OnePlus’ CEO, Pete Lau, has explained why the OnePlus 6T does not have a 3.5mm headphone jack or wireless charging. The company’s CEO actually explained this in a media briefing separate from the launch of the device, and before we begin, it is worth saying that Pete Lau is not only the company’s CEO and co-founder, but also its Product Manager. Pete Lau said that the removal of the headphone jack allows for the integration of the in-display fingerprint scanner, while it also allowed the company to implement a larger battery in the device. He also added that creating a product that everyone likes is impossible, but he emphasized that user feedback is extremely important to the company. Mr. Lau said that the company did a survey regarding wired and wireless headphones, and that 60-percent of people who participated said that they’re already using wireless headphones, so the company made a decision in favor of new technology (in-display fingerprint scanner), and a larger battery. Pete Lau says that the company knew that removing the headphone jack now would have a much more negative impact than if they did it in 2-3 years, but that’s a decision that they made. In addition to that, while smiling, he also added that the removal of the headphone jack also encourages people to purchase the company’s Bullets Wireless headphones, while adding, “that’s not a bad thing either”.
As far as wireless charging is concerned, Pete Lau simply said that the technology is not there yet. He said that such tech is “not terribly complex”, and that the company could implement it now, but that they did not want to as it’s simply too slow. He did add that Qualcomm may have a solution for this coming, even though he’s not “totally sure on all the details”, suggesting that some sort of a new tech may increase the speed of wireless charging considerably, and that may push the company to add wireless charging in future devices. The company’s CEO did hint that it won’t happen until it becomes considerably faster, and until it stops producing so much heat.
Background: The OnePlus 6T got announced less than two days ago, and thanks to a ton of leaks and rumors, we knew exactly what to expect out of it. The OnePlus 6T is quite similar to the OnePlus 6, as it sports a similar design language, but it is arguably better looking, mainly due to a smaller display notch, much smaller display notch. The device also does not have a fingerprint scanner on the back, so it looks cleaner because of it. Speaking of which, the OnePlus 6T has an in-display fingerprint scanner, which is the main new feature of the device compared to the OnePlus 6. The OnePlus 6T shares the same processor with the OnePlus 6, the same RAM setups, and even same cameras.
Impact: Wireless charging is a convenient feature to have, but what Pete Lau said is true, it does produce more heat than it should, and it’s quite slow compared to OnePlus’ proprietary fast charging solution for wired charging, it’s not even comparable, It remains to be seen what will happen in the future with this technology, as Pete Lau’s mention of Qualcomm’s upcoming tech is quite interesting. As far as a 3.5mm headphone jack is concerned, quite a few people were irritated by that decision, and many of them would probably settle for a regular fingerprint scanner (which is faster), than an in-display one, if only OnePlus kept the headphone jack. The increased battery size is welcomed, of course, though who knows if it would be possible if the headphone jack remained.