to know if you’ve been affected, and what to do

An investigation conducted by mobile security researchers at Trustlook in December found that as many as 43 manufacturers, including brands like Lenovo and Gionee, contained similar spyware. According to the firm’s report, the software collects serial numbers, software version numbers, operator information, and texting and call data from infected phones; the company found traces in All Win Tech smartphones in Taiwan, Archos devices in France, DEXP phones in Russia, and Prestigio hardware in the Czech Republic.

Here’s a list of manufacturers with affected devices:

• Aaron Electronics
• Aeon Mobile
• All Win Tech
• Amoi Technology
• Archos
• AUX
• Bird
• BLU
• Cellon
• Coship Mobile
• Cubot Mobile
• DEWAV Communication
• DEXP Digital Experience
• Eastaeon Technology
• Electronic Technology

• Gionee
• GOSO
• Hisense
• Hongyu
• Huaqin
• Huiye
• Inventec Corporation
• Konka Group
• Lenovo
• Logicom
• Longcheer
• Malata Mobile
• Mediatek Helio
• Prestigio
• Ragentek

• RDA Micro
• Reallytek
• RUIO
• Sanmu
• Sprocomm
• Tinno
• Uniscope
• VSUN
• Water World Technology
• Wind Communication
• WingTech
• Yifang Digital
• Zhuhai Quanzhi
• ZTE

At this time, there’s no sure way to know if Adups is sending your personal information. However, some phone makers use Adups, rather than Google, to push over-the-air system updates, which is a clear indicator that the software is at least present on your device. The offending file, com.adups.fota, typically appears as “System Update” or “Wireless Update” within your phone’s list of apps in the settings menu. These are system apps, so they cannot be uninstalled — though they can be disabled. At the moment, disabling is the only known way to prevent Adups from running without rooting or installing custom firmware, which are riskier measures that will void your manufacturer’s warranty.

In November, Trustlook updated its Antivirus & Mobile Security app on the Google Play Store to check for Adups’ presence. The firm says it has updated the app continually to search for new Adups system programs linked to data collection as they’ve been discovered.

Specific phones known to include Adups more recently are the Blu Grand M and Cubot X16S. In addition to discovering the spyware in those two devices, Kryptowire’s Ryan Johnson told CNET he hasn’t found it in any handsets priced over $300. Additionally, only MediaTek chipsets have thus far been linked to the scheme. It would seem Adups is targeting low-cost hardware, predominantly from manufacturers that don’t sell phones in the U.S.

For those reasons, at this time we recommend staying away from budget smartphones powered by MediaTek processors built by any of the companies listed above.

Moto G5S + Moto G5S Plus specs: More metal, better cameras

The Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus are special editions of the Moto G5 series, but they’re intriguing on their own.

The phones had been rumored for some time, but Motorola’s newest additions to the G5 line, the Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus, are official. Featuring the same iconic looks as the earlier phones, the big changes are in screen size, battery size, build quality and, perhaps most important, camera. The Moto G5S gets a higher-resolution 16MP shooter while the G5S Plus goes dual camera, with two 13MP sensors.

Of course, both of these propositions come with a higher price. Is it worth it? That’s for you to decide.

Tech for your Health: Establishing better dietary habits

Get fit and stay healthy with a helping hand from your smartphone!

Every year, millions of people look to the latest app or accessories to help them shed some extra pounds or set healthier goals, only to abandon those diets and workout routines after a few weeks. I know because that’s been me for the past 10 years.

I’m no fitness guru, just another tech nerd turning the big 3-0 next year, with a spare tire showing around my waistline. I’ve set a personal goal to lose at least 29 lbs and get my weight under 200 lbs by my 30th birthday next summer, but after countless false starts trying to get fit over the years, I’ve decided to take a slow and measured approach this time around using the best apps and gadgets I can find — and I’ll be using this regular column to keep myself honest and open up a discussion about the different subjects I’ll tackle from week to week.

This Week’s Topic: The technology we rely on in our daily lives can lock us into some unhealthy habits — but fortunately, the very same tech can also be the key to a more active and healthy lifestyle. To kick things off, let’s focus on the bedrock of any healthy lifestyle: finding and maintaining a diet with proper nutrition.

Do your research ahead of time

Now I’m not here to preach about the specific methods I’m using or tell you which diet is the best, because that’s a highly personal decision to make that’s going to be affected by pre-existing health conditions and other factors. No matter which path you choose to go down, finding a disciplined dietary plan that will fit into your lifestyle and that you’ll actually enjoy is the key to success.

In previous years, when I felt the urge to get on a healthy eating kick, I would hit the grocery store, stock up on a bunch of veggies, and then struggle my way through a few recipes before giving up and ordering a pizza. To avoid that happening again, I’ve spent hours researching websites, YouTube channels, and other resources for recipes, workouts, and tips for staying motivated. And there is no shortage of content out there for you to consume.

