Sony’s Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact mark a turning point for the company — at least from a design perspective. Gone is the OmniBalance design, being replaced by the so-called “Ambient Flow” styling.
However, the company also joined several other manufacturers (such as Apple, Lenovo, Essential and Huawei with the Mate 10 Pro) in ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack. It’s an odd move, especially seeing that Sony is a multimedia juggernaut in general.
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Now, Sony has answered questions on its blog (as spotted by Xperia Blog), explaining why it dropped the jack.
“This is part of the shift to our new Ambient Flow design language. In order to create the beautiful seamless design, our designers needed to remove the headphone jack. Plus, we’re aware of the major market trend toward wireless headphones over wired headphones,” the firm claimed.
It’s particularly odd given Sony’s experience in this regard. The Xperia Z1 was a landmark smartphone, delivering a water-resistant design and capless ports (including headphone jack) back in 2013. By comparison, Samsung used flaps to cover ports on 2014’s water-resistant Galaxy S5, before moving to a capless design with 2016’s Galaxy S7.
So, given the Japanese company’s clear expertise, you’d expect them to create a “seamless” design while accommodating the jack… At least the company included an adapter with the XZ2 and XZ2 Compact so you can use your wired headphones anyway.
Now, how long until Sony adopts the notch?
