Last year was apparently the death knell for the 3.5mm headphone jack. Even before Apple could get around to axing the port, Motorola launched flagships without it on board, and ever since it's been a guessing game whether or not a company will have it or not. Some have kept it around, like Google and its Pixel lineup of phones, which is certainly good news for anyone who's not ready to give up the headphone jack.
A lot of folks call ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack a user-hostile move, and I tend to agree with them, because I understand the sentiment. The jack has been around for so long, and it's compatible with so many things -- not just headphones. When Apple dropped it, a friend of mine pointed out that he wouldn't be able to plug his phone into the auxiliary port in his car.
It's safe to say that he wasn't very happy.
What's interesting about it, is that he's not an Apple fan, and he didn't even intend on buying an iPhone 7. He was waiting to see what Google was going to unveil with the Pixel and Pixel XL, and he was genuinely concerned that if Apple did get rid of the headphone jack, even more companies --including Google-- would be getting rid of it, too.
Apple wasn't the first to do it, but Apple picked up the most flak for doing it anyway. But that's understandable, too, because other companies do have a tendency to follow Apple in these situations. In fact, many could argue that Motorola only got rid of the 3.5mm headphone jack because Apple was going to. (While it was rumors for the rest of us, there's a good chance Motorola knew it was happening for sure.)
But how loudly did that death knell ring? It's 2017, and we've already seen HTC unveil its newest flagship, the U Ultra. And it doesn't have a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Almost immediately after the iPhone 7 was unveiled, rumors cropped up that Samsung's Galaxy S8, planned to launch in early 2017, would drop the headphone jack, too. While we don't have long to wait to find out, I can't help but wonder what kind of impact that decision will have on a potential buyer.
So, I want to ask: If the Samsung Galaxy S8 doesn't have a 3.5mm headphone jack on board, will you buy it? Or will you go with another handset that does still have the port? Let me know!
