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Sources have told Android Police that Samsung is removing the headphone jack from the next iteration of its Galaxy Note. They say it won’t even have a physical power button or volume rockers. Capacitive or pressure-sensitive areas will replace them.
“Android Police has learned that Samsung will likely begin its wind-down of the headphone jack - and even physical keys for functions like volume and power - with the Galaxy Note 10. The Note 10 will have no 3.5mm connector, and exterior buttons (power, volume, Bixby) will be replaced by capacitive or pressure-sensitive areas, likely highlighted by some kind of raised 'bump' and/or texture along the edge (i.e., a faux button). We don't know if it's Samsung's intent to carry over both of these changes to the Galaxy S11 in 2020.”
The Galaxy Note is one of the last (if not only) flagship phones to still have a 3.5mm jack, which makes this bad news for power users who aren’t sold on Bluetooth’s audio quality or prefer the ubiquity of cheaper wired headphones. But in Samsung’s defense, there are some
“Samsung is likely to argue that removing the jack creates precious volume for more battery capacity, though there are also benefits in terms of reducing design complexity and increasing ingress resistance from dust and liquids (Samsung's latest offering, the Galaxy S10, still gets an IP68 rating even with a headphone jack). The same argument likely applies to the buttons, which are another potential failure point that could theoretically be eliminated. One of the lesser-known upsides to removing those keys is removing their cutouts, which tend to be the weakest points in the unibody aluminum frames most premium phones are constructed from. This could possibly allow Samsung to create a thinner, lighter phone design without compromising on structural rigidity.”
Designer Ben Geskin has posted a concept of what the Note 10 will supposedly look like.
“Android Police has learned that Samsung will likely begin its wind-down of the headphone jack - and even physical keys for functions like volume and power - with the Galaxy Note 10. The Note 10 will have no 3.5mm connector, and exterior buttons (power, volume, Bixby) will be replaced by capacitive or pressure-sensitive areas, likely highlighted by some kind of raised 'bump' and/or texture along the edge (i.e., a faux button). We don't know if it's Samsung's intent to carry over both of these changes to the Galaxy S11 in 2020.”
The Galaxy Note is one of the last (if not only) flagship phones to still have a 3.5mm jack, which makes this bad news for power users who aren’t sold on Bluetooth’s audio quality or prefer the ubiquity of cheaper wired headphones. But in Samsung’s defense, there are some
“Samsung is likely to argue that removing the jack creates precious volume for more battery capacity, though there are also benefits in terms of reducing design complexity and increasing ingress resistance from dust and liquids (Samsung's latest offering, the Galaxy S10, still gets an IP68 rating even with a headphone jack). The same argument likely applies to the buttons, which are another potential failure point that could theoretically be eliminated. One of the lesser-known upsides to removing those keys is removing their cutouts, which tend to be the weakest points in the unibody aluminum frames most premium phones are constructed from. This could possibly allow Samsung to create a thinner, lighter phone design without compromising on structural rigidity.”
Designer Ben Geskin has posted a concept of what the Note 10 will supposedly look like.