Tag: Headphone jack

OnePlus Considered Ditching The Headphone Jack, OnePlus 6 Prototype Suggests

The OnePlus 6 was launched in India on 17th May at a starting price of Rs 34999. Apart from its specifications and design, one thing a lot of consumers were satisfied with, was the presence of the headphone jack. OnePlus continues to be one of the last few smartphone makers to stick with the beloved 3.5mm headphone jack as the industry, at large, prepares us for a wireless future. However, OnePlus did consider removing the headphone from the OnePlus 6.

OnePlus recently showed off a slew OnePlus 6 prototypes to PCMag. Apart from the range of colour variants on display, an interesting aspect was that some prototypes did not have a 3.5mm headphone jack. Considering that OnePlus also launched its first-ever pair of Bluetooth earphones, it isn’t a giant leap to assume that removal of the headphone jack was discussed. And this poll might have helped tip the decision in favour of the headphone jack.

https://twitter.com/getpeid/status/973745407208468485

With the Bullets Wireless earphones being praised for their price to performance ratio, it does seem like the company is preparing its loyal users for a headphone jack-less OnePlus device. However, it is anybody’s guess for now when that will happen. The OnePlus 6T is expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2018 but, it is not likely that the company will pull the plug on the headphone jack so soon.

Must Read: OnePlus 6 Red Edition Launched For Rs. 39,999

OnePlus Bullets Wireless

The colour variants on display also give us an insight on how many prototypes a company goes through before choosing one variant. OnePlus even had a colour shifting variant like the Huawei P20 Pro on display. However, one of the engineers conceded that it was never a part of the discussion about the OnePlus 6 colour variants. It was merely a representation of what the engineering team was capable of producing.

Apple’s decision to remove the headphone jack in 2016 was not a very popular one. However, two years on and the industry, more or less, has complied. OnePlus will also soon get rid of the port as it increases its Bluetooth accessories portfolio.

July 5, 2018
Sony Removed The Headphone Jack Because “Everyone Was Doing it”

Sony launched the Sony Xperia Xz2 and Xz2 Compact at MWC 2018. Starting with these smartphones, the company has changed a lot of things on its flagship smartphone series. The devices no longer look like a slab of metal or glass, as the devices flaunt a new Ambient Flow design. In fact, these are the first batch Sony smartphones to feature 18:9 aspect ratio display. However, when everything was going well with these smartphones, the brand ironically decided to ditch the 3.5 mm headphone.

Sony Xperia XZ2

Sony’s Blog

This is part of the shift to our new Ambient Flow design language. In order to create the beautiful seamless design, our designers needed to remove the headphone jack. Plus, we’re aware of the major market trend toward wireless headphones over wired headphones.

Sony is trying to convince us that the removal of headphone jack has helped them to achieve this form factor. On the contrary, the Sony Xperia Xz2 is one of the thickest flagship smartphones that has been launched in 2018. Sony’s “ambient flow” design has taken a bit of inspiration from the HTC U11 and U11+. However, instead of a glossy finish, Sony has opted for matt finish.

The trend of removing the 3.5 mm headphone jack started with the Apple iPhone 7. The company moved one step closer to a completely port-less iPhone and has continued to exclude the headphone jack ever since. However, at the time of the launch, the decision was met with a collective disdain. In fact, Google mocked Apple during the launch of the Pixel and Pixel XL. However, that soon changed and Google even removed the headphone jack from its Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Over the past year and a half, companies like HTC, Xioami, and Nokia have started shipping their flagship smartphones without a 3.5 mm headphone jack. In fact, OnePlus, Samsung and LG seem to be the only major smartphone makers still interested in keeping the headphone jack relevant.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 is a great example of a flagship smartphone design with a headphone jack. The smartphone comes with a slim form factor. OnePlus’s co-founder Card Pie recently did a poll on Twitter regarding the requirement of the headphone jack. As usual, the crowd went with the first option with almost 88 percent of them saying yes. This could be a hint that the OnePlus 6 will indeed retain the headphone jack.

https://twitter.com/getpeid/status/973745407208468485

Conclusion

It is fair to say that industry trends exist for a reason. While Apple’s decision to remove the headphone jack was panned at first, many smartphone makers have come around the idea since then. Sony, even though late to the party, has also jumped aboard the idea that wireless is the future. Sony itself makes some of the best wireless headphones on the market right now. So, it does make sense for the company to push consumers toward wireless headphones.

March 14, 2018
Google Explains The Reason Behind Ditching The Headphone Jack On The Pixel 2

Back in 2016, Apple turned quite a few heads when it launched the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus without a headphone jack, something which was standard in smartphones till that point. Apple, however, did not replace it with a UB Type C port and instead continued with the lightning USB port. This move was considered to be Apple’s first major step towards a port-less iPhone of the future. Google, on the other hand launched the Pixel and Pixel XL with a headphone jack in 2016 and took a subtle dig at Apple during the event. On October 4th, Google announced the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL and didn’t get into the reason behind removing the headphone jack at that point.

Now, in a post on company’s Pixel forum, Orrin explained why the headphone jack was replaced with the USB Type C port.

The Pixel 2 still comes with a headphone jack but we have moved to USB-C, a standard that is becoming commonplace in the best phones and laptops of today. Moving to the USB-C audio port with Pixel 2 allows us to provide a better audio and digital experience, as we move towards a bezel-less future.

Notably, Orrin also listed out a list earphones that are ‘Made By Google’ or ‘Made For Google’ headphones that have been verified to be compatible with the Pixel 2. Google will include a USB Type C to 3.5mm headphone jack dongle in the retail box.

With another smartphone maker getting rid of the beloved headphone jack, it seems more than likely the headphone jack is heading towards redundancy. Is it time to replace your trusty wired headphones with bluetooth or USB Type C headphones?

October 7, 2017
iPhone 7 Concept Renders Show the Device without a Headphone Jack

It’s perhaps inevitable now. We may just see a new era of technology where headphone jacks are a thing of the past. It has been rumoured, among other things, that Apple will ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack in its upcoming iPhone 7. Instead, we may just see Lightning connected headphones and wireless headphones. If you’ve been wondering how the new iPhone could look minus the headphone jack, some new renders have graciously hit the internet to tease your imagination.

These renders are only meant to show an iPhone without the 3.5mm headphone jack and is no indication of the iPhone 7’s final look. indeed, it is still too early for that. The renders focus on the bottom edge of the phone that adds a second speaker grill instead of the headphone jack.

One of the possible reason behind ditching the headphone jack is Apple interest in improving quality of music streaming, since streaming is Apple’s game right now. Furthermore, the loss of a headphone jack means more space for Apple to add a larger battery to the iPhone 7, as well as make the device thinner. We’ll just have to wait and see how this strategy plays out.

Source

February 16, 2016
iPhone 7 May Have a Second Speaker Instead of a Headphone Jack

There is no end to the rumours being churned out about the iPhone 7 and more and more new updates continue to pour in. Latest in the series of speculations and expectations is that the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 may be replaced by an extra speaker.

Analysts speculate that the 3.5 mm headphone jack will be removed and an extra speaker will be added in its stead to improve the sound quality of the new iPhone. Analysts Blayne Curtis and Christopher Hemmelgarn believe that the speaker would be provided by Cirrus Logic

The analysts also speculate that unlike many other phones in the market, iPhone 7 will not employ dynamic noise cancellation, Apple fans might have to wait for the next iPhone for this feature. The smartphone would instead use a basic digital codec.

There is a huge list of rumours that have been going around for the longest time, and we are unsure as to which ones would materialise and which ones won’t. Hold your breath until we have more to go on with.

Source

February 13, 2016