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Razer's CEO explains why the Razer Phone doesn't have a headphone jack

Mad at Razer for leaving out the headphone jack? You might not be once you hear how much more battery capacity the phone has because of it.

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Published onNovember 27, 2017

When Razer introduced the brand new Razer Phone, it certainly made it feel like an enthusiast device. An amazing 120 Hz display, 8 GB of RAM, and a 4,000 mAh battery screamed out that this was the biggest and best on the market. If you wanted the most spec’d out phone that money could buy, you were supposed to buy a Razer Phone.

120Hz adaptive displays: the future or just a gimmick?

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But, there was one thing missing – the headphone jack. Everyone is aware of companies removing headphone jacks at this point. Most companies don’t let us in on the reasoning behind removing the jack. We’re left to wonder if it’s for a new vibration motor, bigger battery, or to make it easier to protect against water.

Razer’s CEO Min-Liang Tan took to Facebook to address why his company left out the headphone jack. The reason is, unsurprisingly, battery capacity and thermals. What may surprise you is just how much battery capacity the Razer Phone gained by leaving out the tiny headphone jack.

By removing the headphone jack – we were able to increase the battery size significantly (I estimate we added 500 mAh more), improve thermals for performance and a whole lot more.

500 mAh is a lot. The Razer Phone has a 4,000 mAh capacity, which puts it above pretty much every other flagship phone. Tan doesn’t go into further detail about how the thermals are affected by the removal of the jack, but that much battery capacity is enough for some to justify it on its own.

He says he was further convinced to remove the headphone jack because Razer was able to get audiophile quality sound by including a headphone dongle with a DAC in it.

The trade off was not having the jack – but what sealed it for me was that we were able to get audiophile quality sound with the dedicated 24-Bit THX Certified DAC adapter – and I made sure we included that with every phone. Which basically means we give even better quality headphone audio for those who want to hold on to their analog headphones.
On top of that, we’ve released the HammerHead USB C (retails at $79.99) and the HammerHead BT with all day battery life (US$99.99 – or free with Paid to Play!) which makes it a complete solution.

Basically every phone without a headphone jack includes a dongle so you can connect your wired headphones. Razer was able to take the negative of not having a headphone jack and turn it into a positive by including a DAC for improved audio quality. This isn’t going to be enough for everyone, and they’re letting Tan know. His response? Maybe this isn’t the phone for you.

The Razer Phone is on sale now for $699.