Samsung's clamshell phone will be unveiled next week, lacks 3.5mm jack

midian182

Posts: 9,663   +121
Staff member
In brief: Plenty of focus is on Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy X foldable handset right now, but the company is set to unveil another device that’s a far cry from the usual flagships: the W2019 flip phone. In addition to being a dual-screen clamshell, one interesting element of the W2019 is that it lacks a headphone jack.

Samsung’s flip phone has leaked a number of times over the last few months, but judging from invites sent out to the Chinese media, the company is going to officially announce it on November 9.

A TEENA listing reveals that the clamshell consists of two 4.2-inch Super AMOLED screens and packs a Snapdragon 845 SoC and a 3,000 mAh battery. It also comes with a USB Type-C port. The leaked pictures do make the device look quite snazzy, with its brushed metal and glass materials, but, like Samsung’s previous Android flip phones, availability is limited to China, and the W2019 is incredibly expensive: it’s expected to cost a breathtaking $2500 - $3000.

What’s especially interesting about this phone is that it’s missing a 3.5mm headphone jack, making it the first major Samsung device to lack the long-used port. Ever since Apple dropped the jack in the iPhone 7 back in 2016, more Android manufacturers have gone down the same route, with Samsung being the most notable holdout—but that looks to be changing.

An October report claimed the Korean firm was set to finally switch to USB Type-C only in its devices, with the Galaxy S10 possibly being the last flagship to carry the 3.5mm port. Could the W2019 be a sign of things to come? If so, what would be next for Samsung? A notch?

Permalink to story.

 
It's sad to watch useful ports removed in the name of, well, you cant say thinness here, so, in the name of ever greater profits, and consumers actually defend these actions.

Bluetooth is not an appropriate replacement for 3.5mm audio. it still does not have the proper codecs, has connection and pairing issues, runs into interference in crowded areas, and results in having yet another device to have to recharge and replace every 3 years as the battery dies.

The removal of the port is just a blatant attempt to make more money off of dongles and wireless headphones.
 
I can already see the snarky commercials, with the foldable phone user and lots of cables (instead of wireless headphones) being jested by a Samsung guy with no wires (wait a minute how does the Samsung guy listen to his headphones with a wired headset?)
 
It's sad to watch useful ports removed in the name of, well, you cant say thinness here, so, in the name of ever greater profits, and consumers actually defend these actions.

Bluetooth is not an appropriate replacement for 3.5mm audio. it still does not have the proper codecs, has connection and pairing issues, runs into interference in crowded areas, and results in having yet another device to have to recharge and replace every 3 years as the battery dies.

The removal of the port is just a blatant attempt to make more money off of dongles and wireless headphones.
Just more built-in obsolesce--just what (the electronics) industry likes!
 
Wish they would make one with a physical QWERTY on the bottom part and sell it for what its really worth - maybe $600 - rather than the comical price their probably gonna be asking. $3000 in China is like $10,000 everywhere else thanks to the artificial currency deflation practiced by all Asian countries. I guess this device is only meant for Chinese high rollers, which seems pretty dumb.
 
Exactly ZERO of these devices will ever be sold. Why? Every Samsung user on every tech site that I visit daily has made it clear that they won't buy a phone without a headphone jack. This is usually done, of course, in the context of deriding Apple iPhones for not having a headphone jack. If so much as one of these phones is sold, then it demonstrates the hypocrisy of Samsung users.
 
Exactly ZERO of these devices will ever be sold. Why? Every Samsung user on every tech site that I visit daily has made it clear that they won't buy a phone without a headphone jack. This is usually done, of course, in the context of deriding Apple iPhones for not having a headphone jack. If so much as one of these phones is sold, then it demonstrates the hypocrisy of Samsung users.
I think the first one sold is going to Tim Cook of Apple (so it can be dismantled and "inspected")
 
Back