Slashdot Mirror
Samsung's Next Flagship Smartphone May Not Feature a Headphone Jack (sammobile.com)
Samsung's next flagship smartphone, which may be released sooner than later due to the Note 7 fiasco, may not feature a 3.5mm headphone jack. In fact, Samsung may be one of many manufacturers to make the jump from the 3.5mm headphone jack to USB-C for audio. The USB Implementers Forum published the Audio Device Class 3.0 specification that brings USB Audio over USB Type-C. What this means is that "mobile devices including smartphones, tablets and ultraportable laptops could ditch the headphone jack in the very near future without worrying about having to bake audio support into USB-C or a new, proprietary port," writes Chris Smith via BGR. SamMobile adds: "Removing the dedicated audio plug will also allow OEMs to create smartphones that are slimmer and have better water resistance capabilities."
I like being able to charge my phone AND listen to music. It's not a niche use. Millions of people do it every day. I don't want wireless headphones. At least nail down wireless charging before you jam every possible output/input through one port.
Phones are already so thin as to be barely usable with average hands. Why do they keep thinking they need to be thinner? Please help me understand.
I bet that not long after Samsung does this Apple will release a iPhone without the 3.5 mm jack.
It seems to me that this is an example of corporations quite clearly forcing consumers into something they don't want. They only way to stop them is to NOT buy these devices.
I have 2 older iPods, a smartphone, a surround sound a/v receiver, CD players, MP3 players, ancient transistor radios, etc., and NONE of them work with USB headphones. All of them work with standard audio jacks. I'm not investing in new headphones, dongles, cables, etc.
Dear Samsung. Please stop with the thin war and start the "real 24 hour battery" war. Phones have been plenty thin for years.... thicken them back up and put a fatter battery in there. What have people dealt with more than anything? A freaking dead battery. I want a phone that will run like a raped ape on a flight from Dallas to Sydney on a single charge and still be above 35% battery. We want our head phone jacks.. I charge my phone and use my headphones at the same time about every night. My wired headphones have lasted for +8 years now. Are there any 8 year old wireless headphones still rocking it or have they had battery issues? Which then brings up an environmental arrangement... this ramps up the number of old batteries that will get dumped in landfills over time. We all see the removal of the headphone jack for what it really is... a way to force people to purchase something they didn't need in the first place... a dick move like that is something like Apple would do. Just how waterproof are you wanting a phone to be? Are you hoping to corner the "action camera" market? Regards. Jef
Samsung's Next Flagship Smartphone May Not Be Purchased by Me
I have an S5. Good phone. Removable battery. Wateproof/resistant. SD card. Headphone jack.
My wife has an Asus Zenfone2. Also good with all up the above except the waterproofing. Also cheaper.
Samsung kills the headphone jack, guess which brand *my* next phone will be.
Samsung has no choice here. As the only real competitor to Apple, they can't be left with 40 year old analog technology while the rest of the industry is tripping over themselves to make audio hardware that supports the Lightning connector, which Apple exclusively controls all the licensing for. If Samsung does not remove the analog audio jack, then there will not be a large enough market for a micro-USB digital audio competitor to Apple's Lightning. The only way to get manufacturers to produce enough USB audio devices is to create a large market (and thus a low enough price point to compete with Lightning audio devices), only Samsung moves enough Android handsets to do that, and it has to be done by removing the analog audio jack. Apple has already caught Samsung flat-footed here, and there is going to be a significant delay until companies start producing micro-USB audio hardware. The Lightening audio market will be flourishing (if it isn't already) before Samsung even gets the devices to market.
Android devices will also face an issue with compatibility. Micro-USB does not by default support powering peripherals. That is what USB On-The-Go (OTG) is for. What this means is that micro-USB headphones will not work on all Android devices, because not all devices support OTG. Especially older ones and the cheap tablet market. That fragmentation will result in a negative impression of Android for some people (these new micro-USB headphones work with my wife's Android phone, but not my tablet - how come?).
Better known as 318230.
These vendors are idiots. Utter idiots. I'd rather buy a spyware infected smartphone rather than Bluetooth headphones. I have enough radiation around my head anyway.
