The 3.5mm headphone jack has been a standard and expected feature on Samsung's Galaxy A smartphones. Does the port stick around for the Galaxy A53 5G?
The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G packs a ton of features for its low price tag, but things get a lot less impressive when it comes to the 3.5mm headphone jack. Once Apple removed the headphone jack from the iPhone 7 in 2016, it was almost instantly that other companies started to follow in its footsteps. Google got rid of the headphone jack with the Pixel 2, OnePlus bid farewell to the headphone jack with the OnePlus 6T, and plenty of other companies have done the same.
After the iPhone 7's debut, Samsung remained committed to including a headphone jack on its smartphones for a little while. It wasn't until 2020 with the Galaxy S20 series that Samsung finally removed the headphone jack from its Galaxy S lineup. But even after that, Samsung kept the headphone jack for some of its other devices. Numerous Samsung phones released last year still shipped with a 3.5mm headphone jack — including the Galaxy A02, Galaxy A12, Galaxy A32, Galaxy A52, and others.
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That brings us to the Galaxy A53 5G. The A53 5G is Samsung's latest budget phone for the U.S. And it looks great! It has a 6.5-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a four-camera system on the back, 128GB of expandable storage, and a massive 5000 mAh battery. It's a fantastic package for just $449 — but that's not to say it's perfect. Unlike the Galaxy A52 and A52 5G it's replacing, the Galaxy A53 5G does not have a headphone jack.
While Samsung hasn't provided an official reason for the headphone jack's removal, it's safe to assume why the A53 5G doesn't have one. Designing a phone without a headphone jack means there's more room inside the chassis for other components. That could include a bigger battery, a larger cooling system, or anything else. The headphone jack doesn't take up a huge amount of space, but it's still a free area Samsung can do something else with. Perhaps more importantly, killing the headphone jack means one less component and port for Samsung to worry about. That results in an easier manufacturing process, easier waterproofing, and likely a lower cost to produce. Considering the headphone jack has gradually been eliminated from other Samsung handsets, it was only a matter of time before it happened to the Galaxy A series.
As irritating as the missing headphone jack might be, that doesn't mean it's a deal-breaker for the Galaxy A53 5G. If you have a 3.5mm to USB-C adapter (or buy one online for $10), you can still use your wired headphones with the A53 5G like normal. You won't be able to charge the A53 5G and use your headphones simultaneously, but that's the only real downside. Furthermore, the phone's Bluetooth 5.1 chip means it should work beautifully with any wireless headphones/earbuds. Add a couple of external stereo speakers on top, and the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G has ample listening options — even without the legacy headphone jack.
Next: Galaxy A53 5G Vs. iPhone SE 3
Joe has been actively writing and talking about consumer tech since 2012. His biggest passion lies with smartphones, but he's happy to talk your ear off about just about anything with a CPU. He lives in Kalamazoo, MI with his wife, two cats, and pit bull/boxer mix.