Samsung Galaxy S9 Leak: Will Samsung Keep The Headphone Jack?

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The Samsung Galaxy S8 came out about six months ago, and leaks about the upcoming Galaxy S9 have already emerged and are flooding the web. People are speculating about what features Samsung’s upcoming flagship smartphone will have. Among the suggestions are a dual-lens camera system, foldable screen, new recognition system for unlocking it, and much more.

Still, we can’t help but wonder what the fate of the 3.5mm stereo headphone jack on the Galaxy S9 will be. Will the company ditch the headphone jack like many of its competitors did, or is it going to keep it? A recent Samsung Galaxy S9 leak indicates that the company is struggling with whether or not to keep the 3.5mm headphone jack on its upcoming smartphone.

While some leaks suggest that the company will get rid of this bulky technology for its new flagship, other leaks suggest that the headphone jack is too loved by Samsung device users to be dumped. It wouldn’t be the first time that Samsung is experimenting with multiple designs for the same device. The company often experiments with different specifications until it hits the sweet spot, finalizing the design based on user feedback.

If Samsung decides to ditch the headphone jack for its upcoming smartphones, it would only mean that it decided to follow the example of other major phone makers. As you may remember, when Google announced the original Pixel phones in 2016, it made a lot of noise about retaining the 3.5mm headphone jack, especially because Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus came without a headphone jack. Nevertheless, Google ended up dumping it for the Pixel 2 series this year.

Phone makers that have decided to let go of the 3.5mm headphone jack decided to focus on the use of Bluetooth headphones, stereo speakers, and everything related to audio that supports Bluetooth technology. Many are also using a USB-C port to replace the 3.5mm stereo jack. However, Bluetooth headsets have features such as active noise cancellation that demand a lot of charging, while the other way of listening to music looks quite large and unattractive.

Still, not every phone maker decided to let go of the headphone jack. For example, OnePlus founder Pete Lau wrote a blog post explaining that about 70% of OnePlus users buy their smartphones for exceptional sound quality. Eighty percent of those users listen to music via headphones that use the headphone jack. Although letting go of the headphone jack would mean that the OnePlus smartphones would be thinner in the future, Lau said that the upcoming OnePlus 5T and future smartphones will retain the headphone jack.

Still, it is unclear whether Samsung will opt to keep or remove the headphone jack, according to this latest Samsung Galaxy S9 leak. The smartphone is likely going to keep the minimal bezels and slim design with smooth exteriors. That being said, a headphone jack would look strange on such a thin smartphone. It is quite a challenging decision for Samsung to make. Removing the headphone jack will allow the smartphone to look sleek and slim and allow Samsung to continue pushing the limits in the smartphone industry. However, keeping it will satisfy many people who use and enjoy Samsung’s smartphones.

This is not the first leak from the Chinese leaker, Ice Universe. Last week, he tweeted that “The back of the Galaxy S9 will change a lot.” That can indicate that Samsung will change the position of a fingerprint scanner. Ice Universe, also said almost one month ago, that the upcoming Galaxy S9 will sport a 3D sensor front camera. This is not where the camera leaks end.

Tech news writer and leaker Juan Pablo shared an image on Twitter, suggesting that the Galaxy S9 will sport a dual-lens camera. This is likely to happen, given that Samsung has already introduced a dual-lens camera for its Galaxy Note 8 flagship.

Snapdragon 845 Samsung Galaxy S9 Exclusive?

Russian blogger, Eldar Murtazin tweeted about one month ago that Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ will sport Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 that is to launch next year. If this leak is true, then the competition that plans to reveal their new smartphones will have a problem keeping up with Samsung Galaxy S9. Murtazin also suggested that the smartphone will be released one month earlier. However, he didn’t specify what that means.

As you may know, Galaxy S8 was unveiled later than usual, in late March. However, Galaxy S8’s predecessors were revealed at the press conferences at the Mobile World Congress in the previous years. The MWC is usually held in late February or early March. Based on these leaks, it is expected that the Galaxy S9 and S9+ will be announced at the MWC next year, or perhaps, even earlier than that.

Personally, I’d like the headphone jack to stay because wired headphones are more affordable and won’t run out of juice all of the sudden. How about you? What do you think about this Samsung Galaxy S9 leak? Please leave a comment and let us know.

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