SDC slot. Normal use, I've got different music on different cards. Every few months I'll decide I'm tired of Megadeth and want some Mozart. Vacation, fill up the card with pictures/videos, put another in. Back at the hotel both get emptied to the laptop and cleared.
Headphone jack. I can use that jack to plug my phone into my stereo. I can use that jack for a 20 year old pair of headphones that still sound pretty damned good. Or I can use that jack for earbuds when I'm trying to exercise my skinny ghost white legs outside of mom's basement.
Other than that, price is most important. Everything else falls into the "half inch screen vs 2 hrs battery" confluddle.
Seriously, the point to an SDC card is the company will advertise 32G storage. They won't advertise it's 3 gig OS, and 16 gig shovelware you can't delete unless you root your phone.
As to the music, when I'm thinking/designing a project I like mellow music, or prog like Genesis and Amplifier. When I'm coding, Megadeth and company are the way to go. Debugging depends on how well the schedule is going. It's not a conscious decision, it's what I feel like listening to at the time.
After all, what kind of rube would put a phone up to their ear to talk on? Amiright? Wireless headset'll cover the niche case of using your phone to make phone calls.
A few weeks ago, when all the Apple Haters were excoriating Apple for removing the 3.5 mm Jack in the iPhone 7, I predicted right here that this would happen within a year after the iPhone 7 came out.
Guess Samsung is still all about copying Apple ( yet again) after all...
Now watch as all the Fandroids rush to post that the iPhone wasn't first to eliminate the 3.5 mm Jack, which I also pointed out while those same people tripped over each other to say that the iPhone was completely ignoring their users, engaging in vendor lock-in and money grabbing (when Apple supplied a free adapter with the phone!) etc...
Nuh-uh! Apple will remove all ports on its phone and go wireless only! Because wires are ugly and it takes courage to make leaps!
Don't laugh. With the data rates they can get with their W1 chip and 802.11ac WiFi, all they need is wireless charging and they are there. And guess who has been advertising for wireless charging talent lately?
for nothing
Oh so now it's Apple's fault?
Right on schedule!
I would think they would be reluctant to do something stupid like getting rid of the headphone jack.
Especially after the Galaxy S6 colossal failure with not having the microSD slot and no removable battery.
Then with the S7 Note still having the locked in battery so they have to change it, and is looking like they have to do a second recall.
This path with the S8 looks like intentional suicide.
Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon what's the difference? All steal money from devs and control with walled gardens.
That's one less thing to explode then I guess. :P
Stale jokes aside, that's one less brand for me to choose from then.
If samsung does this, i hope they are concidering dual ports, one on the top and one on the bottom. Charging should always happen on the bottom, wires over the top can be annoying exp while talking on the phone. headset/headphones should always be on the top, it just makes things easier. If samsung chooses to go the route with top and bottom usb-c's i dont see any problem in it (converters can be made etc)
I used to defend these guys for 'copying' the iPhone back in the day (to an extent) since that's just how smart phones 'work best'
That being said, these dozy bastards continue to basically copy Apple every god damned turn. They neuter phones (removing SD cards) they neuter phones (non removable battery) they make obstinate Apple like decisions (cuved only display on the Note 7, UGH) I think one of the only good things they do is wireless charging and the continued support of a _physical_ fucking home button (remove that and we are DONE Samsung)
I like my headphone port, you wanna be smart? Make it 2.5mm like Blackberry tried, let's take another shot at it, see if Nokia, HTC, LG follow suit - let's switch all 3.5mm jacks to 2.5mm over the next decade? But this no headphone thing is bunk.
Bought a car stereo a little over 2 years ago, the stereo system could either connect to bluetooth, or use a USB device. Connected my phone to bluetooth, it didn't sound right. Couldn't put my finger on it, but it sounded thin. Put the same music on a USB device, it sounds just fine.
Dunno what it is, but from where I stand bluetooth audio (or maybe Alpine stereo) needs some learnen.
I just want to use a standard headphone and charge at the same time, that's all I ask. I use my phone for music all night and I want my alarm to work in the morning.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Apple have curved edge screens? A phone model that comes with a stylus embedded?
Oh wait they do have curved screens but not the edge and not intentionally... just once you put them in your pocket for a bit.
