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Samsung Kills Headphone Jack in Latest Smartphone After Years of Mocking Apple

kahkityoong said:
Well actually I do that too but sometimes a compromise has to be struck between my pants falling down due to the combined weight of a DAP/DAC and amp versus a top quality ear bud and iPhone. And it’s really the cans or buds that make 90% of the audible improvements.
I reckon I’ve got enough of this sort of equipment to know how best to utilise it all.
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Sure, sure, my point was just that any chasing after audio quality is going to be accompanied by compromised convenience, and the more quality you want, the more compromise you make in terms of convenience. Removing the headphone jack basically equates to removing one subsection of choice on that quality-vs-convenience scale, but currently it's a shrinking subsection due to the falling price and quality improvements of bluetooth earbuds and cans.

We're not there yet, of course, but in the coming years the quality-vs-convenience ladder will step directly from high quality bluetooth cans to a mid-to-high quality external DAC, because bluetooth units will have caught up to the quality of the internal DACs that used to be included in phones.
 
Look, I am no big fan of Samsung, but I don't see how it is "mocking" to point out they offer something that the competitor didn't? To me it's more like "look what we offer that this certain other company don't".
 
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Macintoshrumors said:
It’s 2018 almost 2019, who still uses 100yr old tech, headphone jack what? It’s all wireless baby. Ohh and the people who do are a minority out of the entire global smartphone industry.
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That's a very ignorant opinion. The underlying tech in the headphone jack is the analog audio signal. It's more than 100 years old but it's a fundamental one. All wireless headphones rely on it as well. In phones with 3.5mm jack, the signal amplifier is located in the phone. The analog signal gets sent to the headphones. With BT headphones, there is an extra step involved: the phone sends digital (BT) signal, this signal gets converted to the analog signal in the headphones (or a dongle), at which point it becomes the "100yr old tech", then it gets amplified and sent to the speaker(s). Inherently, BT can't improve the quality here. It can (and often does) make it worse though.

Is not it funny how people get blinded by Apple (or other company) PR and start paying extra bucks for worse quality? Sure, wireless offer convenience in some situations so it has its place but it's not a superior tech.
 
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mithion said:
This person feels exactly how I do. I've managed to live without the headphone on my 7 for 2 years now. But there are still days where I forgot my adapter and the only option is a standard audio jack. In my experience, lightning connected headphones are just not a thing and I refuse to buy bluetooth because it's one more device I have to keep charging every freaking day along with my laptop, my iPad, my fitbit, my phone. There is no end...
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Yes, dongle-itis has plagued Apple the last 3 years - iPhones with no jack, MacBooks with few ports, and now iPads with no jack. The thing is, for better or worse, bluetooth has been there all along. Even if bluetooth was better than it has been and is, there was/is no real logical reason to remove the phone jack, at least when they did so. Through the 6S models, no one - including wireless fans - was griping about the phone jack. The phones accommodated both wired and wireless users with no inconvenience to either group. No one was demanding even thinner phones than the 6S models; most people weren't worried about dropping a phone into a 1.5 meter toilet (IP 68)vs. a 1 meter toilet (IP 67), or snorkeling with their phones. The only real reason Apple did this was to sell more dongles and wireless headphones. The only reason to remove ports from Macs is to make them even thinner than they previously had been, and hardly anyone but Jony was wistfully wishing for that. Comparing the jack removal to the removal of floppy drives or serial ports is a false analogy. By the time those technologies were phased out, optical drives and USB technologies had arrived which were clearly orders of magnitude superior. That is not the case, at least to date, with the 3.5 MM jack and wired headphones/speakers. It was a grossly premature move by Apple, and it is hugely unfortunate for sound afficionados for other manufacturers to follow suit. For some reason, non-Apple manufacturers seem to think removal of the jack will lure away hardcore iPhone users. That is not the case. What it will do is further alienate audiophiles and force them to migrate to even more expensive niche products for their wired sound devices. Oh well.
 
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BlargKing said:
A phone with a physical keyboard and a headphone jack that puts functionality first. Its really quite nice to have a phone that isn't built to be an artpiece.
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Oh, alright, I was joking, and you too probably.


vicviper789 said:
Your point is moot assuming people are not entitled to enjoy their headphones in the quiet of their own homes. This is the type of ignorance that causes notches in the display, missing ports, and locked down operating systems.
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I said most of the time, and believe me, that's the case.
 
falainber said:
That's a very ignorant opinion. The underlying tech in the headphone jack is the analog audio signal. It's more than 100 years old but it's a fundamental one. All wireless headphones rely on it as well. In phones with 3.5mm jack, the signal amplifier is located in the phone. The analog signal gets sent to the headphones. With BT headphones, there is an extra step involved: the phone sends digital (BT) signal, this signal gets converted to the analog signal in the headphones (or a dongle), at which point it becomes the "100yr old tech", then it gets amplified and sent to the speaker(s). Inherently, BT can't improve the quality here. It can (and often does) make it worse though.

