There are a lot of great reasons to still want a phone with a headphone jack, even if you’re not an audiophile. Wireless headphones are convenient and modern versions of Bluetooth sound quite good, but when the battery in those wireless buds eventually stops taking a charge, they’re basically garbage. Also, if you work in construction or some other high-impact industry, you know just how easy it would be to drop an AirPod down into a cinder block wall, or under the tracks of a skid steer. Wired headphones leave all of the tech to the phone, so cheap wired headphones can sound better than cheap bluetooth headphones.
While headphone jacks have been largely removed from flagship-tier phones, you can still get a powerful and modern Android phone with a headphone jack. Spectacular phones like the Zenfone 11 Ultra are some of the best Android phones with a headphone jack. After conducting some tedious research on your behalf, we have rounded up all your best options right here.
Namerah enjoys geeking out over accessories, gadgets, and all sorts of smart tech. She spends her time guzzling coffee, writing, casual gaming, and cuddling with her furry best friends.
At a glance
Best overall
ASUS followed up the lovable Zenfone 10 with the beefy Zenfone 11 Ultra. It continues to boast cutting-edge internals and a stunning 120Hz AMOLED display, but the screen size has gone up to 6.78 inches. Of course, you get the coveted audio port too.
Best budget
The Moto G Stylus 5G 2024 ticks all of the right boxes for a budget phone with a solid Snapdragon SoC, plenty of RAM, and OLED disaply, and a headphone jack. It also comes with a stylus making it easier to put it's large screen and long battery life to use.
Best under $300
The OnePlus Nord N30 5G has all the makings of a signature OnePlus phone: upper mid-range internals at a lower mid-range price. There's plenty of space, smooth performance, and a headphone jack. The phone also shoots some pretty good pictures!
Best performance
Simply put, the ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro is a beast. It's not just a phone, but also a mobile gaming rig with a headphone jack, insanely powerful memory specs, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, and crisp AMOLED display. All supported by a big 6,000 mAh battery backing it up.
Best value
The Galaxy A25 from Samsung isn't Samsung's cheapest phone with a headphone jack, but with Super AMOLED display running at 120Hz, a solid Exynos 1280 SoC, and Android 14 with multiple updates promised, this phone should can last for years before needing replaced.
Best for gaming
If you're a hardcore gamer who needs an audio interface, the RedMagic 9 Pro may be the answer. You get built-in shoulder triggers and a notch-less AMOLED display. Everything about the gaming phone screams over the top but you get a pretty robust device for it.
Best overall
There is no better Android phone with a headphone jack than the wonderful little Zenfone 11 Ultra. ASUS took us by storm with the spunky little Zenfone 9 and 10. Both devices were small, bright, and absolutely delightful to use. Now, ASUS has followed up these legendary phones with the Zenfone 11 Ultra.
Although we are extremely sad that ASUS bumped up the display size, the phone is otherwise a superb buy. You can get the 6.78-inch ASUS Zenfone 11 in four demure colors called Eternal Black, Skyline Blue, Misty Gray, and Desert Sand. The smoldering bright red that had become a signature look for the Zenfone series is not available this time around.
The excellent small Zenfone 11 Ultra has powerful internals, packing a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor as well as 12GB or 16GB RAM and 256GB or 512GB storage. Amazingly, you also get premium features like 15W wireless charging and an IP68 water and dust-proof rating. For $900, this is the best Android phone with an AUX port.
Best budget
Like the last Moto G Stylus 5G, this 2024 Moto G Stylus 5G refresh aims to be one of the most complete budget packages available with a large battery, stylus, and headphone jack. Compared to the 2023 version, this phone has the same Qualcomm SoC with a bump to 8GB of RAM. There have been a few upgrades, though, with a new OLED display that gets bright enough to see on a sunny day outdoors. It’s even got improved camera sensors so you can take some solid photos with this phone.
The headphone jack is on the bottom, to the left of the 2.0 spec USB-C port. This placement makes it easy to use your phone while using your headphones or if you’ve got an aux cable running to your car stereo. The battery on this phone is a fairly massive 5000mAh with 30W wired charging and 15W wireless charging, so you can keep listening all day without worry.
The Moto G Stylus, like most Moto G phones, has strong band support for LTE and 5G on the Big Three U.S. carrier, so you can bring it with you to just about any prepaid or postpaid carrier if you buy it unlocked. The phone launched with Android 14, so it’s up-to-date, however, it’s only planned to get one OS update, which falls short of Samsung and Google’s update policies.
Best under $300
Only got $300 in your pocket? Say no more! The OnePlus Nord N30 is a 5G phone with value-packed internals and superb battery specs. This device lasts for two days easily, and when that runs out, you've got an incredible 50W SUPERVOOC ultra-fast charging to take advantage of. What's more, OnePlus includes the charger in the box.
In addition to a headphone jack, the Nord N30 5G also has a microSD slot. OnePlus went ahead and added IP54 water and dust resistance as well, so you can rest assured that the phone is durable. The large 6.72-inch LCD screen has a snappy 120Hz refresh rate, making transitions seem smoother.
We do wish that the cameras were better, and the performance doesn't cut it for gaming. You get Android 13 out of the box with a neat and clean OxygenOS 13.1 skin layered on top. There are lots of meaningful extras baked into the software, but OnePlus will only push one more OS update to the Nord N30 5G, which is a bummer. Still, the overall package makes this one of the best Android phones under $300.
