The removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack on the Pixel 2/Pixel 2 XL has been a sticking point for some. The inclusion of a USB-C to 3.5 mm headphone adapter in the box has offset some concerns, but if you lost it it was a costly $25 replacement – until Google quietly reduced the price.
The USB-C to 3.5 mm headphone adapter was originally priced at $25 on the Australian Google Store when first announced last week. The price has now been cut in half, with the adapter now priced at a mere $12 putting it on par pricing wise with the Apple Lightning to 3.5mm adapter which is also priced at $12.
The adapter ships free from Google with the free ‘saver’ delivery option with the adapter expected to arrive around November 22-27th, or you can pay $9 for ‘standard’ to get them between November 16-20, or $17 for ‘International Priority’ to get them between November 14-16.
Whether the cheap adapters from eBay or AliExpress work on the Pixel 2 is something that will be answered when the phones arrive in our hands. Knowing my proclivity for losing adapters I see myself buying at least a couple of these spanning the life of the Pixel 2, so half price is more than ok by me.
Is there a DAC in the cable or does it just send electrical pulses which are converted into sound?
If they’d just left the headphone jack intact on the Pixel 2/Pixel 2 XL, they wouldn’t have needed to stock the adapters in the first place.