When the Galaxy Note 10 was announced on Wednesday, Samsung talked about its new design, updated cameras, and even introduced a second, larger model called Note 10 Plus. But one thing that was never mentioned (except the Galaxy Fold) was that the Galaxy Note no longer had a headphone jack. The slide shown on the cavernous screen of the Unpacked event stage shows the bottom of the Note 10 with a USB-C port, S-Pen, and speaker grille. There were no signs of a headphone jack.
If Galaxy Note 9 were launched without it a year ago, that would be great news. But in 2019, when Apple does not sell any new iPhone models with a headphone jack, and companies such as Google, OnePlus and Huawei took them off their flagships, it is not surprising that the Galaxy Note 10 does not. More importantly, this move by Samsung signals the end of the phone's headphone jack, as we know it. I wish that in its place there was the same universal standard, which would also be affordable.
We still cannot use one for a 3.5 mm audio jack, because brands such as LG and Motorola are always on the new phones. In 2016, Motorola removed the headphone jack from its Moto Z phone to bring it back to this year's Moto Z4. But removing Samsung from Note 10 is like turning the first page of the last chapter of a book. Now, inevitably, most phones will never have them again.
The headphone jack has been one of the longest-running and widely used standards in consumer products and gadgets. You can connect the same pair of headphones to the Galaxy Note 9 as to the iPhone 6S, Nintendo Switch, Mac or laptop, as well as literally hundreds of other devices. Decades before the advent of the iPod and the advent of smartphones, the only keys needed for headphones were either a quarter-inch adapter for high-end stereo systems or a 2.5-millimeter adapter found in small electronics such as a pocket-sized transistor radio.
Keys and adapters are now commonplace, especially if you are hoping to use the same pair of headphones on multiple devices. And, no matter how annoying the keys are, the inconvenience of their use is hidden by the fact that the company does not have a new single universal standard that would replace the headphone jack.
Apple's wired headphones have a lightning connector, while almost all Android phones use a USB-C headphone or USB-C dongle. But USB-C is not the same for all phones, because at some point the audio needs to be converted from a digital signal to an analog one. Sometimes this happens on a smartphone, such as the LG G8 and V50, which both have a built-in 32-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC). In other cases, this can happen in the vein itself. To complicate the situation, some phone manufacturers have introduced proprietary features in their USB-C port. For example, the noise reduction features on HTC mean that the USB port is only compatible with the HTC key. And I won’t even go into active or passive adapters.
Then there is Bluetooth. Everything, even my toothbrush, has Bluetooth. So it is definitely universal. And that could be an excellent alternative to the 3.5mm jack. He definitely gets bonus points for eliminating cables. But the problem with Bluetooth headphones is not necessarily related to the connection or sound quality, which seems to improve every year. This is the price.
Apple AirPods costs $ 199 - one case costs $ 79. Google has Pixel Buds, but they cost $ 159. And Samsung has its Galaxy Buds, which cost $ 130. But where is the “cheap” pair of Bluetooth headphones that Apple or Samsung include?
At Walgreens, you can buy sports headphones with a Bluetooth neck for $ 16. I can’t imagine that they sound as good as AirPods, which have decent sound quality but not very good. You can literally buy a dozen pairs of inexpensive Walgreens Bluetooth headphones for the price of one pair of AirPods. Do AirPods sound 12 times better? Probably no.
But let's get back to the Samsung Unpacked event on Wednesday. The company said the decision not to include a headphone jack was to free up physical space inside the phone for more battery power. Samsung also said that 70% of Galaxy S and Note owners did not use a headphone jack, as more people are switching to wireless headphones. But let's take a little time and pay tribute to the fact that Samsung finally abandoned the headphones. Since its debut in the 1950s, this small piece of technology has gained pretty good experience.
If Galaxy Note 9 were launched without it a year ago, that would be great news. But in 2019, when Apple does not sell any new iPhone models with a headphone jack, and companies such as Google, OnePlus and Huawei took them off their flagships, it is not surprising that the Galaxy Note 10 does not. More importantly, this move by Samsung signals the end of the phone's headphone jack, as we know it. I wish that in its place there was the same universal standard, which would also be affordable.
We still cannot use one for a 3.5 mm audio jack, because brands such as LG and Motorola are always on the new phones. In 2016, Motorola removed the headphone jack from its Moto Z phone to bring it back to this year's Moto Z4. But removing Samsung from Note 10 is like turning the first page of the last chapter of a book. Now, inevitably, most phones will never have them again.
The headphone jack has been one of the longest-running and widely used standards in consumer products and gadgets. You can connect the same pair of headphones to the Galaxy Note 9 as to the iPhone 6S, Nintendo Switch, Mac or laptop, as well as literally hundreds of other devices. Decades before the advent of the iPod and the advent of smartphones, the only keys needed for headphones were either a quarter-inch adapter for high-end stereo systems or a 2.5-millimeter adapter found in small electronics such as a pocket-sized transistor radio.
Keys and adapters are now commonplace, especially if you are hoping to use the same pair of headphones on multiple devices. And, no matter how annoying the keys are, the inconvenience of their use is hidden by the fact that the company does not have a new single universal standard that would replace the headphone jack.
Apple's wired headphones have a lightning connector, while almost all Android phones use a USB-C headphone or USB-C dongle. But USB-C is not the same for all phones, because at some point the audio needs to be converted from a digital signal to an analog one. Sometimes this happens on a smartphone, such as the LG G8 and V50, which both have a built-in 32-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC). In other cases, this can happen in the vein itself. To complicate the situation, some phone manufacturers have introduced proprietary features in their USB-C port. For example, the noise reduction features on HTC mean that the USB port is only compatible with the HTC key. And I won’t even go into active or passive adapters.
Then there is Bluetooth. Everything, even my toothbrush, has Bluetooth. So it is definitely universal. And that could be an excellent alternative to the 3.5mm jack. He definitely gets bonus points for eliminating cables. But the problem with Bluetooth headphones is not necessarily related to the connection or sound quality, which seems to improve every year. This is the price.
Apple AirPods costs $ 199 - one case costs $ 79. Google has Pixel Buds, but they cost $ 159. And Samsung has its Galaxy Buds, which cost $ 130. But where is the “cheap” pair of Bluetooth headphones that Apple or Samsung include?
At Walgreens, you can buy sports headphones with a Bluetooth neck for $ 16. I can’t imagine that they sound as good as AirPods, which have decent sound quality but not very good. You can literally buy a dozen pairs of inexpensive Walgreens Bluetooth headphones for the price of one pair of AirPods. Do AirPods sound 12 times better? Probably no.
But let's get back to the Samsung Unpacked event on Wednesday. The company said the decision not to include a headphone jack was to free up physical space inside the phone for more battery power. Samsung also said that 70% of Galaxy S and Note owners did not use a headphone jack, as more people are switching to wireless headphones. But let's take a little time and pay tribute to the fact that Samsung finally abandoned the headphones. Since its debut in the 1950s, this small piece of technology has gained pretty good experience.