Best performance
The ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro means business, and we realized that in our review. You will be hard-pressed to find phone with a headphone jack that outperforms this one, especially when you add in the stereo speakers and shoulder buttons to make this an effective mobile gaming rig. Better cameras this time around also mean it can double as a decent mobile photography tool.
This is the pricier version of the ROG Phone 8, but both phones have a lot in common sharing many of the same specs and features. You get two Type-C ports, one HDMI port, an audio jack, shoulder triggers, and illuminated RGB lights on the back of the ROG Phone 8 Pro. For the first time, ASUS has also added some durability to the device with IP68 dust and water resistance.
Under the hood, ASUS fitted this ROG Phone with all the latest internals. There's the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor powering the device, as well as Bluetooth 5.4, WiFi 7, UFS 4.0 storage, and an under-display fingerprint scanner. The large 6.78-inch 165Hz AMOLED display has a peak brightness level of 2,500 nits and is secured by Gorilla Glass Victus.
The 5,500mAh battery is actually smaller than the previous ROG Phone 7, but with a more efficient cooling system and the optimization inherent in the Snapdragon chipset mean it will last longer in spite of that.
Best value
While the Galaxy A25 isn’t Samsung’s cheapest phone, it isn’t too far off. Even so, this phone packs some surprising hardware starting with a large 6.5-inch AMOLED display running up to 120Hz with 1000 nits of peak brightness. That’s bright enough to see outdoors on a sunny day. The Samsung Exynos 1280 SoC powering the phone isn’t exactly impressive, but it gets the job done with plenty of power for messaging, social media, and of course, music streaming apps.
The headphone jack is on the bottom of the phone, to the left of the 2.0-speed USB-C charging port. Since it’s on the bottom, it’s easy to use with an aux cable in the car or keep your headphones in while using other apps on your phone. You’ll be able to keep using the phone for hours on end as well with a large 5000mAh battery and support for 25W charging.
Where Samsung really shows its teeth in the budget category is with software. Samsung has included Android 14 with its One UI 6.1 skin and has promised five years of updates. That puts this phone’s support on par with some flagships, like the Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra, at least in terms of long-term software support.
Best for gaming
The RedMagic 9 Pro retains the clean and unassuming design language, but as we note in our review, it still maintains the subtle gamer-esque elements that make it a unique option on this list. RGB lighting is always a nice touch because you don't see that sort of thing on your average Android phone, and putting them on the shoulder panels (doubling as touch buttons) is clear indication of what this phone does.
Part of that focus is to keep the headphone jack, along with stereo speakers with Dolby DTS:X sound. The ICE 13 cooling system is phenomenal, which helps the cause in both performance and battery life. The notch-less display will blow you away, protected with Gorilla Glass 5 and aluminum edges. There's an under-display camera instead of your regular front camera, making the 6.8-inch 120Hz AMOLED display look even nicer. While a little better, it doesn't yet meet a higher quality standard for a phone in this range.
Of course, this being a gaming phone, the guts are as beautiful as the exterior. You get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, the Red Core 2 Pro co-processor, a 6,500mAh battery, 80W fast wired charging, decent cameras, three gaming mics, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 5.3. Considering the price, this is an excellent gaming phone that most people can afford.
How to choose
Nowadays, most companies have moved past the norm of including a headphone jack in the best Android phones. Users now have to decide whether they want a flagship device or a 3.5mm headphone jack. You can probably make do with USB-C headphone adapters if you don’t mind adding a little extra to your nailer carry. If you’ve been holding off and none of these phones meet your needs, it may also be time to consider the best wireless headphones.
There aren't many high-end phones that come with a headphone jack as well as the latest Android OS with years of guaranteed support. Thankfully, the mighty Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra fills the gap nicely thanks to its flagship-tier SoC and excellent display. You can purchase the brilliant Zenfone 11 Ultra to get literally every feature under the sun, including a 3.5mm audio port and wireless charging. The phone comes in some beautiful colorways, and it delivers a sublime user experience owing to its top-notch internals.
These phones won't replace your Walkman
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Sony also deserves a mention for continuing to provide headphone jacks with its Xperia line of phones with very clever features, such as using headphones as an audio monitor for the cameras. Even so, Sony isn’t building phone versions of its Hi-Fi Walkman personal media players, and you’ll find the DAC (digital-to-analog converter) and amp still struggle with higher impedance listening. Still, if these other Android phones aren’t scratching the itch, phones like the Sony Xperia 1 V do come with solid analog audio experiences.
If you’re looking for a headphone jack more for audio quality reasons, rather than convenience, many of these phones may prove to be disappointing. While most of these phones have decent audio quality and will be fine for a set of cheap earbuds, they’ll struggle to make higher-impedance headphones sound good. Some older devices, like the late LG V60, included a high-quality DAC and amplifier, but most phones available now stick to cheaper options.
Similarly, you can pick up a USB-C powered DAC for your phone, which can be left attached to your favorite headphones, or stowed away in your bag when you’re not using it. If you’re mostly looking for high-fidelity audio with streaming app support, you could check out one of the best MP3 players powered by Android from makers like Fiio and Sony Walkman.
