Report: Samsung to drop the headphone jack from its phones

[toooooot]

If they include usb- C converter, I guess it will be alright with me.

Bluetooth earphones work just fine these days...

Pretty soon you people will have no phones to buy. Notches and missing headphone jacks seem to outrage everyone who can't learn to adapt.

Bluetooth is objectionably inferior for audio streaming. It has a noticeable lag that is absent on corded headphones, the hyper-compressed audio sounds tinny and, well, compressed to ****, because it is. And if you think I'm gonna buy a new radio for my car(s) to use bluetooth over 3.5mm, and replace my home audio system, AND replace my nice noise canceling headphones, you got a couple screws loose.

I can learn to adapt to only having one leg, doesnt mean I'm gonna chop mine off claiming it is superior and everyone else just needs to adapt.

Also, notice that the midrange market has plenty of phones, and none of them are removing jacks. And those phones often have better battery life then the flagships. Honestly, the flagships are for people with more money then sense, and the phone makers know this. Midrange buyers wont put up with dongles like $1k flagship owners will.

Bluetooth aptX allows for amazing audio quality compared to older Bluetooth standards for music streaming. Check out some headphones from your local best buy that use this standard, you might find them very close in quality compared to wired headphones.

 

[ShagnWagn]

How many headphones do you have?!?!?

Since you only have ONE smartphone, however, you obviously just need to keep the adapter with the device...

Most people, on the other hand, (those who only use one set of headphones for their smartphone) will just plug the adapter into that pair of headphones and it simply makes the headphone cord 2 inches longer...

Three that I use consistently. At work, home gaming headset, noise cancelling for mowing/outdoor work. I have more in drawers that were freebies. I've thought about getting wireless for workouts, but again, with the huge bluetooth audio delay they won't work for anything else. That's why I haven't bought any yet.

The point is... I'm not going to carry around more equipment so I can shave 1/16th of an inch off my phone's height. Not to mention the adapter will add the possibility to scratch the phone (I have two phones), plus the cord get bent around and worn out, plus possibly getting lost or left behind, plus another thing to try and remember... etc etc. Plus when I'm not wearing something with pockets like lake shorts or running pants. Ugh... See why I'm not going to do it?

 

[Evernessince]

Bluetooth earphones work just fine these days...

Pretty soon you people will have no phones to buy. Notches and missing headphone jacks seem to outrage everyone who can't learn to adapt.

I'm not sure "just fine" is a standard you should strive for. Usually at my work, we try to at least do good. If were doing "just fine" it's not a good thing.

On a technical level BT introduces latency, increases the cost to make a headphone, and introduces additional points of failure. Wireless headphones need a battery which not only need to be charged (a pain) but are also a harzard if shipped or on a plane. In addition, Wireless headphones need to be certified that they are not emitting too much interference. Unless a high quality battery is included, you can expect most wireless batteries to last a year before loosing significant charge. Wired headphones can last decades. Of course you can buy more expensive wireless cans that come with Japanese batteries that have a 5 year life rating but it's more costly. There are numerous other disadvantages but that's enough for now.

The point of going wireless is because it's supposed to be convenient but the technology isn't there yet.

If they include usb- C converter, I guess it will be alright with me.

Bluetooth earphones work just fine these days...

Pretty soon you people will have no phones to buy. Notches and missing headphone jacks seem to outrage everyone who can't learn to adapt.

Bluetooth is objectionably inferior for audio streaming. It has a noticeable lag that is absent on corded headphones, the hyper-compressed audio sounds tinny and, well, compressed to ****, because it is. And if you think I'm gonna buy a new radio for my car(s) to use bluetooth over 3.5mm, and replace my home audio system, AND replace my nice noise canceling headphones, you got a couple screws loose.

I can learn to adapt to only having one leg, doesnt mean I'm gonna chop mine off claiming it is superior and everyone else just needs to adapt.

Also, notice that the midrange market has plenty of phones, and none of them are removing jacks. And those phones often have better battery life then the flagships. Honestly, the flagships are for people with more money then sense, and the phone makers know this. Midrange buyers wont put up with dongles like $1k flagship owners will.