[The Universe] has gone offline.
"With the data rates they can get with their W1 chip"
You've fallen for some marketing BS there I'm afraid. Their W1 chip is just bluetooth with custom pairing on top (like other manufacturers have done with NFC for years). They get no better data rate than any other bluetooth 4.2 chipsets on the market.
May Not Feature a Samsung Logo.
Then my next phone won't be a Samsung. Sure my Sol Republic Track Air's are Bluetooth but I would never wear them while exercising. So now that Apple and Samsung are out of the game, who is next in Line to accept my cash in about a year.
That's all you have to do, and these stupid lame assholes will get fired, and their replacements will know enough not to take away useful features.
If you buy one, you are part of the problem.
If you don't buy one, you are part of the solution.
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
People will but any turd marketing people put before them.
Why not just sell people a sheet of aluminum?
It's so thin. What a clean design....
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
I've read, but cannot confirm, that the problem is that compressed music on your cell phone is decompressed and then recompressed and decompressed again over Bluetooth.
The problem is that the compression algorithms are designed to emphasize and de-emphasize different music characteristics. So it's kind-of like squeezing your music through two incompatible audio filters, it just squeezes all the goodness from your music.
In fact, I don't know but I'm willing to bet the Bluetooth compression is optimized for speech, which would be crap for music.
It's not *just* a "headphone jack"
Here's what we're removing: a universally compatible **data port** that is also a backwards compatible audio only port that will connect to devices over 100 years old in some cases.
It works really well and allows device manufacturers like Square to make one smartphone add-on that works with all smartphones.
Thank you Dave Raggett
wrong!
it is a *data port* that is *also* a ridiculously backwards compatible audio port
look at Square credit card readers and dozens of other examples...one port, one devices, which works on all smartphones (and tablets!)
Apple did this because that's how they pump up their profits...they remove data ports, say "innovation!" and reap millions on dongles...it's awful but it's not completely unprecidented (Microsoft is worse but that's no comfort)...
Samsung is worse than Apple...they *copied* an anti-user design choice purely because another company did it
Apple designers are stupid for thinking this is a good idea, and Samsung is stupider for copying it mindlessly.
Thank you Dave Raggett
Usb-C headphones... kind of like the bad old days where I had to buy a special USB earphone (which broke pretty quick) to listen to MP3s on my Motorola RAZR flip phone (nice phone back in the previous decade though my Sprint version was plagued with shitty carrier-taylored software)
I am happy with phone size(phoblet, LG G3) What I want - better battery life. I don't actually mind if phone gets slightly thicker for battery life. I DON'T want phone that doesn't have 3.5 jack. In this economy I don't have MONEY for new 170$ headphones. I am happy with my relatively not shitty quality wired headphones from Senheiser. Got warranty for 3 years from them.(yep, paid for extra warranty, but in period of a year already changed it once) Thank you Samsung, but no, thank you.
USB-C is still proprietary port. Just because some specs are available docent mean its open implementation. This is change for no reason. Users have been wanting better batteries for phones for years now. Trend seems to be thinner and thinner phones that also means severe compromises on physical integrity of phone. Personally i would keep old and trusty connector, add couple mm to thickness of phone and use that space to add bigger battery for phone. Modern usage patterns really dont benefit to small batteries...
I bet they will work up the courage to remove the screen, like they did years back with the Ipod Nano, and all apps including games will be interfaced entirely with voice! Finaly, the blind can play Angry Birds! Or if they really want to be brave, remove all of the components and just sell a fancy lump of metal and plastic, and include hallucinigenic drugs so they will have a bunch of iDiots thinking they are talking into a real phone!
Corporations needed another way to overcharge customers and push DRM to please media moguls, ostensibly.
Headphones are the easiest target.
That's 3.5mm plus at most 0.5mm each side for the case. The Vivo X5 max is 4.75mm and that manages to squeeze a headphone jack in (I'll admit this is pretty impressive). Samsungs aren't even close yet. The A8 is 5.9mm. Fair way to go yet.
Cool, now it doubles as a lethal razor sharp throwing star! I always wanted to be a ninja!
