back to article Samsung updates chart-topping A-series Galaxy smartphones with a few more bells and whistles – even topping the S20 FE

In the first quarter of 2020, the world’s best-selling Android smartphone wasn’t a premium device from Samsung or Huawei. Analyst Strategy Analytics' tally had Samsung’s mid-range A51 on top of the pile, with 2.3 per cent market share, ahead of Xiaomi’s Redmi 8 on 1.9 per cent and the Galaxy S20+ trailing with a mere 1.7 per …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No headphone jack?

    No sale. You claim insufficient room for the bit ignoring the fact that the device is more than thick enough. You say it can pair with bluetooth headphones ignoring the fact that not all of us are eager to downgrade from a wired connection. Don't even start with the dongle adapter.

    1. a pressbutton

      Re: No headphone jack?

      actually some of the better USB C dongles have a DAC that is noticeably better than the built in one (i have a hidiz S8 and can hear the difference on a note 8 in a blind test) and you can plug a preferred wired headset into that - so if you are after high quality, that is a better path than the 3.5 jack.

      ... but it costs and it eats battery, which is not the target market here.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: No headphone jack?

        You missed the part about no dongles? It doesn't matter how good you think it might be if the OP doesn't want to be bothered with it in the first place. And as others have stated elsewhere in this thread you can't listen to an FM radio on _wireless_ headphones so no jack means no radio.

        The companies that decide to remove bits some folks consider mandatory is a decision to tell those potential customers to sod off.

    2. MiguelC Silver badge

      Re: No headphone jack?

      GSMArena says the A52 has a headphone jack but doesn't specify if FM radio is present or not

      I'd consider it a replacement for my A50 but the lack of either one would be a deal breaker (although the former might be replaced by an USB dongle, it's still just something else to break or lose)

    3. heyrick Silver badge

      Re: No headphone jack?

      Yup. No headphone jack = deal breaker.

      Whether I'm listening to music in bed, or in the car (jack to car radio aux and phone on charge at the same time), the lack of 3.5mm jack is something that will turn me off a phone. For my uses, it's essential. And yes, I do have Bluetooth headphones. I use them when mowing and doing "gardening" (chopping wood, digging, rotavating...) and generally the work takes longer than the battery manages. If I remembered to charge the battery, that is!

  2. a pressbutton

    FM radio

    I thought the older A series had an FM radio - that used the headset as an antenna - I take it it has gone?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: FM radio

      @ a pressbutton

      I appreciate your point about FM. Hell I use an FM tuner plugged into my record player, a Nat01 since you ask…

      But I often find a better sound steaming the radio station than a telephones FM radio. Please give it a try. I think you will be happy with the sound. And modern Bluetooth headphones are not anything like the pile of bilge they used to be.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Thumb Up

        Re: FM radio

        A Nat01 ...

        You are indeed a very serious analogue person. I had no idea that fm radio could be that good until I listened to it though an all-naim system.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: FM radio

        You can't steam(SIC) FM radio over wireless headphones. So you would have to plug in a dongle to plug in wired headphones to do the job. And yes bluetooth headphones are still a steaming pile o' shite.

  3. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge

    Still has a jack?

    Other sites show a headphone jack. It would be odd to advertise two days of battery life but require Bluetooth earbuds that need regular charging. The whole point of phones like these is minimal external support so they keep running in low tech environments. That means a big battery, microSD card, headphone jack, and a lower power chipset.

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