Samsung Caves In: Galaxy S10 Could Be Last To Feature Headphone Jack

Samsung just announced the Galaxy A8s and it’s the very first smartphone from the company to come with an Infinity-O display. The new display isn’t the only thing remarkable about the Galaxy A8s since it’s also the first Samsung smartphone to ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack.

The trend of removing headphone jacks began in 2016 when Apple introduced the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Back then, the Cupertino giant caught a lot of flak for ditching what many considered an essential aspect of the smartphone. Nonetheless, Apple hasn’t backed down from its controversial decision seeing that its trio of new iPhones still don’t have the headphone jack.

The removal of the headphone jack on the Galaxy A8s should come as a shock to a lot of Samsung fans since the South Korean phone maker has been adamant on keeping the feature on its phones. More importantly, Samsung has been mocking Apple for removing the headphone jack for years. It even released video ad that’s clearly taking a swipe at the iPhone X.

Going back to 2016, Samsung also poked fun at Apple during its Galaxy Note 7 launch event, as pointed out by MacRumors. When Samsung executive Justin Denison presented the Note 7, he made sure that everyone would be aware that the handset still featured the headphone jack. Google also mocked Apple for removing the headphone jack in 2016, but it launched the Pixel 2 the following year and that one didn’t have the jack either.

The South Korean phone maker didn’t provide an explanation on why it decided to remove the legacy audio port, but a good guess could be to maximize screen real estate while integrating the front-facing camera with the circular cutout in the Infinity-O display. It's also possible that Samsung is using the Galaxy A8s, which is a mid-range phone, as a test to see how customers will respond to the removal of the port, as per BGR.

Samsung’s decision to remove the headphone jack on the Galaxy A8s begs the question: Is the company planning to remove the feature from all of its future smartphones? There are already some concerns that the Samsung Galaxy S10, which will arrive early next year, might not feature a headphone jack.

Twitter leaker Ice Universe (@UniverseIce) recently published a short video showing an alleged protective case for the Galaxy S10. The protective case comes with a circular cutout at the bottom part alongside cutouts for the speaker and the USB Type-C port. The circular cutout is believed to be for the headphone jack.

Although it looks like the Galaxy S10 will be safe from the headphone jack purge, Samsung could easily remove it from its other 2019 flagships. In October, it was reported that Samsung might remove the headphone jack from the Galaxy Note 10, which is expected to be released in fall 2019. Sources also indicated that Samsung wants to go all-in on using USB Type-C and the company will begin directing its users to start using wireless headphones. After that, the Samsung Galaxy S11 will also ditch the headphone jack in 2020.

The Samsung Galaxy A8s, which is now available to pre-order for customers in China, will arrive with a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter in the box.