The humble XLR is a much, much better connector ( it locks, it's possibly gas-tight and it has lots of surface area ) , but it wasn't exactly going to fit on a Walk, was it?
Plus, you can actually solder an XLR.
Plus, you can actually solder an XLR.
How I know this: I've done it at least three times.
Judging from some of cables I've seen, that's also the use that most XLR connectors are exposed to.
Same for a humble headphone jack, if we're dealing with one which has been designed with that purpose in mind. Just unscrew the metallic cap, unsolder the cables, solder them again, you're good to go.
The XLR's robustness may actually be a problem. When an accident occurs, it's better to just break the 10€ cable than the 1k€ equipment it's connected to.