The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone will advance the 3.5mm headphone jack one step closer to extinction, according to a report from Samsung fan community blog SamMobile.
If Samsung does ditch the headphone jack, it would be following in the footsteps of its archrival Apple, whose iPhone 7 offers no 3.5mm port for headphones to some consternation. Other manufacturers of high-end smartphones, including Motorola, have also introduced devices this year without a headphone jack.
SamMobile, which did not cite a source for its report, has nevertheless been a reliable font of Samsung rumors in the past. As is typical for the Korean tech giant, it has remained silent on any Galaxy S8 details, except for confirming that its next phone will indeed be called the Galaxy S8. That news was buried in an October announcement that Korean owners of the ill-fated Note 7 would receive a 50 percent discount on the S8 when it is released.
In addition to losing wired headphone support, the S8 could also include a digital voice-based assistant similar to Apple's Siri or Google's Assistant, according to the Wall Street Journal. The new handset will likely debut at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, an annual event that has hosted other Samsung flagship unveilings in the past.
If the headphone jack is destined for extinction on high-end smartphones, one holdout is likely to be Google, which released its new Pixel phone in October. The Pixel and its larger cousin, the Pixel XL, both feature 3.5mm ports.