OnePlus 5T to feature 3.5mm headphone jack, confirms CEO

Putting all the rumours to rest, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau, has confirmed the existence of the OnePlus 5T. Lau went ahead and announced the smartphone in a company blog post. He also confirmed that the smartphone will include a feature that most of the flagship smartphones seem to be moving away from - 3.5mm headphone jack.

"In the past, we've made some jokes on this subject, but today I wanted to dig deeper into our decision to keep the 3.5 mm headphone jack. Whether it's in the area of hardware or software, our focus is on producing superior product experiences. Every feature, removed or added, is based on our understanding of user needs. For the time being, we think it's best to stick with the headphone jack," posted Lau.

According to him, 70% members in the OnePlus community said that they prioritise sound quality. In addition Lau thinks that wireless earbuds "aren't there yet to provide the same quality of audio." Hence, the company took the decision to include the 3.5mm headphone jack.

"Are the best wireless headphones comparable to the best of the wired? That's possible. But as you get closer to the under $200 category, the options are more limited. Keeping the headphone jack allows our users to continue to take full advantage of the excellent range of audio choices on the market. Not to mention our own Bullet V2 earphones," he said.

He also said that although including a USB Type-C would have given them the freedom to further slim down the OnePlus 5T, according to the company's assessment it was not worth the trade-off.

He did, however, say that wireless audio technology has a lot of potential and at any point users can connect the OnePlus 5T smartphone with a wireless headphone and get going. But the company is prioritising what majority of the users want.

It is worth mentioning that the company has still not mentioned when it will be launching the smartphone. But it has been teasing the same since past few days.

The smartphone made its appearance on benchmarking website AnTuTu recently revealing some of its specifications. Spotted by Gizchina.it website, the specifications list shows the smartphone running Android 8.0 Oreo. However, the biggest change seen here is the Full HD+ (1080x2160 pixels), which we have seen being used in smartphones with extended displays.

It is worth noting that the alleged teaser image seen recently also showed the smartphone sporting an 18:9 aspect ratio screen.

The processor and the GPU stays the same with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and Adreno 540 GPU. The smartphone's RAM and inbuilt storage also unchanged with 8GB and 128GB respectively.

The alleged OnePlus 5T's rear camera has been marginally improved. It is seen with dual 20MP rear cameras. OnePlus 5 comes with 16MP+20MP combination.