Samsung
This story is part of CESHere, our editors bring you the latest news and the hottest gadgets of the fully virtual CES 2021.
Samsung Galaxy S21, the follow-up to last year Galaxy S20, arrived earlier than the company's flagship phones usually. On Thursday, the last day of CESSamsung hosted a virtual unpacked event (Everything is announced here), which featured the latest Galaxy S smartphone, about a month before last year's announcement. Rumors circulated for months about the new device, fueled by Leakages galore. Would the Galaxy S21 come with a stylus? Would it have a sleek new design? Would it replace the Galaxy Note line?
And the everlasting question: would it include a headphone jack? We now know the answer: No, the Galaxy S21 does not have a headphone jack.
We guessed this before the Unpacked event due to leaks. But if we've learned something since then Samsung has released its last flagship Galaxy S (on the same day the The coronavirus disease was officially christened COVID-19) everything is possible.
Leaked teasers for the Galaxy S21 showed a similar design to the S20 range with an in-screen fingerprint reader and a centered pinhole camera. But there is one thing we did not see in it leaked images is a headphone jack that told us it probably wasn't in the cards for the S21. More recent leaks show Samsung's specs No headphone jack was mentioned on any of the three models of the S21.
There would have was something unfounded assumption about the reintroduction of the headphone jack by Samsung as some kind of experiment in 2021. The thought here is that a headphone jack might be enough to differentiate the Galaxy flagship from other premium phones like Apple and Google, which have also forced users to switch to either wireless earphone or dongle lifestyle in recent years.
This was an interesting theory, especially if you remember Samsung's initial reaction to Apple's initial removal of the headphone jack from its 2016 handset, the iPhone 7. Apple's move became the punchline at the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 launch event that same year. And Ads for the Galaxy Note 8 went a step furtherand ridicules the unwieldy dongle setup of the iPhone. But the tide changed and when Samsung introduced its Galaxy Note 10 In 2019, it also left the headphone jack on the cutting room floor. Last year's Galaxy S20 also lacked a headphone jack, the first of the Galaxy S line that does nothing.
Continue reading: The iPhone 12's Lightning port is possibly the next thing to kill Apple
History repeated itself with the Galaxy S21. When Apple decided not to include a charger or headphones in the packaging of its iPhone 12, Samsung also mocked that decision. But now Samsung followed suit and took them down too. A leak from tipster Evan Blass the day before Galaxy Unpacked also showed one What's in the box? Page from Samsung Only a USB-C cable (without charging stone), an ejector pin and a quick guide were listed, with environmental reasons being mentioned. The lack of headphones in the box was further evidence against the inclusion of an appropriate headphone jack.
Continue reading: Without a charger or expandable storage, the Galaxy S21 looks more like the iPhone 12 in many ways
One reason phone manufacturers like to lose the jack: thinner frames. Thin is in and a smaller footprint allows for a bigger screen without adding to the overall size of the phone.
Samsung
Another, perhaps more cynical, reason: the company's own wireless earbuds should sell better if the phones don't have a wired headphone jack. Apple's AirPods sold like gangbusters, probably not least thanks to the cut-out socket of the iPhone. And Samsung has its own line of wireless earbuds that Galaxy Buds, Galaxy Buds Plus and Galaxy Buds Liveand now there are Galaxy Buds Pro, also. So it makes a lot of sense for Samsung to stick with its decision to say goodbye to the headphone jack.