Is not it funny how people get blinded by Apple (or other company) PR and start paying extra bucks for worse quality? Sure, wireless offer convenience in some situations so it has its place but it's not a superior tech.
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Very good point. Many people miss that part. I have yet to find a pair of wireless headphones that can match the quality of sound coming from my wired ones. Wireless is more convenient sure, like working out at the gym, etc., but for sitting at home and enjoying music, wired headphones are still the benchmark in my opinion.

For example, people who claim a headphone jack is old technology need to stop and think what method they are using to interact with their device? They are looking at a screen. The same old TV type screen principal that has been used since the beginning of time. Sure display technology has advanced over the years, but the method is still the same. You are looking at a screen. How antique. So yesterday.

As far as Samsungs methods, it's all about selling product. People shouldn't take it personally. I don't see people getting all bent out of shape when men are portrayed as idiots in commercials, or a real sexy woman is eating a cheeseburger in slow motion. It's all advertising. How could anyone take advertising personally?
 
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Moving past the no headphone issue, that design sucks. I'll take the notch over the peephole camera on the front. It's freaking me out man!
 
In Samsung defence (not that they need one) it's possible that they had to remove the jack in order to eliminate the "chin". That would be a compromise one can understand. Remember that Apple did it on a phone with huge "chin".
 
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sirozha said:
At least Samsung is using a standard port - USB-C, so one adapter (or one pair of earphones) would work with any other standards based device.
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That's a nice thought, but there is no single USB-C headphone standard, so there are in fact different implementations and compatibility issues.

Consumer Reports:

The Google Pixel 2 Headphone Conundrum

In an online post, Google noted that only headphones compatible with USB Type-C Digital Audio will work with the Pixel 2. […] Analog Type-C headphones won’t produce any sound, Google says. Instead they will prompt a smartphone notification informing you that you need different headphones. […]

How do I know whether my headphones are compatible?

For now, Google recommends that you purchase headphones certified as “Made for Google.” This program, similar to Apple’s “Made for iPhone” program, confirms that the hardware is fully compatible with the Pixel 2. As of now, only three manufacturers offer headphones that have earned that distinction: AiAiAi, Master & Dynamic, and Libratone.​


The Verge:

Buying USB-C earbuds for my Pixel 2 was incredibly annoying and expensive

Two weeks after starting my cheap Pixel 2 earbud search, I finally have a working pair — but they cost almost twice the amount I wanted to spend, and don’t feel very premium. If I lose or break them, it’ll cost me almost $50 and another 10-day wait. The next time I upgrade my phone, they may not be compatible. Even the Apple Store sells $29 Lightning EarPods. Google needs to do a lot better by its Pixel owners than a single $149 USB-C option. Even better, just give us back the damn headphone jack.​
 
Hats off to them for trying something different and not going with a notch as we know it to make it look like an iPhone.
 
vicviper789 said:
I am not an audiophile by any means but I do hear a big difference between wired and blue tooth headphones. I am holding on to my 6S+ with pure dorm grip until it dies..
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Man, if only headphones existed with a lightning connector. OR- if only Apple made an adapter to go from 3.5mm to Lightning! Then we could use headphones again with our new phones!

Seriously dude? You’re making a mountain out of a mole hill.
 
I don't know what happened to Pono. As the industry continues their incremental rasterization of the audio signal, there may be a place for a company that puts audio quality first.
 
It's a ~$300 phone so it proves that removing the 3.5mm jack is all about cost cutting. At least it's universal USB-C that works across all devices and not proprietary Lightning connector to milk the customer.

As fanboys say, it's not about being first but doing it when the time is right when USB-C accessories are abundant.
 
tominco said:
I too have a an iPhone 7, and the lack of headphone port is my one gripe. What really irks me about Apple's move is that ok, I have to use a dongle, and at the time Apple even supplied one, but there are no decent dongles that support headphone and charging simultaneously. It is deplorable, that Apple didn't even think to sell one, and that all of the ones on the market are garbage.
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Did fast charging not fix a lot of this for you? I've never needed to charge while listening to anything, because when I do charge I can get at least half my battery in half an hour or so.
 
I don't see any problem here? It's a mid range phone, the S10 is already leaked with an headphone jack, does this make the circlejerk feel better?
Anyway since when cutting half of the screen is better than a tiny hole on it? You got to be in denial to say something like that.
 
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ilikewhey said:
i do agree to some extent that headphone jack would hit the dust bin at some point for every company. but when we don't know.

samsung is coming out with tons of technology,
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/galaxy-s10-fingerprint-sensor-qualcomm,news-28015.html

this along will make s10 sell like hot cakes, i'm still on my iphone 7 since i dont like the idea to have to pick up the phone off desk everytime i want to unlock it.
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because airpod cost 150+ and they are easy to lose and expensive to replace. while headphones are 10 bucks.
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Are you speaking from experience? Do you lose your car key all the time too? Most car keys these days cost ~$150 to replace too.
 
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