Finding a disciplined dietary plan that will fit into your lifestyle and that you’ll actually enjoy is the key to success.

For me, I really enjoy what I’ve read about the Keto diet, which is all about cutting out carbs and eating foods that are high in fat and protein. Keto is a great option for those looking to lose weight because if you strictly adhere to the diet, you put your body into a metabolic state called ketosis. By cutting out carbs and glucose, you force your body to burn fat to create ketones, which become your body’s main source of energy for both it and the brain. That means cutting out grains, candy, soft drinks, and even cutting back on relatively healthy stuff, like legumes, potatoes, and fruit.

Now you might be able to get away with eating processed foods or eating out on the diet you’ve found that works for you, but you’ll get the best results if you learn to cook your own food. It’s common sense, as it allows you to have full control over what you’re putting into your body, plus cooking is just a good skill to work on.

Harness the power of internet algorithms

Jumping off from researching online for nutrition and recipe resources, social media can be a really powerful tool for helping to keep yourself motivated. While you’re researching, be sure to favorite any subreddits or Facebook groups that seem to match your personal goals and motivations.

You know how weird it is when Google or Facebook just know what’s going on in your life and target oddly specific ads at you? Well, when you’re starting out on a new diet, this feature is incredibly helpful! I’ve had YouTube offer up some really stellar recommendations for cooking videos and channels based on my search history, and a couple posts on Instagram with the right hashtags have attracted a bunch of new likes and follows from accounts focused on healthy living and Keto dieting.

Look, you’re going to have a difficult time reaching your goals if it feels like you’re going at it all alone, so adding some positive reinforcement into your social media feeds is a small change that can do keep you motivated. Plus, you’ll start to see recommendations for other like-minded people and brands to follow and connect with, which is the best use scenario for social media. Get those algorithms working in your favor for once!

More recipe apps, fewer delivery apps

The food and drink category in the Google Play Store is packed with helpful apps for planning meals — but you’re probably going to want to rely on the recipe apps rather than the delivery apps.

Ordering in lunch is a habit that I’ve set out to break. In Canada, SkipTheDishes has been growing rapidly, offering an incredibly convenient way to order take out and delivery for a wide range of restaurants across the country. It’s very similar to UberEats or other services out there. While you can certainly find healthier delivery options these days, that requires the willpower to stare down that menu full of burgers and fries and opt for the salad or whatnot instead. Personally, I don’t trust my drunk self not to order an extra large pizza when it only takes a few taps in an app, so I’ve removed that temptation from my phone and have committed to trying to cook for myself instead.

And on the flip side, there’s so much information and so many recipes out there for creating your own outstanding meals that there isn’t a need to order in so often. The most popular ones are AllRecipes, Food Network in the Kitchen, and Yummly, but there are countless apps to try out with millions of recipes to be discovered — but you knew that already. Less ordering, more cooking!

See at Google Play Store

Finding a nutrition app you can trust

Once you’ve committed to eating healthier, the final piece of the puzzle that you might want to consider is a nutrition app to help you monitor your daily meals. Counting calories isn’t for everyone and I’ve totally been there where it feels like a monotonous exercise trying to figure out the quantities and ingredients in the meal you just ate. But it’s important, especially when you’re trying to jumpstart new dietary habits. Recording what you eat a week before you start the new diet and comparing the differences after a week can help illuminate your worst eating habits.

There are two main apps worth considering: Lose It! and Calorie Counter by MyFitnessPal. Both offer all the features you’d expect that let you quickly and conveniently track what you eat throughout the day. You have options to add food to your diet diary by scanning barcodes, searching the ever-expanding database of food items within the app, or add your own items and recipes.

I personally prefer MyFitnessPal because I’ve used it before and I like how it connects with over 50 other fitness-related apps for importing exercises and runs that I’ve done to give me a better idea of my net caloric intake. I’ve also gone the extra step and subscribed for premium features, like the nutrient dashboard that lets me track the specific macros for my diet and other nutritional analysis that isn’t available in the free version. If you’re just looking to cut down on your daily caloric intake, the free version will suit you just fine!

Download: Calorie Counter by MyFitnessPal (Free)

Kitchen tech

Cooking is intimidating for a lot of people. Maybe you’re a bit anxious about messing up these healthier recipes you’ve researched and turning yourself off this healthy cooking idea altogether. Lately, I’ve been relying on two pieces of smart tech in my kitchen that have proven to be an absolute godsend. And we’re not talking about some $2,000 smart fridge or fancy stove — these are two kitchen gadgets you can buy for under $200 that have really boosted my love of cooking.

Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker

The sous vide method for preparing meals might sound like a bizarre culinary science experiment, but it’s something you’re bound to fall in love with upon your first bite.

The process involves slow cooking food in sealed plastic bags in a temperature-controlled water bath, which is precisely controlled by a sous vide machine. It works especially well for cuts of meat, as you’re able to cook your steak to the exact doneness you want, while also locking in all the juiciness, but can be used to slow cook all types of delicious recipes.

Our household recently acquired an Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker (800 Watts) on loan from a friend, and I’m not overstating things when I say that it’s been a life-altering few weeks. Cooking with the Anova is as simple as heating up a pot of water, which is made all the easier by the Anova’s easy-to-use interface. You have a manual scroll wheel for controlling temperatures on the device itself, but the real magic happens when you connect it to your phone via Bluetooth and the Anova app.

There, you’ll be able to browse through countless recipes, and then set and monitor the Anova as it heats up and cooks your meal. When your food is ready, you receive a phone notification. Essentially, you can precisely cook the best food of your life without all the hassles. It’s great for dieting, too, as you can cut out whatever restricted items your diet requires while still eating full-flavored, perfectly cooked meals.

We’re planning to upgrade to the 900 Watts model, which includes Wi-Fi connectivity that lets you control the Anova from practically anywhere via the app. We’ve only just scratched the surface and have plans to pre-portion meals and freeze them — yes, you can sous vide from frozen.

The Anova will make you feel like a gourmet chef as you impress your family and friends with gourmet meals cooked fresh. I know you may have a growing collection of flash-in-the-pan kitchen gadgets, but this one really is something special.

See at Amazon

Amazon Echo

From the outset, I’ve considered placing an Amazon Echo speaker in the kitchen as the most sensible location for an A.I. assistant — for all the times you need to know a quick bit of information on cooking temperatures or a timer with your hands in the mixing bowl.

That alone is convenient enough to justify adding Alexa to your kitchen, but then there’s the growing number of Alexa Skills that you can explore. I’ve just barely scratched the surface with mine, but something like the AllRecipes Alexa Skill that will help you find a meal to make based on the ingredients and time that you have, and then provide audio instructions every step of the way sure feels like a handy tool.

And then there’s the added bonus of having Spotify’s full library at your beck and call — because cooking with music is always the way to go. There’s the added convenience of listening to the latest news headlines as you eat breakfast each morning or setting the mood for a dinner party. A Google Home speaker would work comparable here, too, but I think I’ll be cooking with Alexa by my side for the foreseeable future.

See at Amazon

Eat healthily, be happier!

We want to hear about your experiences using tech to get fit! Drop us a line with your comments or questions. Next Week’s topic: Get up and get outside!

Here’s everywhere you can pick up a Merge Cube today

The best AR experience everyone can afford is now available!

The folks at Merge have been making waves in the VR world for quite a while with the unique and colorful Merge VR/AR Googles, but this new accessory is going to really take off quick. Merge Cube, the so-called “hologram you hold in your hand” is now finally available to purchase. Merge announced this fantastic little foam cube back in January, and has spent the time in-between then and now working with dozens of app developers to create unique experiences that all quite literally play out in the palm of your hand.

Ready to get your hands on one of these cubes? Here’s where you need to shop!

Read More at VRHeads!

Moto Z2 Force price drops to $720 from Motorola, still more expensive from carriers

This makes sense.

When the Moto Z2 Force was announced, people were understandably frustrated with its price, which came in somewhere between $750 and $810, depending where you bought it. Motorola was listing the Moto Z2 Force on its website for $799, but in the days following its event has now dropped it to just $720.

Yes the Moto Z2 Force is still only up for pre-order, but we absolutely applaud the drop in price when buying the phone directly from Motorola. At its launch event in New York Motorola actually quoted “$30 per month” as the starting price for the phone, which of course only a couple carriers hit — albeit also with a down payment of at least $30, pushing the full price to $750 or more. It’s good to see Motorola stick with its word and offer the $30-per-month price (with no down payment) when buying directly.

It makes you wonder if the original $799 price was an error … or just a bad decision.

It also now means that if you’re considering a Moto Z2 Force that you should look to buy directly from Motorola, as it’s selling the Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular models all for the same $720 price. Each of those carriers sells the phone for more than that, barring any potential limited-time discounts. If you want the AT&T model you’re stuck going to AT&T, unfortunately — where the price comes in at a hefty $810.

I still feel that the Moto Z2 Force needs to drop to a price with a “6” at the front to be truly competitive with the likes of the HTC U11 and frequently discounted Galaxy S8, but this is at least a move in the right direction to be more in line with the industry.