Bluetooth aptX allows for amazing audio quality compared to older Bluetooth standards for music streaming. Check out some headphones from your local best buy that use this standard, you might find them very close in quality compared to wired headphones.

aptX is also owned by Qualcomm and requires a BT adapter that supports it (they have to pay Qualcomm). So both the headphone and phone manufacturer have to pay Qualcomm in order to used aptX. aptX still has it's issues as well and comparing it to prior standards like SBC isn't really flattering, given that they had a ton of latency and poor audio quality. It definitely isn't suited for anything realtime or gaming and that's why many wireless gaming headsets using their own wireless codec/tech. If you want wireless headphones to become popular, you need it to be on a free to implement open standard that can work in all use cases.

 

[thews86]

Bluetooth earphones work just fine these days...

Pretty soon you people will have no phones to buy. Notches and missing headphone jacks seem to outrage everyone who can't learn to adapt.

Who said I want to charge my earbuds too?

 

[Xclusiveitalian]

I just got the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and it's an amazing phone...Looks like it will be the last Samsung device I buy. I will NEVER buy a phone that does not have an audio port. Think wisely about this Samsung. You want to follow Apple to the grave? Their fans are blindly loyal and buying $300 phones for $1500, Samsung/Android users do NOT follow so blindly.

 

[yeeeeman]

It was about time. No need for a million connectors, just one that can do all the stuff.
And for all the desperate people above, threatening Samsung to not buy any phone if it doesn't have a headphone jack. Dudes, usb-c to jack adaptor has been invented. It just lenghtens the cable by half an inch. Why are you being so close minded?
And please, don't start with arguments that digital to analog conversion breaks music quality cause your not professional musicians.

 

[Evernessince]

It was about time. No need for a million connectors, just one that can do all the stuff.
And for all the desperate people above, threatening Samsung to not buy any phone if it doesn't have a headphone jack. Dudes, usb-c to jack adaptor has been invented. It just lenghtens the cable by half an inch. Why are you being so close minded?
And please, don't start with arguments that digital to analog conversion breaks music quality cause your not professional musicians.

The USB C to 3.5mm adapter has to include a DAC (like apple's adapter). To put it simply, you are not getting a quality DAC, especially at the adapter's price point. It doesn't take a musician to tell the difference. If the device had a 3.5mm jack built-in, a quality DAC would also be integrated into the phone, simply because there are far less constraints.

No one is going to argue that the digital to analog conversion is going to break your music quality as every headphone goes through that conversion. You are converting 0s and 1s to sound waves wireless headphones or wired. What is arguable based on facts alone is that the quality of DAC is much lower in those adapters then had they simply integrated it into the phone.

Also ignoring that you can't charge while listening. What, another adapter? By the time you are done limiting your own options you'll end up with more adapter spaghetti than a switchboard operator.

People for or against the 3.5mm jack are both fine. It's people who call one or the other names like "close minded" who are the problem. This isn't a point for or against either side, it's simply making fun of people's preference.

 

[yeeeeman]

That's ok, I am just stating facts, I am not making things up. People are hung up on this headphone jack because most of them didn't heard about adaptors.
Charging and listening to music? Not a very realistic scenario.

 

[KernTUG]

How is it possible to be so emotionally invested in a phone?

 

[Musician]

Charging and listening to music? Not a very realistic scenario.

Not true for me. I have to toggle between charging my phone and music in office because I don’t want to leave office for a 1.5 hour train ride with only 20% battery. I had to get a special dongle that does both and looks a little silly.

 

[fktech]

Next phone S11 in 2024 - discounted. Haha!

 

[Mister_K]

I skate a lot, this is not a problem for me no matter which manufacturer drops the headphone jack. HOWEVER, at least replace it with something else, something USEFUL!

 

[gamerk2]

That's ok, I am just stating facts, I am not making things up. People are hung up on this headphone jack because most of them didn't heard about adaptors.
Charging and listening to music? Not a very realistic scenario.

The adapters kill audio quality though, since they don't have a quality DAC in them. I use $150 headphones; why would I want to reduce quality down to the lowest denominator?

And at work, I leave my phone charging so I don't have a 10% battery on the way home. All while listening to music/podcasts.

Guess I'm not getting another Samsung.

 

[yeeeeman]

The solution to your problem is for Samsung and other OEMs to provide an adaptor with charge and music capability at once. It could be made modular, so that it doesn't look like a potato when you only use it for music. Case closed.
Headphone jack is not some sort of holy grail and usb c has been well thought to support a lot of stuff, all while being tiny.

