The audio port on your phone Apple was threatening to kill? Chinese firm LeEco just did
Did a relatively unknown Chinese company just one-up a US technology giant? That's what happened on Wednesday, 20 April at an elaborate press conference when LeEco, an up and coming Chinese smartphone player, brought out the big guns. They want to be a disruptor, trendsetter, ahead of the competition, and that's exactly what they did.
The big guns were a trio of superphones that included large screens, blazing fast performance and cameras that could stand alongside the best. But right at the end, they had something up their sleeve that almost no one saw coming.
Since late last November, Apple's quest for even-thinner phones has been doing the rounds and the rumour-mill produced another casualty: the 3.5mm audio jack, which Apple is reportedly considering nixing.
What will listeners use instead? Well, the new USB Type-C port has officially taken over and there are headphones to go with it.
And LeEco just demo'ed that they've got there first.
The company had previously brought us the first ever smartphone with a USB Type-C port. One will now have to use USB Type-C digital headphones instead of the more traditional headphones lying around your house.
There was the Oppo R5, launched in late 2014, that brought the first phone without the 3.5mm headphone connector but it didn't bring with it USB Type-C compliant headphones. That's the key difference, and it's where LeEco has outdone the competition.
Alongside the phone, the company also launched two USB-C headphones - a pair of in-ears and a pair of over-ears. They are the first to be certified by LeEco's very own Continual Digital Lossless Audio standard. Before LeEco, the JBL Reflect Aware C sports earbuds were the only USB Type-C headphones on the market.
All three smartphones have topnotch specs - 1080p displays/Quad HD display, deca-core processors, high-end cameras - at a relatively reasonable price. No disappointment there.
One question remains, at least for us: how can we charge our phones and use headphones at the same time? That may not be every user's need but for audiophiles, it happens often enough to be a real factor. Will there be a dual headphone/charging cable? Or will companies come up with something more ingenious?
Eventually, wireless charging could be the answer but since that doesn't exist in this or other handsets for the moment, the solution will have to come from elsewhere.
What the absence of a 3.5mm audio port brings is better audio, mostly thanks to the lossless nature of digital headphones. Most people buying these 3.5mm audio port-less phones will probably invest in bluetooth headphones instead of a USB Type-C headphone.
Will the phones be a success? Only time will tell but the ditching of 3.5mm audio port seems to be the trend to watch for this fall.
Edited by Payal Puri
First published: 20 April 2016, 10:46 IST
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