Samsung’s next phone will have no headphone jack - and no home button

Samsung’s next phone is going to follow Apple’s lead and remove the headphone jack – but that’s not all that’s going to go missing.

Rumour has it that the phone will also do away with the home button – and have an ‘all screen’ front, similar to Google’s flagship Pixel phone.

SamMobile first reported that Samsung, too, is going to do away with the headphone jack in its next flagship, the S8.

Sources speaking to SamMobile said that the phone would have a USB-C port (similar to Google’s Pixel handsets), and new headphones would plug in via that.

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Users will, presumably, also be able to use Bluetooth wireless headphones with the handset, which Samsung is expected to launch at Mobile World Congress in February.

In theory, the switch away from 3.5mm headphones could mean higher sound quality in the long run.

If users switch to using USB-C or Lightning, headphones can also come with digital-analogue converters and amplifiers built in – leading, in theory, to higher sound quality.

Earlier this year, Chinese phone maker LeEco released three phones, which use the new USB-C connector instead of the headphone jack.

Intel this month revealed a proposal to ‘remove the 3.5mm audio jack from audio sources’ and use the USB-C connector instead.