page_title: Phone connector (audio)
section_title: PDAs and mobile phones
hierarchical_section_title: Phone connector (audio) / PDAs and mobile phones
caption_attribution_description: English: Left: TRS (Tip Ring Sleeve) connector for iPod headphones. Center: TRRS jack for iPhone. Right: the microphone and control button for iPhone, part of the same headset as the center jack. Both products were made by Apple, but third party jacks have the same number of rings (TRRS has an extra one). In both connectors the tip (topmost) connector is connected to the left earbud speaker and the first ring (adjacent to tip) is connected to the right earbud. The iPod connector's sleeve (bottommost connector) is connected to common/ground. The iPhone connector's second ring is connected to common/ground. The iPhone connector's sleeve (bottommost connector) is connected to the microphone and switch; pressing the switch short circuits the sleeve to the second ring.
context_page_description: A phone connector, also known as phone jack, audio jack, headphone jack or jack plug, is a family of electrical connectors typically used for analog audio signals. The standard is that a plug will connect with a jack.
  The phone connector was invented for use in telephone switchboards in the 19th century and is still widely used.
  The phone connector is cylindrical in shape, with a grooved tip to retain it. In its original audio configuration, it typically has two, three, four and, occasionally, five contacts. Three-contact versions are known as TRS connectors, where T stands for "tip", R stands for "ring" and S stands for "sleeve". Ring contacts are typically the same diameter as the sleeve, the long shank. Similarly, two-, four- and five- contact versions are called TS, TRRS and TRRRS connectors respectively. The outside diameter of the "sleeve" conductor is 6.35 millimetres. The "mini" connector has a diameter of 3.5 mm and the "sub-mini" connector has a diameter of 2.5 mm.
context_section_description: Three- or four-conductor (TRS or TRRS) 2.5 mm and 3.5 mm sockets are common on older cell phones and newer smartphones respectively, providing mono (three conductor) or stereo (four conductor) sound and a microphone input, together with signaling (e.g., push a button to answer a call). These are used both for handsfree headsets (esp. mono audio plus mic, also stereo audio plus mic, plus signaling for call handling) and for (stereo) headphones (stereo audio, no mic). Wireless (connectorless) headsets or headphones usually use the Bluetooth protocol.
  3.5 mm TRRS (stereo-plus-mic) sockets became particularly common on smartphones, and have been used e.g. by Nokia since 2006; they are often compatible with standard 3.5 mm stereo headphones. Some computers now also include a TRRS headset socket, compatible with headsets intended for smartphones. 
  There are multiple conflicting standards for TRRS connectors and their compatibility with three conductor TRS. The four conductors of a TRRS connector are assigned to different purposes by different manufacturers. Any 3.5 mm plug can be plugged mechanically into any socket, but many combinations are electrically incompatible. For example, plugging TRRS headphones into a TRS headset socket (or vice versa) or plugging TRRS headphones from one manufacturer into a TRRS socket from another may not function correctly, or at all. Mono audio will usually work, but stereo audio or microphone may not work, depending on wiring. Signaling compatibility depends both on wiring compatibility and the signals sent by the hands-free/headphones controller being correctly interpreted by the phone. Adapters that are wired for headsets will not work for stereo headphones and conversely. Further, as TTY/TDDs are wired as headsets, TTY adapters can also be used to connect a 2.5 mm headset to a phone.
caption: All iPhone models from the first generation to the 6S and SE use a four-conductor (TRRS) phone connector (center) for a wired headset. Microphone and control (right).
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