Home Technology Google’s Pixel 2 ditches the headphone jack

Google’s Pixel 2 ditches the headphone jack

3 min read
5

Gpixel2

Yesterday, Google held an event to show off a lot of its impending hardware, with a large focus on the second generation of its own Pixel phones. The Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are a refinement of the existing Pixel, sporting better internal hardware, and improved cameras.

Though there’s a difference in size, they’re the same under the hood. Both new Pixels feature an octa-core 2.35 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip (the same that’s in some variants of the Samsung Galaxy S8, and the LG V30), an Adreno 430 GPU, and 4 GB of RAM. While there’s no sd slot, the devices will come in 64GB and 128GB variants.

The biggest and most marketable feature is the camera, which according to image-quality authority DXoMark, is the best camera you’ll find on any phone.

“We’re in danger of running out of superlatives when describing the major image quality attributes of the Google Pixel 2. That makes sense for a device that tops our scoring charts —up from the 94 of the Apple iPhone 8 Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 to a record-setting 98. So for just about any Photo or Video use case, it recommends itself as the phone camera with the best image quality. A notable exception to that assessment centers around the added performance in Zoom and Bokeh (including Depth and Portrait) that dual-camera smartphones such as the Apple iPhone 8 Plus and Galaxy Note 8 can provide. This said, the Pixel 2 is especially well-suited to videographers, as it achieves the highest Video score for any device we’ve tested — a 96.”

The phone is also waterproof, with an IP67 rating. Like LG’s phones, it’ll have an always on screen that displays vital information, but the difference here is that the Pixel 2 will always be listening, waiting for your voice commands, or to let you know what song is playing. The Pixel 2 has a 5.0-inch OLED 1,920 x 1,080 display with a traditional 16:9 aspect ratio, while the larger Pixel 2 XL has a 6.0-inch 2,880 x 1,440 P-OLED display with an 18:9 aspect ratio, like the LG G6 and V30 do. It’s a really nice phone then.

Google Pixel 2 Google Pixel 2 XL
Display size, resolution 5-inch; 1,920×1,080 pixels 6-inch; 2,880x1x440 pixels
Pixel density 441 ppi 538 ppi
Aspect ratio 16:9 18:9
Dimensions (Inches) 5.7×2.7×0.3 in 6.2×3.0x0.3 in
Dimensions (Millimeters) 145.7×69.7×7.8 mm 157.9×76.7×7.9 mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams) 5.04 oz; 143g 6.17 oz; 175g
Colors Just Black, Clearly White, Kinda Blue Just Black, Black and White

What’s interesting though is that the Pixel 2 is ditching the headphone jack. It seems Apple may have been courageous after all in dropping the standard. Motorola, HTC and Essential have all eschewed the port, favouring USB-C headphones or expensive wireless buds. Yes, Google announced its own set of wireless earbuds too.

Here’s the thing though. I still have no idea why not having a headphone jack makes a device any better. Sure, removing it opens up a little more space inside the device, allowing for a slimmer frame – but I’d happily sacrifice a few millimetres of thinness for the compatibility. Sure, wireless headphones and earbuds are nice, but you don’t need to remove a port to have Bluetooth working, so I’m a little lost as to why it’s gone. It sure as hell isn’t courage.

Last Updated: October 5, 2017

5 Comments

  1. Sgt. M

    October 5, 2017 at 09:44

    What’s the difference between Just Black and Black?

    Reply

  2. Magoo

    October 5, 2017 at 09:56

    Yeah, it sure as hell isn’t courage. We all know what’s going on. I’m really surprised that google took this route.

    Someone needs to do a mass survey of “Would you like a headphone jack on your smartphone?”

    I’m willing to put money on >80% YES results.

    Reply

  3. Matthew Holliday

    October 5, 2017 at 10:46

    Reading the article, Im like “good, good, great, nice, nice, what? why?”
    They do everything right then decide they wanna cash in on headphone sales aswell…
    meh.

    phone thickness is irrelevant, you buy a 0.7nm thin phone, then most people stick a 15cm thick cover and screen guard thats as thick as the phone on it to prevent it from shattering when you accidentally breathe on it.

    Did they not follow the micro phone trend of the 2000s? phones got smaller and smaller and smaller, then when zoolander came out, they were all like, yeah this is getting dumb, and released realistically sized phones.
    Phones are doing the same now with thinness.

    Give it a damned 3.5mm headphone jack.

    I have enough headphones lying around my home, i dont need to lose another 6 pairs of shitty ones My gaming headphones are either 3.5 or regular USB and are all great, Id like to use them if I get a new phone.

    Reply

  4. Admiral Chief

    October 5, 2017 at 10:54

    “will always be listening”
    Yeah, that is going to go down well

    Reply

  5. Admiral Chief

    October 5, 2017 at 10:55

    Cleary White is CLEARLY a typo 😛

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

The six best smartphones for photography

Just about any device on the market today is capable of creating a beautiful moment in tim…