The world without music is like a person without a heart. There is almost no one who doesn’t like music and hence people start searching for earphones immediately after buying a new phone. Nowadays, smartphone manufacturers are including a USB Type-C audio port and omitting the traditional 3.5mm audio jack.
The exciting and advanced features of Type-C have made it appealing to consumers. Thereby, more and more brands are incorporating this into their models. USB Type-C has already created a mark in the cable industry but its features are becoming dominant in the earphones industry as well.
However, whenever some new things are trying to replace traditional ones, doubts start arising in everyone’s minds. The first doubt that strikes anyone’s mind is ‘Are type C earphones good?’ In this guide, we will get you through all the important points that will clear this doubt completely.
Stay tuned to know more!
Also Read: Best Type C Earphones in India
Is type C earphone good choice? | Overview of the benefits !
There are several benefits of Type C earphones. In a nutshell, we have highlighted the basic ones here:
- Only one port can handle everything like charging or audio. You don’t have to see another hole in your smartphone for the earphones unlike the 3.5mm jack.
- As compared to the 3.5mm audio jack, the type-C port is much more compact with a smaller footprint.
- Overall power consumption is reduced to some extent.
- New features like hotword detection are supported.
- For amplification or noise reduction facilities, operational power is available.
3.5mm jack vs Type-C | Differences
For smartphones, the 3.5mm jack has been the trend for many years and still is now. However, slowly and steadily, the Type-C audio port is replacing those 3.5mm jacks. Thus, you must know the differences between 3.5mm jack and Type-C audio ports.
The major difference between them is the signal transmission method to external devices like earphones. In the case of a 3.5mm jack, the smartphone’s internal Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) and the pre-amplifier process the digital waves and analog audio waves are sent through. So, a headphone or an earphone’s activity here is to pass the waves to the diaphragm.
On the other hand, this is not the case with Type-C. Here the conversion of digital to analog audio waves happens outside the port. This implies the smartphone’s internal DAC and pre-amp are not involved. The earphone must have a DAC and pre-amplifier to convert and pass the audio waves to the diaphragm.
This difference is the main thing that makes the type-C earphones costlier. So, if you want to use a 3.5mm jack, then also you can buy an adapter that comes with a Type-C connector on one end while a 3.5mm jack on the other end. However, the disadvantage is that you need to carry the adapter always with you.
Are type C earphones good ? | Advantages
We have given a brief overview of all the benefits that C-type earphones offer. Let’s take a look at the benefits in detail.
Music quality:
Using a good quality Type-C earphone with a nice DAC enhances the music quality to a greater extent. Most budget smartphones don’t have a pre-amplifier resulting in degradation of the music quality while listening.
So, having an earphone with a nice quality DAC and pre-amplifier can improve the music quality. Hence, type C earphones are better in this case because the 3.5mm jack earphones don’t support any in-built DAC or pre-amplifier.
Good quality DAC:
This can be thought of as an extension of the previous point. All smartphones are equipped with an in-built DAC but the DACs in the budget ones are of lower quality as compared to the high price smartphones.
So, buying a good quality Type-C earphone will ensure that you get the best sound output even with a budget smartphone. Thus, this can help you to enjoy high-quality music if you are not interested to spend a lot of money on smartphones. Hence, sound quality or clarity depends a lot on the earphone manufacturers these days than the smartphone makers.
Noise reduction facility:
We have mentioned earlier that 3.5mm jack smartphones preprocess the digital audio waves and send out the analog waves. This can invite noise thereby reducing the overall sound quality.
In the case with Type-C, the converter, pre-amplifier, and filtering circuits are present in the earphones themselves. It helps in the noise reduction way better than the former one because there is a lot of noise inside the smartphones due to the radio processing circuitry.
Extra facilities:
Not only audio, Type-C earphones offer more. Generally, these earphones include other operation buttons like shuffle, Equalizer settings, etc. besides just play and pause buttons.
Type-C port makes smartphones compact:
Although this is not at all an advantage of the type-C audio quality, still removing the 3.5mm jack and including only a Type-C port reduces the size and weight of the smartphones. This can be an advantage because smartphone makers can include a larger battery.
These are some of the major advantages that Type C earphones offer. However, like everything, they also have various shortcomings. Let’s now go through some of the drawbacks of Type C earphones.
Disadvantages of Type C earphones
Earphone manufacturers:
In the benefits section, we have mentioned that sound quality improves in Type C earphones since they feature their circuitry, DAC, and pre-amp. So, earphone manufacturers play a key role here than the smartphone makers. But, if their circuitry design is poor, then that can hamper the music quality a lot.
Data transfer errors:
Digital data is prone to noise attack which is commonly referred to as jitter. The deviation of a clock edge from the ideal location is known as clock jitter. This implies a loss of data which, in turn, reduces the overall sound quality.
One port for all:
Omitting the 3.5mm jack from smartphones makes them feature only a single Type C port. Thus, you need to charge and listen to music from that port only. Hence, you can’t do both the activities together. Like, if you want to hear music while charging the device, then it will not be possible. Though there are many adapters available in the market for enabling you to do so, they don’t work always as expected.
Expensive:
Type-C earphones are expensive than the normal ones. We have also explained the reason for this earlier. It’s because earphone manufacturers need to include more things in them now. Though the circuits are not so costly, the companies charge more due to the complex design.
So, there are various disadvantages of Type C earphones but the benefits they offer can easily outperform them. That’s the reason people are inclining towards Type C earphones more.
Type-C earphones alternatives
The wireless technology is also much more dominant in the earphones market. People are more going towards wireless earphones than the wired ones. It’s because you don’t have to bother about the wires.
Plenty of wireless earbuds ranging from budget to costlier ones are available that you can choose. They also offer a lot of special features like noise cancellation, picking up calls, workout-oriented or general ones.
Neckband earbuds are also gaining much popularity because of their stylish looks. So, wireless earphones have gone a long way and hence you can happily go for this alternative too.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Do Type C earphones work with iPad?
A: Yes, if your iPad has a Type-C port then any USB Type-C device will be compatible. So, you should not face any issues connecting Type C earphones with an iPad. However, please go through the specifications and do a google search about the model before connecting them. You can even use USB Type-C to 3.5mm adapters available in case of any issues or concerns.
Q2. Does Poco X3 support Type C earphones?
A: Poco X3 has an in-built 3.5mm jack for earphones. However, it also supports Type C earphones provided it is of digital type.
Q3. Are the type C earphones better than 3.5mm jack earphones?
A: The type-C earphones come with different positives and negatives when compared to 3.5mm jack ones. We have discussed this in detail throughout this guide.
Final Words !
We have tried to clear your doubt on ‘Are type C earphones good?’ after going through this article. Hope that you have found this article quite helpful and informative. Almost all the important things are covered here that can provide you with a good understanding.
Type C earphones are now trending in the market and nothing happens without a reason. It’s due to the advanced features that these earphones provide.
Thanks for staying with us, stay happy!
