After Apple ditched the 3.5mm headphone jack for its flagship iPhone 7 last year, it was widely thought that Samsung, the South Korean-based company, would follow the example of Apple and let go of the headphone jack with the then-arriving Galaxy S8. However, that didn’t turn out to be true. What shipped together with the Galaxy S8 was a pair of Samsung earbuds with AKG branding, and the headphones were wired, which meant that Samsung hadn´t removed the headphone jack from its 2017 flagship. Next year’s device will possibly launch with Galaxy S9 AKG earbuds. However, it is rumored that those headphones will feature Bluetooth technology.
The rumor originates from the Chinese leaker, Ice Universe, which posted on the Chinese social media website Weibo. He suggests that the Galaxy S9 will be shipped out with another pair of AKG headphones out of the box. Still, instead of the wired, 3.5mm version, the leaker suggested that the headphones will be equipped with Bluetooth, unlike the predecessor, Galaxy S8.
That led to confusion, as the same leaker tweeted that he’s “100% sure” that the upcoming Galaxy S9 will retain the famous 3.5mm headphone jack. Based on the leaks, it might be possible that the Korean tech giant will include headphone jacks in the upcoming Galaxy S9 and S9+, while the AKG headphones will sport a wired and wireless headphone version.
If this is true, that would mean that Samsung decided not to follow the uptrend started by Apple, and then continued by other great companies such as Motorola, Google, HTC and others. However, while Ice Universe has a record of accurate information, and many of his predictions have come true, we might want to take this information with a grain of salt until Samsung officially unveils the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+.
Galaxy S9 AKG earbuds: Consumers prefer headphone jack
Ever since Apple removed the headphone jack from the iPhone 7 and passed on this tradition to iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X, the whole topic became controversial. There are certainly a lot of Bluetooth headphones available on the market, and pretty much every modern phone now supports Bluetooth technology. Many users would like to be given the choice of choosing the way they want to listen to music whether it be a Bluetooth or wired headphone. With that in mind, perhaps users are not ready to embrace the change and buy wireless headphones which are considerably more expensive. More importantly, wireless headphones don’t offer as much quality as some wired models. They require charging, although battery life on many of them has been greatly enhanced, and, Bluetooth is not perfect, meaning there will always be bugs and unexpected connection interruptions. These are just some of the reasons why people opt for wired headphone models.
Another leak about Galaxy S9 from Ice Universe suggests that a smaller version of the Galaxy flagship smartphone is in development. The device will likely target the market that is looking for a compact, but equally powerful smartphone, with a less hefty price-tag. Apple already has its compact iPhone called iPhone SE, which is also cheaper than current flagship iPhones.
Do you think Galaxy S9 AKG earbuds will sport a 3.5mm plug, or is Samsung joining other brands in removing the 3.5mm jack?
