Samsung
This story is part of CES, where our editors will present the latest news and the hottest gadgets from CES 2021 entirely virtual.
Samsung Galaxy S21, the follow-up from last year Galaxy S20, arrived before the company’s main phones. On Thursday, the last day of CES, Samsung organized an Unpacked virtual event (here’s everything announced), on which the latest Galaxy S smartphone was launched, about a month before last year’s announcement. Rumors were circulating for months on the new device, powered by leaks in abundance. The Galaxy S21 would come with a stylus
? Would it have a new stylish design? It would replace the Galaxy Note line?
And the perennial question: would it include a headset? Now we know the answer: No, the Galaxy S21 has no headphone jack.
See this:
Our first look at the new Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus
8:10 am
We guessed this before the Unpacked event, based on leaks. But if we’ve learned anything since then Samsung launched its latest flagship Galaxy S (on the same day the coronavirus disease was officially named COVID-19), is that anything is possible.
Leaked Galaxy S21 teasers showed a design similar to the S20 line, with a fingerprint reader on the screen and a front camera with a centralized hole punch. But one thing that we didn’t see in leaked images it’s a headset, which told us it probably wasn’t on the S21 cards. Latest leaks showing Samsung specs for all three models the S21 also did not include the mention of a headset.
Over there had it was some unsubstantiated conjecture about Samsung reintroducing the headphone connector as a kind of experiment in 2021. The thought here is that a headset may be enough to differentiate the Galaxy flagship from other premium phones, like Apple and Google, which have also forced users to convert to the wireless headphones or dongle lifestyle in recent years.
It was an interesting theory, especially if you remember Samsung’s initial reaction to the original removal of the headset from its 2016 iPhone 7 device. Apple’s move became a highlight at the launch event for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 that same year. AND the Galaxy Note 8 ads went a step further, mocking the heavy configuration of the iPhone dongle. But the tide changed and, when Samsung launched its Galaxy Note 10 in 2019, he also left the headphone jack in the editing room. Last year’s Galaxy S20 also lacked a headphone jack, the first in the Galaxy S line to eliminate it.
Read More: The Lightning port of the iPhone 12 may be the next thing that Apple kills
History repeated itself with the Galaxy S21. When Apple decided not to include a charger or headphones in the iPhone 12 case, Samsung also scoffed at that decision. But now Samsung did the same and also eliminated them. A leak from informant Evan Blass the day before the Galaxy Unpacked also showed a Samsung’s “What’s in the Box” page which listed only a USB-C cable (no charging block), ejection pin and Quick Start Guide, citing environmental reasons. And not including headphones in the box was further evidence against including a corresponding headphone connector.
One of the reasons phone manufacturers love to lose their plug: finer bezels. Thin is inside, and a smaller bezel dimension allows for a larger screen without increasing the overall size of the phone.
Samsung
Another reason, perhaps more cynical: the company’s own wireless headsets should sell better when their phones didn’t have a wired headset jack. Apple AirPods sold like gangbusters, probably thanks in large part to the iPhone’s stripped connector. And Samsung has its own line of wireless headsets, the Galaxy Buds, Galaxy Buds Plus and Galaxy Buds Live, and now, there are the Galaxy Buds Pro, too. So it makes a lot of sense for Samsung to follow its decision to say goodbye to the headphone jack.