HTC presents waterproof phone without 3.5mm jack

HTC has presented a waterproof smartphone, the most striking feature of which is the lack of a headphone jack. This follows HTC competitor Apple, which also omitted the 3.5 mm jack in the iPhone 7. Incidentally, the HTC device is intended for the American market.

It concerns the Bolt, which HTC announced for the American telecom provider Sprint, reports The Verge. It is not the first time that the Taiwanese smartphone maker has chosen to omit the headphone jack, but this has not happened in recent years. Whether that means that future HTC smartphones will also have to do without this connection is unknown; this probably depends, among other things, on the popularity of the Bolt. To compensate for the lack of headphone jack, HTC also supplies USB-C headphones.

Furthermore, the Bolt has a waterproof housing according to the IP57 specification, with an appearance that is similar to the previously released HTC 10. This allows the smartphone to be submerged in water up to a meter deep for up to half an hour. The screen has a diagonal of 5.5 “and a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels, equal to the HTC 10. However, the manufacturer has opted for an older processor with the Snapdragon 810. The Bolt also has 3GB of ram and a battery with a capacity of 3200mAh.The software is based on Android version 7.

Because Sprint does not use GSM-based networks, the smartphone cannot function in Europe. It is possible that HTC will eventually make a European variant of the Bolt, but whether the manufacturer actually intends to do so is unknown.