OnePlus 6T Release Date, Price, Features: Why Did the Manufacturer Remove the Headphone Jack?

The OnePlus 6T is heavily rumored to be released on Oct. 17 and smartphone enthusiasts are awaiting confirmation from the company itself if this news has any authenticity. So far, however, the Shenzhen-based company hasn’t announced any news about a release date.

The OnePlus 6T is one of the most anticipated smartphones this year as its predecessor made quite the impression among users when it first came out in May. It was even hailed as a flagship destroyer due to it having been outfitted with specs that closely challenge the popular devices of Apple and Samsung but with a price tag that is considerably lower.

The OnePlus 6T is expected to be priced at around $550, CNET reported. What’s more, its manufacturer has also outfitted the device with a fingerprint sensor located on the device’s screen itself. This gives users the ability to unlock the smartphone by simply placing their finger on the bottom area of the display.

"We unlock our phones multiple times a day, and Screen Unlock reduces the number of steps to complete the action. By adding this feature as an addition to other display unlocking options such as Face Unlock, users will have options to unlock the display in a way that is most efficient for them,” the company said. OnePlus 6T is definitely bringing in a lot of good things to the table.

However, one particular decision that is creating a negative narrative for the OnePlus 6T is the company’s decision of taking out the headphone jack. The manufacturers argue that eliminating the feature was a necessity as it allowed them to put more technology into the device.

Carl Pei, one of OnePlus’s founders, said that their decision comes amidst data that 59 percent of their users already use wireless headphones. As such, they have foregone placing a headphone jack on the OnePlus 6T, using the space that the omission created to upgrade other aspects of the device such as its battery life.

While no official confirmation has been made as to what has been outfitted under the hood of the OnePlus 6T, rumors have it that it’s going to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor paired with the Adreno 630 GPU. The device is supposedly given a 3,500mAh battery with VOOC fast charging support and will run on Google’s Android 9.0 Pie operating system.