 

[FliGuyRyan]

Considering that I use a very expensive pair of headphones several times a week (won them), I guess I will not be buying any new phones. No, I am not going to spend hundreds of dollars to buy wireless headphones - especially inferior ones. The two second delay on bluetooth audio is not acceptable either. I rarely play a phone game with headphones because the audio is so out of sync. How long has it been out and it's still not been figured out?? Am I the only one having a huge delay? I've crawled the web trying to find a solution. No answers to multiple complaints out there.

While bigger batteries would be nice (I guess?), how about stop raising the resolution on the screens?? Please tell me why we will need 8K resolution on a 5" screen...!

Ah, then let me bring you into the loop of AptX Low Latency... And I would bet you those expensive headphones you have that you couldn't tell a difference in sound quality between wired and AptX Bluetooth streaming.

As much as I hate that they're going away from the headphone jack, I have to admit that there are 13 devices paired with my phone that are recognized via Bluetooth connection. I rarely use the headphone jack now. And, you can always get a wireless adapter for your headphones that the 3.5mm plugs into. Such as this... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EHSX28M/?tag=httpwwwtechsp-20

 

[iamcts]

As soon as a phone manufacture removes the headphone jack, everyone suddenly becomes an audiophile and becomes hyper-aware of their music quality standards.

 

[justin69]

Bluetooth earphones work just fine these days...

Pretty soon you people will have no phones to buy. Notches and missing headphone jacks seem to outrage everyone who can't learn to adapt.

Try play 24bit sound over bluetooth.
Sounds like crap

 

[Musician]

As soon as a phone manufacture removes the headphone jack, everyone suddenly becomes an audiophile and becomes hyper-aware of their music quality standards.

You never knew what you had till you’ve lost it.

Back to sleep before I lose that too.

 

[nismo91]

It was about time. No need for a million connectors, just one that can do all the stuff.
And for all the desperate people above, threatening Samsung to not buy any phone if it doesn't have a headphone jack. Dudes, usb-c to jack adaptor has been invented. It just lenghtens the cable by half an inch. Why are you being so close minded?
And please, don't start with arguments that digital to analog conversion breaks music quality cause your not professional musicians.

The USB C to 3.5mm adapter has to include a DAC (like apple's adapter). To put it simply, you are not getting a quality DAC, especially at the adapter's price point. It doesn't take a musician to tell the difference. If the device had a 3.5mm jack built-in, a quality DAC would also be integrated into the phone, simply because there are far less constraints.

No one is going to argue that the digital to analog conversion is going to break your music quality as every headphone goes through that conversion. You are converting 0s and 1s to sound waves wireless headphones or wired. What is arguable based on facts alone is that the quality of DAC is much lower in those adapters then had they simply integrated it into the phone.

Also ignoring that you can't charge while listening. What, another adapter? By the time you are done limiting your own options you'll end up with more adapter spaghetti than a switchboard operator.

People for or against the 3.5mm jack are both fine. It's people who call one or the other names like "close minded" who are the problem. This isn't a point for or against either side, it's simply making fun of people's preference.

I have to agree with this. Especially bluetooth headset will use its own DAC to process the signal, instead of the phone DAC.

smartphone makers have, over the years, improve the quality of the sound DAC to the point that the current solution offered is a step backward in terms of sound quality (built-in DAC vs cheap DAC found in usb-c converter). look at the first Galaxy S, and how the onboard DAC evolved. Now they're just going to give it up and give you a cheap $10 DAC.

so the problem is, manufacturers are removing their own innovation for nothing. waterproofing you say? LG can waterproof their phones with 3.5mm jack. battery capacity you say? how much more a tiny 3.5mm jack up your phone battery? at most only 30mAh. to make the phone slimmer you say? well, take the LG V30 which is 7.3mm thick, even thinner than iphone xs or xr. lastly, to make space for components inside phone? well if you've opened a phone with 3.5mm jack, you'll realize it doesn't take that much space, as other components can be stacked and rearranged upon design.

it's funny, 13years ago you can't plug a 3.5mm jack to your phones and you have to find an adapter, depending on what your phone is. now, we're back at it again.

 

[ShagnWagn]

Ah, then let me bring you into the loop of AptX Low Latency... And I would bet you those expensive headphones you have that you couldn't tell a difference in sound quality between wired and AptX Bluetooth streaming.

