Galaxy Note 10’s Active Noise Cancelling Earbuds Is Only Good Side Effect of Dead Headphone Jack

(Image credit: Samsung)

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 doesn’t have a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack. It sucks, but it sucks a little less when you learn that it comes with USB-C headphones tuned by hi-fi company AKG.

As SamMobile points out, active noise cancelling headphones that use the 3.5-millimeter stereo minijack need their own power source. That’s why they have batteries in them, to drive the microphones that capture the ambient sound and the digital processors that generate the soundwaves that cancel the ambient sound.

Apparently Samsung — knowing that some people would be pissed off about the Note 10 not having the 3.5-millimeter jack — decided to focus on this and turn the USB-C port into an advantage. 

Since this port can carry electricity to the earbuds, you can make them into active noise cancelling headphones. The company worked with famed headphone manufactured AKG to create the pair of active noise cancelling USB-C headphones that is included in the Note 10.

Now the question is: will the minijack fans give a damn about this advantage? Or will they just opt for wireless earbuds or wireless headphones instead? We will see in the coming months, as sales figures of the Note 10 start to arrive.

Jesus Diaz

Jesus Diaz founded the new Sploid for Gawker Media after seven years working at Gizmodo, where he helmed the lost-in-a-bar iPhone 4 story and wrote old angry man rants, among other things. He's a creative director, screenwriter, and producer at The Magic Sauce, and currently writes for Fast Company and Tom's Guide.

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