Part of what we do here is to look at all sorts of accessories you might want to use with your phone. Cases, screen protectors, headphones, you name it and we try to look and recommend a product so you know if you're getting your money's worth. Since the 3.5mm headphone jack is fading away (yes, Samsung will do it too, once it's more affordable) that also means we need to look at USB Type C headphones and adapters. What a mess. First, the answer to the question in the title: No, there isn't a single USB-C headphone adapter that will work with every phone. There's a simple reason why, but it's just silly that this has to be a thing in the first place. Passive vs. Active

Cables designed to work with the USB standard can be active or passive. Active cables use copper wires and have a semiconductor of some sort to boost or amplify the signal strength. If you have an outrageously long USB cable for anything, it's probably an active cable. Low-voltage data signals aren't designed to cover eight or ten feet (or more) inside a cable, so they need a bit of a boost. There are two ways audio can be sent out via the USB port. The onboard DAC and amplifier can convert the digital signal to analog (regular headphones only work with an analog signal) and send it out through the USB-C port. The adapter then passively transmits the analog signal from the USB port to the 3.5 mm port on the other end of the cable. This works exactly like your last phone with a 3.5 jack did, except there is now a dongle in the mix. More: USB-C audio: Everything you need to know Digital audio signals can also be sent out through the USB-C port. These signals bypass any DAC or amp that's inside your phone and are a raw digital signal that something needs to convert before it can play through a set of speakers. That means they depend on a DAC and amplifier inline somewhere. That group of components can (and does) live inside an active USB-C to 3.5mm dongle in some most Android phones without a headphone jack. All devices that can transmit audio and have a USB-C port that sends a signal out must be able to supply the digital signal for an active cable. Unfortunately, the changes that make a passive cable work are optional, and we all know what happens when something is optional — companies don't like to do it. Meet Audio Adapter Accessory Mode

Audio Adapter Accessory Mode is the name of the protocol that allows a USB-C port to send analog audio through its connector and into something that's plugged in — like a 3.5mm adapter. A set of headphones with a USB-C connector will always support Accessory mode, so they can play music that was converted by the phone's hardware or convert it themselves with circuitry inside them. Audio Adapter Accessory Mode isn't complicated. Four connections inside the USB port turn off any digital output and replace it with the four analog connections needed (Left audio, Right audio, Microphone, and Ground). Compliance means that every device that supports Audio Adapter Accessory Mode uses the same four connections in the USB-C plug so it just works if supported by both pieces. Optionally, (there's that word again: "optional") a second set of connectors can be used to allow for charging at up to 500 milliamps. If your phone supports Audio Adapter Accessory Mode a cheap $3 USB-C to 3.5mm adapter works perfectly.

If your phone supports Audio Adapter Accessory Mode and has the optional connectors for charging, a cheap adapter that splits into both a headphone jack and a USB charging port will work perfectly.

has the optional connectors for charging, a cheap adapter that splits into both a headphone jack and a USB charging port will work perfectly. If your phone doesn't support Audio Adapter Accessory Mode you need a more expensive active adapter that has the circuitry inside to convert the digital signal and the phone will give you an error message that says "Accessory not supported" in some way. Did I mention that this is a mess? Phones that support Audio Adapter Accessory Mode