(The Samsung Galaxy S8.Business Insider/Antonio Villas-Boas)
After a slew of leaks, Samsung this week unveiled its latest high-end smartphones: the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. As expected, they come with big screens, tiny bezels, powerful specs, a weird laptop dock, and, lo and behold, 3.5mm headphone jacks.
That last bit is significant. For a good chunk of the last year, the common wisdom was that the traditional headphone jack was living on borrowed time.
Apple famously ditched it with the iPhone 7 in an effort push people toward wireless headphones. The move upset a lot of people, and it hasn't magically fixed Bluetooth's issues, but Apple devices live in their own world. If the break had to happen, at least it was relatively clean. If you're a headphone manufacturer, you can make wireless cans or Lightning cans and know you'll have all iPhone users covered from now on.
With Android, though, the situation is sloppier. For the past several months, Intel and others have been pushing USB-C — the do-everything port that's replacing older USB ports on more and more devices — as the 3.5 mm jack's replacement. USB-C is a digital connection, so it could bring the same enhancements as Lightning, but it's also an open standard, so nobody has to pay Apple a cut to use it.
(Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider)
Over the past few months, the likes of Motorola, LeEco, and HTC have jumped on the bandwagon.
Being open, though, means a higher chance of fragmentation. And with the flagship phones from the world's most popular Android device maker sticking with the 3.5 mm jack, that seems likely to stunt USB-C's chances of being a replacement for a little while longer.
While the Galaxy S series on its own doesn't outsell the iPhone — Samsung's market share is high because it sells many phones at many price points — it's still Android's biggest high-end device. Without it onboard, there's less incentive for headphone companies to make USB-C pairs. The fact that other recent Android flagships like the LG G6 have also kept the jack — and the fact that the bulk of Android's affordable phones still have it — doesn't make adopting USB-C any more attractive. Motorola and HTC aren't setting the sales charts on fire.
Yes, the Galaxy S8 has a USB-C port for charging, so it still technically supports USB-C headphones. But with the headphone jack still there — and with Samsung throwing a $99 pair of traditional wired earbuds in the box — it's hard to see people choosing something that's generally pricier and doesn't allow you to charge your phone and listen to music simultaneously.