Moto Z2 Force Edition

• Moto Z2 Force hands-onl
• Moto Z2 Force specs
• This is the Moto 360 Camera Mod
• The ultimate guide to Moto Mods
• Join the discussion in the forums!

Verizon
AT&T
T-Mobile
Sprint
Best Buy

This $50 speaker turns your Amazon Echo Dot into a poor man’s Sonos Play:1

… Minus the deep, deep bass. And everything else great Sonos does. But this is still a cool little accessory for an Echo Dot.

There’s nothing particularly exciting about the Amazon Echo Dot when it comes to audio, at least not with the speaker itself. Sure, it can play music, but it sounds horrible. You know that when you bought it, of course, and the Echo Dot helpfully has a a 3.5mm line-out jack, and the ability to hit up other speakers via Bluetooth.

That’s a clunky solution, though, and more often than not one that leads to you needing even more cables running all over the place.

This VAUX speaker, however, looks slick. The Echo Dot fits down inside it and looks almost like a Sonos Play:1, if you squint at it just right. It’s got an internal 2500mAh battery that’ll power the Echo Dot and its own Micro-USB and audio cables hidden inside, too.

In other words, it’s a portable speaker for the Echo Dot.

And, yeah, it looks decent. The sound, however, is lacking. Talk of “Dual 52mm Drivers and a passive radiator for impressive sound and bass” is just that — talk. What little bass you can actually hear doesn’t show up until you crank the volume, and even then it’s not what I’d call “impressive.”

One other thing to know is that while this speaker gives you a not-quite-a-full-size-echo sort of experience, you can use it with Amazon’s $3.99/month Amazon Music Unlimited Echo plan. (That plan is limited to a single device, however. So if you’ve got a full Echo or Echo Show, you’re better of using that instead.)

So what you’ve got at this point is a fairly impressive-looking $50 speaker that sounds better than the Echo Dot itself. But it’s not so much improved that you wouldn’t be better off just buying a refurbished first-generation Echo for $129 instead. That extra money is going to go a long way.

But this is the sort of thing that I could potentially leave on my porch and not feel too bad about. My Sonos Play:1? That doesn’t need to be left laying around where anyone could walk away with it. It’s an OK Bluetooth speaker for $50, with the ability to take Alexa outside the confines of home, but not much more than that.

See at Amazon

Amazon Echo

• Amazon Echo review
• Echo Dot review
• Top Echo Tips & Tricks
• Tap, Echo or Dot: The ultimate Alexa question
• Amazon Echo vs. Google Home
• Get the latest Alexa news

Amazon

No headphone jack: dealbreaker or no big deal?

Phones are increasingly arriving without headphone jacks. Is the future unfriendly to music listeners?

The headphone jack — or lack thereof — has become a point of contention for many people since Motorola removed it from its flagship Moto Z in mid-2016. The conversation got even louder when Apple did the same later in the year, and now we have devices like the HTC U11, arguably one of the best phones of the year, and the Moto Z2 Force, that maintain the trend.

While there are plenty of avenues to overcome the lack of a headphone jack — Bluetooth headphones, USB-C headphones, or an adapter that brings back the 3.5mm jack, many people prefer to seek out devices that just keep things simple and seek out a phone with the port built in. It helps that the most popular Android phone this year, the Galaxy S8, has kept the jack despite supporting next-gen wireless technologies like Bluetooth 5 that promise to increase sound quality, but the writing does appear to be on the wall: the 3.5mm headphone jack is not long for this world.

In our forums, dpham00 wondered the same thing, noting the port’s absence on the new Moto Z2 Force:

dpham00
07-25-2017 03:31 PM

“

There’s no 3.5mm headphone jack like the z force droid, will this be a deal breaker for you? Personally, I haven’t used 3.5mm headphones in years so it doesn’t bother me, but i can see it as a downer for those that do. There is an usb c to headphone jack in the box but that seems very easy to lose, IMO.

Reply

The responses are fairly uniform, including this one from shadowsjc:

shadowsjc
07-25-2017 04:41 PM

“

Deal breaker for me. I have a Motorola g4 plus and have been tracking the z2 force eagerly for some time. I can’t believe they reduced the battery and took off the headphone jack.

I use Bluetooth headphones during my work commute, but sometimes its not practical to fire up the headset (like if I want to listen to something at work, I want the option to plug in my earbuds without some stupid…

Reply

Others, like PowrDroid, just require an adapter to be in the box, and he’s good to go:

PowrDroid
07-27-2017 11:14 AM

“

If it comes with the adapter, not a deal breaker. But it’s an unnecessary hassle to need an adapter. Just another detraction from this phone.

Reply

What do you think? Is the lack of a headphone jack a dealbreaker for you when deciding on a new phone, or is it no big deal?

Join the conversation in the forums!