HTC's new U series phones follow Apple's iPhone 7 in eliminating headphone jacks
In a surprise announcement, HTC on Thursday revealed two new flagship phones, the U Ultra and U Play -- both of which, like Apple's iPhone 7, abandon a headphone jack in favor of digital-only audio.
Instead, sound for the U series is delivered through Bluetooth, the phones' USB-C ports, or the company's signature "BoomSound" speakers. HTC has stripped out a headphone jack on previous phones, namely the Bolt.
The Ultra sports two displays, including a 5.7-inch, 2560-by-1440 primary LCD, and a 2-inch 160-by-1040 secondary screen used to launch apps and contacts, with an option to show reminders and notifications. The Play has just a single, 5.2-inch 1080p screen.
The secondary display on the Ultra will also serve as a conduit for Sense Companion, a digital assistant that supports both voice and touch interactions without the primary screen being active.
The Ultra also has a Snapdragon 821 processor, 4 gigabytes of RAM, and 64 gigabytes of built-in storage, with expansion possible via MicroSD. Its home button includes an integrated fingerprint sensor, and on the rear is a 12-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization and HTC's UltraPixel technology, which enables better low-light shooting. The front camera uses more conventional technology, but with a 16-megapixel sensor.
Both cameras on the Play are standard 16-megapixel cameras with f/2.0 apertures, neither offering optical stabilization. While using a slower MediaTek Helio P10 processor, the phone will have MicroSD and options for 32 or 64 gigabytes of built-in storage, and 3 or 4 gigabytes of RAM.
HTC is now accepting preorders for the Ultra, which should ship in mid-March for $749 -- in the U.S., unlocked models will only be compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile. The Play should ship sometime in early 2017 at a price yet to be announced.
Only some phone makers have followed Apple in removing headphone jacks. Others, like Google, have not only kept jacks in place but marketed it as an advantage.
Instead, sound for the U series is delivered through Bluetooth, the phones' USB-C ports, or the company's signature "BoomSound" speakers. HTC has stripped out a headphone jack on previous phones, namely the Bolt.
The Ultra sports two displays, including a 5.7-inch, 2560-by-1440 primary LCD, and a 2-inch 160-by-1040 secondary screen used to launch apps and contacts, with an option to show reminders and notifications. The Play has just a single, 5.2-inch 1080p screen.
The secondary display on the Ultra will also serve as a conduit for Sense Companion, a digital assistant that supports both voice and touch interactions without the primary screen being active.
The Ultra also has a Snapdragon 821 processor, 4 gigabytes of RAM, and 64 gigabytes of built-in storage, with expansion possible via MicroSD. Its home button includes an integrated fingerprint sensor, and on the rear is a 12-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization and HTC's UltraPixel technology, which enables better low-light shooting. The front camera uses more conventional technology, but with a 16-megapixel sensor.
Both cameras on the Play are standard 16-megapixel cameras with f/2.0 apertures, neither offering optical stabilization. While using a slower MediaTek Helio P10 processor, the phone will have MicroSD and options for 32 or 64 gigabytes of built-in storage, and 3 or 4 gigabytes of RAM.
HTC is now accepting preorders for the Ultra, which should ship in mid-March for $749 -- in the U.S., unlocked models will only be compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile. The Play should ship sometime in early 2017 at a price yet to be announced.
Only some phone makers have followed Apple in removing headphone jacks. Others, like Google, have not only kept jacks in place but marketed it as an advantage.
Comments
They certainly know what they're doing. Far and beyond what the typical tech blog author does.
Oh, and I repeat myself; AirPods will probably generate $3B revenue in calendar year 2017 with 20 million units sold, and then there's Beats on top of that.
Same deal here (re the article.) There'll be the usual bellyaching and gnashing of teeth, prognostications of doom™, and the flurry of ignorant, undeserved negative press from the perennially shortsighted.
Then suddenly the rest of the industry follows suit.
Apple sneezes, and everyone else grabs a kleenex. And over the long term, it's for their own (and ultimately *our*) good, too.
It is in the nature of humanity to bend and dismiss truth according to what they want to believe...
The argument about waterproofing would hold more water (excuse the pun) if Samsung didn't have a water resistant phone with a headphone jack.
The argument about sales not being impacted would hold more water if sales of the iPhone 7 had been officially reported.
The argument that you're correct because of the deafening silence on this board would hold more water if it weren't the middle of a work day.
It's interesting to see the level of smugness based on the actions of an unprofitable, also-ran Android phone manufacturer.
For my part, BT is laggy as hell and I don't want another device to keep charged. I think it was eliminated solely to fit the taptic engine; which, if given a choice, I would not have picked over the convenience of the jack.
It will be interesting to see Apple's level of commitment to this when the next iPod arrives.
Improved water resistance. Folks who say that Samsung achieved it with a headphone jack don't seem to understand that removing the jack allowed Apple to use its method of improving water resistance. Time will tell which method is superior, but we know for example that some Samsung phones have failed water resistance testing.
Adding a second speaker. This is seldom discussed but Phil S. cited this as another benefit from the increased space. Stereo sound has been fantastic improvement.
Increasing battery capacity by 14%.
Increased size of taptic engine.
And yes, this has helped lead industry to offering a vast new array of wireless products. Wireless headphones now are about 75% of industry sales by revenue and exploding in growth.
That said, there is a clear benefit to what everyone but Apple will probably do. That is, move to USB-C. So long as wired headphones are using the same port interface it's not an issue. I wanted Apple to go this route years ago, but they did it the same year that the W1-chip and AirPods were released, and BT headphones took more half the revenue of the headphone market. That's only a reported 17% of the unit sales for the article from 8 months ago, but that will surely have increased since then and will continue to increase.
This is from June 2016: http://www.androidcentral.com/moto-z-doesnt-have-headphone-jack