Last time I rented a car, it had one of those that could do bluetooth or analogue. I spent a while battling with it to make it work over bluetooth, because I (probably like many people here) refused to admit defeat over something like that.
Then after an hour battling rather peculiar behaviour with the play/pause/skip buttons, I gave up and plugged in the analogue cable instead.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
I'm fine with digital audio output. But I need the ability to charge and listen simultaneously, and don't want to carry a hub around.
Give me two USB ports, and you've got yourself a sale.
Where Apple leads they follow, its a bit tragic really. You'd think a company as large as Samsung could come up with original ideas that DONT affect functionality. Yes they had edge, but thats just a gimmick rather than something genuinely useful.
Lets see how much the next Samsung Wireless Headphones cost. Which incidentaly will probably be incompatible with every other phone.
I'll just be happy if it doesn't catch alight
I've had an iPhone 3Gs, an iPhone 4, and currently a Samsung Galaxy S4 Active. I have never used the headphone port on any of them. Good riddance!
it's the codec being used over Bluetooth. If it's using the standard crap that's been available for like 10 years, it's bitcrushed over-compressed crap. Newer stuff uses different codecs that are far more efficient, but even the marketingspeak only claims "near CD-quality".
Bluetooth audio is shit if you are looking for fidelity. If you're just looking for a waveform to come out of speakers, it's adequate.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Long live LG !!
( Better phones anyways )
~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
Samsung had replacable batteries until recently. That ditches their one single selling point in my book.
Other than that, their case design is bad and looks cheap on top of that and their UI is bad.
Motorola, HTC, OnePlus and Huawei beat Samsung anytime in my book.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Apple can get away with this shit because they have the courage to kick users repeatedly in the nuts knowing full well they are protected by vendor lock-in with investments in the Apple ecosystem and the complete lack of any alternatives.
Samsung isn't the only Android vendor. The only thing they have of interest is their hardware. If the hardware doesn't suit the users the users will move. This is exactly what happened with Galaxy S6, the model which many skipped due to lack of an SD card, also something which they have aggressively backpedaled on with all their current offerings having an SD card again.
The battery will have blown the headphone jack a million miles away.
See? No headphone jack.
Told you so.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Apple are in fact the outfit that started this particular race to the bottom, so Yes, we do in fact blame Apple.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
Submit a story, then, and don't spam unrelated ones.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
But yet this s*** gets a whole article Ubuntu 16.04 Available in Latest Insider Update To Windows 10
Unless you're planning to release cheap Bluetooth earbuds (that don't make you look like an idiot) with a battery life that lasts for all day use - just ... don't. Wired headphones might get tangled up sometimes but they're convenient and don't require regular recharging, or replacing when the non-replaceable battery fails.
As to making them slimmer and more water resistant? Bullshit! With the snail-slow advance of battery technology, if phones get much slimmer they'll barely have room for a battery that lasts more than a few hours and they'll just be far easier to damage. Sockets can be used that prevent water ingress. Hell, they won't even need pressure gaskets for them - just use some of that glue that seems to appear in all the most unwanted places.
Here's an idea... produce a micro hub that allows a person to use USB headphones and something else simultaneously (charger, storage, whatever) and leave that as an option for a few years. If enough people have stopped using the headphone socket to make the change worthwhile, *then* consider removing the socket.
Another... stop making the phones thinner until you have batteries that won't go bang and a normal usage life of at least a whole day before needing a recharge. I say this as a Note 7 owner who thinks his phone is quite thin enough already and if it was any thinner would be impossible to hold *and* use due to the screen edges being constantly held in at least 3 places.
And while I'm on a roll here - you could easily have a removable battery in a phone with a high IP rating - a pressure gasket and a rigid slot cover with captive screws or a pin release would take care of that (like the SIM/SD slot only larger).
It's likely that the codec is old as fuck. It is meant for music somewhat, but it is old crap (made with the constraints of the medium and low power battery powered CPUs of the late 90s) and you would need your receiver hardware to have a newer Bluetooth version, plus a patented codec.
