The Best Phones With a Headphone Jack in 2025

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If you demand that your phone has a 3.5mm jack for wired headphones, this story is for you. The death of the headphone jack feels like one of the most consumer-hostile changes to impact smartphones over the last decade, but space is truly the final frontier inside a smartphone chassis. Removing the 3.5mm jack lets manufacturers stuff that space with more battery capacity and 5G antennas and seal it up so it's waterproof. It also lets them sell us profit-padding wireless earbuds. We love wireless earphones, but they're easy to lose and can take up more space in your pocket.

With that in mind, we've gathered the top modern phones that have a 3.5mm headphone jack. There are the phones we recommend and that you can currently buy. Read on for our top picks, followed by what to consider during your search.

Why Have Most Phones Removed the Headphone Jack?

It has become difficult to find a flagship phone in the US with a headphone jack. The old 3.5mm plugs seem to be déclassé to high-end vendors, which want you to go wireless.

You have more choices in the sub-$400 segment, though. Manufacturers here seem to understand that buyers of affordable phones might not be willing or able to spend their money on wireless headphones. Google and Samsung have abandoned the plug in their midrange models, but Motorola, OnePlus, and others still sell handsets with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

You might notice that there aren't any iPhones in this roundup. iPhones haven't had 3.5mm jacks since 2016, and we don't recommend any phone that old (mostly due to limited or ending software support). We think Apple's calculus for getting rid of the jack was a little different than Android phone makers. Instead of saving space for the battery, we suspect it was more about making money from its AirPods. But the effect was the same.

Can You Use USB-C Headphones on a Phone Without a Headphone Jack?

USB-C headphones exist, but they're often low-cost and hard to find. Apple has swapped its Lightning-equipped EarPods for USB-C-equipped ones and some device makers still offer them via Amazon.

Of course, you can also get a 3.5mm-to-USB-C adapter for your phone or a mobile-friendly digital-to-analog converter (DAC). Remember that if you plug something into the USB-C port, simultaneously listening to music and charging is only possible via a wireless charger. But compatibility is iffy.

If you've made peace with the wireless audio future, you can expand your search to include our favorite phones overall. You don't have to spend too much on wireless audio either; these are the best sub-$100 earbuds.

Dave LeClair and Sascha Segan contributed to this story.