14 DAY TRIAL // HTC has officially announced that its upcoming U 11 flagship will arrive on May 16, and the company even released two teasers in anticipation of the unveiling event. A supposed image of the retail box art leaked a few days ago and at least one accessory in the box is now revealed.
HTC U 11 will ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack and come with a USB Type-C to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter in the box, according to leakster LlabTooFeR.
This won’t be the first HTC smartphone to ditch the iconic headphone jack. HTC Bolt, also known as HTC 10 Evo in some markets, didn’t feature a 3.5mm headphone jack and HTC didn’t include an adapter in the box. However, the company later started giving away adapters to all Bolt owners for free.
HTC U Ultra retail box didn’t include an adapter
HTC U Ultra also skipped on the 3.5mm jack and instead of offering consumers a free adapter, HTC opted for including a pair of its own Usonic earbuds with a USB Type-C connector in the box, which could also arrive with the U 11. Those who wanted to use their own 3.5mm headphones needed to purchase HTC adapters.
Considering that the HTC U 11 is a flagship with the latest high-end specs and a price to reflect its top-of-the0line nature, an adapter is a good way to cater to user needs and ensure a convenient way of using the phone with multiple accessories.
The decision to remove the 3.5mm headphone on HTC’s new flagship could have been fuelled by the desire to build a thinner phone, the same incentive that prompted Motorola to ditch the jack on its Moto Z devices.
HTC U 11 will be announced on May 16 in Taipei and the phone’s main selling point will be the squeezable frame for launching apps and performing various actions with one hand. The list of internal specs includes Snapdragon 835, a 5.5-inch QHD display, 4GB or 6GB of RAM, and a 3,000mAh battery.