S21 ultra + THX Onyx dongle is cheaper than Xperia 1 iii. The only audiophile phone in 2021 is the Asus ROG 5.Xperia 1 iii and Asus Zenfone 8 have a 3.5 mm jack with okayish output but you would need a high end dongle to fully experience lossless streaming. I was seriously thinking of getting...

Has anyone on this forum auditioned the Zenfone 8?

I think the only companies that make money off Bluetooth accessories which their customers are now forced to buy are Samsung and Apple.Everyone else doesn't make any money on this scam so one by one they are reintroducing 3.5 mm first Sony now Asus..who knows maybe Nokia will be next..

I have a Samsung S9 plus so its about 20-25% bulkier..But I'm in no hurry. Will buy a new phone when 5G launches in India, probably in the first half of next year. In the mean time I'm also contemplating getting a quality dongle like the THX Onyx along with the Zenfone 8..i.e. Okayishly decent...

Ok so Asus has made our choice simple.There is only one if you want a quality 3.5 mm jack in 2021..The Asus ROG 5..Learn to like it.Honestly its not a bad phone..great screen,battery,performance etc..

I am hopeful it is the former.If Asus didn't want to exploit the full potential of the Aqistic DAC why pay Snapdragon for that instead of using the free non Aquistic DAC for the 3.5mm.As per industry sources the license to use Aqistic costs MORE than a Cirius Logic DAC chip. I really just want...

Wouldn't write it off yet..HTC 10 used this in 2016 to great effect and Asus has absorbed many ex HTC engineers.. https://www.qualcomm.com/products/wcd9385 We need a few real world tests..I would be very happy with HTC 10 level audio via 3.5 mm from a 2021 flagship.. Though if they goofed it...

It has been confirmed it will have a 3.5 mm headphone jack (lots of YouTube videos with hands on review of the ZF 8 confirm this)and an ESS DAC now costs around $10 to implement in a phone partly due to LGs exit is expected and apparently this is cheaper than the license fee charged by Qualcomm...

Zenfone 8 is coming to India.That is the only option left for audiophiles aside from ROG 5 which is an oversized phone with sub par structural integrity thus requiring a bulky case to compensate.So far it looks like a competitive phone overall which can hold its own against Samsung S21..We will...

Exactly! Its not like we are spoilt for choice though it may make sense holding out for the Zenfone 8 due in a few months.

Given the fact that nation wide 5G is only going to happen by 2023 in India and LG has publicly announced support for Android 12 on the G8X I am seriously thinking of replacing by S9 Plus with that later this year.. Available for around $300 with the second screen the phone has possibly the best...

Doese S20 FE 5G have a 3.5 mm jack? I can confirm the S20 FE 4G version does not have a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

Hi,I am also thinking about purchasing the ROG 5 and just you wanted to please clarify if you find it unusually large?Are you able to comfortably put it in your trouser pocket?

It is not very durable but a case can fix that.I was just pointing out for someone who has a modest collection of wired headphones and dislikes dongles there is basically nothing else on sale in India except the LG G8X which is a 4G phone and will likely have poor after sales support given LGs...

This reminds me of 2015/16 when HTC 10 using the internal Qualcomm DAC could go toe to toe with LG G5 equipped with a dedicated B&O audio module accessory in the sound department.A real pity that my options are now down to basically one phone i.e. Asus ROG 5(Sony exited the Indian mobile phone...