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Samsung's Upcoming Galaxy S8 Flagship Smartphone Won't Have a Headphone Jack: Report (sammobile.com)

Posted by msmash on from the bid-adieu dept.

Samsung is planning to ditch headphone jack in its next flagship smartphone, called the Samsung Galaxy S8, reports SamMobile, a Samsung-focused blog that has a pretty good track record with these things. From the report: Removing the 3.5mm headphone jack enables Samsung to make the Galaxy S8 thinner while also freeing up more space inside for a bigger battery. Samsung may also integrate stereo speakers which some believe will be made in collaboration with Harman, a company that Samsung is acquiring for $8 billion.

15 of 360 comments (clear)

  1. Sweet by bartosek · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Guess who's not buying an S8?

    1. Re:Sweet by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Seems cyclical, the leading manufacturer eventually gets complacent and arrogant and starts to think they know what the consumer wants more than the consumer does.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    2. Re:Sweet by Holi · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's rare that I wish I had mod points for an AC, but you sir deserve them all.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    3. Re:Sweet by clone73 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The burn victims?

      Heh... Samsung is never going to live down the S7 is it?

      Especially if people keep confusing the Note 7 with the S7.

    4. Re:Sweet by suso · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Slashdot, where a comment about someone not having enough mod points is marked up as "Informative". Now watch this one get modded up as insightful. Maybe later it will get meta moderated.

  2. Thinner by 110010001000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Do people really want thinner phones? They all seem to put big old protective cases around them anyway.

    1. Re:Thinner by caseih · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I always put cases on my phones precisely so they will be a little thicker and easier to hold. I find the thinner the phone the more awkward it is to use. Even to hold it in front of me an interact with it.

    2. Re:Thinner by alvinrod · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't use a case on my phone, but if I did it would probably be to make it slightly thicker. I see a lot of people with cracked screens, but I buy my phones unlocked so I pay the full price which makes me a bit more careful with them so I'm not too worried about any drops.

      However, it's easily possible to make a thin phone thicker with a case. However a thick phone cannot be made any thinner in such a fashion and I do remember back to when phones were much thicker and the only reason they weren't a burden was because they didn't have 5" screens. Try having a phone as thick as a Nokia 3310 be any wider or taller than it was and still be pocket friendly.

      I think the real reason the phones keep getting thinner is that the components keep getting smaller and while a larger battery could be added, this would add to the weight of the device, which is what I think manufacturers really want to minimize.

  3. Ever thinner by TroII · · Score: 4, Insightful

    enables Samsung to make the Galaxy S8 thinner

    What is this fucking obsession with making phones thinner? I want a phone that's sturdy. I wouldn't mind my phone being two or even three times as thick, if it could have double or triple the battery life. What I don't want is a fragile, dainty phone that's going to snap in half if I hold it the wrong way. Who is asking for thinner phones?

    --
    "If there was a gay Afro-Puertorican Linux distribution, I'd give it a try" ~lucm
  4. Oh FFS by TheBilgeRat · · Score: 4, Insightful

    My daughter purchased the new jackless iPhone. The misplacing of the adapter for a non-bluetooth pair of headphones has been occurring on a semi-regular basis. Its a terrible design decision. Not everyone wants to also charge their bluetooth headphones. Now, if they introduce a line of bt headphones that cost 20 bucks and don't suck we might be getting somewhere. Or at least include them instead of making it an upcharge.

  5. Sigh by ledow · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We're so innovative, we even copy our own competitors when they make a decision that's been widely ridiculed!

    FFS, Samsung, you used to think for yourself AND make better decisions.

  6. Copying Apple by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Except that in this case Samsung has a long history of copying Apple and apparently it seems to extend to even copying their stupid ideas. However it would be ironic if they put a USB-C on the phone and used that for the earphones too because then their phone would be more compatible with the new MacBooks than the iPhone.

  7. No thanks. by JustNiz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Time to identify the best phone with 3.5mm jack, SD slot and removeable battery and buy it.

  8. KNOCK IT OFF WITH "THINNER"!!! by Verdatum · · Score: 4, Insightful
    WHAT, DID THE PHONE INDUSTRY GET CURSED BY A SHITTY STEPHEN KING NOVEL? I haven't wished my phone was thinner for a decade now. I haven't given a pair of fetted dingos kidneys how thin my phone is and I've never met anyone who has. The only allowable excuse for this is if the phone is able to come with a free Bluetooth reciever while selling them together at a lower full-retail-price than the S7.

    I own an S5, and was considering getting an S8, but unless someone can give me a better reason than "thinner, more battery room!" then I'll gladly wait for someone else to come along and eat Samsung's lunch.

  9. Re:Bluetooth Headphones by Obfuscant · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You can always use Bluetooth headphones.

    You can try.

    1. The battery goes dead after a short period of time, so then you can't.

    2. You are in a WiFi-rich environment, which means you get about a 1' range for your bluetooth. I've actually been in places where even with the phone in my shirt pocket, if I turned my head left or right the signal was lost.

    3. You have a smart watch which is linked via bluetooth, in which case you can't link a headphone at the same time (I've tried.)

    4. You want to feed the audio to some wired system. (Yes there are bluetooth to jack adapters, but the one I have never seems to have a charged battery, so refer to #1).