As much as I hate that they're going away from the headphone jack, I have to admit that there are 13 devices paired with my phone that are recognized via Bluetooth connection. I rarely use the headphone jack now. And, you can always get a wireless adapter for your headphones that the 3.5mm plugs into. Such as this... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EHSX28M/?tag=httpwwwtechsp-20

Thank you for sharing. I know of these devices, but would you want to carry this monstrosity in addition to a phone (I carry two phones) plus the headphones, and need to worry about charging this as well? All because of a tiny little jack they want to get rid of? Plus the additional expense of buying one of these for every set of headphones?

"apX enhances the sound quality. Note that aptXmust be incorporated in both sender and receiver to obtain the enhanced sound quality effect"
Uh, I don't see how this will help me unless I am not finding what you are referring to.

It's not quite as much as sound quality, but the two second delay bluetooth has! That is insane. A google search will show you if you don't believe me. I currently use a Samsung S8, so it's not that I have an old phone. A jack has zero latency!

I'm trying and reading the comments, but I'm still not seeing any benefit to get rid of the jack except a tiny bit bigger battery.

 

[ghostf1re]

Bluetooth earphones work just fine these days...

Pretty soon you people will have no phones to buy. Notches and missing headphone jacks seem to outrage everyone who can't learn to adapt.

Bluetooth has pretty terrible audio quality compared to wired. If you're cool with bluetooth then great, but what about the people who have wired setups they like or are expensive? I only ever use bluetooth for audio when I'm making a hands free call. Music is wired for me.

 

[GregonMaui]

Hahaha. I can see the commercials now. Have some clueless looking actors with lots of adapters to plug in their phones and charge them while they are listening to music (instead of just using wireless earphones and charging the phone laying down because the bluetooth tech has a 100 ft range), and then............ oh wait they did this already

 

[Evernessince]

Ah, then let me bring you into the loop of AptX Low Latency... And I would bet you those expensive headphones you have that you couldn't tell a difference in sound quality between wired and AptX Bluetooth streaming.

As much as I hate that they're going away from the headphone jack, I have to admit that there are 13 devices paired with my phone that are recognized via Bluetooth connection. I rarely use the headphone jack now. And, you can always get a wireless adapter for your headphones that the 3.5mm plugs into. Such as this... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EHSX28M/?tag=httpwwwtechsp-20

aptX is also owned by Qualcomm and requires a BT adapter that supports it (they have to pay Qualcomm). So both the headphone and phone manufacturer have to pay Qualcomm in order to used aptX. aptX still has it's issues as well and comparing it to prior standards like SBC isn't really flattering, given that they had a ton of latency and poor audio quality. It definitely isn't suited for anything realtime or gaming and that's why many wireless gaming headsets using their own wireless codec/tech.

This aside from having to charge batteries and the limited lifespan of said batteries. You are looking at about 1-3 years of use depending on quality and cycles and then the battery dies. Thanks to each headphone having a different battery, you now have to replace the entire unit.

 

[sac39507]

Bluetooth earphones work just fine these days...

Pretty soon you people will have no phones to buy. Notches and missing headphone jacks seem to outrage everyone who can't learn to adapt.

how about those who currently have really nice headphones they don't won't to get rid of or have to buy some stupid adapter?

 

[Lew Zealand]

The USB C to 3.5mm adapter has to include a DAC (like apple's adapter). To put it simply, you are not getting a quality DAC, especially at the adapter's price point. It doesn't take a musician to tell the difference. If the device had a 3.5mm jack built-in, a quality DAC would also be integrated into the phone, simply because there are far less constraints.

No one is going to argue that the digital to analog conversion is going to break your music quality as every headphone goes through that conversion. You are converting 0s and 1s to sound waves wireless headphones or wired. What is arguable based on facts alone is that the quality of DAC is much lower in those adapters then had they simply integrated it into the phone.

Maybe. That's a reasonable assumption but not necessarily the correct one.

Has anyone done a blinded sound quality comparo between Apple's last built-in DAC in the 6s and compared it to the external one bundled with the 7? That's the only way to compare these and then that's only for Apple's products.

Other companies may use crappy DACs in their phones or their adapters, with little regard for sound quality. Jobs had a bit of a thing for sound quality so historically Apple has included at least competent DACs in their devices but I don't know that other major players do the same.