OnePlus has been a long-time fan favorite. The company has been on top of the game in the budget market since the announcement of the OnePlus One back in 2013. As fans anticipate for the next OnePlus refresh, the OnePlus 6T, fans have come to take notice of OnePlus’s current stance on the 3.5mm headphone jack.
Recently, the co-founder of OnePlus, Carl Pei, revealed a few points regarding the ‘courage’ of removing the headphone jack from the OnePlus 6T. Ever since Android OEMs followed Apple’s suit by removing the headphone jack from their devices, OnePlus had been constantly taunting its rivals for including a headphone jack on their set of devices. While OnePlus has embraced for the backlash, it seems like the decision to remove the headphone jack now is the smart choice. Here’s why?
01 | The Timing
There’s two reasons why OnePlus has played with the timing of this announcement. Since OnePlus had been one of the major brands to preserve the headphone jack, all the while taunt it’s rivals, OnePlus wants to take the backlash now, rather than revealing this at the launch event of the OnePlus 6T.
The second reason why OnePlus is removing the headphone jack on the OnePlus 6T only now is because of the OnePlus 7. Since the OnePlus 7 is going to be the next major release from OnePlus, OnePlus wants to make sure they could cushion as much of the backlash with the timing of the OnePlus 6T, they’re making sure that many users would be fine with the removal of the headphone jack before it’s launch.
02 | Maintaining The OnePlus Appeal
According to Carl Pei, they’ve decided to remove the OnePlus 6T’s headphone jack in an effort to enlarge the battery on the OnePlus 6T. Since OnePlus is seen more like a premium budget device, it seems like OnePlus didn’t like the idea of thickening their devices like Xiaomi did with the Pocophone F1. They want to maintain that premium feel and appeal for their audience.
While debating on the topic is certainly a 50/50 with half of the readers agreeing on one point or the other, it seems like this would be the second reason for why OnePlus wants to remove the headphone jack.
Now, OnePlus is more than just a smartphone company. Not only have they recently teased a new OnePlus TV, but the company has been offering a quite a few accessories for their devices for a while now. From backpacks to smartphone cables, OnePlus’s brand image is rivaling that of Apple. Not only have OnePlus built an appealing brand out of all of this, but their appeal leads to more sales in for accessories department.
With the announcement of their new Type-C Bullet headphones, it doesn’t take long to understand where consumers would go for their headphones if they own a OnePlus device.
03 | The Push Into The Wireless Future
Ever since Android OEMs have followed Apple’s suit, a ton of users have come to accept that the 3.5mm headphone jack is now a thing of the past. Since many of OnePlus’s closest rivals ditched the headphone jack a year or two ago, OnePlus hadn’t had to deal with the initial backlash that many brands received for removing the headphone jack from their phones.
With Apple’s ‘courage’ now in OnePlus’s hands, OnePlus wants to make the full push into the type-C era, an era, where a single cable that would implement a universal standard for cables.
Not only could Type-C cables charge smartphones, but they’re also capable of charging laptops, powering monitors, enable an internet connection and a whole lot more.
With OnePlus joining the race, it’s only a matter of time before we see everything being powered by a single Type-C cable, that is, if we get everything right.