MP3 will become unpatented in April 2017 (!) for an exemple. Let's wait for AptX codec to become patent free, then for a car audio system with AptX be designed, for the car to be manufactured three or five years later with that old audio system, and for the car to be one year old when you rent it. Then you'll have good Bluetooth sound when you rent a car in 2033, if Bluetooth still is a thing.
I'm from the "I'm not buying one of these phones without the headphone jack" camp, but after reading an interview with some Apple engineers, I understood why they made their decision. Interesting read. They had determined that the overwhelming use of the i-Phone involved people taking selfies and other photos. Removing the headphone jack freed up space for some image stabilization hardware and other camera-related functions and allowed for a slight increase in battery size. Sounds like they know their customers and apparently, people like me, who use that headphone jack almost every day, are in the minority.
Hopefully Samsung has good design reasons and isn't just following Apple.
From TFA:
"That said, this is still speculation based on what’s currently happening in the mobile world, and Samsung has yet to say anything about its next-gen mobile devices."
I am all for the 3.5mm jack, and think they should keep it on their phone.
However at least USB-C is a standard. USB-C audio could replace the headphone jack on all manufacturers, so it's really not as bad as having only a non-standard (lightning) port.
https://www.amazon.ca/HomeSpot...
Samsung phones have wireless charging. You don't need a jack to charge them.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
The one other advantage that they (probably) have is that they'll have the AAC codec built into the headphones, so they don't have to re-encode using one of the other standards. I know that this is a specification feature of bluetooth, but I doubt many companies natively use AAC.
Whoa? Did it just get a whole lot quieter all of a sudden? Suddenly a whole lot of vociferous Apple-haters suddenly have feet in their mouths.
Not that I actually care, or anything. My purchasing decisions are based on the best compromise between what I need, what I want, and what's actually available.
But I can't help feel a bit of schadenfreude when reality dumps a bucket of ice water over zealots who raise the whole Apple vs Android thing to religious levels.
I remember when one airline got this idea of charging for check-in baggage, then immediately all airlines did the same.
mfwright@batnet.com
Analysts also thought pokemon go was going to make Nintendo a ton of cash until Nintendo pointed out it wasn't... most analysts figures are just made up guesses where you can list the steps of how you made the guess.
[The Universe] has gone offline.
Seriously Samsung, be different by being the same for a change! First they took away the removable battery, and then they brought it back, and then they took away the microSD card slot, and then brought it back. It's just like Microsoft, every 2nd product release is the good one.
It takes courage to remove and industry standard port just to replace it with a proprietary one.
for the same reasons I don't use wireless mice or keyboards.
If the battery is replaceable, then you have to keep batteries on hand for when they die. ( which is constantly and at the worst possible moment )
If not replaceable, you get to keep buying new mice and keyboards every few years when the batteries ultimately give out.
In your phone, the battery is likely going to be the first component that dies taking the whole device with it. Being non-user replaceable, this forces you to upgrade to the next phone. It's nothing more than planned obsolesence. Same thing for the wireless, battery powered headphones you'll be using soon.
I have to replace my headphones soon not because the battery died, but because I've worn out the ear cushions.
Considering I've used them for at least a DECADE, I'm pretty sure I've got my moneys worth from them.
Then again, I may just try to replace the ear cushions myself and keep on using them until they truly die.
New hotness is not always better.
I love my stylus. I use it to take notes and make quick sketches/drawings for work all the time. Extremely handy - I don't have to carry a laptop, or a tablet, or a paper notebook - just my Note 5.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
With Bluetooth headsets so cheap now, I no longer see the headphone jack as really necessary. You can get a decent headset for as little as 20 bucks from a store like Big Lots.
In both my car and on my boat my radios have an aux port and neither have bluetooth. This would ensure that I won't buy a Samsung phone. I just wish LG's were a little better.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
Hurrah I just need to carry a dock around with me. Did you get that from Apples marketing department?
That said, this is still speculation based on what’s currently happening in the mobile world, and Samsung has yet to say anything about its next-gen mobile devices.
This article is pure speculation. The only "news" is the audio over USB-C standard.
How did this get out of the firehose? It looks more like a Usenet article than a news article.
You beat me to it - looks like courage is contagious
.... for the built-in FM radio, I won't need wired headphones.
Oh wait, they need batteries? Forget it.