OnePlus is ditching the audio jack. In an interview with TechRadar, CEO Carl Pei confirmed that the upcoming flagship killer will remove the arguably elemental feature to free up space for new technology.
Why did OnePlus remove audio jack?
“It was a very controversial decision,” said Pei. “We’re not doing it for the sake of doing it and because everyone else is.”
“We believe now is the right time, as it’ll benefit the majority of our users while keeping the downside low. We knew this was an option for a very long time, we were just waiting for the right time.”
Also Read: OnePlus 6T to come with an in-display fingerprint sensor
The OnePlus 6T will instead have a bigger battery and a fingerprint sensor as was confirmed earlier. A dongle will be bundled in the box and new pair of Bullets with Type-C connector are on their way too. Pei also cited research stats claiming 59 percent of community members now have wireless headphones.
OnePlus just announced the new USB-C Bullet headphones. Time to say good-bye to the headset jack on the OP6T. “59% of users have switched to wireless headphones…” Built-in DAC from Cirrus Logic, same price as Bullets V2 (19,95 Euro). pic.twitter.com/EhOuHhb0wm
— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) September 13, 2018
The reasons OnePlus gives to justify the move are the same ones that Apple gave a couple of years back while eliminating the jack on iPhones.
Of course, this is going to make OnePlus fans extremely angry. There are phones out there that offer in-display fingerprint sensor and reasonable battery backup without compromising on the Audio Jack. Maybe headphone jack will eventually be replaced by Type-C connector headphones, but to convince users that a feature that was marketed as a highlight until a few months back is now obsolete will surely be an uphill task.
Headphone jack demand stable YoY as per my Twitter followers. You’d expect it to decrease, no? pic.twitter.com/Qe9Q3cGznP
— Carl Pei (@getpeid) March 15, 2018
In fact, earlier this year in march Pei tweeted that the demand for headphone jack was stable YoY among twitter followers. OnePlus must know the backlash is coming but should hope that the criticism will eventually die down. Just as it did for the notch.
India is a big market for OnePlus and we are thinking Indian fan base will be a lot less forgiving when it comes to the beloved audio jack as compared to the notch.
Either way, this is a big blow to team headphone jack and if OnePlus pulls through (which it will) many other OEMs will follow.
Also Check: 10 Best OnePlus 6 Alternatives You Can Buy In India
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