That the as-yet-unreleased Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ won’t feature a headphone jack has now all but been confirmed thanks to a newly leaked USB Type-C dongle leaked by WinFuture’s Roland Quandt.
Shown in a stark white coloration, the dongle appears with the same smooth and clean aesthetic that might be expected of any modern Samsung device or accessory. That’s complete with tapered rubbery material leading from both port and plug to the attaching cable.
There’s no clear indication as to whether or not Samsung will opt to include a cable that’s tailor-made to fit the various colors that will be available to buyers of its flagship phablet will launch. In all likeliness, as is often the case with in-box accessories such as chargers and wired headphones, the adapter between the USB-C plug and 3.5mm audio jack will likely be shipped in a single color. So this is probably it.
One suspected trait confirmed, many more to go
The new leak effectively confirms that there wont’ be any headphone jack on at least one of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note series devices. That will most likely hold true for the smaller Samsung Galaxy Note 10 as well as the ‘Plus’ designated model.
Another recent leak seems to confirm that the devices will ship in three colors too. Those include a standard black, aura white, and another white version that shows different gradients of colors depending on the angle of light hitting its casing. Those will include a now-standard S Pen stylus in matching hues too, if the leaks have been accurate.
That most recent leak also seems to confirm that the only visible difference — aside from size — will be the inclusion of a ToF sensor on the Galaxy Note 10+
However, there is still plenty left for Samsung to debunk or affirm when the device launches on August 7.
On the inside, rumors and leaks have suggested that the Galaxy Note 10 series will ship with either an in-house Exynos 9825 SoC or a Qualcomm-built Snapdragon 855 or 855 Plus. That will vary based on the region the device is being sold in, with the latter chips typically reserved for the US and China.
Both gadgets will reportedly be available with variants for both 4G LTE and 5G connectivity. That will be the case with both the QHD+ display-enhanced Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ and the the fullHD+ versions. Each will come with Android 9 Pie and a variant of Samsung’s OneUI but will almost certainly be updated to Android Q once that becomes available.
Why not just go straight to wireless only
The bigger question here may be whether or not Samsung could have gotten away with going straight from wired audio to wireless without the dongle — which will almost certainly be part of the Galaxy Note 10+ package. The South Korean tech giant has traditionally shipped its flagship devices with a pair of AKG-branded wired earbuds in the past.
Samsung likely could have simply included a similarly fashioned wireless listening device in its box.
At issue with that prospect is the fact that there are going to be users who won’t buy the device without some way to use wired audio. That’s in spite of the fact that USB-C to 3.5mm audio jack adapters are now common and can be bought at fairly cheap prices — no more than a few dollars.
Including the adapter certainly isn’t going to appease anybody but by including an audio adapter in the box, Samsung can control the quality of the listening experience. Presumably, this will be a higher-quality accessory than users might find within a reasonable price range online.
