Samsung Galaxy S8 news: smartphone may also come without the controversial audio jack
The battle for the 3.5 mm audio jack to be retained in brand-new smartphones continues this year with recent rumors about Samsung also looking to ax the port from its upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 device.
After losing the battle with Apple's iPhone 7, the controversial jack is once again the topic of conversations by tech buffs because of a tip from Sam Mobile suggesting the move. The report details that the South Korean company is also trying to tap into wireless in-ear headphones to be released alongside the aforementioned smartphone model.
It can be remembered that the removal of the audio port from the latest iPhone has been the cause of massive commotion among buyers even before the design was fleshed out. The move has always been deemed unreasonable especially when there seems to be no significant reason for taking away the port from the phone — at least for consumers. Instead, users would have to spend extra money to get separate, not to mention pricier, special earphones that will adapt to the new schematics.
Similar to what Samsung is rumored to do this year, the Cupertino-based company also introduced wireless earphones in the Apple AirPods alongside the iPhone 7 as an accessory to wireless audio listening. The design of the AirPods, albeit cool looking, also seems impractical especially in terms of keeping two loose earbuds when not in use. Furthermore, a delay in the originally tipped rollout date in October was later moved to December due to the accessories' limited availability.
Another option for users is to use USB-C headphones which can go in the same dock that is used for charging. The only caveat with this one, except obviously the additional cost, is that the phone cannot charge and play music through earphones at the same time.
Other notable rumors about the Samsung Galaxy S8 include the introduction of a stylus, an 8GB random-access memory (RAM) as well as two variants of the smartphone. A release date is yet to be confirmed but word has it that it is expected to be launched in April via a Samsung-hosted event.