One of the questions people have about the Google Pixel 6a is whether or not it has a headphone jack. Previous Pixel a-series phones — the Pixel 3a, Pixel 4a, and Pixel 5a — all shipped with 3.5mm headphone jacks. It was convenient, helpful, and a notable difference compared to the missing headphone jacks on more expensive Pixels. In fact, while promoting the original Pixel phone in 2016, Google poked fun at Apple for releasing the iPhone 7 without a headphone jack — only to pull a 180 and release the headphone jack-less Pixel 2 a year later.
If you’re contemplating getting the Pixel 6a and are reading this article, you’re probably asking yourself, “Since Google kept the headphone jack on the previous Pixel a-series phones, would it do the same for the Pixel 6a?” Unfortunately, the company is making the Pixel 6a the first in the budget line not to carry the 3.5mm headphone jack.
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Of all the new upgrades Google mentioned for the Pixel 6a at Google I/O 2022 — including the Tensor processor, longer battery life, sleeker design, and robust camera features — it left out the headphone jack. While the company didn’t give an official explanation as to why it removed the headphone jack, from an economic perspective, not including the port probably made the Pixel 6a cheaper to manufacture and helped justify the $449 price tag. From a marketing perspective, Google decided to follow the trend Apple started of releasing headphone jack-less smartphones with open arms. And it’ll happily sell you a pair of Pixel Buds Pro if you need them.
How to listen to audio on the headphone jack-less Pixel 6a
The Pixel 6a not having the headphone jack like its predecessors isn’t the end of the world. At least not in terms of how you listen to audio from videos, music, and phone calls.
One way to listen to audio in the Pixel 6a is to get a pair of wireless headphones. Google has a line of Pixel Buds with a couple of options to choose from, depending on your budget. There are the Pixel Buds A-Series for $99, and the Pixel Buds Pro for $199. If you still want to hold on to your wired earphones for dear life, you can plug them into the Pixel 6a using a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack dongle. And if you’re at a party or the beach and want to share your music with your friends, you can also use external Bluetooth speakers or the 6a’s built-in stereo speakers.
Is the lack of a headphone jack on the Pixel 6a disappointing? Sure. But that’s just where the smartphone market is heading — and has been for some time. New phones come out, there’s no headphone jack present, and that’s how things go.
Check your inbox — Google may have invited you to use Bard, its ChatGPT rival
AI chatbots have been the subject of much public fascination as of late, with the likes of ChatGPT continuously making headlines. But now, Google is finally getting in on the trend by soft-launching Bard for select Pixel users.
Bard is Google's AI chatbot that was previously unavailable to the public, but according to a report from 9to5Google, the company is inviting some of its most loyal and dedicated customers to give it a try.
You may want to think twice about buying a Samsung or Pixel phone
A new report from Project Zero, Google's internal security research team, says that a laundry list of devices using Exynos modems are at a high risk of major security breaches that would give remote users the ability to very easily "compromise a phone at the baseband level." Notably, the recently released Pixel 7 is among those that are open to attack, alongside the Pixel 6 and Samsung Galaxy S22, to name just a few.
Obviously, this is a major issue, but not all hope is lost, as the problem is certainly fixable. The big question is when a fix for all affected devices is coming. Here's everything you need to know about the vulnerability and what you can do to keep your smartphone safe.
Why Samsung and Pixel phones are in danger
The Google Pixel Fold may not be as expensive as you thought
Google’s long-in-development foldable phone — the Pixel Fold — is reportedly eyeing a late June launch. A recent leak predicted that the Pixel Fold will hit the European shelves priced at 1,700 Euros, which equates to roughly $1,800 based on current conversion rates. That’s not easy to digest, especially for a first-gen foldable phone and considering Google’s own shaky history with its Pixel hardware and software.
But it appears that the Pixel Fold’s price won’t be inexplicably exorbitant at all. Leaker Yogesh Bear shared on Twitter that the foldable phone could actually cost anywhere between $1,300 and $1,500. Assuming that turns out to be true, the Pixel Fold could undercut the Samsung Galaxy Fold 4 and its successor by a healthy $500.
In fact, such an asking price would put the Pixel Fold in roughly the same ballpark as the higher storage configurations of phones like the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro Max. Of course, Google won’t be able to match the asking price of foldables from Chinese brands, but it would at least look competitive in the Western markets.
Now, a price of around $1,300-1,500 makes a lot of sense. First, the biggest deterrent for foldable phones is their high asking price. There’s a reason Samsung managed to sell bucketloads of its flip-style foldable phones because they cost nearly half vis-a-vis the phone-tablet hybrids in the Galaxy Z Fold series.
